Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for Sun, Sea & Murder: A Locked Room Mystery by J.S. Savage on this Overview Media Blog Tour.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Blurb
Two baffling murders. A hotel full of suspects. One secretive sleuth.
The guests at The Orange Tree Hotel arrive looking forward to a holiday filled with sun, fun, and sangria. But when Russell Aspell, the hotel’s owner, is found dead inside a locked room, any hopes of a relaxing break under the Spanish sun are ruined. Soon, each of the guests will become suspects as their lies and secrets are uncovered.
Then, when a guest is murdered in plain view of everyone else, it’s clear the murderer is not only ingenious but utterly ruthless too.
In order to catch a killer, some perplexing questions will first need to be answered… How did the killer get in and out of a locked room? What is the significance of the mysterious notes found in Russell’s office? What happened to the money in the hotel safe? And why is someone stealing guests’ mobile phones?
Only a special type of investigator with a unique skillset will be able to piece together the clues to stop the killer before they strike again…
SUN, SEA & MURDER by J.S. Savage is an engaging and fun old fashioned locked room cozy mystery told from four protagonist’s points of view who are all English vacationers at a resort hotel in Spain. This is a very clever mystery plot from a new-to-me author that had me stumped.
A group of English vacationers have arrived at The Orange Tree Hotel in scenic and hot Spain for some holiday fun. The owner, Russell Aspell, is discovered dead in the hotel’s locked gym and the vacationers become suspects overnight. When the gum chewing, bumbling Inspector arrives on the scene, Russell’s longtime friend, Penny Haylestone, decides to do some detecting with the help of Marley, another vacationer and soon discovers secrets and lies among the group.
When a member of their group is murdered right in front of everyone at a cookout, the group realizes they are dealing with a ruthless killer and Penny is determined to uncover the killer before they strike again.
I absolutely loved this mystery, not only because it reminded me of the type of books that started me on my love of mysteries many years ago, but because all the red herrings and surprises kept me guessing as well as entertained from start to finish. I did not guess the solution to the mystery before the denouement and I love it when that happens. There are many characters, but they are all well defined by the author and easily sorted early in the story. Penny and Marley are a delightful mystery solving duo.
I highly recommend this enchanting locked room cozy mystery.
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Author Bio
J.S. Savage is a London based writer who hails from Northern Ireland. His love of detective fiction originated one hot, dusty day in Kandahar when he was serving with the R.A.F. From a bookcase, he picked up Agatha Christie’s The Mystery of the Blue Train, and though she cited it as her worst work, J.S. Savage became enthralled by the deceptions, red herrings, and mastery at work. This fascination with the genre eventually led him to try his hand at his own novel, and so, The Mystery of Treefall Manor was published in September 2023. His latest novel Sun, Sea, and Murder was published in April 2024. Both of these novels were chosen as Book of the Month by the Crime blog In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel.
J.S. Savage has been shortlisted in several short story competitions and is a member of the Crime Writers’ Association.
It’s 1942, and as far as her father knows, Evelyn Bishop, heiress to an aeronautics fortune, is working as a translator in London. In truth, Evelyn—daring, beautiful, and as adept with a rifle as she is in five languages—has joined the Office of Strategic Services as a spy. Her goal is personal: to find her brother, who is being held as a POW in a Nazi labor camp. Through one high-risk mission after another she is paired with the reckless and rebellious Nick Gallagher, growing ever close to him until the war’s end brings with it an act of deep betrayal.
Six years later, Evelyn is back home in Los Angeles, working as a private investigator. The war was supposed to change everything, yet Evelyn, contemplating marriage to her childhood sweetheart, feels stifled by convention. Then the suspected cheating husband she’s tailing is murdered, and suddenly Evelyn is back in Nick’s orbit again.
Teaming up for a final mission, Evelyn and Nick begin to uncover the true nature of her case— and realize that the war has followed them home. For beyond the public horrors waged by nations there are countless secret, desperate acts that still reverberate on both continents, and threaten everything Evelyn holds dear…
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Elise’s Thoughts
Under The Paper Moon by Shaina Steinberg is a fun read. Between the scenes of WWII and the murder of someone in 1948 this blends a mystery and thriller. There is love, duty, loyalty, and forgiveness.
The heroine, Evelyn Bishop, has joined the OSS as a spy. Besides wanting to help the allies she is trying to rescue her brother, held in a German POW camp. Her supervisor is Nick Gallagher. They become intimate and grow close during the war until he betrays her.
