Review of Murder Takes the Cake by Gayle Trent

Publisher: Gallery Books

Release Date: January 25th, 2011

More Info: Amazon

Series: #1 Daphne Martin Mystery series

Book Blurb:

A routine cake delivery becomes a culinary nightmare when a small-town baker discovers her first client’s dead body in this irresistible new mystery series. 

It’ll take more than a little sugar to convince folks Daphne Martin’s freshly baked spice cake was not to blame for the mysterious death of town gossip Yodel Watson. Getting her new cake decorating business, Daphne’s Delectable Cakes, off the ground is hard enough now that Daphne’s moved back to her southern Virginia hometown, but orders have been even slower since she found Yodel’s body. She soon realizes, however, that just about everybody in town had a reason to poison the cantankerous busybody, from the philandering pet shop owner, to Yodel’s church potluck nemesis, to the Save-A-Buck’s cranky produce manager-turned-bagger. Now, to help prove she’s no confectionary killer, Daphne recruits her old flame, Ben Jacobs, editor of the local newspaper, and quickly stirs up a long-hidden family scandal that just might hold the secret ingredient she needs to solve the case. All she’s got to do is roll up her sleeves and get her hands a little dirty before the real culprit decides that taking sweet revenge on Daphne will be icing on the cake.

My Thoughts: 

This book was released several years ago but has been re-released with a new cover (see above) with some new material. I never read the original release so I can't compare the two.

Daphne is nice, is a bit naïve, and quite determined.  There was a wide ranges of characters in this book and Trent makes each one stand out. Daphne is starting a new life, trying to get her catering business off the ground and when Yodel's death threatens that, she finds herself investigating. She also gets involved in a family mystery which at first is intertwined with Yodel's death. While I did have fun reading this book, there were some parts in the middle where I did skim over as I felt that the story could have moved faster. Still, I enjoyed it and it held my attention.

I really liked that Daphne's involvement in the murder investigation rang true. Often in cozy mysteries, the amateur sleuths involvement requires a strong suspension of belief. This made sense and really worked. As is common with cozy mysteries involving food, there are some recipes at the back. They look relatively easy and like something your average baker could do. There are even baking tips sprinkled in throughout the book.

"Murder Takes the Cake" is a light, enjoyable, easy read.

This paperback was received from the publisher for review.

Review of The Thieves of Darkness by Richard Doetsch

Publisher: Pocket Star Books

Release Date: Feb. 22, 2011

More Info: Amazon

Series: no actual series but the third book to feature the protagonist

Book Blurb:

Michael St. Pierre, a reformed master thief, thinks he has left his criminal days far behind him, when he receives word that his best friend, Simon, has been locked up and sentenced to die in a brutal desert prison. Breaking into jail for the first time in his checkered career, Michael is stunned to discover that his new girlfriend, KC, is connected to Simon’s case. 

With a madman on their heels, the three adventurers make their way to Istanbul in search of the mysterious artifact that landed Simon behind bars in the first place: a map containing the location of a holy place lost to the mists of time, a repository of knowledge and treasure predating Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Testing their courage and wits, Michael and his team are forced to plot a series of daring thefts that take them inside some of the city’s most celebrated (and heavily guarded) sanctums, from the imperial harem of Topkapi Palace to the tombs of the Hagia Sophia itself. More than priceless artifacts are at stake—the lives of loved ones and perhaps the fate of humanity itself hang in the balance. 

A globe-trotting adventure that wings from the glittering banks of the Bosporus to the highest peaks of the Himalayas, The Thieves of Darkness confirms Richard Doetsch’s place as the modern-day master of pulse-pounding suspense.

My Thoughts:

"The Thieves of Darkness" is an enjoyable read from beginning to end. Doetsch has a engaging style of writing that draws you in and holds you all the way. He takes you on an excursion through mystery, suspense, murder, romance and faith all in one book. The book is almost 500 pages and rarely slows down. The story could have been tightened up a bit but it held my attention and kept me reading. There are surprises around every corner and some that took me surprise but the clues and hints were there. The plotline and the religious themes reminded me somewhat of Dan Brown's books but with more, IMO, depth of characterization and detail. Doetsch clearly did his research and it shows.

