Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Fire on the Island by Stewart Giles

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for FIRE ON THE ISLAND (DI Liam O’Reilly Mysteries Book #13) by Stewart Giles on this Books ‘n’ All Promotions book tour.

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

Book Blurb

In the evening of the 4th of July 2019 four dozen drones descend on Guernsey, and the peaceful island is ablaze in minutes. 48 individual bombs have caused destruction in all four corners of the island.

Detective Inspector Liam O’Reilly takes this extremely personally. He was enjoying his honeymoon in the far north of the island at the time.

As the fire on the island continues to burn, O’Reilly can’t sit back and wait for it to die down. He needs answers to why this happened on the island he now calls home.

But the truth is going to take him to hell and back.

The fire on the island is only the start: this is a case that O’Reilly may never recover from.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/208351430-fire-on-the-island?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=JhkmTPT3gV&rank=1

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

FIRE ON THE ISLAND (DC Liam O’Reilly Mysteries Book #13) by Stewart Giles is another engaging and exciting addition to the DC Liam O’Reilly Mysteries series. This series never fails to keep me glued to the page from start to finish. Each book can be read as a standalone because the crimes mysteries are all unique, but I love watching characters reveal traits and quirks, and grow in their relationships, so I prefer reading the books in order.

DI Liam O’Reilly is enjoying his honeymoon when they are interrupted by a call. Several dozen drones have encircled the island and dropped bombs along the entire coast. As the smoke and fires are being taken care of, Liam is told four people have lost their lives. The Guernsey Border Agency has received a call that this is an attack from an Albanian terrorist group that plans to destroy even more if a ransom is not paid, but Liam does not believe it is terrorists at all.

Liam and his team discover the drones have come from the neighboring island of Herm, while the GBA agents look the other way. Liam is determined to discover what the four murdered victims have in common and why they were killed, while also looking forward to once again proving the GBA wrong.

This police procedural/murder mystery surprised me with the conclusion, and I love when that happens. Mr. Giles effortlessly intertwines new-to-me information on subjects that I did not know would fascinate me, plot twists and surprises, and main character developments that pull me in and keep me turning the pages. I love Liam and it seems to me he is becoming a bit less irascible, at least with those he cares about. Every one of the main characters is like a friend now and I love to catch up with them in each book.

This is one of my favorite DC mystery series and I highly recommend this police procedural/crime mystery, the entire series, and this author.

***

Author Bio

After reading English at 3 Universities and graduating from none of them, I set off travelling around the world with my wife, Ann, finally settling in South Africa, where we still live.

In 2014 Ann dropped a rather large speaker on my head and I came up with the idea for a detective series. DS Jason Smith was born. Smith, the first in the series was finished a few months later.

3 years and 8 DS Smith books later, Joffe Books wondered if I would be interested in working with them. As a self-published author, I agreed. However, we decided on a new series – the DC Harriet Taylor: Cornwall series.

The Beekeeper was published and soon hit the number one spot in Australia. The second in the series, The Perfect Murder did just as well.

I continued to self-publish the Smith series and Unworthy hit the shelves in 2018 with amazing results.  I therefore made the decision to self-publish The Backpacker which is book 3 in the Detective Harriet Taylor series which was published in July 2018.

After The Backpacker I had an idea for a totally new start to a series – a collaboration between the Smith and Harriet thrillers and The Enigma was born. It brought together the broody, enigmatic Jason Smith and the more level-headed Harriet Taylor.

The Miranda trilogy is something totally different. A psychological thriller trilogy. It is a real departure from anything else I’ve written before.

The Detective Jason Smith series continues to grow. I also have another series featuring an Irish detective who relocated to Guernsey, the Detective Liam O’Reilly series. There are also 3 stand alone novels.

Social Media Links

Website: www.stewartgiles.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stewart.giles.33

Twitter: @stewartgiles

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Sly As a Fox by Wendy Koenig

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for SLY AS A FOX (The Sylvia Wilson Mysteries Book #2) by Wendy Koenig on this AME Blog Tour.

