Today is my turn on the Book ‘n’ All Promotions Blog Tour and I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE ASH LAKE MURDERS (Detective Alice Rossi Book #1) by Helen H. Durrant.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review and the author’s bio and socila media links. Enjoy!
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Book Blurb
MEET DETECTIVE ALICE ROSSI IN THIS BRILLIANT NEW CRIME SERIES.
A female serial killer with a deadly agenda. The detective who must stop her. Luxury holiday lodges in the stunning Peak District. The game begins . . .
Callum is lured to an isolated boathouse by an attractive older woman. When she gets him alone, she knocks him out with a single blow. As he wakes up, her voice comes out of the darkness, “You’re a sprat to catch a mackerel.”
Surrounded by hills and lakes, Still Waters is home to a close-knit community of wealthy retirees. It’s an unlikely setting for violence. The police don’t take Callum’s disappearance seriously: he’s 24-years-old, after all. But Callum’s mother, a Still Waters resident, knows that something is very wrong.
Then a body is discovered floating in the lake. Head bashed in. But it’s not Callum.
And someone tweets:Come out to play one last time, Alice. Still Waters run deep. #MadHatter.
That’s when DCI Alice Rossi is called in. She’s back.
IT’S A CAT-AND-MOUSE GAME BETWEEN AN OBSESSED KILLER AND A DETERMINED DETECTIVE IN THIS GRIPPING MYSTERY FULL OF STUNNING TWISTS.
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THE DETECTIVE DCI Alice Rossi of Greater Manchester’s Serious Crime Squad has served with the police for the past twenty-nine years. Since the death of her husband, Paul, six years ago, she has lived alone in a large, three-storey Edwardian terrace on the outskirts of Manchester. Her grown-up son lives in Edinburgh with his family. Alice is about to retire — but she’s not looking forward to it. Since her husband died, work has been her mainstay, not because she misses Paul — he was a bad man — but because it keeps her dark thoughts at bay.
DETECTIVE RACHEL KING Book 1: NEXT VICTIM Book 2: TWO VICTIMS Book 3: WRONG VICTIM Book 4: FORGOTTEN VICTIM Book 5: LAST VICTIM
THE CALLADINE & BAYLISS MYSTERY SERIES Book 1: DEAD WRONG Book 2: DEAD SILENT Book 3: DEAD LIST Book 4: DEAD LOST Book 5: DEAD & BURIED Book 6: DEAD NASTY Book 7: DEAD JEALOUS Book 8: DEAD BAD Book 9: DEAD GUILTY Book 10: DEAD WICKED Book 11: DEAD SORRY
THE DCI GRECO BOOKS Book 1: DARK MURDER Book 2: DARK HOUSES Book 3: DARK TRADE Book 4: DARK ANGEL
MATT BRINDLE Book 1: HIS THIRD VICTIM Book 2: THE OTHER VICTIM
DETECTIVES LENNOX & WILDE Book 1: THE GUILTY MAN Book 2: THE FACELESS MAN
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My Book Review
RATING: 3 out of 5 Stars
THE ASH LAKE MURDERS (Detective Alice Rossi Book #1) by Helen H. Durrant is the first book in a new British police procedural mystery series featuring a more mature female lead character, DCI Alice Rossi.
A serial murderer known as the Mad Hatter has once again returned to taunt DCI Alice Rossi. Over the last six years, when a tweet is sent with the killer’s hashtag dead bodies begin to appear. This time the murders occur in a luxury holiday resort in the Peak District were Alice lost her husband to a climbing accident.
Once again, the obsessed killer has Alice in her sites, and she is determined to end the game this time with Alice’s death.
I am always excited to read Ms. Durrant’s books, but this story was a letdown for me. The police procedural plot kept me turning the pages more from wanting to know the killer’s motive than who she was because her identity was easily deduced early on in the book. I was expecting a plot twist that would shock me as Ms. Durant is very good at surprising me, but it did not happen. The surprise twist was just not believable. Alice’s experience and expertise are set up for use in future books in this series and I will be interested in reading more.