I was a little uncertain at times exactly what the real nature of the treasure was but after reading the entire book and thinking about it, I have a better understanding and I think Doetsch was purposefully vague. The very nature of the treasure involves some vagueness. There are some unlikely coincidences, and the motives at times are fuzzy but the story held my attention. There's a lot of grey in the book, not everything is a clear case of black or white, good or evil. The characters make the best choices they can and hope for the best. The main bad guy has no redeeming qualities but he was an exception and even he was at times someone I could almost empathize with or understand.

Doetsch is ambitious, "Thieves of Darkness" is another thriller with everything but the kitchen sink and I can easily see it as a movie but overall, it's a fun, engaging and even thought provoking action thriller.

This paperback was received from the publisher for review.

An interview with mystery author Patricia Rockwell

Today we have Patricia Rockwell, a retired communications professor who now writes and publishes mysteries. She has two blogs: one, Communication Exchange about talking and communication, and Subjective Soup,Cozy Cat Press. You can also find her at Twitter and facebook. which is more of a personal blog. The press she founded is called

Bea:  Thank you for joining us today. First, could you tell us a little bit about yourself?


Patricia: I am a retired university professor who has recently taken up writing and publishing cozy mysteries.  I grew up in Nebraska and got my Bachelor and Master's degrees from the University of Nebraska but went all the way to Arizona for my doctorate.  My husband Milt is a retired Air Force officer and we travelled quite a bit when he was in the service.  We now live in Illinois close to family.  We have two adult children--a son and a daughter.

Bea: You were a college professor for many years. What did you like best about teaching?


Patricia:  loved teaching which I did most of my life.  Actually, I spent about four years of my career teaching in a high school and the rest at the college level.  I absolutely prefer teaching at the college level because the teacher is not required to be a babysitter and prison guard as they often are in the public schools.  I remember spending a lot of time on "smoking duty" when I taught in high school.  It was my task to patrol restrooms for wayward students who were trying to sneak a cigarette.  I'm just not cut out for that kind of interaction with students.  At the college level, my conversations with students are about their education, course work, and their futures.  Believe me, I have nothing but admiration for public school teachers.  They are asked to do a monumental task.

Bea: What prompted you to start writing fiction? Was it a long time dream?

Patricia: I've always been a reader--primarily mysteries.  As a college professor, I was expected to conduct my own research which entailed writing and publishing it in order to secure tenure.  I actually enjoyed academic writing, even spending eight years as a regional journal editor.  When I retired, I was able to put my academic writing, editing, and publishing experience to use and begin my second career as a fiction author and publisher.  

Bea: Why murder mysteries? And why someone in your field? Because you know the subject so well? Or do you think that there is a lot of potential in subject for mystery stories?


Patricia: As I said, I've always loved reading murder mysteries.  I love the puzzle aspect to them.  Actually, it wasn't until I started writing my first mystery that I discovered that the kind of mystery I liked and the kind I wrote was called a "cozy" mystery.  I like a story with an intriguing plot that the reader gets to solve along with the detective.  I don't care at all for excessive blood and violence, chase scenes, or foul language.   This is what cozies are.  Why me and my field?  If you mean, why have an amateur sleuth who solves crimes using acoustic technology, the answer is that I personally used such technology extensively in my own research so I'm quite familiar with how it works.  No, I never solved any crimes with it, but once a local television station did contact me and asked me to listen to an on-air interview with a suspect and tell them if the suspect was lying.  I did listen to the interview and reported some of the suspects behaviors and what those behaviors indicated in many typical situations.  However, I pointed out to them that just because the person exhibited these behaviors did not guarantee that they were lying.  

After my first Pamela Barnes mystery came out, one critic suggested that the potential for future stories where Pamela could solve mysteries using only sound clues was limited.  I beg to disagree.  I have finished three books in this series and am working on the fourth.  Obviously, sound is not a clue in all murders, but it can be a clue--and an interesting one--in many fictional crimes.

Bea: Do you have plans to write more books? Will they be more Pamela Barnes stories, or something new?


Patricia: I plan to write at least one book in this series each year.

Bea: You have twitter and facebook accounts, along with a LinkedIn account and several blogs. As someone who has spent time teaching and researching communication, what are your thoughts on these social sites? As a writer and publisher, do you believe they are necessary to be successful? 