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

***

Book Description

Sylvia Wilson’s brother, Aaron, is working with a joint bank robbery task force. When he goes missing, she joins forces with the FBI to search for him.

But nothing is what it seems.

With very little time left, Sylvia will burn Heaven to the ground to find her missing brother and bring him back alive. FBI, be damned.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/213693447-sly-as-a-fox?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=GOnWgz7mfj&rank=1

***

My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

SLY AS A FOX (The Sylvia Wilson Mysteries Book #2) by Wendy Koenig is a fast-paced, action-adventure mystery/thriller with a wise beyond her years, Krav Maga fighting, female protagonist who is a bartender/bar owner. While this is the second book in the series, it can be read as a standalone, but to get more character background and action try out the first book, On the Sly, which I also recommend.

Sylvia Wilson is still procrastinating on her decisions for the rebuild of her bar after an arson fire destroyed it, getting back to her Krav Maga lessons, and dealing with nightmares and panic attacks after her run in with a killer in book one. Attempting to deal with all these personal problems, she is then notified of the disappearance of her police officer brother who has gone missing on an undercover operation for the FBI.

Sylvia will do anything, even go against the FBI agents who do not appear to be helping, to find her brother and bring him back alive.

This is an edge-of-your-seat mystery/thriller with plenty of misdirection, lies, and action. Sylvia is a complex character with a deep love of family, friends, and difficult animals, but also deeply scarred by the death of her parents for which she feels partially responsible. She is only 22 years old in the books, but very street wise and worldly from working in bars before she was legal. Because of her law enforcement father, she and her brother grew up playing games that ultimately help them in the present such as her knowledge of guns, her black belt in Judo and her current study of Krav Maga. The mystery plot in this book was well paced and interesting as Sylvia looks for her brother and then with his help looks for a mole in the FBI. The ending was not completely what I was expecting, but I liked it.

I recommend this exciting action-adventure mystery thriller and I am looking forward to Sylvia’s next adventure.

***

About the Author

Wendy is a published author living in New Brunswick, Canada, with her husband, Vince, and two cats named after the Blues Brothers, Jake and Elwood. Her first piece to be printed was a short children’s fiction, Jet’s Stormy Adventure, serialized in The Illinois Horse Network. She attended University of Iowa, honing her craft in their famed summer workshops and writing programs. Since that time, she has published and co-authored numerous books. Several of her manuscripts and short stories have won international awards and have appeared in multiple venues.

Social Media Links

Website: https://wendylkoenig.com/

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wlkoenig

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wendylkoenig/

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: The Birthday of Eternity by A.D. Price

The Birthday of Eternity

by A. D. Price


May 13 – June 7, 2024 Virtual Book Tour

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE BIRTHDAY OF ETERNITY (A Comfort & Company Mystery Book #2) by A.D. Price on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a Kingsumo giveaway. Good luck and enjoy!

***

Book Description

L.A. private investigators Kit and Henry become entangled in the city’s robust post-WWII occult trade when they’re hired to track down Lillian, the estranged wife of a prominent physician, and her spellbinding “spirit” lover Tashin. Fresh from her training in judo and “dirty fighting,” Kit poses as an eager recruit at a Hollywood cult run by the ambitious Reverend, while Henry takes on the city’s séance circuit, which has reinvented itself in the wake of war. Assisting them are Kit’s psychiatrist lover Luca and her combat veteran brother Stanley, who offer their own brand of expertise in unraveling the tricks of the conmen.

Plunged into the strange and deadly world of mediums and gurus, Kit and Henry soon discover that surviving the spirit trade will take all of their cunning and a whole lot of luck.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/203611746-the-birthday-of-eternity?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=QDhFLFeiCw&rank=1

The Birthday of Eternity

Genre: Historical Private Detective Mystery
Published by: Indie
Publication Date: December 6, 2023
Number of Pages: 358
ISBN: 9798986893044
Series: Comfort & Company Book 2

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE BIRTHDAY OF ETERNITY (A Comfort and Company Mystery Book #2) by A.D. Price is a suspenseful historical P.I. mystery set post WWII in Los Angeles, California and features two memorable private investigators. This is the second book in the series, and I feel I understood and enjoyed all the characters and their motivations more by reading book one, After the Blue, Blue Rain, and book two in order.