A good, quick read with an interesting protagonist, but not my favorite from this author.
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Author Bio
OVER 1 MILLION BOOKS SOLD!
Helen is one of the ‘baby boomer’ generation and began writing when she retired from her job at a local college. Born in Edinburgh to an English father and Scottish mother the family settled in a Pennine village between the counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire. It is an environment which has shaped her stories. Writing is a second career and, despite having a bus pass, keeps her busy, and tuned in.
Helen’s children are all grown-up and she has five grandchildren.
Zig and Nola are back in this follow-up to The Escape Artist.
Archie Mint has a secret that he is hiding from his friends and family. To the public, he looks like the perfect husband and father to his son and daughter and is known for his distinguished for his Military Career.
When Archie is shot in his own home things take a huge turn and we suddenly this man has been hiding military secrets nobody could have imagined.
Mortician Zig uncovers some things that were not meant to be found. He goes to the secret unit and uncovers things along with artist, Nola (who saved his life in the first book).
Following her trail, he finds a hidden military base that dates back to the cold war. He learns about a group of military people willing to hide things about the security and safety of the United States.
Zig is not sure who he can trust as many suspects seem to turn up dead. Will he and Nola be able to find and secure our safety of us?
Yes, we all know that Nola is in fact the actual lightning rod. You will not be able to put it down once you start. Surprises till the last page.
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Elise’s Thoughts
The Lightning Rod by Brad Meltzer mixes a suspenseful plot with unique characters. What starts off as a thriller whodunit, quickly transitions into a conspiracy theory. Meltzer’s been writing for 25 years but his books keep getting better and better. This story has a game of cat and mouse, danger at every turn, and deep US government secrets.
The book opens with a car theft that quickly turns into a murder after Colonel Archie Mint is killed outside his suburban Pennsylvania home in a supposed home robbery. Jim “Zig” Zigarowski, a mortician who formerly worked at Dover Air Force Base, is called in to conceal Mint’s injuries for the sake of his family. But at the viewing, things happen that make him suspect that not everything is as it should be. When Zig spots Nola Brown at Mint’s funeral he becomes more suspicious. As a former military artist, Nola was called upon not only to paint historic events, but to spot critical things that others missed. Now, for unknown reasons, she’s hunting the people who killed Mint. During the investigation, it is discovered that Mint was connected to a hidden military facility known as Grandma’s Pantry, one of many US government top-secret warehouses across the country dealing with repercussions of a biological attack.
There is also the mystery of Rodney, Nola’s twin brother, who is looking for her. Although volatile, he wants to find her before some would-be-assassins known as the Reds. Joining up with Zig is the only way he will find Nola, so he is also pulled into the investigation.
This story has it all, more plot twists, conspiracies, and action. Meltzer also writes children’s books that will include superheroes Superman and Batman. But in The Lightning Rod, he has created his own superheroes that don’t have any super qualities but have super investigative skills that make for a super story.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: What gave you the vision to write this story?
Brad Meltzer: This idea started with my own fears. I hand my car keys to a valet. They take the car, hit the GPS button, and go to my house. This is a robbery. This is my fear every time I park my car. The story evolves from there, when it is not a robbery at all, but a trap. I really wanted to base the story on the characters, Nola, and Zig, who I am bringing back from the previous book, The Escape Artist. I have more to say about them including having Nola’s greatest secret come out.
EC: What is the theme of this book?
BM: It is a story about dysfunctional families. Some of the new families we form can also be dysfunctional. Zig is someone who will never have what he wants most in the world, to have his daughter back. Nola will never have her father, which is what she wants most. Neither will have what they want, but instead have each other. Now each must build something in that space.
EC: This is your twenty-fifth year as a writer?