Six years later, Evelyn is working as a private investigator. After trailing a suspected cheating husband, the suspect is murdered. Evelyn finds out that Nick is also a PI, who was working with the murdered victim. Teaming up for a final mission, Evelyn and Nick begin to uncover the true nature of her case, realizing that the war has followed them home.
The banter in the story adds humor to the story. There is a lot of action with some romance that includes a love triangle.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the series?
Shaina Steinberg: This is the first in a three-book deal, but I am hoping that I can continue writing more in the series. I love old movies and I started to watch movies from the 1940s. These had strong women like Katherine Hepburn or Ingrid Bergman. This is partly why I set it during this period. Plus, there is a correlation with my grandmother who was a strong and vibrant woman. She got married and did everything society expected of her. She had regrets because she really wanted to be a doctor or a nurse. She did not have many options in her life. My heroine, Evelyn, explores what my grandmother could have been.
EC: How did you get the idea for this story?
SS: I have been fascinated by WWII and my father read bedtime stories written by Elie Wiesel. He always said, ‘it can happen here so we must be vigilant.’ I see this is as a story that delved into the war, but not just that aspect. It shows what war can do to someone and the sacrifices made, especially what a parent would do to keep their child safe.
EC: Do you think there is a corollary between being a spy and a private investigator?
SS: Absolutely. Evelyn as a spy was extremely competent. She was taught to be undetected and how to notice small clues that might lead to something bigger.
EC: How would you describe Evelyn?
SS: She is very talented, good with a gun and able to speak five languages. She is a feminist and loves the adrenaline rush. She could be selfish, petty, sarcastic, stubborn but is also loyal, fearless, funny, and brave. She is from a privileged background. But after the war, her eyes are open, which gives her empathy.
EC: As with many of those in the military who have retired, they miss it. Please explain how you explored this in the story with Evelyn.
SS: There were two quotes in the book that refer to this. The first, “There is no place for me. Not here. Not there. Not anywhere.” The second, “Those first week’s home Evelyn felt as if she was under water. Sometimes it felt like sitting on the ocean floor with the weight of the water pressing down on her.” The second quote is like someone grieving and that grief encompasses everything in someone’s life. While later, after the grief is not so fresh, the person can be functional. The weight of the ocean water is the numbness. The first quote refers to how after the war she feels useless. Evelyn does not want to be a stay-at-home wife because she actively saved lives during the war and had a sense of purpose.
EC: How would you describe the hero, Nick?
SS: He was Evelyn’s commander during the war. During the war he felt fulfillment, a sense of purpose, confident, fearless, and self-assured. Now, after the war he feels hopeless with a sense of failure. He feels rage and anger. The anger is an undercurrent as to when he was abandoned by his family when he was so young, feeling his life was unjust and unfair. He uses that anger to motivate him.
EC: What about the relationship between Evelyn and Nick?
SS: Evelyn gave him stability, hope, and happiness. During the war they were bonded by danger. They are in love even though he betrayed her. From Evelyn he saw that she is kind, good, and has a belief in the goodness in people. Nick sees the world from her point of view, through her eyes. Nick gets a sense of purpose from Evelyn. I think she helps him channel all his anger into ways he can help others. After the war when he loses her, he loses his sense of purpose. I also think the war gave her a sense of purpose. She felt like she was doing something important that could save lives. I think a big part of Nick’s appeal is that he was her partner in that purpose, and he never thought of her as anything less than strong and capable.
EC: Is there a love triangle between Evelyn, Nick, and her current fiancé?
SS: Yes. There is a scene in the book where Evelyn describes James, her current fiancé,as “romantic, sweet, kind, and chivalrous.” Nick sees James as “desperate, needy, and old-fashioned.” If there was never WWII, she probably would have married James when she was twenty-two. Before she went to war that would have been enough because she did not know anything different. To her James is safe and represents her being home and her innocence as well as her living breathing connection to her brother. But what he represents is not enough for her anymore. Evelyn does not see a compability between her world before the war and one after the war. Her appeal for Nick is beyond more than their chemistry, but he was also there when she grew into the person she is now. But because of his betrayal she questions everything she saw and knew about him as well as how she sees herself.
EC: What is the relevance of the song, “Paper Moon?”
SS: Everything she felt about Nick was turned around once she thought he betrayed her. The song represents the way Evelyn sees their love. She thought their love was real and after he betrayed her, she now feels it was hollow. On a personal level it was one of my grandmother’s favorite songs, so it reminds me of her.
