Sunday, December 18, 2022

Book Review: EA$Y MONEY (A Tony Petrocelli Mystery) by Bob White

About the Book (from Amazon)

Someone tried to incinerate Nick Salis in his new Lamborghini Aventador. No one has more to gain from Nick’s demise than aging trophy wife number two, Dani Salis. If she rids herself of the philandering Nick, she can live a life of ease. Dani not only has the means and opportunity, she has motives—millions of them. Small town Detective, Tony Petrocelli and his partner, Sargent Michelle Baxter find conjecture and innuendo instead of evidence against their prime suspect. Certainly nothing that will support a warrant for Dani’s arrest. 

As the detective duo slog through more speculation and half-truths, they uncover a conspiracy rumor. Does it involve Nick’s mistress, Jenn, or the new person on the scene Missy Green? Or does it have to do with the drug business Nick says he isn’t involved in? Just when the case seems solved, and the conspirators are arrested, one more piece of evidence turns up.

Review 

EA$Y MONEY is written from Detective Tony Petrocelli's perspective as he and Sargent Baxter Michelle Baxter wade through half-truths and lies. They work well together and each layer they uncover leads them ultimately to the killer. 

This was a great book to read on a very long flight. It's well written and I like the characters of Tony and Michelle. The story is well-paced and kept my interest. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes crime mysteries with law enforcement as the main characters. The book is part of a series, but is easily read as a stand alone. 

About the Author (from Amazon)

An avid reader since childhood, Bob White began writing during his high school years. He sold his first short story at nineteen, and has been writing ever since. After college and graduate studies Bob spent his earlier years in Christian ministry and mortgage banking. Writing, however, was never far away, resulting in more short stories, and a non-fiction book. 

After his children were grown Bob began working at novel writing. Reading, however, was never far away. He devoured detective stories by John McDonald, Sue Grafton, John Kellerman, Robert B. Parker, Jeffery Deaver, Mickey Spillane, and of course the master of the police procedural, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 

Bob's first published novel, Abducted, has sold not only across North America, but in Europe, Australia, and South Africa. More mystery novels followed, including two with an FBI profiler, Gabby Girard, as the main character. Bob lives with his wife and a sixteen pound black cat near wine country in Southern California and is now working on the sixth Petrocelli mystery, FEAR.


Monday, December 5, 2022

CHRISTMAS MYSTERIES: Fiona Quinn Mysteries by C.S. McDonald / Mac Faraday Mysteries by Lauren Carr

Happy to share these great books with by two authors I enjoy reading: 


Book Details: 
Book Title: Merry Murder: A Fiona Quinn Mystery #2
Author: C. S. McDonald
Category: YA Fiction, 219 pages
Run Time: 4 hours, 51 minutes
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Publisher: McWriter Books
Release Date: September 16, 2016

Content Rating: G (The Fiona Quinn Mysteries are for everyone-- adults love the books and they are appropriate for teens and tweens, too!)

Enjoy and early Christmas gift!

MERRY MURDER

will be at a reduced price of 99 cents
 until January 1st

Book Description:

The cookies are baked. The tree is trimmed. The shopping? Well, it's almost done, and Fiona's parents have returned home for a holiday visit - along with some unexpected unruly friends. Yep, Fiona's perfectly planned Christmas is coming together, but how could've she planned for her favorite uncle's murder?                                      Who could possibly kill a sweet old man who's played Santa at the local mall every year without fail? Fiona's boyfriend, Detective Nathan Landry, is determined to find out - before Christmas day arrives. There's only one problem: Nancy Quinn. Fiona's mom is just as determined as the detective to catch the murderer, and she isn't shy about getting the job done - even if it includes breaking a few pesky laws! 
Will Fiona and her mother find the killer first or will the killer find them?
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B&N ~
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Book Details: 
Book Title: The Christmas Cameo: A Fiona Quinn Quick Mystery
Author: C. S. McDonald
Category: YA Fiction, 32 pages
Run Time: 1 hours, 16 minutes
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Publisher: McWriter Books
Release Date: November 13, 2019

Content Rating: G (The Fiona Quinn Mysteries are for everyone-- adults love the books and they are appropriate for teens and tweens, too!)

Book Description:

A lovely cameo brooch is discovered in Fiona's late Uncle Wilbur's house two days before Christmas. the pin bears a romantic Christmas message from Wilbur for his new wife with the initials, D.A.S. How very strange! To the family's knowledge, Uncle Wilbur had never been married. So, who is this mysterious woman? Now, Fiona is on a holiday mission to locate D.A.S. and deliver the belated gift. Question is, what happened to the marriage? Is D.A.S. still alive after all these years? And if so, can Fiona find her before Christmas?
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Meet the Author

For twenty-six years, C. S. McDonald's life whirled around a song and a dance. Classically trained at Pittsburgh Ballet Theater School, The Pittsburgh Dance Alloy, and many others, she became a professional dancer and choreographer. During that time, she choreographed many musicals and an opera for the Pittsburgh Savoyards. Under her real name, Cindy McDonald, she writes murder-suspense and romantic suspense novels. In 2014, she added the pen name, C. S. McDonald, to write children's books for her grandchildren. In 2016, she added the Fiona Quinn Mysteries to that expansion. She decided to write the cozy mystery series that everyone, including teens and tweens, can read and enjoy. Presently the Fiona Quinn Mysteries includes eleven books. The books are available on audio, narrated by Maren Swenson Waxenberg.

