Tag: #bookdescription

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Dating Can Be Deadly by Amanda Flower

Book Description

It’s August in Holmes County, and that means it’s time for the Holmes County Fair. It’s the county’s biggest annual event, drawing tourists and locals alike to see livestock, eat too much fried food, and watch the rodeo and speed racing contests. This year, Millie has entered the quilting competition—while her very not Amish best friend, Lois Henry, is distracted by her new dating app and her search for husband number five. In a place where quilting is a way of life, the competition is fierce—especially this year, when an anonymous donor doubles the winning cash prize. Amish and English women are up against each other, and some will do anything to win—even murder . . .
 
When someone attacks the quilt barn by slashing the quilt display, it’s unsettling enough. But when a quilting judge is found murdered, Millie knows it’s time to for Lois to get off her app and help her hunt for a killer instead—before the competition is wiped out for good . . .

***

Elise’s Thoughts

Dating Can Be Deadly by Amanda Flower is a great cozy mystery.  Readers never get disappointed with any book Amanda Flower writes. As with all her cozy mysteries there are many suspects, a lot of humor, learning more about the Amish community, and some very touching moments.

There is always a contrast between the Amish characters and the English characters.  Millie is Amish and someone who is unassuming, quietly competent, and not eager to call attention to herself. Her best friend, Lois, is English, very flamboyant, and quite vocal. Both are trying to solve murders while trying to figure out their romantic lives.  Lois decided to use a dating app to find a love interest, whereas Millie is struggling to get beyond the love of her life, her late husband.

Readers will not get sidetracked with the character’s personal life because the focus is still on the mystery.  In this book at the Holmes County Fair Millie has entered a quilt competition with other Amish women.  Millie’s nephew, Micah, has also entered her goats, Phillip, and Peter, in a contest.  The goats are known for being rambunctious and decide to escape their pen and explore the fair. Millie and Lois search for them only to find them at the quilt barn along with a dead body, the quilting judge.  Now they must find who is the murderer before others get hurt including a ten-year-old Amish boy, Zach who possibly witnessed the murder.

This story has it all. The humorous part of the story always comes from Lois’s antics including her trying to find a suitor along with the rascally goats.  Because of Millie’s apprehension about pursuing a romantic relationship she finds solace in turning to Amish proverbs, which is where readers learn more about the Amish community. The touching part of the story is how Zach has no family after his grandfather abandoned him and he only has Scooter, his belove Pygmy goat.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper:  Why was the story centered around an axe?

Amanda Flower: I always wanted to write about the Holmes County Fair.  A year ago, my husband and I went to the fair to research for the book.  One of the first things I see is an axe-throwing booth just like in the book. It seemed like a perfect fit for a mystery novel.  Of course, I had to try it. I did hit the bullseye although not on the first time. As soon as I saw it. I knew I wanted to write about it. 

EC:  The quilts also play a role.

AF:  I knew I wanted the main character, Millie, to enter her quilt in the fair.  I went to the quilts at the fair and saw how they were displayed.  She and her friends were in a quilt group and many of them entered their quilts in the fair contest.

EC:  You introduced a new character, Zach.  Can you describe him?

AF:  He is a ten-year-old boy who is a friend of Millie’s nephew, Micah.  His mother left him with his grandfather who thinks poorly of him because he was born out of wedlock and his father was an “English” man. His grandfather basically abandons him. He is a sweet little boy in a bad family situation. As I was writing this story the adoption was being finalized for two of my nephews who were in the foster system.

EC:  Why the dating app?

AF:  I thought of it funny to think of Millie’s friend, Lois, trying to use it.  She is very zany but is a hopeless romantic.  She loves being in love. Even though she is almost seventy she tried it. I wanted this to be the humorous part of the story.

EC:  The goats played a major role in the story.  Do you agree?

AF: Yes.  Millie’s great nephew, Micah, wanted to enter her goats, Phillip, and Peter into the fair. Near the beginning of the book, they get out of their pen a lot because they are rascals.  Because they were out and everyone was looking for them, they are found in the place with a dead body. They lead Lois and Millie to a dead body.  Zach also had a goat, Scooter, who he loved very much because his mother gave it to him just before she left. Scooter is a Pygmy goat.