Patricia: I have mixed feelings on social sites.  The landscape here is changing so fast that users have to work really hard to keep up with which sites work for them.  Truthfully, blogs were the "in" thing several years ago, but seem to be fading in preference to Twitter, Facebook, etc.  But just as quickly as blogs can decline, so can these media.  Maybe next year, Twitter and Facebook will be passe and something we don't even know about now will be popular.   Also, as an author of cozy mysteries, I am always cognizant of the results of the recent Sisters in Crime mystery readers' survey which indicated that the vast majority of cozy mystery readers are older women and that most of them do NOT use the Internet.  

Bea: Why did you start up your publishing company? What are your goals? Do you have any other books coming out?  

Patricia: I started my publishing company, Cozy Cat Press, because I truly love publishing and editing.  I got a taste of it when I worked in academia as I mentioned before.  I really love working with writers and helping them bring their work to fruition.  CCP just signed our third author and her cozy mystery will out later this year.

Bea: What's a typical writing day like for you? Are you an outliner or do you wing it? 

Patricia: A typical day for me is spent at my computer.  Most of my day is spent promoting my company and its books--as opposed to actual fiction writing.  When I'm actually writing a book, it's an all day activity for about a month until it's done.  Yes, I do use an outline but I adjust it as I go.

Review of The Survivor by Sean Slater

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Release Date: March 3rd

More Info: Amazon

Book Blurb:

Columbine. Dunblane. Virginia Tech. Winnenden. But Saint Patrick's High?

In his first hour back from a six-month leave of absence, Detective Jacob Striker's day quickly turns into a nightmare. He is barely on scene five minutes at his daughter's high school when he encounters an Active Shooter situation. Three men wearing hockey masks - Black, White, and Red - have stormed the school with firearms and are killing indiscriminately.

Striker takes immediate action. Within minutes, two of the gunmen are dead and Striker is close to ending the violence.

But the last gunman, Red Mask, does something unexpected. He runs up to his fallen comrade, racks the shotgun, and unloads five rounds into the man, obliterating his face and hands. Before Striker can react, Red Mask flees - and escapes.

Against the clock, Striker investigates the killings for which there is no known motive and no known suspect. Soon his investigation takes him to darker places, and he realizes that everything at Saint Patrick's High is not as it appears. The closer he gets to the truth, the more dangerous his world becomes. Until Striker himself is in the line of fire.

And the violence follows him home. 

My Thoughts:

Slater has a knack for grabbing the reader’s attention and making them want to keep turning the pages. Although, the first chapter or two didn't grab me right off, but then I was drawn in and the story kept me engrossed. The funny thing was, I'd had it for several months but kept procrastinating. Once I started reading, I regretted procrastinating.

 I enjoy reading mysteries, especially ones where you think you know what's going on, but you really don't. Every time I thought I knew what was going on, Slater threw a curve ball. There are some cliches; the one that annoyed me the most was the cop, in this case Striker, who rebels against his superior and constantly clashes with him. But despite that, it worked and it didn't detract from my overall enjoyment of the story.

In fact, I almost liked the lead shooter. We have some insight into his mind, thanks to the chapters written from his point of view. This worked very well, and made him more human to me. I felt sorry for him, or rather, the younger, child form of him.
 
The story is told in multiple view points, primarily Striker's, his daughter Courtney, and one of the killers, though it's a while before we learn his identity. Even when we learn his identity, we still don't know what is going on or what the motivation was. The story is complex and layered and while the ultimate reason for the shootings are fairly mundane, the back story and detours are detailed and fascinating.

The character development was strong in this book though I would have liked to see more development of Striker's partner, Felicia Santos. There's another book planned so perhaps we'll see it then.Overall, the characters feel real, people you might in your every day life.

The book does contain violence and some torture scenes, but they are not overly graphic. I think. I am a total wimp so I skimmed those but from what I read, they weren't too bad. Just too much for me.

Although I read mysteries regularly, I think this was my first that was set in Canada. That made it interesting for me, to see the similarities and differences between there and the USA, where I live. It was less of a cultural struggle for me than when I first started reading books set in the UK.

This paperback was provided by Simon & Schuster UK 

End of Month Giveaway! Open globally

So, to close out the month of murder and mayhem, I am having a giveaway. I may even do this every month, or every month where I have print books to mail. :)

Up for grabs are some of the books that I reviewed this month. Which ones? Well, the ones that I have print copies of :D A few are ARC's so the covers are different and there are some typos plus the final content of the printed book may differ; most are the final book. I'm having camera problems so for now, I'll use the cover pix from the posts. The winner can choose up to 3 of the listed books, and it's open internationally. April 1st, (no kidding, honest!) I'll use random.org to choose a winner.

