Review: Murder on St. Nicholas Avenue – a Gaslight Mystery by Victoria Thompson

February 8, 2016 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

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If you know me, you know I love the cozy mystery series of “Gaslight Mysteries”, following the adventures of midwife Sarah Brandt in turn-of-the-century NYC. A new one came out at Christmas time and my husband bought it for me – MURDER ON ST. NICHOLAS AVENUE.

Unlike the former novels – all of which I’ve read – this one has Sarah and Frank off to Europe on their honeymoon with the house and children left in charge of assistant Maeve, with Mrs. Malloy and Mrs. Decker (Sarah’s mother) assisting. When a family friend comes to them because she feels her daughter is unjustly accused of murdering her husband, Maeve and the rest of the family – along with friendly police officer Gino – know they must work together to solve the mystery. Of course nothing is simple and the events keep the characters and this reader guessing right up to the last chapters!

I enjoyed this installment in the series, which Ms. Thompson mentions in the afterward she was asked to write for the holidays. Seeing further character development of some of the minor characters (e.g. Mrs. Malloy, Mr. Decker, Gino) was gratifying. I was never fond of the Felix Decker character, but he was much more multi-dimensional after reading this novel.

The characters hint at the fact that they will work together on future mysteries for the “Malloy Detective Agency” so I trust that Ms. Thompson has many more creative plot lines in store for us!

If you like historical cozies, this is a series for you. Each title can stand alone, but reading them in order is a treat as you get to know the characters along the way.

Find this title at a bookstore, library, or online – below is to Amazon where I am an Associate:

Murder on St. Nicholas Avenue: Gaslight Mystery (A Gaslight Mystery)

Historical Fiction Virtual Tour for TAMING THE TWISTED by Jodie Toohey

February 8, 2016February 5, 2016 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

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Here I am today as part of one of my favorite things – an HFVBT blog tour! Today we are featuring TAMING THE TWISTED by Jodie Toohey.

Here’s what HFVBTours has to say:

TAMING THE TWISTED
BY JODIE TOOHEY

Publication Date: August 15, 2015
Wordsy Woman Press
eBook & Paperback; 242 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

READ AN EXCERPT.

Taming the Twisted is written in a similar style to Laura Ingalls Wilders’ Little House books though updated for modern times. It might read as if she’d left in all of the juicy tidbits about things people didn’t talk about during the time when she was writing. Taming the Twisted is a story of destruction, romance, mystery, and deceit set against a back drop of an actual historical event.

In early June, 1860, Abigail enjoyed a peaceful home life with her parents, younger sister, and twin toddler brothers. Their home in Camanche, Iowa, where they’d emigrated from Pennsylvania, was almost complete and her beau, Joseph Sund, had recently proposed marriage.

That changes the evening of June 3rd when a tornado rips through town, killing her parents. At the mass funeral for the over two dozen people who perished in the storm, she learns Marty Cranson, with whom Abigail witnessed Joseph having a heated argument, died, but at the hands of a person rather than the tornado.

In addition to being faced with raising her young siblings, Joseph has disappeared without a trace and a stranger, Marshall Stevenson, appears, offering to help Abigail repair the families’ home and cultivate the newly planted farm crops.

Abigail, while developing romantic feelings for Marshall, tolerating the scorn of town woman Pamela Mackenrow, and working as a seamstress and storekeeper to support her siblings, becomes obsessed with finding out who killed Marty, hoping that and not that he no longer loved her, was the reason Joseph left without saying goodbye.

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY

About the Author

Jodie Toohey is the author of four additional books, two poetry collections – Crush and Other Love Poems for Girls (2008) and Other Side of Crazy (918studio, 2013) – as well as two novels, Missing Emily: Croatian Life Letters (2012) and Melody Madson – May It Please the Court? (2014).

When Jodie is not writing poetry or fiction, she is helping authors, soon-to-be-authors, and want-to-be authors from pre-idea to reader through her company, Wordsy Woman Author Services.

WEBSITE | BLOG | FACEBOOK | TWITTER |GOOGLE+ | GOODREADS | PINTEREST

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Here I am again!

