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A Dangerous Talent – Alix London series

A Dangerous Talent by Charlotte and Aaron ElkinsA Dangerous Talent by Charlotte and Aaron Elkins
Thomas & Mercer
© 2012
Paperback

A low-slung Lamborghini cruises along a curvy, narrow road through scenic New Mexico mountains. Will Alix London and Christine LeMay survive when a tailgating pickup truck and a tractor trailer barreling down the wrong side of the road try to force them through the guardrail and down a cliff? Charlotte and Aaron Elkins wrote A Dangerous Talent as the first installment of the Alix London series. Previously, Charlotte wrote five romance novels pseudonymously as Emily Spenser. Aaron’s 16-novel mystery series featuring Gideon Oliver and three-novel series about Chris Norgren are familiar to mystery lovers.

Continue reading “A Dangerous Talent – Alix London series”

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Get Goodreads and other book apps

Goodreads, one of several good book appsOccasionally, I’ll talk about book-related apps for mobile devices and e-readers that source their material from various places, like Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Google and Kobo. The book apps mentioned will have both an Android and Apple iOS version, unless otherwise noted. Most apps will be free to download, but some will charge for content.

Goodreads  has a free app and a website for readers who want to interact with others via groups, reviews and recommendations. In Goodreads, booklovers find books and share reviews. They can maintain a library of books they’ve read or want to read. According to Goodreads, 75 million members have “shelved” 2.2 billion books, implying that reading is alive and well.

As a matter of personal preference, I use the litsy app (mentioned in a prior post) but tend to use the Goodreads website. Litsy has more of the quick back-and-forth common in social media and reminds me of Instagram. Goodreads is more like my favorite library or book club.

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Betrayal and Distrust

Dark Tide Rising by Anne Perry

Dark Tide Rising
by Anne Perry
Ballantine Books
© 2018

Who kidnaps Kate, wife of wealthy Harry Exeter, and demands a king’s ransom? The money paid, Kate’s release still goes awry. in Dark Tide Rising, Inspector William Monk stands amid a conundrum. He and Harry Exeter followed the kidnappers’ instructions to the letter. Who knew and betrayed them? Mistrust oozes up from the Thames like the famous London fog. How can Inspector Monk untangle the web of betrayal and distrust surrounding his chosen team of River Police? Continue reading “Betrayal and Distrust”

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Book Blogger Platform

The Book Blogger Platform, 2nd Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Book Blogging
by Barb Drozdowich
© 2016

Book Blogger PlatformFor anyone new to blogging and who wants to blog about and review books, The Book Blogger Platform, by Barb Drozdowich, gives a solid overview of the main blogging platforms. The book is aimed at those who are not totally tech savvy. Ms. Drozdowich discusses WordPress and Blogger, the two most popular blogging platforms. She discusses the posts, plugins, gadgets, widgets and sidebars that are part of every blog. Also discussed are backing up your blog and monetizing it.

Since this book focuses on book blogging, Ms. Drozdowich discusses where and how to get books about which to blog. Netgalley and Edelweiss are mentioned as prime sources from which to request advanced reader copies (ARCs) and as places to post reviews.

Book bloggers can also guest post on blogs of other book reviewers/bloggers. Other sites to post book reviews are GoodReads, LibraryThing, and Booklike. Ms. Drozdowich is also a proponent of posting to the major social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube and Instagram.

Overall, this book is a good overview of how blogging software works, where book bloggers can find ARCs and suggestions for other places to review books and get your name out there.

The author can be found online at:
http://barbdrozdowich.com
http://bakerviewconsulting.com
http://sugarbeatsbooks.com/

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Litsy: Great app for readers, writers and bloggers

 

Litsy

A few months ago, I found a new social media app focusing on books. It’s a great app for readers, writers and book bloggers. Readers interact about what they’re reading and find new writers they like. New writers can interact with avid readers and build up a readership.

While mainly a mobile app for smartphones and tablets, there is a website that gives a short overview: http://www.litsy.com.

