January Releases

3rd
Fudge and Jury - Ellie Alexander

16th
Never Never - James Patterson

31st
Drowning Tides - Karen Harper

Weekly Cozy, Mystery Thriller and Romantic Suspense Reads (Dec 19)

 Weekly Cozy, Mystery Thriller and Romantic Suspense Reads

Weekly Cozy, Mystery Thriller and Romantic Suspense Reads is a weekly Monday Meme that is hosted by Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews:

Post the books you read last week and books being read this week.

Read Last Week:

1.  You Don't Know Me - Nancy Bush
2.  Crepe Factor - Laura Childs

Weekly Read:

1.  Absolute Trust - Piper J. Drake
2.  Field of Graves - J.T. Ellison

The Final Seven (Lightkeepers)

 

I've finished "The Final Seven" the 1st book in her Lightkeepers series by Erica Spindler.

Product Description

The Final Seven

The first Saturday in July. . . A missing coed . . .The number seven carved into her door. 

The countdown has begun.

THE FINAL SEVEN

New Orleans Detective Micki Dee Dare is a seasoned, no-nonsense cop. She doesn't need a partner, especially not Zach "Hollywood" Harris, an irreverent charmer, fresh out of an experimental FBI program. And her assignment -- keep him alive while he fights crime using the special skills he brings to the table -- is not what she signed up for. But the die has been cast and there's nothing she can do about it.

Micki soon realizes there's more to her partner than meets the eye -- and more at stake than catching bad guys and closing cases. There's a new kind of evil at work the Crescent City, more cunning, more powerful than any she's ever encountered. And she and Zach may be the only ones who can stop it.

As another coed goes missing and the darkness closes in, Micki must face a terrifying truth: this time she might not make it. This time the evil they're facing might destroy them all.

Full of surprise twists and unexpected turns, The Final Seven is a heart-pounding thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page.

About the Author 

Erica Spindler’s bestselling novels include Copycat, Killer Takes All, See Jane Die, In Silence, Dead Run, Bone Cold, All Fall Down and Cause for Alarm. This New York Times bestselling author lives in the New Orleans area with her husband, an advertising executive, and their two sons.

Product Details
Series: Lightkeepers (Book 1)
Hardcover
Publisher: Double Shot Press (October 15, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1944323082
ISBN-13: 978-1944323080 

My Review:

3/5

Kym Robert's Fatal Fiction Blog Tour with a Spotlight and Giveaway

 

I am so excited to have Kym Roberts here at Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews with a Spotlight and Giveaway.

Thanks Kym and Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for allowing me to join your Fatal Fiction Blog Tour!

Please take it away, Kym!

Fatal Fiction
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Lyrical Underground (December 6, 2016)
ISBN-13: 978-1601837325
E-Book ASIN: B01CWYTJVC







Synopsis

When kindergarten teacher Charli Rae Warren hightailed it out of Hazel Rock, Texas, as a teen, she vowed to leave her hometown in the dust. A decade later, she’s braving the frontier of big hair and bigger gossip once again but this time, she’s saddled with murder!

Charli agrees to sell off the family bookstore, housed in a barn, and settle her estranged dad’s debt — if only so she can ride into the sunset and cut ties with Hazel Rock forever. But the trip is extended when Charli finds her realtor dead in the store, strangled by a bedazzled belt. And with daddy suspiciously MIA, father and daughter are topping the most wanted list.

Forging an unlikely alliance with the town beauty queen, the old beau who tore her family apart, and one ugly armadillo, Charli’s intent on protecting what’s left of her past and wrangling the lone killer who’s fixin’ to destroy her future. 

About The Author

Three career paths resonated for Kym Roberts during her early childhood: detective, investigative reporter, and nun. Being a nun, however, dropped by the wayside when she became aware of boys — they were the spice of life she couldn’t deny. In high school her path was forged when she took her first job at a dry cleaners and met every cop in town, especially the lone female police officer in patrol. From that point on there was no stopping Kym’s pursuit of a career in law enforcement. Kym followed her dream and became a detective who fulfilled her desire to be an investigative reporter, with one extra perk — a badge. Promoted to sergeant, Kym spent the majority of her career in SVU.

