Book Review : DROPPED LIKE A BAD HABIT (Nun the Wiser Mystery #q2) by Melissa Westemeier

About the Book

The bodies keep piling up along Chestnut Street…

When Sister Bernadette hears from the local pharmacist about plans to redevelop and gentrify their small community on Chestnut Street, she rallies her neighbors at The Abbey: Senior Living to help stop it. Chestnut Street is home to local mom-and-pop businesses that The Abbey’s residents frequently access. But when the healthy pharmacist mysteriously drops dead with no discernable reason, Detective AJ Lewis is stumped. Then another, younger, business owner dies with no explanation, and AJ is suspicious and starts to dig. 

Sister Bernie, trying to solve small, seemingly nonsensical thefts, is intrigued and positions herself to collaborate with the police for what she hopes will be her second murder investigation. Why did two seemingly healthy men conveniently die? Who’s behind the shadowy Vision Corporation? Each question leads to a dead end or another question. And then there’s an unexpected death at The Abbey. 

Coincidence or connection? Murder’s becoming a bad habit Sister Bernie and AJ are determined to break. 

Review 

Lots of quirky characters make this a fun read with laugh-out-loud moments. The MC, Sister Bernadette, is older and a dominant force, as she likely was when she was actively a nun and teacher. The church and school closed and the building was re-purposed to The Abbey, a senior living facility with apartments and other amenities.  

Meadow is the manager and younger of the seniors, while Fern is the oldest and frailest. She adds the calming force as various residents disagree. Not far from The Abbey, on Chestnut Street, stores are being pressured to sell out to a development company. One staunch objector, Ethan, is found dead. As Bernie jumps in to find answers the detectives - AJ and Taylor - can't find, spearheads an organized attack on the Vision, residents have objects disappearing. Then there's another person with a suspicious death, and then another. 

The tale is well-written with eccentric characters, lots of surprises and suspects. It is both witty and heartwarming. Genre is definitely cozy, but with AJ predominant as well, includes police procedural. This is the second in the series. It can be read alone, still I always recommend you start with the first book in the series. 

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book in the hopes that I would post an honest review. This has not affected the content of my review in any way. 

AMAZON ~ Barnes&Noble

About the Author

Melissa Westemeier grew up around the edge of nerd culture, but marriage and motherhood with three sons immersed her in it. She’s fluent in Marvel, DC, Dr. Who, Star Wars, Godzilla, and more thanks to their influence. 

Her fiction work includes rom-com and a trilogy loosely based on her experience tending bar on the Wolf River in Wisconsin. She’s thrilled to realize her childhood dream of writing murder mysteries.

         Facebook ~ Goodreads ~ Instagram ~ AMAZONAUTHOR

Book Review: MY SISTER'S GRAVE (Tracy Crosswhite Book 1) by Robert Dugoni

About the Book:

Tracy Crosswhite has spent twenty years questioning the facts surrounding her sister Sarah’s disappearance and the murder trial that followed. She doesn’t believe that Edmund House—a convicted rapist and the man condemned for Sarah’s murder—is the guilty party. 

Motivated by the opportunity to obtain real justice, Tracy became a homicide detective with the Seattle PD and dedicated her life to tracking down killers. When Sarah’s remains are finally discovered near their hometown in the northern Cascade mountains of Washington State, Tracy is determined to get the answers she’s been seeking. 

As she searches for the real killer, she unearths dark, long-kept secrets that will forever change her relationship to her past—and open the door to deadly danger.

Review

This was an intriguing story, with conflict and tension around every corner. Tracy is determined to reopen the case surrounding her sister's disappearance. She's reviewed all the evidence and with so many inconsistencies, she believes the man was framed. She enlists the help of a high school friend, now an attorney, to help. The case is reopened and the tension only increases. 

Dugoni has weaved a tale that keeps you guessing and wondering who the bad guy is. The pace is steady and then picks up after all the other surprises and twists that pop up. The ending makes sense. This is the first in the Tracy Crosswhite and the first in this series of 10 I've read. I'm looking forward to the second and hoping to get to know Tracy better now that she has closure and can move forward.

AMAZON

The Tracy Crosswhite Series

My Sister's Grave

Her Final Breath

In the Clearing

The Trapped Girl

Close to Home

A Steep Price

A Cold Trail

In her Tracks

What She Found

One Last Kill

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.