BM: Yes. Every day I think how I write things differently today. When I was twenty-five, I used to write about those characters of that age. When I got married, I started to write about married people. When I had children, I stared to write kids’ books. Now I am writing about someone who loves their daughter. All I do as a writer is follow my own life and tell my own story. The reality is I never want to know the ending. The best way to ruin a good story is to know the ending.
EC: Do your characters take a journey with you?
BM: I do not know if I am a better writer, but I am a more honest one. After I buried my parents, one of my heroes is a mortician. I cannot be more obsessed with death. I used to hide myself and hide from myself, and this book is about how the best secrets are ones that people hide from themselves.
EC: How would you describe Nola?
BM: Nola’s profession is based on a real job in the military. Since WWI the army has a painter on staff who paints disasters when they happen, from Normandy to 9/11. I love the idea that she is a strong thrill-seeking insane woman who races into disasters with paint brushes to tell a story. She likes to fight back, does not play well with others, has a nobility about her, and fights for injustice. The psychological report on her is that she has RAD, Reactive Attachment Disorder, where she is incapable of attachments or loving relationships. The readers should challenge whether this evaluation is correct. She can handle murder and violence, but not kindness and personal tragedy. This does not mean she can make a little progress.
EC: Nola is a lightning rod?
BM: There is a quote in the book that describes her as a gun and people must be careful around her because she will go off. Just as with a lightning rod, trouble does find her like a black cat. I love that about her, and it makes it interesting.
EC: Zig and Nola have different views?
BM: She believes that to make sense of the world it should be grabbed by the throat and forced to make sense. Zig believes if there is more kindness and generosity in the world it will be a better place. They’re both completely right and both completely wrong. It takes both things working together to make any real difference. Zig’s idea is completely naïve, but it is worth fighting for. Nola’s idea is completely brutal, but it is worth fighting for. This is me, writing the two sides of myself, both the hopeful and cynical side of myself. Just like myself the characters need to do that job.
EC: What about Nola’s brother Rodney?
BM: He is a walking question mark. He was a bad kid but is he a bad adult? Is he a villain or not? For the first time I wanted to delve into the bad guy aspect. He is weird, socially awkward, with non-existent social skills, detailed, and on his own plane. He has no filters, ferocious, and at times violent. The key part of him is that there is good Rodney and bad Rodney.
EC: Rodney represents those who might consider themselves good but do bad things?
BM: Sometimes people are in-between, not totally good, or bad. I put in this book quote, “We all have a person we were and a person we are. It’s never a straight line between the two – and its certainly never a predictable one.” Every character in this book is designed around this quote and the quote in the beginning of the book by Carl Jung, “In each of us there is another, whom we do not know”.
EC: What about the biological weapons? You must have a crystal ball considering we learned about the US labs in the Ukraine?
BM: The book has these secret warehouses across the country that deal with bioterrorist attacks. The US can bring these antidotes within hours to our doorstep. The warehouses are hidden across the country, so nobody knows where they are. I want to go inside them. I did not make up what is inside them. Grandma’s Pantry was one of those that has a national stockpile that would prepare us in case there’s a bio-terror attack, whether it’s smallpox or anthrax or anything else.”
EC: Next book?
BM: It will be a Nola, Zig, and Rodney book. It takes me a while to write, a couple of years at a minimum for sure. I will be writing children’s books, I Am IM Pei, I Am Dolly Parton, coming out in June. Coming out in September I Am Superman, and I Am Batman. In January of 2023 will be a non- fiction book about a secret plot to kill Winston Churchill, Stalin, and FDR, a triple assassination. It is titled, The Nazi Conspiracy.
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.
KILLING MIND (D.I. Kim Stone Book #12) by Angela Marsons is another great addition the D.I. Kim Stone crime thriller/British police procedural series. While each of these books can stand alone on the crime thriller plot, the main characters continually evolve and develop. This is just one of those series that is best read in order.