EC:  Where are you going with the relationship between Millie and Uriah?

AF:  I used the Amish proverbs to help Millie decide on where she is going with her life. She was really torn between her past and possible future.  She is one of my most loyal characters.  Even though her husband had been gone for over 20 years it is still hard for her to pursue another relationship. Uriah knows she is struggling and is very supportive of her and cares for her a lot. He realizes she is independent, is frightened of marriage, and how she is dedicated to her husband’s memory forever.

EC:  Next books?

AF:  There will be another Emily Dickerson mystery coming out this November. Then in March of next year there will be a series with the Wright Brothers written from the point of view of their younger sister Katherine.  It is titled To Slip the Bonds of Earth.

It will be a while before there will be another Amish book.  Going forward I will be writing one historical book and one Amish book, alternating between the Amish Candy Shop Book and the Amish Matchmaker Book.

The end of next year will be the Candy Shop Book titled Gingerbread Danger.  It is a Christmas mystery. There is a life size Candyland Game throughout the village, and someone gets killed. 

Then after that will be the Millie and Lois book where they go to Pinecraft Florida where there is an Amish community. There will be a lot of new characters and of course a murder.

THANK YOU!!

***

BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Feature Post and Book Review: A Killing in Amish Country: Sex, Betrayal, and a Cold-Blooded Murder by Gregg Olsen and Rebecca Morris

Book Description

At just 30 years old, with dark-blonde hair and freckles, Barbara Weaver was as pretty as the women depicted on the covers of her favorite “bonnet” stories – romance novels set in Amish America. Barbara had everything she’d ever wanted: five beautiful children, a home, her faith, and a husband named Eli. But while Barbara was happy to live as the Amish have for centuries – without modern conveniences, Eli was tempted by technology: cell phones, the Internet, and sexting. Online he called himself “Amish Stud” and found no shortage of “English” women looking for love and sex. Twice he left Barbara and their children, was shunned, begged for forgiveness, and had been welcomed back to the church.

Barb Raber was raised Amish, but is now a Conservative Mennonite. She drove Eli to appointments in her car, and she gave him what he wanted when he wanted: a cell phone, a laptop, rides to his favorite fishing and hunting places, and, most importantly, sex. When Eli starts asking people to kill his wife for him, Barb offers to help. One night, just after Eli had hitched a ride with a group of men to go fishing in the hours before dawn, Barb Raber entered the Weaver house and shot Barbara Weaver in the chest at close range.

It was only the third murder in hundreds of years of Amish life in America, and it fell to Edna Boyle, a young assistant prosecutor to seek justice for Barbara Weaver.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26114295-a-killing-in-amish-country?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=UljD9K801m&rank=1

***

My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

A KILLING IN AMISH COUNTRY: Sex Betrayal, and a Cold-Blooded Murder by Gregg Olsen and Rebecca Morris is a surprising true crime saga from a community we associate with innocence and peacefulness, but just as in all societies, there are individuals who break the rules, both moral and criminal. This story is told through the eyes of the investigators and the prosecutor with snippets at the start of each chapter taken from the murdered woman’s personal writings.

Barbara Weaver has always been content with her Amish way of life. Growing up she was a fan of Amish romance books and dreamed of finding her own “Happily Ever After”. Now at 30 years old, she has five beautiful children and a husband named Eli.

Eli Weaver has never been satisfied with his Amish way of life. He has abandoned his wife and children to live among the “English” several times over the marriage, but always repents and returns. With the cell phone he is not supposed to own and the computer at his business, he goes on-line to dating sites and finds women as “Amish Stud”. Eli wants freedom from his family but is not willing to give up his business or home.

Barb Raber is a Mennonite driver who is used by Eli, not just for transportation, but also for sex. Eli asks several of his girlfriends to kill his wife which they take as a joke, but Barb takes him seriously and agrees to do it. Just before dawn as Eli is on his way to Lake Erie to fish, Barb enters the Weaver home and shoots Barbara Weaver in the chest while in her bed sleeping.