P.I. Kit Comfort and her partner P.I. Henry Richman have barely recovered from their last case and find themselves quickly drawn into their next. Hired to track down the missing wife of a prominent L.A. physician, they find themselves involved in the world of cults and spiritualists. With the help of Kit’s psychiatrist lover and her combat veteran brother, Kit and Henry soon discover the spirits may be more dangerous than they believed.

I am really enjoying this historical mystery series. While it has a bit of a noir feel to the private investigation plot, it is not as dark or gritty as some others in this period. It has both Kit and Henry alternating the narrative of the story with the occasional insertion of the missing person’s narrative. It is a unique way of discovering the facts as the investigation gets closer to the solution. (The first book in the series was narrated in a similar way.) The investigation is interesting with none of the current advantages of technology, just plenty of personal contacts, shoe leather, ingenuity, and undercover work with some action interspersed throughout.

While the plots of both mysteries are well paced and plotted, it is the characters that I love. Kit is an emancipated woman for her times and yet she still has a very loving heart towards her brother, partner and friends and she also loves a good hat. Henry has a complicated history and an even more complicated marriage. While he gives off a hard guy persona, I felt so much sympathy for him. All the related characters in this series are fully drawn and believable for the period.

I highly recommend this compelling historical P.I. mystery series.

***

Excerpt

PROLOGUE

DAIVIKA

(Preface, “Survival: My Journey to Enlightenment,” CoEB Press, 1948)

Happy New Year! Today, I begin the story of my death. The story of my death and my rebirth. The story of my journey to enlightenment. It won’t begin at the beginning. It won’t unfold in chronological order, or in subject order. Instead, it will flow in psychic order. An order marked by change—the before and the after—and its place in my eternal existence, in the circle with no beginning and no end. 

Some in my position might shy away from sharing their story. They might prefer to keep their past a secret. However, from my experience—the experience that brought me to this point today—secrets destroy. They destroy trust, of course, but they also destroy hope. We can’t profess to love nature’s sunshine while keeping a part of ourselves in the darkness. Our past, our histories, are as much a part of our being as our beliefs and our actions.

Of course, it’s impossible to recall everything, and not all revelations are suitable for all audiences, but as far as common decency and memory will allow me, I will be truthful and open with my history. It’s the least I can do for my new friends and colleagues. Now more than ever, I need your trust. So, I will give you my secrets—some of them anyway.

And circle or not, I must start my story somewhere, and when I think about the past, I find myself returning to one moment, one place, one hot summer afternoon. It was a moment whose significance grew over time, like a soft mew swelling to a roar. It’s there I’ll begin the story of my life, a not-so-long-ago moment, fresh from death’s door. 

Chapter 1

DAIVIKA

(Excerpt from “Survival: My Journey to Enlightenment.” CoEB Press, 1948)

Death, as a concept, bubbles up often in my current existence, but in my previous life, I did my best to keep the topic at bay, to push down my fears and ignore any pain. Months after the war’s end, I was still rationing my sadness, still offering fake smiles and unearned laughs. 

That began to change with the death of my grandmother. Days before, she had taken a bad fall and her recovery had been fitful. I dropped by the hospital once or twice, but on that last Sunday, I canceled my planned visit and attended one of my husband’s archery competitions instead. She passed during the night.

Gramma had always been the kind constant in my life—more giving than my mother—and her departure from this world was a blow to my defenses. Its full impact, however—my shame especially— didn’t hit me until later. Even then, as I first stood by her open grave under that scorching sun, dry martinis in ice-cold glasses were all I was thinking about.

