HFVB Tour – THE SAFFRON CROCUS by Alison McMahan

May 25, 2015May 20, 2015 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

Here I am today to blog about the YA book: THE SAFFRON CROCUS by Alison McMahan. This book has mystery, murder, and adventure in 1600’s Venice. When the young protagonist’s voice teacher mysteriously dies, she tries to find out who killed her and why, opening up a lot of closed doors and secrets from the past.

This was an enjoyable and exciting read, but my favorite part of it was learning about what life was life in Venice in the 1600’s. Isabella’s experience with music and opera, the life of a castrati musician, “kept” women, and the treatment of Jews in Venice at that time all played a role in this novel and kept me interested and reading.

Thank you for my copy!

Here’s what HFVBT has to say:

Publication Date: December 13, 2014
Black Opal Books
eBook; 306p

Genre: Young Adult/Historical Mystery/Romance

Winner of the 2014 Rosemary Award for Best Historical for Young Adults.

Venice, 1643. Isabella, fifteen, longs to sing in Monteverdi’s Choir, but only boys (and castrati) can do that. Her singing teacher, Margherita, introduces her to a new wonder: opera! Then Isabella finds Margherita murdered. Now people keep trying to kill Margherita’s handsome rogue of a son, Rafaele.

Was Margherita killed so someone could steal her saffron business? Or was it a disgruntled lover, as Margherita—unbeknownst to Isabella—was one of Venice’s wealthiest courtesans?

Or will Isabella and Rafaele find the answer deep in Margherita’s past, buried in the Jewish Ghetto?

Isabella has to solve the mystery of the Saffron Crocus before Rafaele hangs for a murder he didn’t commit, though she fears the truth will drive her and the man she loves irrevocably apart.

Excerpt

Who knew a singing career would be this much trouble?

“Rafaele!” She flew into the garret. “Piero, it was so wonderful, wait until I tell you!”

The stool next to the bed was knocked over. The tray with the genepy bottle was on the floor, one of the cups broken. The fat candle that had been burning next to Rafaele’s bed had been flung to the other side of the room.. Canvases were strewn all over the floor, some of them slashed, and many of Master Strozzi’s jars of paint elements were broken.

Did Piero and Rafaele have a fight? She quickly suppressed the thought. Who would get into a fight with a man who was already injured?

Something else must have happened.

She walked across the garret. “Piero? Rafaele, are you here?”

Rafaele was not in the bed. The sheets and blankets she had piled on top of him were strewn everywher. Blood-stained sheets spilled over the edge of the pallet. There was a pile of clothes on the floor.

She walked around to get a closer look.

Not clothes. It was Piero. Face down, one arm stretched out before him, as if in supplication.

A puddle of blood under him.

Dead.

Praise for The Saffron Crocus

“I adored this beautifully written, passionate book. The Saffron Crocus is a glittering, thrilling opera of a novel that plucked my heartstrings and kept me reading at fever pitch. Brava, Alison McMahan! Encore!” -Nancy Holder, New York Times Bestselling Author of the Wicked Saga

Buy the eBook

Black Opal Books
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

About the Author

Alison McMahan chased footage for her documentaries through jungles in Honduras and Cambodia, favelas in Brazil and racetracks in the U.S. She brings the same sense of adventure to her award-winning books of historical mystery and romantic adventure for teens and adults. Her latest publication is The Saffron Crocus, a historical mystery for young. Murder, Mystery & Music in 17th Century Venice.

She loves hearing from readers!

The Saffron Crocus Blog Tour & Book Blast Schedule

Monday, April 13
Book Blast at Genre Queen

Thursday, April 16
Guest Post & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books

Friday, April 17
Interview at Mythical Books

Monday, April 20
Review at Flashlight Commentary

Tuesday, April 21
Review at History From a Woman’s Perspective

Wednesday, April 22
Guest Post at History From a Woman’s Perspective

Tuesday, April 28
Book Blast at A Literary Vacation

Wednesday, April 29
Guest Post & Giveaway at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time