I was shocked when I heard about this criminal case. I live in Ohio and have visited Amish country many times. While I knew “Who did it”, the forensics of this case are not the only focus of this case, the psychological analysis is what pulled me in. Eli Weaver was a manipulative sociopath who was immature and only interested in his own pleasure. He was abusive to his wife, dismissive of his children, and a liar. He was able to pick just the right type of women to manipulate and Barb Raber was his ultimate conquest. Eli was not sophisticated enough to know how to cover up his crime, but he was smart enough to push as much of the blame as possible on to Barb Raber. My only problem with this book was it is repetitive in places which at times slows the pace, but the story is still overall so interesting. It is a sad story that happens in our society often, but you just do not expect it in the Amish community.

I recommend this true crime murder investigation for an intriguing read.

***

About the Author – Gregg Olsen

I live in rural Washington State (about a mile as the crow flies from Dr. Linda Burfield Hazzard’s infamous Starvation Heights sanatarium). My thriller, THE LAST THING SHE EVER DID was an Amazon Charts bestseller. LYING NEXT TO ME was a reader favorite, charting at No. 1 in the Kindle store and the bestseller’s list at the Washington Post. My true crime book, IF YOU TELL, found a home on Amazon Charts for more than 140 weeks. In fact, it was the bestselling Kindle ebook of 2020 (and the second-bestselling of 2021). I’ve been a guest on Dateline NBC, NPR, Good Morning America, The Early Show, FOX News, CNN, Anderson Cooper, Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition, Extra, Access Hollywood, 20/20, Snapped, Deadly Women, William Shatner’s Aftermath, and A&E’s Biography. You can find out more about me at www.NotoriousUSA.com.

About the Author – Rebecca Morris

REBECCA MORRIS IS THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR of Boy Missing: The Search for Kyron Horman; If I Can’t Have You: Susan Powell, Her Mysterious Disappearance, and the Murder of Her Children; A Killing in Amish Country: Sex, Betrayal and a Cold Blooded Murder; Ted and Ann: The Mystery of a Missing Child and Her Neighbor Ted Bundy; a true-crime memoir, A Murder in My Hometown; and other books. A native Oregonian, she worked as a journalist in New York City, Seattle, and Portland, Oregon. She appears frequently on network and cable TV as a crime expert, and works with other authors as a book coach and consulting editor. She lives in Seattle where she teaches Journalism, Researching and Writing True Crime, and Playwriting.

Please read about her books and contact her at RebeccaTMorris.com.

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: American Girl by Wendy Walker

Book Description

Charlie Hudson, an autistic seventeen-year-old, is determined to leave Sawyer, PA, as soon as she graduates high school. In the meantime, she works as many hours as she can at a sandwich shop called The Triple S to save money for college. But when shop owner, Clay Cooper—a man both respected and feared in their small economically depressed town—is found dead, each member of his staff becomes a suspect in the perplexing case. Before she can go anywhere, Charlie must protect herself and her friends by uncovering the danger that is still lurking in their tightknit community.

Based on the #1 bestselling audio, American Girl is a riveting thriller told through the eyes of an unforgettable protagonist.

***

Elise’s Thoughts

American Girl by Wendy Walker is a character study that begins as a murder mystery that then turns into a psychological thriller with elements of danger and twists. It is a story of good versus evil and life versus death. It about friendship and relationships between women surrounded by solving the crime of murder.

The story begins with the owner of a sandwich shop where Charlie Hudson works found murdered. Each member of the staff becomes a person of interest except Charlie who was hiding behind the counter. These people she works with have become her family, and she would go to any length to protect them.

Charlie is clever, thoughtful, resourceful, sensitive and has developed coping mechanisms for her autism that allow her to function.  

The author is a master of suspense. The story has many twists and turns and readers will not want to put the book down.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Why did you take the audio book and make it into a printed book?

Wendy Walker:  I worked with Audible for a novella of mine, Hold Your Breath. Once it went to Audible there were changes made to the story. The main character, Charlie, never had her condition spelled out. Readers could tell she was Neuro-divergent. This story became number one for Audible across all fiction. Since it was doing so well, I decided to revise the story sightly to make it for print.  And here we are. It is an ode to a woman’s life that starts at seventeen.

EC:  How did you get the idea for the story?