She retired from the job reluctantly when her husband dragged her kicking and screaming to another state, but writing continued to call her name, at least in her head. Visit her on the web at kymroberts.com.

http://www.kymroberts.com/

https://twitter.com/kymroberts911

http://www.ekensingtonbooks.com/author.aspx/31810

Purchase Links

Amazon B and N

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please follow the rest of the tour here, thanks:

https://www.escapewithdollycas.com/great-escapes-virtual-book-tours/books-currently-on-tour/fatal-fiction-kym-roberts/

T.C. LoTempio's Crime and Catnip Blog Tour with a Spotlight, Excerpt, Guest Post and Giveaway

 

I am so excited to have T.C. LoTempio here at Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews with a Spotlight, Guest Post and Giveaway.

Thanks T.C. and Goddess Fish Promotions for allowing me to join your Crime and Catnip Blog Tour!

Please take it away, T.C.! 

Guest Post

My Love Affair with Nancy Drew (and Others)

I’ve had a love of mysteries ever since I was ten years old and I read my first mystery: The Secret in the Old Attic, a Nancy Drew mystery! That sparked a lifelong hobby of collecting antique children’sseries books, which has culminated in the six banker’s bookcases full of series books that I have in my apartment today!

Nancy,of course, was the first one I read, the one (as with so many other writers) that inspired me to write my own mysteries. I loved all of her books. The thing that drew me to her in the first place, I’ll admit, were the covers – that skull peeping out at her from the wardrobe in the darkened attic set off many ideas in my ten year old mind! When I started reading the books, they had come out with what is referred to as “yellow spine”, and for years that was how I thought the books orginated. As I got older, though, and into collecting, I frequented the used book shops that used to be plentiful in NYC (a dying breed now – SO sad!) and soon learned that there were many, many other incarnations of Miss Drew!

For example: The first 34 Nancy Drew books in the original texts published from 1930 to 1956 contain 25 chapters and around 210 to 225 pages each. The first group were thick books with blue covers and the title in orange lettering. These books had a frontispiece illustration, and also what was referred to as “Internals”. Usually three internal drawings scattered throughout the book. The first editions ( or first printings) also had what was referred to as “blank” endpapers, the papers just inside the cover of the book. Later on I would learn that books like this are considered very rare indeed – a pristine copy of the first volume, THE SECRET OF THE OLD CLOCK, with a dustjacket in excellent condition (no rips or tears) with blank endpapers can sell for thousands (yes, you heard me right – THOUSANDS) OF dollars!

Through the years, Grosset and Dunlap, the original publisher, put Nancy through many incarnations. The thick blue books got thinner, and the internals were reduced from three and the frontispiece to just the frontispiece; the blue cloth cover was replaced by a blue tweed one; in the late fifties/early sixties the dust jackets were abandoned altoghether in favor of a yellow-spined one piece book. And still later Nancy evolved into a paperback heroine! Applewood Books also issued reprints of the first twenty-two original Nancy’s with reproductions of original cover art and internals where applicable, which are also considered collector’s items.

There were other series that also had the dust jackets and internals, which I also collected as my mystery reportiore expanded – The Dana Girls, Hardy Boys, Judy Bolton to name a few. Later series were developed, with tweed books and dust jackets, focusing on gals with careers that I also found enjoyable: Vicki Barr, Flight Stewardess and Connie Blair, who worked in advertising. And who could forget Cherry Ames, Nurse?

This is just a brief listing of all the series books that I have tucked away in those six, five shelf banker’s bookcases. Mind you, these are the complete series of each one:

Nancy Drew, original hardcover with dustjackets, tweed hardcoverwith dustjackets and yellow spine- also Applewood reprints one through twenty-one.

Judy Bolton, original hardover w/dust jackets and green spine

Vicki Barr, original hardover with dustjackets

Kay Tracey, original hardcover with dustjackets

Connie Blair,orginal hardcover with dustjackets

And others too numerous to mention!