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Edinburgh Dusk – Review

Edinburgh DuskTitle:   Edinburgh Dusk  |  Author:   Carole Lawrence  |  Publisher:  Thomas & Mercer  |  Publication:  2018 |  Genre:   Mystery

Edinburgh Dusk is the second installment in a mystery series by Carole Lawrence. Set in 1880, Ian Hamilton, a Shakespeare-quoting Detective Inspector, and his associate, Sergeant Dickerson, are drawn into a poisoning case when Dr. Sophia Jex-Blake reports the death of the first victim, the husband of a client who gets help at her clinic for poor women. More victims follow, including a banker visiting Margaret, a prostitute at Fair Kate’s.  The investigation leads Hamilton and Dickerson through brothels, pawn shops and back alleys in the Old Town section of Edinburgh. Continue reading “Edinburgh Dusk – Review”

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September Buzz Books Monthly

September Buzz Books Monthly, a roundup of new books appearing in September 2018, features new offerings from debut and veteran authors. Included are listings for new nonfiction titles such as Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Leadership in Turbulent Times (Simon & Schuster, 9/18) and a new mystery from romance writer Jude Deveraux – A Willing Murder (Mira, 9/18).

Genres included in this roundup:

  • Literary favorites and emerging talents
  • Debut fiction
  • Commercial fiction
  • Nonfiction

Seven excerpts are also included:

  • Jude Deveraux, A Willing Murder (Mira)
  • Lynne Hugo, The Testament of Harold’s Wife (Kensington Books)
  • Walter Mosely, John Woman (Grove Press)
  • Sarah Pinborough, Cross Her Heart (William Morrow)
  • Rebecca Serle, The Dinner List (Flatiron)
  • Imogen Hermes Gowar, The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock (Harper)
  • Stuart Turton, The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (The Sourcebooks Landmark)

Buzzbooks Monthly is a great way to learn about interesting new reads from debut authors and old favorites.

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Review of The Quartet Murders

"The Quartet Murders" coverThe Quartet Murders: A Yorkshire Murder Mystery | By: J. R .Ellis | Publisher:  Amazon Publishing UK / Thomas & Mercer | Copyright: 2018 | ISBN: 9781053903098 | Genre: Mystery

Detective Chief Inspector Jim Oldroyd is thoroughly enjoying a concert of chamber music in a chapel in a small Yorkshire town when one on the quartet members is shot while performing onstage by an unseen assailant and the musician’s irreplaceable Stradivarius violin goes missing. No one is seen leaving the building, yet the murderer and thief aren’t found. Is this the work of a gang of art thieves with whom some of the locals are involved? A few of the local well-heeled gentry are known for their private collections of rare and priceless musical instruments. Before long another member of the quartet is killed, and his murder linked to the stolen violin. DCI Oldroyd assists his old friend, DCI Sam Armitage of the local Halifax police force, in unraveling the knotted strings of these mysteries. The police assume the two deaths and the theft of the violin are committed by the same group of criminals. But are they connected or are they separate cases?

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Review of The Fairfax Incident

"The Fairfax Incident" book coverThe Fairfax Incident by Terrence McCauley

Polis Books, LLC | Published 2018 | ISBN 978-947993-05-1 & 978-947993-33-4 | Format: trade paperback and e-book | Genre: Mystery

Charlie Doherty, private investigator, “crooked” ex-NYPD detective, ex-Marine, thinks he has it easy. Since his “retirement” from the police force, he has been investigating cases for wealthy clients and being paid handsomely. Cases are funneled to him by the mysterious Harriman Van Dorn—easy cases such as tracking down wayward offspring or tailing spouses in divorce cases. Easy, that is, until he takes on the case of a society matron wanting to know why her husband was murdered. Although the police had ruled Walter Fairfax’s death an open-and-shut case of suicide, his wife thinks otherwise, “Walter was incapable of suicide. Not that he wasn’t a coward, mind you, for Walter Fairfax was most certainly a cowardly man. He simply wasn’t considerate enough to kill himself.” He was too busy making sure his insurance company remained a successful venture even throughout the Depression, during which time this story takes place. Mrs. Fairfax is adamant that someone drove her husband to his death, “The lives and fortunes of insurance men are based on calculations and charts and payment schedules that were created on the off chance that something terrible might happen to a policy holder one day. Do you know that they even have charts that can determine how long a policy holder will live based on certain factors? What’s even more troubling is how accurate the charts are…And that is why, Mr. Doherty, I know my husband did not take his own life.”

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