WW:  The summer of 2019 I was at a restaurant bar with a friend.  When the song, “American Girl,” came on I got up to dance. There were young people there who were flirting with each other, in their little packs.  I had a lot of images in my head.  I had a visceral that transferred me back to what it was like to be seventeen. As I was seeing women in different stages of life in this restaurant everything came together in a perfect storm. I had an acknowledgement on the realities of life. I thought of all the dreams I had. I became obsessed in writing a story. This was the first plot of mine that came from a character with all the other supporting characters giving life to Charlie. All the characters were written to express what I had experienced, the trajectories of a woman’s life.

EC:  Why did you make Charlie autistic?

WW:  I wanted to explain why she is perceptive of the world.  When she narrated the story, she is analytical and a little bit dispassionate even when things around her are very emotional and chaotic. She was atypical at that age. Most teenagers at that age are consumed with their own lives, their friends, but not the adults around them.  I remember thinking how the adults were irrelevant to me when I was seventeen, that parents could not understand me. I did a lot of research and spoke to specialists in the field, advocates of autism. It was really an education for me about autism. I learned how autistic people are all so different, and unique, especially the way their brains work.

EC:  How would you describe Charlie?

WW:  She has a good memory, good at math, but not good at relating to people.  She does not like loud noises or bright lights. She concentrates, an observer, loyal, and protective. She was diagnosed at age eleven. This helps to understand why she is different. She found the diagnosis very liberating and made her divergent. She can navigate the grown-up world.

EC: Charlie had a bunch of rules, why?

WW:  It is a story about an autistic girl and how any person put in Charlie’s situation would handle it differently based on their set of skills. The most important rule, “there are no rules when it comes to love.”  Love is a central theme to the book. The love between Charlie and her mom, between Charlie and her best friend Keller, and between Keller and her boyfriend Levi. Love is the one thing that throws off all the predictors. It causes all the other rules to fall away.

EC:  What was the influence of Charlie’s mom?

WW:  She felt trapped which is why she escaped from her parent’s clutches. She tells Charlie how love would destroy her.  She tries to be supportive. She was rejected by her parents.  She applies the lessons of what happened to her to everything for Charlie. All her dreams were stolen and now she has no dreams.  What is important to her and for Charlie is getting out of their town, Sawyer and to focus on survival. 

EC:  How would you describe Keller?

WW:  She is all consuming and passionate. She is an idealist, fragile, and harassed by the victim.  She drinks and smokes.

EC:  How would you describe one of the co-workers Janice?

WW:  She once had dreams. She is devoted, affectionate, proud, a worrier, and a mother figure.

E:  How would you describe one of the co-workers Nora?

WW:  She is resigned to life and feels pride in her work. She is a managerial type who is honest, loyal, disciplined, and a loner.

EC:  What about Ian, the policeman?

WW:  He was a childhood friend she was in love with. He is wound tightly and is trustworthy, sarcastic, and understanding. He is conflicted about his life’s circumstances.  He has unresolved issues and is shackled to the town. Charlie wants him to get over his past.

EC:  Readers feel no sympathy for the victim-correct?

WW:  He is not a good person.  He had a persona of what he wanted people to think of him versus his real persona. He was power hungry, greedy, lusted, and was not caring. He represents the bad things of this small town.  He enjoys humiliating people and takes advantage of people.  He is corrupt. He exploits his employees and takes away their dignity and self-respect.

EC:  Why the phrase, “lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and onions”?

WW: I worked in a sandwich shop at seventeen through college. The way the sandwich shop is described in the story is based on this shop. It was a chain called D’Angelos that have been around forever and puts those items on the sandwich. I had bosses who were sleeping with the teenage employees.

EC:  Next book?

WW: There will be an Audible book, an audio play titled Mad Love.  I describe it as Dirty John meets the Tinder Swindler meets the psychological thriller. It takes place in a wealthy suburban town.

EC:  Will this be made into a movie or TV show?

WW:  It has a TV series option.  All my stuff had been optioned.

THANK YOU!!

***

BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Feature Post and Book Review: Veil of Doubt by Sharon Virts

Book Description

When a mother is charged with murder in a town already convinced of her guilt, can defense attorney Powell Harrison find truth and justice in a legal system where innocence is not presumed? 