Most of the books are the ones that I bought when I was a child, either at the regular store or the used bookstore; however, a lot ofthem were acquired through Ebay (in the later years). And my collection isn’t finished by a long shot – I’m always on the lookout for a good, old YA mystery book!!!!!!! Plus, let’s not forget those foreign editions!

For those of you interested in finding out more about these vintage series, here are a few good resources:

http://www.nancydrewsleuth.com/

http://www.series-books.com/
 

About the Author

While Toni Lotempio does not commit – or solve – murders in real life, she has no trouble doing it on paper. Her lifelong love of mysteries began early on when she was introduced to her first Nancy Drew mystery at age 10 – The Secret in the Old Attic. She (and ROCCO, albeit he’s uncredited) pen the Nick and Nora mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime – and in Spring 2017, the new CAT RESCUE msyteries from Crooked Lane! She, Rocco and company make their home in Clifton, New Jersey, just twenty minutes from the Big Apple – New York. Catch up with them at www.tclotempio.com and www.catsbooksmorecats.blogspot.com
 

Crime and Catnip
by T. C. Lotempio
GENRE: cozy mystery

BLURB

While catering a gala for the Cruz Museum, Nora Charles agrees to look into the disappearance of director Violet Crenshaw’s niece, a case previously undertaken by her frisky feline friend Nick’s former owner, a private eye whose whereabouts are also currently unknown.

As Nora and her curious cat Nick pull at the string of clues, they begin to unravel a twisted tale of coded messages, theft, false identities, murder, and international espionage. Nora dares to hope that the labyrinth of leads will not only help them locate the missing young woman, but also solve the disappearance of the detective. That’s if Nora can stay alive long enough to find him.

Excerpt

I twisted the knob and the door swung inward, almost hitting another furry shape crouched behind it. The cat that charged at me out of the darkness had a white body and an orange and white face. It’s fluffy white tail waved like a flag signaling surrender. It landed on all four paws and stood, back arched, bright blue eyes glittering.

“Yowl!”

I looked at Nick who’d sat back on his haunches and was calmly regarding the newcomer. “Is this what you wanted me to find, Nick? You wanted me to let this cat out of here?” I made an impatient gesture. “I told you I had things to do.”

I could swear that Nick shook his head. “Meeoow,” he yowled.

The other cat turned around twice, echoed Nick’s cry, and then shot like a guided missile back through the door. I peered cautiously inside. The room beyond was black as midnight, and I had no flashlight – nor did I have the cat’s extraordinary range of night vision. I felt along the wall and found a switch, which I flipped. Illumination revealed a flight of steps leading downward into what was most likely a basement or a storage area. Nick and the other cat were halfway down the stairs. Both paused, turned and looked at me and meowed plaintively.

“I do not have a good feeling about this,” I muttered. I cautiously crept down the stairway, emerging into what appeared to be the museum storeroom, filled to overflowing capacity with boxes, cabinets and trunks of varying sizes. I walked over to one and read the white and red printed label:

PROPERTY OF MEECHAM EXHIBIT

“Oh great,” I muttered. This was obviously the place where the packing was stored for the exhibit articles. The cats were dashing madly around the room – off to a large trunk on the left side, then back to me, around in a circle, and then back to the trunk. The orange and white cat began to mew pitifully as Nick chased a few red threads on the floor. Fighting the tingling feeling inching up my spine, I moved forward and saw a black Mary Jane dangling over the side, partially obscured by a swath of red satin.

With a sinking feeling, I walked all the way around, stopped and bit back a scream.

Daisy Martinelli sat sprawled in the trunk’s center, her neck cocked at a rakish angle, the red scarf tied around it pooled like a puddle of blood in her lap. One finger was caught in the scarf’s frayed edge, almost as if she were pointing. Her sightless eyes stared straight ahead, and a little bit of drool trickled out of the side of her mouth. Her arms were tangled in the folds of a scarlet cape looped carelessly around her shoulders.

I didn’t need to feel her pulse to see that she was quite, quite, dead.