Who is eligible to enter? If you commented on a review this month, then you will be entered. Sorry, only review comments count.

The Books:

1. Murder Takes the Cake by Gayle Trent
2. The Thieves of Darkness by Richard Doetsch
3. The Survivor by Sean Slater (ARC)
4. Gideon's Sword by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child (ARC - has different cover & title)
5. Swept Off Her Feet by Hester Browne
6. Altar of Bones by Philip Carter
7. Treachery in Death by JD Robb

ARC Review of The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

Publisher: Harper Teen

Release Date: April 12, 2011

More info: Amazon

Series: #1 in the Darkness Rising series

Book Blurb: Maya lives in a small medical-research town on Vancouver Island. How small? You can’t find it on the map. It has less than two-hundred people, and her school has only sixty-eight students–for every grade from kindergarten to twelve.

Now, strange things are happening in this claustrophobic town, and Maya’s determined to get to the bottom of them. First, the captain of the swim team drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. A year later, mountain lions start appearing around Maya’s home, and they won’t go away. Her best friend, Daniel, starts experiencing “bad vibes” about certain people and things. It does’t help that the new bad boy in town, Rafe, has a dangerous secret…and he’s interested in one special part of Maya’s anatomy: Her paw-print birthmark.

My Thoughts:

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear me, happy birthday to me!

What a great present to have a new book by one of my favorite authors released on my birthday (April 12). Kelley is a wonderful author who can really weave a story so when she announced the release date for this book, it was a fun coincidence that it fell on my birthday. Now if it just came with chocolate cake and Jonny Depp, it'd be a truly awesome birthday. :P

The Darkest Powers part of the trilogy is finished for now.  The Darkness Rising part of the trilogy - which starts with The Gathering (release date April 5th in Canada) is the second part.  This part will also consist of three books, like that Darkest Powers did.  There will be a third part to the trilogy after all three of the Darkness Rising story has had it's three books.

I really, really enjoyed this book. The story flowed right along at a brisk pace but never felt rushed, it grabs your attention from the first chapter and doesn't let go until the very last page, which ends in a cliff hanger (I'm already counting down the days until book two). There are twists and turns, some mystery, some romance, conflict, humor, all worked into an enjoyable story. Maya is smart, funny, realistic, and quite relatable. She's not a smart aleck (though she can be pretty darn funny) but neither is she perfect. There isn't a word or punctuation mark that I'd change.

The supernatural element is mild at first but Armstrong builds it up as the story goes along. Readers of her Women of the Otherworld series may recognize the name of the pharmaceutical facility, but you don't need to have read any of those books nor the books in her Darkest Powers YA series. The story is a stand alone in that regard though set in the same world as those. There are some similarities between Maya and Mercy Thompson in Patricia Briggs's "Mercy Thompson" series that readers of both series will spot right away.

Kelley's teenage daughter is her advisor for the YA books and you can tell. It's not just an adult writing what she thinks or hopes will interest teens and young adults nor does she talk down to them. There are several mysteries in the book that all mesh together and I think sustaining the three book story arc will not be a problem at all.


This paperback ARC was received from the publisher for review.

Dual Review of Quiet Anchorage by Ed Lynskey

Publisher: BooksforABuck.com


Release Date: March 28th, 2011


More Info: Amazon


Book Blurb:

Quiet Anchorage, Virginia, looks like paradise. When she's accused of murdering her fiance, however, the small town is anything but heavenly for Megan Connors. With her fingerprints on the murder weapon, it looks like an open-and-shut case, and Sheriff Fox, running for reelection and anxious to get credit for 'solving' a murder case, intends on ramming through charges and getting a conviction. Megan's only champions are her aging aunts. They don't believe she's guilty, but what can two senior citizens do against the powers of the state and the evidence against Megan?

Isabel and Alma Trumbo may be aging, even worried about memory loss, but they've read just about every mystery published in the past half-century. They're sure they've picked up the skills and knowledge they need to prove Megan's innocence. Starting with the town's gossips and loafers, then scaling up when the sexy ex-girlfriend of one of the Sheriff's deputies joins them, they search for alternate suspects, possible motives, and any evidence that might exonerate their niece.