Kim and Bryant get called out to check an apparent suicide. While everyone agrees at first, something about the scene just does not sit right with Kim. After checking the crime scene photos, it is discovered to be a murder. This murder and the discovery of a body in a local lake leads Kim and her team to Unity Farm, which is a cult, which at first Kim does not believe or understand. Kim sends Tiffany “Tink” in undercover and they discover the truly manipulative power of the cult.
While they are working the Unity Farm case, Bryant is also entangled in a past case from when he was just an officer guarding a crime scene. A murderer is paroled and all those entangled in the old case are once again fearful of another murder.
The main characters all feel like friends now and the crime plots are always intriguing and realistic. Ms. Marson has a way of keeping everything fresh and interesting even in this twelfth book. I was extremely impressed with the research information on cults throughout the story and the demonstration of the manipulation used in the dialogue of the cult members.
I really am not able to come up with much new to tell everyone how much I love these books! This is an excellent series that I recommend to all.
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Author Bio
Angela is the author of the Kim Stone Crime series. She discovered a love of writing at Primary School when a short piece on the rocks and the sea gained her the only merit point she ever got. Angela wrote the stories that burned inside and then stored them safely in a desk drawer. After much urging from her partner she began to enter short story competitions in Writer’s News resulting in a win and three short listed entries.
She used the Amazon KDP program to publish two of her earlier works before concentrating on her true passion – Crime.
Angela is now signed to write a total of 16 Kim Stone books for http://bookouture.com and has secured a print deal with Bonnier Zaffre Publishing.
HIGH MEADOW (High Mountain Trackers Book #1) by Freya Barker is the exciting start to a new romantic suspense series. This series is set in Montana and features a group of ex-military men who served together and now are using their skills as a team called the High Mountain Trackers.
Alexandra “Alex” Hart has recently moved to Montana and started Hart’s Horse Rescue with a friend. Even though she has a less than favorable start with the man who runs a large ranch down the road, she is hired to help with his prize stud’s recovery from an injury.
Jonas Harvey is surprised when Alex shows up to help with his horse. He was expecting a man, not the woman from down the road. As he keeps a close eye on her work, he comes to admire her skill.
When two prisoners escape from U.S. Marshals during transport, the High Mountain trackers are hired to help find them. The prisoners are a part of a domestic terrorist group and no one in the area is safe. As the sparks fly between Jonas and Alex, the danger intensifies, and Jonas learns that Alex has his back and is a worthy ally.
When I see Ms. Barker’s name on a book, I know I am going to fall in love with a new mature couple who are meant for each other, even if they don’t know it at first. I just fall into her stories and do not get back up until “The End”. The suspense keeps you turning the pages and her H/h are realistic, believable and a couple you grow to love. I am always sad when these books end, but since most are tied to a series, I know more great stories will be coming. Freya Barker is an automatic “buy” for me.
I highly recommend this romantic suspense and this author!
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Author Bio
USA Today bestselling author Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories.
Driven to make her books about ‘real’ people; she creates characters who are perhaps less than perfect, each struggling to find their own slice of happy, but just as deserving of romance, thrills and chills in their lives.
Recipient of the ReadFREE.ly 2019 Best Book We’ve Read All Year Award for “Covering Ollie, the 2015 RomCon “Reader’s Choice” Award for Best First Book, “Slim To None”, Finalist for the 2017 Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, and Finalist for the 2020 Kindle Book Award with “When Hope Ends”, Freya continues to add to her rapidly growing collection of published novels as she spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!
Today is my turn on the Partner’s In Crime Virtual Book Tour for the second Diamond District amateur sleuth mystery featuring Mimi Rosen – MURDER IS NOT A GIRL’S BEST FRIEND by Rob Bates.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Journalist-turned-amateur-sleuth Mimi Rosen is back with her father Max for another action-packed tale of murder and intrigue in New York City’s Diamond District.