AUTHOR Bio and Links

While Toni Lotempio does not commit – or solve – murders in real life, she has no trouble doing it on paper. Her lifelong love of mysteries began early on when she was introduced to her first Nancy Drew mystery at age 10 – The Secret in the Old Attic. She (and ROCCO, albeit he’s uncredited) pen the Nick and Nora mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime – the first volume, MEOW IF ITS MURDER, debuted Dec. 2, 2014. Followed by #2, CLAWS FOR ALARM. #3, CRIME AND CATNIP, is out this December. She, Rocco and Maxx make their home in Clifton, New Jersey, just twenty minutes from the Big Apple – New York. Catch up with them at www.tclotempio.com and www.catsbooksmorecats.blogspot.com

Where to find them:

ROCCO’s blog:

www.catsbooksmorecats.blogspot.com

Website:

WWW.tclotempio.com

Amazon - Crime and Catnip

http://www.amazon.com/Crime-Catnip-Nick-Nora-Mystery/dp/042527022X?ie=UTF8&qid=1458231177&ref_=tmm_mmp_swatch_0&sr=1-1

Amazon: All Books Page

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1?ie=UTF8&field-author=T.C.+LoTempio&search-alias=books&text=T.C.+LoTempio&sort=relevancerank

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Toni-LoTempio-125764404163823/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/roccoblogger

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION

T. C. Lotempio will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

"http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f1943/

Please follow the rest of the tour here, thanks:

https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.ca/2016/09/vbt-crime-and-catnip-by-t-c-lotempio.html

New Release 2016 (Dec 13)

Piper Prescott, proprietor of Spice It Up!, has persuaded Doug Winters, the mild-mannered vet she’s been dating, to demonstrate Indian cuisine at her shop. But before Doug’s presentation of classic chicken curry is completed, Ned Feeney, local handyman, bursts in with news of a murder.

Sandy Granger, the director of a local production of Steel Magnolias, was found strangled in the third-floor balcony of the Brandywine Creek Opera House. Sandy, it seems, had not endeared herself to cast or crew. Complaints about her ran the gamut from her management style to her lack of people skills. Everyone connected with the production falls under suspicion, including Piper Prescott’s BFF, Reba Mae Johnson, who made it well known how unhappy she is that she was cut from the cast.

When the spotlight for the dastardly deed shines on Reba Mae, Piper rushes to her friend’s defense. Who among Sandy’s detractors was angry enough to wrap a silk scarf around her neck ― and pull tight? Will Piper succeed in solving the case before she becomes the killer’s encore performance? And will she ever learn just how to prepare the perfect curry? As delicious as it is charming, this entry in Gail Oust’s mouth-watering Spice Shop Mysteries, Curried Away, is sure to delight both old fans and new.

D.E. Haggerty's Self Serve Murder Blog Tour with a Spotlight and Excerpt

 

I am so excited to have D.E. Haggerty here at Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews with a Spotlight and Excerpt.

Thanks D.E. and Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for allowing me to join your Self Serve Murder Blog Tour!

Please take it away, D.E. !

Book Series: Death by Cupcake, Book 3 – can standalone
Genre: Cozy Mystery, Humor
Published: December, 2016
Word count: 43,000

Synopsis:

Book 3 in the Death by Cupcake series. Can be read as a standalone.

Kristie is kind with a capital K, so it’s quite the surprise when she wakes up next to a dead man with no recollection of the previous night. Even worse? She’s naked. Kristie may be a sweetheart out to save the world, but sticking her nose into an investigation of rapes across campus makes her the target of a murderer. Before she knows it, Callie is smack dab in the middle of a murder investigation with her colleagues Callie and Anna. If that’s not enough to drive a sane person up the wall, a friend has decided he’s going to keep her safe whether she wants him to or not. And, oh yeah, he’s her man and that’s that.

Come join us at Callie’s Cakes, where murder investigations are on the menu. You are most welcome, but you may need to serve yourself as our barista Kristie is busy trying to save the world.

Warning: Although there are plenty of moments that will make you shake your head and laugh at the antics of the ladies of Callie’s Cakes, the subject matter – rape on college campuses – is very real and somewhat darker than your usual cozy mystery.