Tuesday, May 5
Review at Book Nerd

Wednesday, May 6
Review at Just One More Chapter

Thursday, May 7
Review at 100 Pages a Day

Friday, May 8
Guest Post at Just One More Chapter

Saturday, May 9
Book Blast at Romantic Historical Lovers

Tuesday, May 12
Review at The True Book Addict

Wednesday, May 13
Guest Post & Giveaway at Historical Fiction Connection

Thursday, May 14
Review at Book Babe
Guest Post at What Is That Book About

Monday, May 25
Review at Beth’s Book Nook Blog

Wednesday, May 27
Book Blast at CelticLady’s Reviews

Thursday, May 28
Review at The Lit Bitch
Review at Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

Monday, June 1
Review at Broken Teepee

Tuesday, June 2
Guest Post at The Maiden’s Court

Friday, June 5
Spotlight & Giveaway at Jorie Loves a Story

Review: LIAR’S BENCH by Kim Michele Richardson

April 23, 2015April 20, 2019 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

Coming of age stories set in the South always appeal to me, so I chose this book from Net Galley.

LIAR’S BENCH is the story of Mudas Summers, a teenage girl living in Kentucky in the 1970’s. Her mother is found dead and suicide is the ruling. Muddy, however, believes her mother was hiding something, and perhaps was killed. Part flashback, part coming of age, and part mystery, LIAR’S BENCH chronicles Muddy’s attempts to find her mother’s story and in essence find herself.

While I liked this story, and found it to be well-written, it was fairly raw and gritty. Muddy’s existence was not an easy one, and the depiction of abuse and neglect was disturbing to me. Just about everyone in her family seemed dysfunctional, and a whole crew of townspeople were hardly more than criminals. I spent a lot of reading time anxious that Muddy and her boyfriend would be harmed or even killed.

I’d be curious what others think of this story. It was quite honestly portrayed and the writing was great. I found it a bit depressing, though I did like the uplifting ending.

Thank you for my review copy, Kensington Press!

Quick Review: MURDER IN HINDSIGHT by Anne Cleeland

April 21, 2015April 21, 2019 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

This book is Book 3 of the New Scotland Yard mystery series.

Acton and Doyle are married detectives, working at New Scotland Yard. They are as different as night and day, but their passion for their work and each other binds them together. When a string of murders occurs, it looks like someone is going back and murdering people who they deem have gotten off lightly. Doyle tries to work under the radar, but is shadowed by a stranger. The danger builds and the plot twists and turns until its conclusion.

I enjoyed this fast-paced mystery which I got from Net Galley. I have to say, though, that I think I would have benefitted from reading the prior books in the series. It stands alone, but I can see that I missed some important events and character development.

If you like mysteries, especially my favorite type: the British variety, then you should check out this series!

Thanks, Net Galley and Kensington Books, for my copy!

Review: WHAT YOU LEFT BEHIND by Samantha Hayes

April 14, 2015April 14, 2015 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

When I was going through my “murder mystery thriller” phase this winter, I pulled this novel from Net Galley. It is part of the Detective Lorraine Fisher series, which was new to me.

When Lorraine takes a holiday with her young daughter to visit her sister in the English countryside, she is drawn into a series of teen deaths that look like suicide; but Lorraine thinks they may be something more sinister. Her nephew, Freddie, is acting strange, and he is apparently struggling with some online harassment. Two years earlier there had been a cluster of teen suicides, and now it looks like it is happening again. Lorraine jumps in to solve the mystery before any more deaths can happen, and especially before something bad happens to Freddie.

There were a lot of characters to keep straight in this story — Lorraine, her sister Jo, husbands, children, friends, friends of friends, employees, shady folks, sinister folks, mysterious folks, dead folks, etc. Even with that I was able to pretty much figure out what had happened, though there were a lot of twists and turns, with new information given near the end of the story. I liked it though, and I kept reading until the end.

Have you read the other Detective Fisher story, “Until You’re Mine”? If so, please let me know and tell me how you liked it! let me know if you’ve read this one, too.

Thanks, Net Galley and Crown Publishing, for my copy!

Review: THE BODY IN THE PIAZZA by Katherine Hall Page

April 9, 2015June 25, 2019 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

I love Katherine Hall Page’s Faith Fairchild mysteries. They are cozies that combine some of the things I love most: family, food, and New England. This installment (#21 in the series) takes place in one of my favorite places: Italy.