EC: Next book?
SS: It will be published in May of next year, with a working title An Unquiet Peace. One of my regrets was that I did not explore Evelyn’s female friendships in this book, but it is part of the second book. There are still conflicts between Nick and Evelyn. It will take place in October 1948 around the Berlin Airlift. Nick also has a case of a woman who wants to leave her marriage.
THANK YOU!!
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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.
November 1866: The grisly murder site in London’s East End is thronged with onlookers. None of them expect the calmly efficient young woman among them to be a medical doctor, arrived to examine the corpse. Inspector Richard Tennant, overseeing the investigation, at first makes no effort to disguise his skepticism. But Dr. Julia Lewis is accustomed to such condescension . . .
To study medicine, Julia had to leave Britain, where universities still bar their doors to women, and travel to America. She returned home to work in her grandfather’s practice—and to find London in the grip of a devastating cholera epidemic. In four years, however, she has seen nothing quite like this—a local clergyman’s body sexually mutilated and displayed in a manner that she—and Tennant—both suspect is personal.
Days later, another body is found with links to the first, and Tennant calls in Dr. Lewis again. The murderer begins sending the police taunting letters and tantalizing clues—though the trail leads in multiple directions, from London’s music halls to its grim workhouses and dank sewers. Lewis and Tennant struggle to understand the killer’s dark obsessions and motivations. But there is new urgency, for the doctor’s role appears to have shifted from expert to target. And this killer is no impulsive monster, but a fiendishly calculating opponent, determined to see his plan through to its terrifying conclusion . . .
MURDER BY LAMPLIGHT (A Dr. Lewis Mystery Book #!) by Patrice McDonough is an intriguing historical crime mystery that pulls you into a world of poverty and depravity in Victorian London. One of England’s first female physicians and a taciturn Detective Inspector find themselves working together to solve a series of heinous murders. This is the first book in the series and a realistic look at society in 1866.
Dr. Julia Lewis has always wanted to study medicine and become a physician like her father and grandfather, but to achieve that goal she had to travel to relatives in the United States to attend medical college. She returns to live with and practice with her grandfather in Victorian London.
While her grandfather is on another call, Julia responds to the request of the police to study a corpse at a murder scene. Detective Inspector Richard Tennant of Scotland Yard is shocked when a female doctor arrives, but Julia is used to the skepticism and goes on to prove her professionalism with the lurid scene. When another body is found with similar clues, Tennant reaches out to Julia to inspect the body once again. The killer is having a laugh at Tennant and the authorities with written clues and misdirection but when Julia is targeted, there is a new urgency to find this killer.
I loved this introduction to these new well-developed main characters and am very happy this will be a series. Julia is a strong, independent female lead who lives outside the norms of the society of her times and I always enjoy reading about and following these types of characters. Richard is her perfect foil. He seems to be a man of his times, but he has demons from his past and yet he finds something about this female doctor not only aggravating, but intriguing. I am looking forward to reading about how the author moves this hint of a relationship forward in future books.
I found the research into this period in London very thorough and it brought me right into the dark, gritty slums of Whitechapel and the debates about the cholera outbreaks. The murder mystery plot is full of twists and suspects, and I was shocked with the discovery at the climax. This book is graphic with descriptions of the violence done to the murder victims, sexual assault, male rape, prostitution, and homosexuality. The descriptions of living in the slums of London are also written with the truth of the times and not watered down.
I recommend this historically realistic first crime mystery in the Dr. Lewis Mystery series and I am looking forward to many more.
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About the Author
Patrice McDonough, a native of the Garden State, has a master’s degree in history from Rutgers University/NJIT. She teaches history and serves as Department Chair at a college preparatory high school for girls, was named an Outstanding Educator by the Archdiocese of Newark in 1995, and is a member of the Historical Writers of America. She spends her leisure time begging her golf ball to land on the fairway or reading the histories, mysteries, and historical novels piled high on her night table. While thinking about her World History and Western Civilization students and sitting in front of a 1789 map of Paris, she wrote Clock Master’s Daughter: A Novel of the French Revolution.
A ROGUE’S COMPANY (A Sparks and Bainbridge Mystery Book #3) by Allison Montclair is another first-rate addition to this historical mystery series set in 1946 London and featuring the daring duo of ladies of The Right Sort Marriage Bureau. While this is the third book in the series, it can be read as a standalone, but there are character plotlines that continue to progress in each book. I have read the series in order and have loved every book.