Buy Links

Amazon Smashwords Barnes and Noble Kobo

Author Bio

I grew up reading everything I could get my hands on from my mom’s Harlequin romances to Nancy Drew to Little Women. When I wasn’t flipping pages in a library book, I was penning horrendous poems, writing songs no one should ever sing, or drafting stories which have thankfully been destroyed. College and a stint in the U.S. Army came along, robbing me of free time to write and read, although I did manage, every once in a while, to sneak a book into my rucksack between rolled up socks, MRIs, t-shirts, and cold weather gear. After surviving the army experience, I went back to school and got my law degree. I jumped ship and joined the hubby in the Netherlands before the graduation ceremony could even begin. A few years into my legal career, I was exhausted, fed up, and just plain done. I quit my job and sat down to write a manuscript, which I promptly hid in the attic after returning to the law. But being a lawyer really wasn’t my thing, so I quit (again!) and went off to Germany to start a B&B. Turns out being a B&B owner wasn’t my thing either. I decided to follow the husband to Istanbul for a few years where I managed to churn out book after book. But ten years was too many to stay away from ‘home’. I packed up again and moved to The Hague where I’m currently working on my next book. I hope I’ll always be working on my next book.

Author Links

Website: http://dehaggerty.wordpress.com

Blog: https://dehaggerty.wordpress.com/category/mymusings/

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/denaehaggerty

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+DEHaggerty/posts

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/denahaggerty/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7210211.D_E_Haggerty

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/D.E.-Haggerty/e/B00ECQBURU/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_5?qid=1438239628&sr=8-5

Excerpt

I’m wiping down the counters when I get ambushed by Callie and Anna. Callie grabs my arm and together with Anna she pushes me into the corner furthest from the students. “What in the world of coffee beans are you guys up to now?” I cross my arms over my chest to make it perfectly clear that I’m not okay with whatever cockamamie scheme they’ve cooked up now.

Anna looks at me and smiles in an obvious but unsuccessful attempt to look innocent. “It’s just that we think it’s time we see the Youth Center where you spend all your time.”

Yeah, right. I roll my eyes at her. “You don’t really expect me to believe that you want to see the Youth Center to check out my life’s work.”

Callie bobs her head. “We’ve been meaning to go down there for ages.”

“Yeah,” Anna jumps in. “Logan always made it sound like the first circle in hell.”

I raise an eyebrow at the troublemaking pixie. Of course, she would want to jump into the first circle of hell. “Most people try to avoid Dante’s Inferno.” I don’t know why I bother trying to dissuade her. She obviously has no fear of things ‘normal’ people avoid like gangs and violence and such. She even admits to starting to fall for Logan before she realized he was an undercover cop.

“We just need to make sure we can eliminate anyone from the Youth Center as possible suspects. You know – up close and personally – then we need to find this rapist before he strikes again. It’s time to get to the bottom of this.” Callie makes an impassioned speech. I look down but, to my surprise, no soap box has magically appeared under her feet.

“I thought you guys promised not to go to the Youth Center.” I make one last ditch effort to keep Callie and Anna safely away from this investigation.

“I promised to not go running around. I will definitely not be doing any running.” Anna shakes her head and points at her feet. As if those high-heeled boots would ever stop her from running head-on into turmoil.

Callie shrugs. “I never actually said the words ‘I promise’. There’s definitely some kind of loophole there.”

“Fine!” I throw my hands in the air in defeat. “We’ll head over in my car after the bakery closes this afternoon.”

The dynamic duo immediately jumps up and down before rushing back into the kitchen giggling. And I’m the young one?

Please follow the rest of the tour here, thanks:

https://www.escapewithdollycas.com/great-escapes-virtual-book-tours/books-currently-on-tour/book-blast-self-serve-murder-d-e-haggerty

Weekly Cozy, Mystery Thriller and Romantic Suspense Reads (Dec 12)

 Weekly Cozy, Mystery Thriller and Romantic Suspense Reads

Weekly Cozy, Mystery Thriller and Romantic Suspense Reads is a weekly Monday Meme that is hosted by Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews:

Post the books you read last week and books being read this week.

Read Last Week:

1.  The Final Seven - Erica Spindler

Weekly Read:

1.  You Don't Know Me - Nancy Bush
2.  Crepe Factor - Laura Childs