AMAZON

Book Review: UNSCRUPULOUS (Circle City Mystery Series Book 5) by M. E. May

Synopsis

Christmas is only a week away, but not all is merry and bright for Sergeant Brent Freeman and his partner, newly promoted Detective Anne Samuels. They find themselves facing more than a homicide when they discover the victim’s five-year-old daughter, Maricella, is missing. When suspicion moves to human trafficking and gang involvement, the FBI sends in two of their best to assist in the investigation.

In the meantime, two people who insist her mother didn’t want her anymore have transported a terrified little Maricella out of state. Fortunately, she finds solace in two older children. These two soon realize their captors are prepping Maricella for organ harvesting. Their main goal becomes to protect her at any cost, even if it means running away in the snow and bitter cold temperatures of December without any knowledge of the area where they’re being held.

Can Maricella’s newfound protectors get her out of the house and to safety before the doctor decides she’s a transplant match? Will Brent discover where these unscrupulous persons are hiding the children before it’s too late?

Review

The murder of the mother and abduction of 5 year old Maricella set Brent and others in the Police Department on a gripping journey along with members of the FBI Human Trafficking unit and local Gang Units. They soon identify a string of missing children. The stakes continue to rise as their only leads as the death count rises. 

May depicts the plight of children kidnapped, the stories they might be told, and the intended outcomes. May also portrays the tensions and potential issues of police procedurals including the potential toll on personal levels.  This is the second of the Circle City Mystery series I've read.  These can easily be read as stand alones. My only warning: Plan ahead as you won't want to put the book down.

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book in the hopes that I would post an honest review.  This has not affected the content of my review in any way.

About the Author

M. E. May (Michele) lives in the Far Northwest Suburbs of Chicago. The fourth of five children, she was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and lived in central Indiana for the majority of her life. It is no wonder she chose the capital city of Indiana as the setting for the Circle City Mystery Series. She attended classes at Indiana University in Kokomo, Indiana, studying Social and Behavioral Sciences. Her interest in the psychology of humans sparked the curiosity to ask why they commit such heinous acts upon one another. Other interests in such areas as criminology and forensics have moved her to put her vast imagination to work writing fiction that is as accurate as possible. In doing so, she depicts societal struggles that pit those who understand humanity with those who are lost in a strange and dangerous world of their own making. Michele belongs to several organizations such as Chicago Writers Association, Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime. She is currently the Vice President and Program Chair for Sisters in Crime Chicagoland and will graduate to President in 2016. The first novel in the Circle City Mystery Series, Perfidy, won the 2013 Lovey Award for Best First Novel at the Love is Murder Conference in Chicago. Michele was approached by a representative of Harlequin in February 2014 about this series and six months later signed her first Worldwide Mystery contract for Perfidy, which was published in July 2015. She has since written three more novels in the series which will be published in mass paperback starting with Inconspicuous in October 2015. She was also one of the featured authors in the anthology Hoosier Hoops and Hijinx with her short story “Uncle Vito and the Cheerleader.”

Blog Stop: Frankie Y. Bailey and WHAT THE FLY SAW (Detective Hannah McCabe)

Today it's my pleasure to have Frankie Y. Bailey as my guest. She's provided a perspective on WHAT THE FLY SAW from the perspective of Detective McCabe's Little Black Dress...

   I’m Detective Hannah McCabe’s Little Black Dress. You can call me LBD. McCabe bought me one day when she was out shopping with her best friend, Chelsea. McCabe needed a dress to wear to a police department dinner. Chelsea (who owns a vegetarian restaurant with her husband, Stan) is a smart shopper. She knows her zucchini, and she knows a classic LBD with great style when she sees one. She spotted me and insisted McCabe try me on. I’m sleeveless, a light wool blend, perfect with a jacket or sweater in fall/winter, a shawl in spring, and a necklace in summer.

   On the evening of the police department dinner, McCabe looked lovely. She’d taken the time to go to a salon instead of twisting her hair into a curly knot on top of her head. The elegant chignon that the hairstylist came up with was perfect for me. But I had my first hint that the evening might not go well when McCabe paused right in the middle of stepping into me and just stood there for at least five minutes. Then she almost tripped over my hem when she tried to walk. She cursed and zipped me up and then grabbed her ORB to tag her partner, Mike Baxter. He was in the middle of pulling on his jacket, but he stopped what he was doing when she told him what she’d realized about their crime scene. The crime scene in their latest murder investigation.