Faith and Tom have gone to Tuscany on an anniversary trip, but it isn’t long before Faith has a dead body on her hands (a gentleman they knew from the tour) and her friend Francesca’s cooking school is in danger. Can Faith find the murderer before it’s too late?

This book has lots of fun characters and is Faith at her finest. Talk of the sights in Florence and Rome, the food, and the weather made me want to go back to Italy!

A solid contributor to this cozy series. If you like it, you should know that the latest, #22- The Body in the Birches, is set to publish in May.

I got mine via Amazon for my kindle.

Review: WRONGFUL DEATH by L.J. Sellers

March 1, 2015March 1, 2015 / drbethnolan / 1 Comment

I picked up this little mystery off Net Galley. There’s something about winter that makes me want to read crime novels!

In this story, which is part of series featuring the main character- a male detective, a police officer is found brutally murdered near a homeless camp where he had been giving out blankets. Suspicion turns to several homeless people, including twin brothers who have some special needs and mental health issues. At the same time, someone is drugging and sexually assaulting teen girls, then blackmailing their families for money or threatening to release videotape of the assaults. The two crimes can’t be related – or can they?

I enjoyed reading this novel, though I have to say that the very first scene did not work for me. I found it contrived and awkward. Once the book switched to Detective Jackson’s perspective, I got right into it. I thought the author did a good job in covering what it’s like to work for a newspaper as a crime writer, too (role of another character in the book). It seemed pretty realistic. As for the murder, I had figured most of it out by midway (using the old “pick the person least likely” approach) but the final scenes put all the pieces in place for me. The Oregon setting is solidly portrayed throughout – no surprise that that is where Ms. Sellers lives!

This was a quick read that held my attention – I’d read more about Detective Jackson.

Thanks, Net Galley and Thomas Mercer, for my copy!

Audiobook Review: RIPPER by Isabel Allende

February 28, 2015February 26, 2015 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

First let me begin by saying: I love Isabel Allende’s books. THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS is one of favorite books ever. EVA LUNA, OF LOVE AND SHADOWS, DAUGHTER OF FORTUNE, PORTRAIT IN SEPIA. You get the idea. So I was thrilled to see she had written a mystery novel – described as “fast-paced” – that takes place in San Francisco (near my old stomping grounds). I got it as an audiobook from my public library.

Wow — what a disappointment. Isabel Allende is an incredible writer. Her attraction for me has always been in the beauty of her language. Her characters are so real and human. Her stories are enthralling.

Not this one. This story had me puzzled right from the beginning. There was WAY TOO MUCH character description and background given. The story is about a serial killer in San Francisco and I felt like I was at about CD 6 before we got a murder (covered in what felt like a few paragraphs). Instead we had this lush, detailed history of our main character (soon to become victim-in-danger-of-being-murdered-by-serial-killer) Indiana Jackson – a woman who was so beautiful, so gifted, so extraordinary, and so not aware of her power over men that she seemed totally unbelievable as she went about her work as a homeopath. Her daughter is the shy and reclusive, but brilliant, Amanda, who spends her time playing an online game called “Ripper” with other teens where they solve murders. Amanda’s father – Indiana’s ex – is luckily a SF homicide cop so that gives everybody access to detailed police information. Amanda’s grandfather is her best friend and plays Ripper, too. When Indiana is finally abducted in about disk 10, Amanda makes it her job to figure out who the killer is and save her mother in time.

THIS PART CONTAINS SPOILERS.

Now, someone who has read this book please tell me: who WAS that killer?? He had like five different names and aliases and he was someone I didn’t even remember from earlier in the novel when we were getting the back story to birth of all those other characters. What??? And all those other people he killed were related to him and his crazy, feral, abused, neglected youth, but why did he want to kill Indiana?? Did she maybe reject him? (I have to say I do struggle with following books while driving sometimes and I can’t really rewind). Also, this was looooong. I just looked it up on Amazon and saw it has over 500 pages. I believe it.

So – in a nutshell – if you want great character descriptions and Allende’s writing, you might like this. If you want a fast-paced thriller, skip this one. My expectations were really high, so that didn’t help.

But Isabel, I still absolutely love your (other) books!

PS – forgot to mention the narrator, Edoardo Ballerini — LOVED his smooth voice!