In her will, Gramma instructed she be buried at Forest Lawn, in the Everlasting Love section, next to her beloved husband, my grandpa. He had succumbed to a stroke a few years earlier, and his demise rendered Gramma spiritually unbalanced. Or as she put it, without him by her side, her life had no joy. At the time, I didn’t associate Gramma’s spiritual imbalance with a literal imbalance, the type of vertigo that caused her to misjudge a step, take a spill and break her hip, but the connection seems obvious to me now.

 I also see now the deep imprint that my grandparents’ long and loving marriage left on my psyche. My parents’ marriage was fragile and my own romances were flops. But Gramma and Grandpa’s bond truly was everlasting—in life and beyond. Who doesn’t yearn for that? 

No doubt that if my native Californian Gramma had been in charge of the matter, her burial would have taken place on a rainy dawn in winter. As it turned out, however, the fates preferred a cloudless afternoon in July. The night before, a Santa Ana wind had blown in, delivering a day of gusts so hot and dry they all but set fire to the lungs. The service at the Wee Kirk o’ the Heather Church had been reasonably well-attended, but most of the mourners, including my husband, skipped the burial. While immaculate and stubbornly green, the lawn the cemetery was famous for had absorbed the wind’s heat, making standing graveside more hellish than heavenly.

The minister-for-hire went through his rituals as quickly as was socially acceptable. But as he was delivering his final words over Gramma’s coffin, the birds and insects of Forest Lawn went abruptly silent. I felt the silence more than I heard it, but I sensed instantly that something was off and something else was eminent. And just as that anticipation hit, the sky’s light dimmed and the air dulled. We had been plunged, midday, into dusk. 

During the next few seconds, my ears started to ring, or rather, hum. My heart raced, and I gasped. Then I fainted. My knees gave out and I tumbled to the ground. I toppled just inches from the open grave, my left arm dangling over the side. I quickly recovered but when I opened my eyes, the world was tinged with red and the air that swirled around me was frigid. I could hear murmurs of concern and felt someone touching my back. Embarrassed, I struggled to my feet and assured everyone I was fine.

And for a time, I fooled myself into believing that I was fine. On the drive home from the cemetery, I heard radio bulletins describing the total solar eclipse that had just occurred in the Northern Hemisphere. Everything I had experienced during the funeral was unusual but explainable. A natural phenomenon. 

Or was it? Was Gramma’s funeral occurring at the same time as a rare astronomical event a coincidence? Or had Fortuna influenced the scheduling somehow? What had I seen? What had I felt? Had I felt through that cold wind Gramma’s spirit heading for the Afterlife? Or was it the stirring of my own sorrow, blowing around me in warning? Or both?

***

Author Bio

A native of Washington, D. C., A. D. Price is an Emmy-winning screenwriter and author. Her publications (as Amy Dunkleberger) include educational books and feature articles on historical and arts-related subjects. In 2022, she published After the BlueBlue Rain, her first novel and the first book in her Comfort & Company mystery series. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two dogs.

Social Media Links

www.ADPricebooks.com
Goodreads
BookBub – @adpricebooks
Instagram – @adprice22
Threads – @adprice22
Facebook – @adpricebooks
YouTube – @ADPrice

Purchase Links

Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads

Audiobook Links: Audible | Spotify | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Chirp

###

KINGSUMO GIVEAWAY

https://kingsumo.com/g/gunjd0/the-birthday-of-eternity-by-a-d-price-ebook-gift-card

Feature Post and Book Review: A Murder Most French by Colleen Cambridge

Book Description

Postwar Paris is surging back to life, and its citizens are seizing every opportunity to raise a glass or share a delicious meal. But as American ex-pat Tabitha Knight and chef-in-training Julia Child discover, celebrations can quickly go awry when someone has murder in mind . . .

The graceful domes of Sacré Coeur, the imposing cathedral of Notre Dame, the breathtaking Tour Eiffel . . . Paris is overflowing with stunning architecture. Yet for Tabitha Knight, the humble building that houses the Cordon Bleu cooking school, where her friend Julia studies, is just as notable. Tabitha is always happy to sample Julia’s latest creation and try to recreate dishes for her Grand-père and Oncle Rafe.