Emily Lloyd, a young widow in Reconstruction-era Virginia, is accused of poisoning her three-year-old daughter, Maud. It isn’t the first death in her home: her husband and three other children all died of mysterious illnesses, so when Maud succumbs to an unexplained malady, the town suspects foul play. Soon Mrs. Lloyd is charged not only with poisoning the child but also with murdering her children, her husband, and her aunt. 

Enter Powell Harrison, a soft-spoken, brilliant attorney who recently returned to his Virginia hometown to help his brother manage their late father’s practice. Approached to assist in Mrs. Lloyd’s defense, Harrison initially declines, worried that an infanticide case might tarnish their family’s reputation. But as details about the widow’s erratic behavior and her reclusive neighbors emerge, Harrison begins to suspect that an even more sinister truth might lurk beneath the family’s horrible fate and finds himself irresistibly drawn to the case.  

Based on a shocking true story, Veil of Doubt is part true-crime thriller, part medical and legal procedural. Perfect for fans of Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace and filled with rich period detail gleaned from exhaustive research, Veil of Doubt delves into the darkness of the South during Reconstruction, exposing intrigue, deception, and death. 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123852788-veil-of-doubt?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=wbMAQpiGlP&rank=1

Veil of Doubt

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BW65YMXH
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Girl Friday Books (October 10, 2023)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 10, 2023
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4265 KB
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 410 pages

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

VEIL OF DOUBT by Sharon Virts is an absolutely riveting historical fiction/crime mystery book based on true events surrounding the trial of a mother charged with the murder of her young daughter in 1872 Leesburg, Virginia. I could not put this book down from start to finish.

Emily Lloyd is accused and charged with poisoning her young daughter, Maud. The widow has tragically already had to bury three children previously and is considered odd even by her friends, who are few. The entire town suspects her of the crime.

Powell Harrison is a brilliant attorney who has returned to his hometown to partner with his brother in their late father’s practice. He is approached to take on Emily’s case. While he gets resistance from friends and even his own family, he feels he is the most experienced lawyer to help Emily. As the facts of the case emerge, Powell begins to suspect Emily’s erratic behavior might be hiding an even deeper secret.

This is one of my favorite historical fiction stories this year. I was completely engrossed from beginning to the end. The book is based around the investigation and trial for several murders supposedly perpetrated by Emily Lloyd. While some suspense/mystery books featuring court proceedings can be boring or dry at times, I never felt that way with this story. The way evidence was collected, tested, and evaluated was interesting and period appropriate. I knew where the character twist was headed before the ending, but still found it fascinating as well as discussions of other mental traumas related to the Civil War. The author’s research into the true crime case and the Reconstruction era is evident.

I highly recommend this compelling historical fiction/crime mystery based on a true story. Make sure you have time set aside because you will not be able to stop turning the pages.

***

About the Author

Sharon Virts is a successful entrepreneur and visionary who, after more than 25 years in business, followed her passion for storytelling into the world of historical fiction. She has received numerous awards for her work in historic preservation and has been recognized nationally for her business achievements and philanthropic contributions. She was recently included in Washington Life Magazine’s Philanthropic 50 of 2020 for her work with education, health, and cultural preservation.

Sharon’s passion truly lies in the creative. She is an accomplished visual artist and uses her gift for artistic expression along with her extraordinary storytelling to build complex characters and craft vivid images and sets that capture the heart and imagination. Sharon and her husband Scott live at Selma, a prominent historic residence that they saved from destruction and restored to its original stature. It is out of the love and preservation of Selma that the story of the life, times, and controversies of its original owner, Armistead Mason, has given root to her first novel Masque of Honor.

Social Media Links

Website: https://sharonvirts.com/veil-of-doubt/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SharonVirtsBooks

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/veil-of-doubt-by-sharon-virts

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie

Book Description

A visceral and compelling mystery about a Cherokee archeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs who is summoned to rural Oklahoma to investigate the disappearance of two women…one of them her sister.

There are secrets in the land.

As an archeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Syd Walker spends her days in Rhode Island trying to protect the land’s indigenous past, even as she’s escaping her own.

While Syd is dedicated to her job, she’s haunted by a night of violence she barely escaped in her Oklahoma hometown fifteen years ago. Though she swore she’d never go back, the past comes calling.