A Reverend from Africa has found a sparkling $20 million diamond that he hopes will free his continent from the scourge of blood diamonds. But this attempt to do good soon turns very bad. After the diamond is stolen and leads to a series of murders, Mimi discovers both the diamond and the Reverend have a less-than-sparkling history.
Soon, Mimi is investigating a web of secrets involving a shady billionaire, a corrupt politician, Africa’s diamond fields, offshore companies, as well as an activist, filmmaker, computer genius, and police detective who may or may not be as noble as they appear. Is the prized gem actually a blood diamond?
Genre: Mystery Published by: Camel Press Publication Date: February 8th 2022 Number of Pages: 218 ISBN: 1942078188 (ISBN13: 9781942078180) Series: Diamond District, #2 || Each is a Stand-Alone Mystery
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My Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
MURDER IS NOT A GIRL’S BEST FRIEND by Rob Bates is the second entertaining Diamond District amateur sleuth mystery featuring Mimi Rosen, ex-journalist, now working for her father’s diamond business in New York’s Diamond District. This mystery can easily be read as a standalone.
Mimi Rosen and her father attend a conference about the international diamond trade. Reverend Kamora is from the ADR (African Democratic Republic) who finds a rough piece on his property which is cut into a sixty-six carat D Flawless diamond worth $20 million. He and a diamond broker set up an auction to benefit his country and the diamond miners.
Before the auction can take place, the diamond broker is murdered and the diamond is stolen. Mimi is once again drawn into a murder investigation and discovers everyone is hiding a secret, from a shady billionaire, a corrupt blood diamond industry, an activist, and a documentary filmmaker.
I always learn something new in these Diamond District mysteries. From the strict Jewish traditions in the Diamond District and the type of trade deals made. Mr. Bates demonstrates his knowledge of the diamond industry without slowing the pace of the plot. Mimi is a main character who is likable, but wavers between being at times naïve and at times shrewd when making decisions and understanding clues. This mystery has an eclectic cast of characters who kept me guessing right up until the climax of the story.
Overall, this is a fun amateur sleuth mystery which also educates the reader.
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Excerpt
CHAPTER ONE
Mimi Rosen felt terrible. She felt like crap. She was overcome by guilt—the kind that gets lodged in your throat and stays there. Her day at the “Social Responsibility and the Diamond Industry” conference had been draining and dispiriting, as one speaker after another grimly recited the industry’s ills. They acknowledged that conflict diamonds—which fueled civil wars in countries like the African Democratic Republic, or the ADR—were far less of a problem, and many diamond mines benefited local economies.
Then came the “but.” As Mimi’s father said, “in life, there’s always a but.”
“Beautiful gems shouldn’t have ugly histories,” thundered Brandon Walters, a human rights activist known for his scorching exposés of the ADR’s diamond industry. “This—” he aimed his finger at the screen behind him, “is how ten percent of the world’s diamonds are found.”
Up popped a photo of an African boy, who couldn’t have been older than sixteen. He was standing in a river the color of rust, wearing nothing but cut-off jeans, bending over with a strainer. Mimi could see his vertebrae under his skin, feel the sun beating down on him, sense the stress and strain on his back.
“That kid is paid two dollars a day for his labor,” Walters declared. “If you sell diamonds, this may not be your fault.” He paused for emphasis. “But it is your responsibility.”
Walters had sandy-blonde hair, high cheekbones, a perfectly trimmed goatee, a ponytail that flopped as he talked, and a South African accent was so plummy it sounded affected. He looked to be in his mid-twenties but had the bearing and confidence of someone ten years older. Unlike the other activists, who delivered their speeches in whispery monotones with their eyes glued to the podium, Walters planted his feet firmly at the center of the stage and stood on it like he owned it. He peppered his talk with splashes of theater, dropping his voice to signal despair, or cranking it up to roar disapproval.