The legendary school also holds open demonstrations, where the public can see its master chefs at work. It’s a treat for any aspiring cook—until one of the chefs pours himself a glass of wine from a rare vintage bottle—and promptly drops dead in front of Julia, Tabitha, and other assembled guests. It’s the first in a frightening string of poisonings that turns grimly personal when cyanide-laced wine is sent to someone very close to Tabitha. 

What kind of killer chooses such a means of murder, and why? Tabitha and Julia hope to find answers in order to save innocent lives—not to mention a few exquisite vintages—even as their investigation takes them through some of the darkest corners of France’s wartime past . . .

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/194477948-a-murder-most-french?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=SrIRFriUrm&rank=1

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

A MURDER MOST FRENCH (American in Paris Mystery Book #2) by Colleen Cambridge is an entertaining amateur sleuth historical mystery featuring an American woman in Paris living and befriended by the not yet famous Julia Child in 1950 postwar Paris. This second book in the series is easily read as a standalone.

Tabitha Knight is trying to decide what she wants to do with her life. She has travelled from her home in Detroit to live in Paris with her Parisian grand-pere and his longtime friend who she refers to as oncle. She also becomes friends with Julia Child and her husband who lives nearby. Julia is attending The Cordon Bleu cooking school and helps Tabitha with her cooking as well as being a sounding board for the murder investigations Tabitha seems to continually fall into.

When Julia and Tabitha attend a cooking demonstration at the Cordon Bleu, the instructing chef falls dead of poison after tasting a rare vintage wine he has been gifted. The very next day at a wine gathering the same thing happens to another famed French chef. Tabitha is once again in the middle of one of Inspector Mervielle’s murder investigations and while she promises to not interfere, when her grand-pere and oncle are almost poisoned in the same way, she cannot help but get involved, but it may be the last investigation she ever attempts to solve.

I love the characters in this series and the murder mystery is well paced and plotted. Tabitha is a wonderful protagonist who has led an interesting life to date but is still deciding on her future. With her curiosity, varied interests, and tidbits she learned from her detective father in America, how could she not become involved? Adding Julia Child and her cooking to the story, not only makes my mouth water, but acts at times as a very effective red herring. I also enjoy the growing personal interest between Tabitha and the Inspector. With discussions of fine wines, French cooking, the Parisian catacombs, the German Occupation, which is only a few years past, and more clues about Tabitha’s grand-pere and oncle’s pasts in the Resistance, this story is captivating as a cozy amateur sleuth historical mystery. I am anxiously waiting for the next.

I highly recommend this historical murder mystery, both books in the series to date, and this author’s other mystery series as well.

***

About the Author

Colleen Cambridge is the pen name for an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. From a young age, Colleen has loved reading mysteries and now she couldn’t be happier that she is able to write them.

Under several pseudonyms, she has written more than 36 books in a variety of genres and is always plotting her next murder—er, book.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.colleengleason.com/colleen-cambridge/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColleenGleason.Author

Twitter: https://twitter.com/colleengleason

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/colleen-gleason

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: The Twisted Road by A.B. Michaels

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE TWISTED ROAD (Barrister Perris Mysteries Book #1) by A.B. Michaels on this Black Coffee Book Tour.

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

***

Book Description

Jonathan Perris Can’t Save His Clients
…Until He Saves Himself


1907

Rising from the devastation of a massive earthquake and fire, San Francisco is once again on the move. But a strike by streetcar drivers threatens to halt the Golden City in its tracks. Protests turn to violence and violence leads to death. Soon a young guard is convicted of willfully killing a protester and the public is out for blood.