Miss Iris Sparks and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge are doing well enough to expand their matchmaking business. As their business grows, so does their friendship. With the return of Gwen’s father-in-law from Africa, she is determined to state her case and have his guardianship removed from her son, but what she doesn’t know is he has other reasons to keep the guardianship intact.
When a new client shows up at The Right Sort, Gwen does not believe he is there for a match. When he continues to appear around the Bainbridge home, she becomes alarmed. When Gwen and his lordship are kidnapped, Sparks seeks help from underworld acquaintances, but will it be in time to save Gwen’s life?
This addition to the series had me turning the pages from beginning to end. The information on the British in Africa at this time was not only interesting, but well integrated into the story without slowing the pace. The mystery plotline is full of twists and red herrings that I was not able to unravel before the conclusion but were tied together with believable resolutions by the author. I love every one of the main characters in this series and find them to be well developed and quite realistic to the period. It came as a surprise to learn that Allison Montclair is a pseudonym, but it does not matter to me because a great story is a great story. I always look forward to visiting with these protagonists again with each book and following them on their next adventure.
I highly recommend this historical cozy mystery series!
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About the Author
ALLISON MONTCLAIR grew up devouring hand-me-down Agatha Christie paperbacks and James Bond movies. As a result of this deplorable upbringing, Montclair became addicted to tales of crime, intrigue, and espionage. She now spends her spare time poking through the corners, nooks, and crannies of history, searching for the odd mysterious bits and transforming them into novels of her own. The Right Sort of Man is her debut novel.
A glimpse of a quickly melting corpse at the foot of a volcano has amateur sleuth and food enthusiast Valerie Corbin shocked. But how can she investigate a murder, when there’s no evidence the victim ever existed?
Retired caterer Valerie Corbin and her wife Kristen have come to the Big Island of Hawai’i to treat themselves to a well-earned tropical vacation. After the recent loss of her brother, Valerie is in sore need of a distraction from her troubles and is looking forward to enjoying the delicious food and vibrant culture the state has to offer.
Early one morning, the couple and their friend – tattooed local boy, Isaac – set out to see an active lava flow, and Valerie is mesmerized by the shape-shifting mass of orange and red creeping over the field of black rock. Spying a boot in the distance, she strides off alone, pondering how it could have gotten there, only to realize to her horror that the boot is still attached to a leg – a leg which is slowly being engulfed by the hot lava.
Valerie’s convinced a murder has been committed – but as she’s the only witness to the now-vanished corpse, who’s going to believe her?
Determined to prove what she saw, and get justice for the unknown victim, Valerie launches her own investigation. But, thrown into a Hawaiian culture far from the luaus and tiki bars of glossy tourist magazines, she soon begins to fear she may be the next one to end up entombed in shiny black rock . . .
MOLTEN DEATH (An Orchid Island Mystery Book #1) by Leslie Karst is an entertaining cozy mystery featuring a retired lesbian foodie protagonist set on the lush, big island of Hawaii with beautiful descriptions of island locations and delicious island fare. This is a delightful new amateur sleuth who happens upon a murder in paradise written by a new to me author who has me hooked.
Valerie Corbin and her wife, Kristen have come to Hawaii for a vacation to hopefully reconnect and mentally heal after Valerie’s car accident in which she watched her brother die. They are staying with Kristen’s Island native friend, Isaac. When they go to watch the sunrise and walk on a lava field, Valerie falls behind and sees a boot in the distance that she goes to investigate and discovers it is in a lava flow and attached to a leg that is quickly disappearing.
Valerie is convinced a murder has been committed, but she has no proof now that the lava has done its job of destroying the evidence. Even though no one believes her, she is determined to discover who is missing and get justice for them.
I enjoyed Valerie and her sense of determination even when it gets her in trouble. While she investigates, the reader gets to follow her to many beautifully written scenic destinations on the island and gets to read descriptions of tropical and local island cuisine. I also liked that the Valerie and her wife were mature characters. Isaac is the perfect bridge between the white women and Hawaiian native culture, history (both past and present), and cuisine. The plot is unique with the lava destroying any evidence and causing everyone to question whether Valerie saw the leg and boot even as she questions the suspects. A good ending with everything tied up in the end and Valerie and Kristen considering a permanent move to the big island.