Similar cozy mysteries are Anne George’s Southern Sisters and Rita Mae Brown’s Merry Minor Herristeen titles (also a series set in Virginia).



Our Thoughts:


BEA:


I like cozy mysteries, they can be a lot of fun. You get a mystery but it's as much about the characters as it is the mystery. Often, there's a theme to them - cooking, knitting, etc - but not always. "Quiet Anchorage" doesn't have the theme but it does give us cozy. We have the Trumbo sisters, no longer young, who now live together and take up sleuthing when their niece is arrested for murder. They are both avid mystery readers and waste no time putting to use what they have read. They have a lot of beginners luck, and the story gets very convoluted. There are some twists and turns, some believable, some less so and on occasion you could see that Lynskey is more used to writing more hard boiled detective stories .

I'm not familiar with the Southern Sisters series but I have read most of the Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen books and other than the fact that they are both set in rural Virginia and are both cozy mysteries, there's isn't a similarity. Why, you wonder, did I bold those words? Because, in the description, which comes straight from the email he sent us when he requested a review and is also the Goodreads blurb, he misspells the characters name. Bad form when you are comparing yourself favorably to them, and poor editing. As some of you know, that's a major peeve of mine and it cropped up periodically in the story. I'm not sure it would bug someone who isn't picky about that sort of thing, but if you are, you've been warned. :P

Overall, not bad but I'm not rushing out to get the next one in the series.


JAX: Mysteries are not my genre of choice, but I do occasionally like to pick them up. Not to solve the who-done-it, but just to watch the story unfold: the false leads, multiple suspects, etc. This story in and of itself wasn't bad, but I found somethings distracted me from it. Odd scene changes, awkward turns of phrase, and I spent half the book trying to figure out why the Sheriff's name changed suddenly when both names were finally used together, solving a mystery that had my attention more than the  murder at hand.
But, like Bea, I find some of the littlest details to be enough to jar me out of a story.

Outside those things, I think that the plot was good, and I liked the characters. There is a very clear set up for future books, and I can see the potential for the sisters to get out of their little town and into more trouble. I'd be willing to catch up with them on their next caper, see if they can use their small town wiles in a wider world.

The PDF was received from the author for review.

Review and Giveaway: Real Murders by Charlaine Harris

Congratulations to Jennifer! According to Random.org,  you are the proud new owner of the Aurora Teagarden series.

Jax here. It's Mystery Month! Not a genre I read often. So I pulled out one of the few mystery series that I've read to share. I really enjoy Charlaine Harris' Aurora Teagarden Mystery Series, and I thought it would be fun to share it with one of you!  Leave a comment by midnight CST March 31st, and we'll draw a name to win all 8 books!

Here's a bit about the first book, Real Murders.

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

Published: December 2007

Book Blurb:

THE "MURDER OF THE MONTH" SUDDENLY TOOK A VERY REAL, VERY VIOLENT TURN

Every month, Real Murders, a society of crime buffs in Lawrenceton, Georgia, met to discuss a favorite infamous murder. Its members were an eccentric lot: Gifford Doakes, the massacre specialist; Jane Engle, lover of Victorian horrors; Perry Allison, a Ted Bundy fan....

The night of the last meeting, town librarian Aurora "Roe" Teagarden discovered Mamie Wright's mutilated body in the clubhouse kitchen. She felt certain the killer was a fellow member, for the crime bore a chilling resemblance to the club's "murder of the month."

And as other brutal "copycat" killings followed, the only motive seemed a horrifyingly bizarre sense of fun....

My Thoughts: I'm not usually into mysteries, but this is a fun, quick read. I think one of Charlaine's greatest talents as a writer is her ability to create a realistic cast of people and places, a great balance to the improbable events that happen. Roe is a likeable main character, with a quick wit, funny foibles and an odd hobby. I love seeing the world through her eyes, everything from the way she notes the strengths and weaknesses of her friends, family, neighbors, and even herself to the her fondness and exasperation for the life she lives.

The story moves along nicely, with great details about real murder mysteries sprinkled throughout, and good reasons to suspect just about everyone you meet. There's even a bit of romance, because, really there's nothing like a good death to make you want to live to the fullest! With summer coming, this is a great beach book.

This book is owned by the reviewer.