Jonathan Perris, an immigrant attorney from England, has opened a law firm with an eye toward righting wrongs, and the guard’s conviction may fall into that category. But the talented barrister soon finds his newfound career shaken by a tragic event: the gruesome murder of the beautiful and mysterious Lena Mendelssohn—a woman he’s been squiring around town. It’s difficult to run a law firm when you’ve been arrested for murder.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/209238607-the-twisted-road?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=aLGoCRv4bF&rank=1

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE TWISTED ROAD (Barrister Perris Mysteries Book #1) by A.G. Michaels is a new intricately plotted historical mystery set in a devastated and rebuilding 1906 San Francisco, California and featuring a compelling cadre of main characters that immediately pulled me into the story.

Jonathan Perris was a talented barrister who has immigrated from England and set up his fledgling law firm in San Francisco. He has a strong sense of justice for all, but a mysterious past that even his associates know nothing about. Jonathan learns that the paramour he has been squiring around town is not who he believes her to be, and he ends their affair.  She is found murdered in a brothel the very next day and Jonathan is arrested.

With the help of his assistant attorneys, Cordelia and Oliver, his private investigator, Dove, and the office manager and mother hen, Althea, Jonathan is determined to discover the real killer when his associates prove his alibi and get him out of jail. As Jonathan and Dove investigate the murder, Cordelia is working another case of a security guard who convicted of killing a worker on strike in the cable car strike. They soon discover both cases may be tied together and while they follow not only the clues, but the dead bodies, members of their own team may be next.

This is an engaging story that I am very excited about being a series. The characters are all fully drawn and believable to the period. Jonathan has so many past secrets we are left wondering about and his love-hate relationship with his inheritance of the “cadou” or knowing from his mysteriously missing mother has so many possibilities. He has a strong moral core and yet the snippets from his past lead you to believe he also has done things that may not be considered legal. This is also a great character juxtaposition to his associate, Cordelia who is very idealistic and inquisitive. She is determined to discover his true self.

The Twisted Road is an apt title for this historical mystery and an apt description of the plot. There are many twists and surprise connections that left me guessing all the way to the end. Ms. Michaels has used the history of 1906 San Francisco; capitalism vs. socialism, the unions vs. corporations, the opulence of the rich vs. the financial instability of the average person, and the lack of housing due to the earthquake to enrich this fascinating story. I have read other titles by this author and really enjoyed them, but this one has memorable characters that have me eagerly waiting for the next in the series to see what they do next.

I highly recommend this extraordinary historical mystery!

***

About the Author

A native of California, A.B. Michaels holds masters’ degrees in history (UCLA) and broadcasting (San Francisco State University). After working for many years as a promotional writer and editor, she turned to writing the kind of page-turning fiction she loves to read. She writes historical fiction (“The Golden City” series) as well as contemporary romantic suspense (“Sinner’s Grove Suspense.”). “Barrister Perris Mysteries” is her latest endeavor, based on characters introduced in “The Golden City.” All of her books are stand-alone reads.

Michaels currently lives in Boise, Idaho with her husband and two elderly, four-legged “sons” (16 and 17!) who don’t seem to know they’re just dogs. She is an avid reader, traveler, quilter and bocce player, as well as a mediocre but enthusiastic golfer.

Social Media Links

https://abmichaels.com/
https://abmichaels.com/the-curious-peach-blog-2/
https://www.facebook.com/abmichaelsauthor
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8189786.A_B_Michaels
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/a-b-michaels

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: A Chain of Pearls by Raemi A. Ray

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for A CHAIN OF PEARLS (Martha’s Vineyard Murders Book #1) by Raemi A. Ray on this AME Blog Tour.

Below you will find an author Q&A, a book synopsis, my book review, and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!

***

Author Q&A

On Writing:

Where do you get inspiration for your stories?

Most of my plots are pulled from headlines, and then I add in the murder.

Your book is set in Martha’s Vineyard. Have you ever been there?

Yes, I’ve been visiting the island for years and this series is a sort of love letter to it. It’s one of my favorite places.

Do you have another profession besides writing?

I do. In my other much more boring life, I’m an IP lawyer, not unlike my protagonist.

What genre do you write and why?