Mimi didn’t want to close her eyes to his message, but knew she might have to, to preserve her sanity. Diamonds were now how she made her living. She had been working at her father’s company for over a year—a fact she sometimes found hard to believe. She occasionally dreamed of again working as a reporter—the only thing in life she had ever wanted to be. But journalism had become an industry that people escaped from, rather than to.
She had hoped the conference would inspire her. She had even convinced her father, Max, to come. Instead, the sessions made her feel depressed and sorry for herself—which didn’t feel right, as she was hearing about extreme poverty in a plush New York City auditorium with the air conditioning cranked, while the summer sun broiled the streets outside.
She also knew the industry’s problems weren’t so easy to fix. When Mimi started working at her dad’s company, Max seemed intrigued by her idea of a socially-responsible diamond brand. She was excited to help change the industry.
Then the project ran into roadblocks. She never quite determined what a “good” diamond was. What if it was unearthed by one of the diggers Brandon Walters talked about, who earned two dollars a day? Human rights activists condemned that as exploitive. Yet, they also admitted those workers had few other sources of income and would be far worse off if the industry vanished. They didn’t want to kill the business; they wanted to reform it. Mimi wasn’t an expert on any of this—and even those who were didn’t always agree.
Mimi spent many nights and weekends researching these issues, and ended up frustrated, as the answers she sought just weren’t there.
When her project began losing money, her father started losing patience. Mimi hoped that dragging her father to this conference would reignite his interest. Nope.
“These people act like everything is our fault. All minerals have issues.” Like many in the diamond business, Max believed his industry was unfairly picked on. He fixed his yarmulke on his bald head, so it stayed bobby pinned to one of his side-tufts of hair. “I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m only trying to pay my rent.”
Max spent most of the conference with his arms crossed, his face toggling between bored and annoyed. If he had a phone, he’d probably spend the day staring at it. But he didn’t, which was another issue.
Following Walters’ talk, he leaned over to Mimi. “I should call Channah for my messages.”
Mimi gave him her mobile and a dirty look. He had already borrowed her phone six times that day. She considered lecturing her father to get over his stupid aversion to buying a cell phone, so he didn’t constantly pester the receptionist to see who called. But she’d also done that six times that day.
Besides, she was intrigued by the day’s final speaker.
Abraham Boasberg grabbed the crowd’s attention the moment he stepped on stage. “I believe there is a reason that God put diamonds in the poor countries and made rich countries desire them,” he bellowed, puffing out his barrel chest. “And I’m going to prove it.”
Mimi sat up and thought, who was this guy?
She soon found out. Boasberg was six feet tall, stocky, bearded, with a bright red yarmulke capping a salt-and-pepper mop of curly hair. He worked in the diamond business, and his words came fast and forceful. Like Brandon Walters, he seemed to savor being the center of attention. He had a mike clipped to his suit and prowled the stage like a panther. His presence filled the auditorium.
“This whole conference, we have heard about the problems of our trade. They are real. The people who dig diamonds are part of our industry. They deserve to be treated fairly.
“But we must do more than just complain,” he declared, holding up his index finger. “We need solutions!
“What if diamonds, which once helped rip the African Democratic Republic apart, could put it back together? What if they built new roads, schools, and hospitals?” He stopped and took a breath, his chest heaving. “What if diamonds became symbols of hope?”
Max returned to his seat and handed Mimi back her phone. She was so entranced with Boasberg, she barely noticed.
“A few months ago,” Boasberg proclaimed, “a local Reverend in the African Democratic Republic found a one-hundred-and-seventeen-carat piece of rough on his property. It has since been cut into a sixty- six-carat piece of polished, about the size of a marble. It has been graded D Flawless, the highest grade a diamond can get. It’s the most valuable diamond ever found in the ADR. It’s worth twenty million. Easy.”
A giant triangular gem appeared on the screen behind him, gleaming like a sparkly pyramid.
Max’s eyebrows shot up. This guy was talking diamond talk, a language he understood.