Overall a delightful cozy mystery that also delivers on beautiful geography, culture, and cuisine.
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About the Author
Originally from Southern California, Leslie Karst moved north to attend UC Santa Cruz (home of the Fighting Banana Slugs), and after graduation, parlayed her degree in English literature into employment waiting tables and singing in a new wave rock and roll band. Exciting though this life was, she eventually decided she was ready for a “real” job, and ended up at Stanford Law School.
For the next twenty years Leslie worked as the research and appellate attorney for Santa Cruz’s largest civil law firm. During this time, she discovered a passion for food and cooking, and so once more returned to school—this time to earn a degree in Culinary Arts.
Now retired from the law, Leslie spends her time cooking, singing alto in the local community chorus, gardening, cycling, and of course writing. She and her wife and their Jack Russell mix, Ziggy, split their time between Santa Cruz and Hilo, Hawai’i.
December 1903: While Wilbur and Orville Wright’s flying machine is quite literally taking off in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina with its historic fifty-seven second flight, their sister Katharine is back home in Dayton, Ohio, running the bicycle shop, teaching Latin, and looking after the family. A Latin teacher and suffragette, Katharine is fiercely independent, intellectual, and the only Wright sibling to finish college. But at twenty-nine, she’s frustrated by the gender inequality in academia and is looking for a new challenge. She never suspects it will be sleuthing…
Returning home to Dayton, Wilbur and Orville accept an invitation to a friend’s party. Nervous about leaving their as-yet-unpatented flyer plans unattended, Orville decides to bring them to the festivities . . . where they are stolen right out from under his nose. As always, it’s Katharine’s job to problem solve—and in this case, crime-solve.
As she sets out to uncover the thief among their circle of friends, Katharine soon gets more than she bargained for: She finds her number one suspect dead with a letter opener lodged in his chest. It seems the patent is the least of her brothers’ worries. They have a far more earthbound concern—prison. Now Katharine will have to keep her feet on the ground and put all her skills to work to make sure Wilbur and Orville are free to fly another day.
TO SLIP THE BONDS OF EARTH (Katharine Wright Mystery Series Book #1) by Amanda Flower is the perfect mash-up of biographical fiction and cozy mystery featuring an overshadowed and forgotten sister finally being recognized for her strengths and accomplishments and weaving into the facts of her life a smartly plotted cozy murder mystery. This is the first book in the series, and I am thoroughly hooked.
Katharine Wright is a brilliant scholar, teacher, and suffragette who also runs the family household of her reverend father since the death of her mother at the age of fifteen. Besides all these personal accomplishments, she also assists her brothers, Wilbur and Orville, with their books in their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. While disappointed when she is passed over for a head teaching promotion, she is very excited by a telegram received from her brothers in North Carolina stating that they have flown their motorized flying machine.
When the brothers return for the Christmas holidays, Katharine talks Orville into attending a Christmas party given by the head of the PTA. Orville’s coat goes missing and when the siblings find it, it is in the billiards room with a dead man stabbed with a screwdriver. One of Katharine’s students is in the room with blood all over his shirt and the design papers for their flying machine Orville had in his coat pocket are missing. Katharine’s student is arrested, but Katharine is not satisfied with the detective’s conclusions.
Katharine begins asking questions that lead to the prominent men of Dayton having secrets that are worthy of blackmail, but do they lead to murder? And the flying machine design papers are still missing, could they be worth killing over?
I loved this story for so many different reasons. I knew nothing about Katharine and was happy to be introduced to a strong, independent, educated woman who was so accomplished in a time when it was not common. She lends herself to being a perfect protagonist in a mystery plot with her curiosity and tenacity. The depth of research into Katharine’s life, the Wright family, and all the history of the period is evident and intertwined seamlessly throughout the book. The cozy mystery plot has all the red herrings and twists that keep the reader guessing, and it gives believable resolutions to all questions by the end.
I highly recommend this engaging historical cozy mystery and I cannot wait for more mysteries to follow in this series.
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About the Author
Amanda Flower is a USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author of over thirty-five mystery novels. Her novels have received starred reviews from Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Romantic Times, and she had been featured in USA Today, First for Women, and Woman’s World. She currently writes for Penguin-Random House (Berkley), Kensington, Hallmark Publishing, Crooked Lane Books, and Sourcebooks. In addition to being a writer, she was a librarian for fifteen years. Today, Flower and her husband own a farm and recording studio, and they live in Northeast Ohio with their two adorable cats.