I write mystery/thrillers. I simply prefer writing plot over emotional journeys and mystery and thriller lend themselves to plot focused stories.

What is the last great book you’ve read?

My memory is terrible. The last book I read that I think about often is probably Manacled. I regret reading it with every fiber of my being. Not because it wasn’t good, but because it was terrifying.

On Rituals:

Do you snack while writing? Favorite snack?

I try not to, but in moments of weakness I want Flaming Hot Cheetos. I live for spice.

Where do you write?

I have an office where I edit, but my first drafts are done anywhere: in my sunroom, in front of a fireplace (inside or out), at pubs or coffee shops, the beach – wherever I can prop a laptop.

Do you write every day?

Nearly.

***

Book Synopsis

The last thing she wants is to dig up the past…

When the body of a celebrated journalist is fished from the Edgartown Harbor, the official report rules his death accidental. But why was he alone on a senator’s yacht during a nor’easter? That’s only the first question London-based lawyer Kyra Gibson has when she arrives on the idyllic island of Martha’s Vineyard to settle her estranged father’s affairs.

She’s not looking for closure. She’s not seen him in decades since he left her with her aunt following her mother’s death. But as Kyra delves deeper into her father’s life, she learns he had many regrets and wasn’t as retired as she believed. The more Kyra discovers, the more questions she has. With the help of world-weary detective, Tarek Collins, they uncover a web of intrigue and corruption involving a powerful senator, a dubious energy company, and brutal murder.

As they chase down clues, Kyra and Tarek flirt with danger and race against time to solve the murders and uncover the dark secrets lurking beneath Martha’s Vineyard’s picturesque façade of old money wealth and privilege.

This is the first book in the Martha’s Vineyard Murders series. The second novel, The Wraith’s Return, will be available later this summer, followed by Widow’s Walk in the fall.

 A Chain of Pearls is a top indie mystery and crime pick from Barnes & Noble!

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/211099064-a-chain-of-pearls?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=4AzCRqIPx6&rank=1

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

A CHAIN OF PEARLS (Martha’s Vineyard Murders Book #1) by Raemi A. Ray is a gripping debut murder mystery set on Martha’s Vineyard that I could not put down. I am very happy this is a proposed series because everything, from the fully drawn characters, intricate mystery plot, and the idyllic island setting were flawlessly executed on the page, and I want to visit again soon.

London-based Kyra Gibson arrives on Marth’s Vineyard to settle her estranged father’s estate. Retired from his years as a foreign journalist, he is found dead in the Edgartown Harbor from an apparent drowning accident. As she delves deeper into her father’s affairs, she discovers he was digging into a story involving a powerful senator on the island and a lucrative wind turbine contract. When she speaks to the detective in charge of her father’s case, she learns he has doubts of his own about her father’s death being an accident.

Detective Tarek Collins has questions still unanswered about Kyra’s father’s death. As the two begin to work together, another body is discovered in a barn fire on the senator’s island property. Tarek and Kyra do not realize the danger they are in as they uncover secrets that lie beneath the surface of the rich and powerful on the island.

I read this book from start to finish in one sitting. Kyra and Tarek come to life on the page. They work well together and there is an attraction that will hopefully be advanced in future books. The mystery plot was well paced with surprise twists and a continual increase in tension and suspense to the climax. The description of Martha’s Vineyard throughout the story made me feel as if I was right there with the characters. I was very surprised to find out this is the author’s debut book because it reads more like a book in a series by one of my favorite authors that I have been following for years.

I highly recommend this engaging murder mystery and am looking forward to many more.

***

Author Bio

Raemi A. Ray’s travels to Martha’s Vineyard and around the world inspire her stories. She lives outside Boston. When not writing or traveling she earns her keep as the personal assistant to the resident house demons, Otto and Dolph Lundgren.

Social Media Links

Website: https://raemiray.com/

Instagram: @miss_raemi

Purchase Link

Amazon: http://amzn.to/3Jenei0

Author Marketing Experts:

Twitter: @Bookgal

Instagram: @therealbookgal