“But that is more than a beautiful diamond.” Boasberg declared, sweat beading on his forehead. “That is the future.”
“Here’s what usually happens with diamonds in the ADR. In most cases, miners hand them over to their supporter, who’s basically their boss who pays their bupkis. Or, if they’re freelance, they’ll sell them to a local dealer, who pays them far below market value. The miners don’t know how much the diamonds are worth, and they’re usually hungry and just want a quick buck.
“And since the ADR has no money to police its borders, most dealers smuggle diamonds out of the country to avoid taxes. As a result, the ADR gains little from what comes out of its soil. Its resources are being systematically looted.
“When I met Reverend Kamora, I told him, consumers are turning away from diamonds because they believe they don’t help countries like yours. That further hurts your people. Now, instead of working for two dollars a day, they’ll do the same work for even less.
“But what if we can flip the script? What if this diamond helps your country? And what if we let people know that? That will increase its value. It’s documented that people will pay extra for products that do good, like Fair Trade Coffee. It’s the same reason kosher food is more expensive. It’s held to a higher standard.
“If we get more money for this diamond, soon every gem from the ADR will be sold this way. We’ll do an end run around the dealers who have robbed the country blind. We’ll turn ADR diamonds into a force for good.” He pivoted to the screen. “Let’s talk about this gorgeous gemstone.
We wanted to call it the Hope Diamond. That name was taken.” A few members of the audience tittered.
“We’re calling it the Hope for Humanity Diamond. Four weeks from now, we’ll auction it from my office, live on the Internet. We want the whole world to watch. We’ll even sell it in a beautiful box produced with locally mined gold.” On screen, a glittering yellow box appeared. The diamond sat inside it, perched like a king on a throne….
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Author Bio
Rob Bates has written about the diamond industry for close to 30 years. He is currently the news director of JCK, the leading publication in the jewelry industry, which just celebrated its 150th anniversary. He has won 12 editorial awards, and been quoted as an industry authority in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and on National Public Radio. He is also a comedy writer and performer, whose work has appeared on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update segment, comedycentral.com, and Mcsweeneys He has also written for Time Out New York, New York Newsday, and Fastcompany.com. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and son.
Dangerous Amish Showdown and Snowbound Amish Survival by Mary Alford are suspenseful action-packed mysteries involving Amish characters. Love, dedication to family, trust, and faith are prevalent themes in both books. Danger, thrill rides, and romance will leave readers on the edge of their seats.
Snowbound Amish Survival begins with an intense scene after armed men burst into a house. They are looking for Amish midwife Hope Christner who is tending to her best friend, Naomi, because of her numerous miscarriages. After realizing that Naomi’s husband has been shot, Hope and her friend barely escape the bad men and must contend with the weather, barely making it to Hunter Shetler’s home. He is her ex-fiancé who Hope broke up with after their fathers’ family feud. But after the bad men arrive at Hunter’s house all three escape into the woods. Now they must stay two steps ahead of the men determined to find and kill them, while facing barriers at every turn.
Dangerous Amish Showdown also begins with a shooting scene. US Marshal Mason Shelter, his partner Erik Timmons, and a precocious six-year-old named Samantha under their care are running for their lives. The little girl is a member of the witness protection program after seeing the murder of her parents. The bad guys are after her since she can identify Lucian Bartelli, a drug kingpin as the killer. His people are doing everything possible to find Mason’s young witness and silence her permanently. Running from them leads Mason, his partner, and Samantha to West Kootenai, the Amish community of his youth and the place that he fled thirteen years earlier. Specifically, he flees to the home of his childhood friend, Willa Lambright. Both Willa and her mother Beth agree to keep all safe, while risking their lives as all face overwhelming odds.
Both books have vivid scenes where readers feel they are on the journey with the hero and heroine. There is a non-stop roller coaster ride of danger.
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Elise’s Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Can you tell us a little about the series?