When a skull is found near the crime scene of her youth, just as her sister, Emma Lou, vanishes, Syd knows she must return home. She refuses to let her sister’s disappearance, or the remains, go ignored—as so often happens in cases of missing Native women.

But not everyone is glad to have Syd home, and she can feel the crosshairs on her back. Still, the deeper Syd digs, the more she uncovers about a string of missing indigenous women cases going back decades. To save her sister, she must expose a darkness in the town that no one wants to face—not even Syd.

The truth will be unearthed.

***

Elise’s Thoughts

Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie combines a riveting mystery within a thrilling plot. This is a story of the main character’s personal journey as she attempts to overcome her past demons and strives to balance her Native American identity with her current life.

Syd Walker, the protagonist, now lives in Rhode Island with her wife Mali, working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). She moved there from Oklahoma because of her violent past. Fifteen years ago she barely escaped from being killed when two masked men came into the trailer she, her sister, and her best friend were staying. She was able to rescue her sister, Emma Lou, but her best friend, Luna Myers was murdered.  She is guilt ridden and haunted literally by Luna’s ghost, who speaks to her ala Charles Todd whose ghost Hamish haunts Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge.

After Syd’s old BIA ID badge from a college internship is found inside a skull on BIA-managed land she is asked by her BIA supervisor, Jo Mankiller, to investigate.  Reluctantly, she returns to her hometown and learns that her sister Emma Lou, an opiate addict, has vanished, one of many Indigenous women to have recently disappeared from the area. She begins to investigate the women’s disappearances, hoping her inquiry might finally bring her face-to-face with Luna’s killer.

The blending of the culture and history made the plot even more interesting. Readers take the journey with Syd as she tries to reconcile her past, come to terms with her demons, and attempting to rebuild a relationship with her family.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?

Vanessa Lillie: This is the first book in the series. The story is set in Northeast Oklahoma, which is where I am from.  I wanted to write about my hometown and the surrounding towns.  The town in the story, is based on the history of a real town where there was oil and minerals, lead, and zinc.  It became a boom town overnight.  I wanted to incorporate my real history within my fictional characters backstory. I also wanted to write about the meth production, the Mexican Cartels coming into NE Oklahoma, and the legislative changes which is all accurate for the time, in 2008. I wanted to show how the illegal drug of meth combined with the legal Opioid drugs caused a lot of devastation in so many communities.

EC:  What about the Native American references?

VL:  The Quapaw Tribe had land taken from them.  I set the story in 2008 because it is now a ghost town, with a government buyout program.  There are serious health issues because of all the left-over minerals. I grew up next to this community. I am Cherokee so I wanted to write about a Cherokee protagonist. Because the matriarchal connection among Native Americans is so strong, I wrote how Syd is connected to her late grandmother, her Cherokee heritage that they shared together.

EC: How would you describe the main protagonist Syd?

VL:  She is a badass—with a lot of vulnerability.  I wanted to show through this character how someone processes trauma. She cares about justice, what she believes is right.  She is haunted and struggles to connect with people. She is not direct and a loner. She has a little bit chip on her shoulder.

EC:  Syd coming home reminded me of those in the military who come home on leave and feel like a fish out of water?

VL:  I am from a small town and left it to go to college when I was 18.I still felt a disconnect and insecurity when I returned, which is something I put onto Syd. It is hard for her to come in and think she has answers when Syd did not live there. She might have good intentions but does not know the reality of what is going on. She had created emotional boundaries and literal physical boundaries when she left her hometown and moved across the country.

EC:  The story has the mystery of what happened to Syd’s sister?

VL:  She will do anything to find, help, and save her. Even putting her life at risk.  Syd had created boundaries in her life, but at the end of the day when her sister was at risk, she would do anything to save her sister.

EC:  What was the role of Syd’s boss, Jo Mankiller?

VL: She represents the new generation of those in the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).  She feels she is there to support the tribes and the people. She has her own internal politics going.  She agrees with Syd that BIA should help the tribes, particularly with the murdered and missing girls. The BIA is a management structure for tribal lands.  Unfortunately, the Federal government in 2008 controls the law enforcement and they do not often care about girls going missing.  Their attention is on the drug cases.

EC:  What was the role of the ghost, Luna-did you get the idea from the movie “The Sixth Sense” where the boy saw “dead people?”