Review: THINGS HALF IN SHADOW by Alan Finn

February 16, 2015February 16, 2015 / drbethnolan / 1 Comment

It’s post-Civil War Philadelphia, and Edward Clark is on a newspaper assignment to uncover false mediums and spiritualists in the city. Edward has a secret past – he is the child of a famous magician whose career ended in tragedy. He delights in seeing through the tricks and hoaxes. When he crosses paths with Lucy Collins, a fake medium who will stop at nothing to keep herself and her younger brother alive and successful, he ends up having to bring her along on his assignment. They visit a famous medium who seems to be the real deal, but then she falls dead during a séance in front of a room of people.

I really enjoyed this fun read! Between Edward’s voice as narrator and the things Lucy would do, I would often find myself laughing out loud. Yes I had to suspend my disbelief at the end, but it was all in fun. This must be the start of a series as there was no final conclusion. Get writing, Mr. Finn! We need the next installment! I read this as an e-galley but I saw online that it is over 400 pages. I was rather shocked as it read very quickly and I finished it in a couple of days. I love a blend of history, supernatural, and humor – this book had it all.

Thanks, Net Galley and Gallery Books, for my copy!

You can find it at an Indie near you — I am an Indie Bound affiliate:

Find it at an Indie!

Here’s a fun book trailer via You Tube —

Review: THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN by Paula Hawkins

February 14, 2015February 14, 2015 / drbethnolan / 1 Comment

There’s been chatter about this novel for the past few months, but I was unable to get my hands on an advanced copy. After reading several other bloggers’ reviews, I knew I had to buy it!

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN starts with Rachel, a young woman in the London suburbs, who takes the train to her job each day. She passes a house every day and loves to look at the couple who live there – she calls them Jess and Jason. A few doors down lives her ex-husband with his new wife, Anna, and their baby girl. Rachel is a basically one big mess where her divorce is concerned. She’s constantly calling her ex, especially when she’s drunk, and is trying to hang on. Rachel is unraveling and is an alcoholic, suffering from blackouts from binge drinking. One day she sees “Jess” outside with another man. And then Jess (real name Megan) goes missing. Rachel can’t keep her distance and keeps involving herself in the investigation, and in the lives of her ex and his family and Megan’s husband. Things go hurtling along, like a runaway train, up to the exciting climax.

What can I say? I could not put this book down. For the first time in my life I was happy I have insomnia as I could stay up reading. I read the book through most of the night and finished it the next evening. I love a thriller with a mystery, and I especially love when you can analyze the flaws of the main characters. This book is told in three voices: Rachel, Megan (in flashback leading up to her disappearance), and Anna. Each one has her flaws, but that makes them all the more human. By the halfway point I had a theory as to what was going on, and I was right, but I just couldn’t stop reading as I needed to know what happened.

Highly addictive like “Gone Girl”, THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN is one book I’m not soon to forget! Someone make this into a movie!

You can find it at an indie near you. Or try the library but there are hundreds of holds on the copies in my system.

I am an indie bound affiliate:

Find it at an Indie!

Review: The Forgotten Girls by Sara Blaedel

February 12, 2015April 21, 2019 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

I’m a huge fan of Nordic crime novels and when I saw this one come up on Net Galley, I was excited to get it.

THE FORGOTTEN GIRLS starts with a young woman being found, dead, in a forest in Denmark. She looks unkempt – almost feral – but she has no identification on her. Investigator Louise Rick gets a tip that the girl is a twin that used to live in a nearby institution, only thing is, that girl is officially deceased. Other murders and attacks on local women get Louise to thinking that the crimes may all be related and go back for years. However, until she can figure out who this first girl is, and what she was doing in the woods, the key to whole mystery will remain hidden.

I really enjoyed this fast-paced, well-plotted novel. This is my first Sara Blaedel book, but apparently the Louise Rick series is quite popular and there are several other books. This story does have passages of graphic violence and the overall premise, once it’s all figured out, is fairly disturbing; however, I did like it and look forward to reading more books by Blaedel. Rick is a multi-layered character – far from perfect – and I rooted for her as the protagonist.

Thank you, Net Galley and Grand Central Publishing, for my review copy!