Mary Alford: There are five books in the series. These are the third and fourth books. I like that it is set in a very remote community in Montana. The West Kootena community does exist, but the town of Eagle’s Nest is fictional. There are five brothers that have had issues come up in their lives including some that lost their wives. There is a lot of conflict and tension. I want to build and build the suspense where it looks like the bad guy might win until the last stand-off. They end up falling in love after meeting the right heroine.
EC: How did you blend danger with the Amish?
MA: The Amish are very simple and very “pure.” As we learned there can be bad things that happen in an Amish community. There are bad influences that can cause danger. I want to put the Amish characters into circumstances where they do have to deal with danger and situations that they are not used to. In this innocent and simple setting, after peril comes, it disrupts everything. Although the Amish are pacifists, if the community is put in danger, they would do anything to support their loved ones. Family and loved ones would go beyond faith, doing what they must do to help those they love.
EC: In both books you found weapons other than guns?
MA: Yes. I wanted to use other instruments as weapons beyond guns. I used fires as a weapon, seeing it as a living thing. They happen and spread quickly. I also used cars that attempt to ram someone off the road.
EC: Weather also played a role in the plot?
MA: Yes. In Dangerous Amish Survival the fog helped to hide the hero and heroine. In Snowbound Amish Survival it was the snow, the cold, and the visibility. I think it increased the suspense. It helps to add to the atmosphere.
EC: In Snowbound Amish Survival how would you describe the heroine Hope?
MA: She is a mid-wife that gives her a purpose in life. Hope is very strong, yet heart-broken because of the father family feud. She can stand on her own two feet. Hope is loyal, stubborn, headstrong, determined, caring, and optimistic. She is not meek and mild like most Amish women.
EC: How would you describe Hunter?
MA: Supportive, loyal, and caring. He is strong emotionally, a hard worker, protective, and generous.
EC: How would you describe the relationship?
MA: Both are young, in their mid-twenties. They both have a perception of being betrayed by the other. As the story progresses, they come to realize they are still in love. In the beginning Hunter was resentful and angry that she sided with her dad over him.
EC: What about Huntington’s Disease that was in the book, Dangerous Amish Showdownl?
MA: In researching I knew I wanted to have it in the story. It can be hereditary, and it does not skip generations. I hope this makes a little bit of an awareness. It affects the brain, motor skills, and thinking process. It is a serious degenerative disease that I gave Willa’s mother, Beth.
EC: How would you describe Willa?
MA: She is very strong and a caregiver for her mother. Willa is considerate, kind, and loves animals. She has gentle strength and a tender heart.
EC: How would you describe Mason?
MA: He left the faith when he was younger. He had issues he had to resolve including his friend Chandler’s death and the fact the girl he thought he was in love with chose his brother, Eli. Mason became a US Marshal but was haunted by his past. He is strong, protective, a fixer, and courageous.
EC: How about the relationship?
MA: Willa and Mason were friends and grew up together. He never saw how close he and Willa were when they were younger. After seeing her again all his feelings about Willa come to the surface. There were barriers in the relationship including Mason leaving the Amish faith, Willa thought he loved her sister, not her, and Willa was afraid she would get Huntington Disease.
EC: Role of the little girl Samantha?
MA: She is a six-year-old girl who saw her parents murdered. She lives in fear, terrified, and brave, but a sweet girl. She becomes attached to Mason, Willa, and Beth who try to protect her and show Samantha love. She brought Mason and Willa together. There are little moments when readers see her personality come out, especially when she interacts with Golden Boy, Willa, and Beth’s Golden Retriever.
EC: What about your next book?
MA: I just signed a four-book contract. I will be writing Fletcher and Ethan Connors’s stories. Probably they will come out mid-summer next year. I will explain the military angle in Ethan’s story because that is so important to who he is. I will be writing a new book, Among The Innocence coming out this June. It is an Amish story, but the main characters are not Amish. A murder happened ten years earlier and now haunts the heroine.
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.