VL:  I wrote a pilot through the Native American media. It was a screenplay.  I was struggling to communicate Syd’s problem.  My editor and I worked it into this story. Syd is literally haunted by this sarcastic ghost girl.  Ghost Luna is a manifestation of trauma and pain that Syd carries.  She appears during Syd’s stress. She is based on an old memory of a teenage friend when they were girls.

EC:  Can you explain the quote about love?

VL: You are referring to this one, “Love isn’t protective.  In fact, it’s what makes us vulnerable to pain.” Anytime someone loves, they risk pain. People open themselves up to others and risk disappointment and hurt. There are beautiful things that come with it. For Syd, she has the idea of love, pain, and hope.

EC:  Next book?

VL: It will be set where I live now.  Syd has another case tied to earlier colonial days. It will probably come out in 2025.

THANK YOU!!

***

BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Twice on Christmas by McGarvey Black

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for TWICE ON CHRISTMAS by McGarvey Black on this Book ‘n’ All Promotions.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!

***

Book Description

After choir practice for midnight mass, college sophomore Rose Grandon takes a short-cut through Harbor Park. Grabbed from behind, she is violently assaulted, beaten and left for dead. The last thing she hears is a tenor voice singing Silent Night.

Several hours later, the police find Rose lying in a ditch. Badly beaten — but alive. As she recovers in hospital, Rose is told she’s pregnant. She has a terrible choice to make. She decides to keep the baby. Nine months later, she gives birth to a beautiful baby girl. She names her Mary.

Rose lives quietly in her small Connecticut hometown raising her daughter — the one good thing to come out of her horrible ordeal. She begins to get her old self back, but her evil attacker has never been caught. He strikes twice a year. Once on Christmas Eve, once on Christmas Day. Until he’s behind bars, Rose and her baby can never be safe.

But now he’s found out he has a daughter. And that changes everything . . .

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/197785670-twice-on-christmas?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=5L0GP13mEC&rank=1

BOOKS BY MCGARVEY BLACK

STANDALONES

***

Book Review

RATING: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

TWICE ON CHRISTMAS by McGarvey Black is a serial killer crime thriller/domestic suspense that features a young woman who survives a horrific attack on Christmas Eve and must deal with the trauma and ramifications every year following for over a decade. This is a standalone suspense/thriller by an author who is new to me.

Rose Grandon is a college sophomore at UConn and home for Christmas break. After choir practice for midnight mass, Rose wants to get home quicker by cutting through Harbor Park and is attacked from behind. Assaulted and left for dead, the last thing she hears is a beautiful tenor voice singing “Silent Night” as she loses consciousness by a creek in a ravine.

Her attacker is never found as she deals with several months of rehab and a pregnancy from her attack. Rose works hard to get her life back and make a home for baby, Mary, but every year her attacker remains on the loose and brutally attacking one woman every Christmas Eve and killing on every Christmas Day.

What Rose does not realize is that her attacker discovers he has a daughter, and that changes all his plans.

This is a thriller that immediately grabs you with a terrible crime and then follows the protagonist, Rose, through the next years of her life and everything she must deal with. As the reader follows Rose’s life, there are several male characters introduced into her life that could be the serial killer. I felt it was evident very early even with all the misdirection. Rose also is dealing with her daughter’s behavioral issues which highlighted how much parents do not want to acknowledge about their own children. As in any domestic suspense there are times you want to yell at the main character for not realizing some key bit of inconsistency and this story had many. The law enforcement officers, both local and federal, are not very efficient either. No background checks?

Overall,  I feel this is an average suspense/thriller that is entertaining, but with a few too many holes in the plot and a protagonist that does not question things she should.

***

Author Bio

McGarvey studied voice at Manhattan School of Music and was later a theatre major in college. She pursued an acting career but later moved into a magazine and digital media career. During that time, she sold advertising and managed sales teams for companies like Conde Nast, WebMD and worked for brands including GQ, Travel + Leisure, and Allure.

In between, she took a year off and backpacked alone around the world. Later, after having two children, she left media and became an executive recruiter for internet companies. In 2017, she began writing full time and has since published six novels.

Social Media Links

AUTHOR WEBSITE
TWITTER
INSTAGRAM