While I enjoyed this story I did have a few issues with it. For me, personally, I find it challenging when books jump around in time (unless it’s a clear flashback/telling of a story for the majority of the book). The beginning of this book moved around from the tornado then backstory then back to the tornado. I think it could have built to the tornado without starting there. That said, I also have some issues with the “mash-up” genre, which is quite popular now and which most people find exciting, especially as it relates to YA/kids books. Is this historical fiction? Romance? A problem novel? A mystery? All of the above? To me at least, I like my books (and my theater, too) to commit to a genre and stay there! I know that many would disagree.

All that aside, I enjoyed reading this book and liked the characters. I was rooting for the main characters as life was not easy for them. I also love a good clean read, and a happy ending! I found it really interesting that this book was based on a real tornado that occurred in Iowa and which wreaked much havoc.

Thank you for my review copy!

Saturday Snapshot – SNOW!

February 7, 2016February 7, 2016 / drbethnolan / 1 Comment

I know it’s Sunday, but…

here are my front and back yards from Friday!

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Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Melinda at westmetromommyreads.com

See her site for participation details!

Review: EPIPHANY by Nikolae Gerstner

February 5, 2016February 5, 2016 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

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My friends at Smith Publicity sent me an e-copy of EPIPHANY by Nikolae Gerstner recently. This was a fast-paced mystery, centering on a young priest and a murder in his community. Here’s now they describe it:

Description

Philip Rockcastle discovers that an unimaginable crime paved the way for him to become a priest. Now pastor of a neighborhood church, is he doing what he was meant to do or is his life a mistake?

He feels responsible when his counseling efforts drive a mentally troubled parishioner to seek validation for fantasies by making a bogus confession to a murder. Troubled, he visits Tara, a divorced mother of two young boys. The visit is innocent. He is not in love with her. He tells himself that frequently.

When a mysterious young girl finally tells him her name, Philip is too shocked to believe, too hopeful to discredit.

The young girl and Philip’s niece scheme to catch the actual murderer, but he catches them. For once in his life, Philip has no time to reflect. He must act.

Epiphany delivers an intriguing plot with snappy dialogue and unforgettable characters whose efforts combine to solve a murder. More important, Philip solves the dilemma of his life.

About the author:

Nickolae Gerstner (Nicki Baker) served as staff writer for the Los Angeles County Office of Education and began her freelance career writing magazine and newspaper pieces.

Her first book was an historical novel, No Bed In Deseret. After listening to Mary Higgins Clark give the keynote address at a writers’ conference, she became intrigued with the mystery genre and launched a mystery writing career. Her mystery novels have been translated into many languages and Finders Keepers, coauthored with Barbara Pronin, was included in a Reader’s Digest Anthology. Two of her books, Finders Keepers and Dark Veil, have been optioned for film.

A native Chicagoan, she is a graduate of the University of Illinois, Urbana campus. She and her husband, John, divide their time between homes in California and New York. Their traveling companion is a Siamese cat named Pippin.

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This was a fast-paced novel and I enjoyed it. It did remind me a bit of Mary Higgins Clark in the pacing and the fact that it was not overly violent or “gritty”. I am curious as to whether Ms. Gerstner will continue with more Father Rockcastle stories!

Thank you for my review copy!

In the Spotlight: LIVE TO AIR by Jeffrey L. Diamond

February 1, 2016January 30, 2016 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

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Greenleaf Book Group and Net Galley provided information on a new mystery from first time author and former news reporter Jeffrey Diamond. If you like mysteries, you might want to check it out!

Description

Television, politics, and the Russian mob: Live to Air is a riveting crime thriller, jam-packed with intrigue and unforgettable characters.

Ethan Benson is a charming and principled-if sometimes difficult-television producer in New York City who detests doing crime stories. But that’s of no significance to his high-powered boss at the network, and Benson finds himself assigned to investigating a bloody shoot-out in the Meatpacking District, whose old grime and new glitz provide a symbolic background for a sensational murder that has dominated the headlines.

As he pieces together his story, Benson literally covers New York-from Central Park and Fifth Avenue to Little Russia in Brooklyn and Rikers Island in Queens-crossing paths with a fascinating cast of characters on both sides of the law. Unknown to Benson, organized crime may be only one facet of the thrilling investigation. With his wife and son in hiding and his life in danger, Benson draws closer to a resolution that will have explosive results for the criminals-and for some members of New York City’s political elite as well.

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Find this title at a bookstore/library/online!