Cindy's newest venture is The Owl's Nest Mysteries. Once again, she has set her cozy mystery in Pittsburgh and the female protagonist, Alexa Owl, is much different from Fiona Quinn. the Owl's Nest Mysteries has a little grit, a little time travel, a little romance, and a whole lot of cozy!

Ms. McDonald resides on her thoroughbred farm known as Fly by Night Stables near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with her husband, Bill, and her poorly behaved Cocker Spaniel, Allister.

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________________________________________

Book Details:

Book Title: Spring Thaw by Lauren Carr
Category: Adult Fiction, 237 pages
Genre: Murder Mystery, Short Stories
Publisher: Acorn Book Services
Release Date: August 12, 2018
Content Rating: PG (mild violence and sexual suggestion)

Book Description:

Gnarly, the rambunctious German Shepherd, is featured in Lauren Carr's best-selling Christmas short story, A Gnarly Christmas. It is Christmas day and Gnarly has been up to his old tricks again. Now he's in the dog house - or rather the boathouse - after stealing the Christmas feast! Moments after Archie and Mac leave Spencer Manor, Gnarly hears a call for help from Rocky, the Maltese down the street. Four assassins for hire have invaded the home of Rocky's elderly owners. While the home invaders wait for instructions from a mysterious caller, Gnarly must plot to stop them. Can Gnarly save Christmas with only the help of an 8-pound Maltese dressed in an elf suit? (Previously published as a single short story by the same name.)

This anthology also includes other treats for mystery lovers on your Christmas list.

In today's hectic world, many whodunit fans don't have time to get their mystery fix diving into a whole novel. Lauren Carr's Spring Thaw and Other Mystery Short Stories is for these fans - but that doesn't man whodunit fans who have time can't dive in as well. 
                    
A novella, Spring Thaw features retired federal agent Chris Matheson from Lauren Carr's newest best selling cold case series. When his late father's former friend is indicted for the seven year old murder of a church bishop, Chris renews old broken friendships to thaw out a cold case.                                                                          Featuring Mac Faraday from Lauren Carr's popular Mac Faraday Mysteries, an estate auction turns into a deadly affair after Gnarly's antics cause Mac to purchase a gem of a dress, which isn't his color in Killing Bid. (Previously published in Lauren Carr's Beauty to Die For.)

Beauty to Die For features the Lovers in Crime, Joshua Thornton and Cameron Gates in a race against the Angel of Death to clear the name of a dying woman's son, who was framed for murdering Miss Pennsylvania. (Previously published in Lauren Carr's Beauty to Die For.)

Countdown to Murder returns to the Lovers in Crime where Cameron and Joshua try to solve the murder of a young pregnant widow before it happens. Previously published in Lauren Carr's Beauty to Die For.)

Mystery fans will see that every dog has his day, especially if that dog is Gnarly. In Lucky Dog, Gnarly helps Mac Faraday to solve the murder of a wealthy society girl. (Previously published in Lauren Carr's Beauty to Die For.)

Dog loving mystery fans will get a special treat when they read The Gnarly Rehabilitation Program. In this Gnarly Mystery Short, Bert and Ernie learn the hard way that crime does not pay when they dog nap Gnarly. (Previously published in Lauren Carr's Beauty to Die For.)

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Book Details:

Book Title: Three Days to Forever by Lauren Carr
Series: A Mac Faraday Mystery (Volume 9)
Category: Adult Fiction (18+), 366 pages
Genre: Murder Mystery
Publisher: Acorn Book Services
Release Date: January 19, 2014
Content Rating: PG-13  - Lauren Carr's mysteries are murder mysteries. Sometimes, the murder does happen on-stage. There is no graphic violence of explicit sex. There is some very mild language (hell or damn, very few and far between). No F-Bombs!

Book Description:

In this critically acclaimed Mac Faraday Mystery from best-selling mystery author Lauren Carr, readers will embark on a rollercoaster adventure with old friends (including the Lovers in Crime team of Prosecutor Joshua Thornton and Homicide Detective Cameron Gates), but also meet new ones as Mac Faraday's daughter Jessica Faraday and Joshua Thornton's son Murphy Thornton join the team in the race to the love birds to the altar!

Days after Christmas, three years before the start of a new year, Deep Creek Lake is hopping with holiday vacationers and wedding guests pouring into the Spencer Inn for Mac Faraday and Archie Monday's huge wedding ceremony which is being touted as the social event of the year. 

But droopy flowers and guests who failed to RSVP are the least of Mac and Archie's problems when a professional hit squad hits Spencer Manor to send the groom, Joshua Thornton, Archie's mother, and Gnarly running for their lives.

With time running out to the big day, Mac Faraday and Spencer's small police force have to sort through the clues to figure out not only who has been targeted for assassination, but also who is determined to stop everything... FOREVER!

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Meet the Author:

Selling over half a million books worldwide, Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, Thorny Rose, Chris Matheson Cold Case Mysteries, and Nikki Bryant Cozy Mysteries - thirty titles across five fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns!
Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, crime fiction, police procedurals, romance, and humor.

The owner of Acorn Book Services and iRead Book Tours, Lauren is also a publishing manager, consultant, and virtual book tour coordinator for independent authors.

Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions.

She lives with her husband, and two spoiled rotten German shepherds on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.

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