   After she’d finish her conversation with Baxter and rung off, McCabe was so preoccupied that she didn’t even glance in the mirror to admire herself in me. She just grabbed her purse and headed for the door. Well, first she put a gun into her purse. And then we headed for the door. When we got to the dinner at the hotel in downtown Albany, she didn’t even notice that she was turning heads wearing me. She barely acknowledged the compliments she received. She spent the evening looking around the room for whatever it was she was trying to see. And Baxter never showed up. And then we left, and we ended up in that horrible place. . .

   Did I mention where I am right now? I’m on the counter at the dry cleaners. The woman behind the counter just told McCabe that they’ll probably be able to save me. I have blood and dirt and smells in my fibers. I was not designed to be worn under a protective vest while crawling.

   McCabe usually treats me with more respect. She isn’t one of those TV police detectives who run around in high heels and silk blouses. She has sensible work clothes.

   That evening, I had hoped that Ted Thornton, the billionaire industrialist, might be at the police department dinner. The mayor was going to be there. I thought Thornton might be, too. I was hoping McCabe and I might get invited back to his mansion. Of course, I did hear McCabe mention his Maine Coon, and it would have been really annoying to get covered in cat hairs. McCabe’s dog is bad enough. She and her father, Angus, adopted a puppy, a Great Dane mixed with who knows what. I’ve been terrified McCabe would forget when she was wearing me and let him get too close.

   But better gigantic paw prints than blood stains.

   McCabe is about to leave me here at the dry cleaners. I hope they treat me more gently than she did. McCabe may feel called upon to protect and serve, but she also has an obligation to be careful of her clothing. Obviously, she never listened to those lectures her mother used to give her about being a “wild child.”

   Well, to be fair, she really didn’t have the time to think about me. But, really. Blood? On her LBD?

   Thank goodness this is the year 2020, and they have the technology to save me. Otherwise, I’ll be as dead as one of McCabe’s bodies.

Very interesting! Want to know a little more about WHAT THE FLY SAW? Keep reading...

Synopsis for WHAT THE FLY SAW

Albany, New York, January 2020

The morning after a blizzard that shut down the city, funeral director Kevin Novak is found dead in the basement of his funeral home. The arrow sticking out of his chest came from his own hunting bow. A loving husband and father and an active member of a local megachurch, Novak had no known enemies. His family and friends say he had been depressed because his best friend died suddenly of a heart attack and Novak blamed himself. But what does his guilt have to do with his death? Maybe nothing, maybe a lot. The minister of the megachurch, the psychiatrist who provides counseling to church members, or the folksy Southern medium who irritates both men—one of these people may know why Novak was murdered. Detective Hannah McCabe and her partner, Mike Baxter, sort through lies and evasions to find the person who killed their “Cock Robin,” But McCabe is distracted by a political controversy involving her family, unanswered questions from another high-profile case, and her own guilt when a young woman dies after McCabe fails to act.

Review

Set in 2020, the story of Novak's death includes many twists and turns as projected to be possible in 2020. Obvious differences are evident in police procedurals, communication, zombie hippies, and the motive for Novak's death. Bailey injects some interesting, yet subtle reflections on life and mental health. Detective Hannah McCabe is a strong female character. Readers who enjoy a touch of fantasy/science fiction with their crime drama will enjoy WHAT THE FLY SAW.  This is the sequel to THE RED QUEEN DIES but can easily be read as a stand-alone.

About Frankie Y Bailey

Criminologist Frankie Bailey has five books and two published short stories in a mystery series featuring crime historian Lizzie Stuart. The Red Queen Dies, the first book in a near-future police procedural series featuring Detective Hannah McCabe, came out in September, 2013. The second book in the series, What the Fly Saw came out in March 2015. Frankie is a former executive vice president of Mystery Writers of America and a past president of Sisters in Crime.

Website URL: www.frankieybailey.com

Twitter: @FrankieYBailey

Purchase link for WHAT THE FLY SAW

AMAZON 

PJ Nunn Publicist, BreakThrough Promotions p:972-825-1171 | e:pj@breakthroughpromotions.net | w:http://breakthroughpromotions.net | a: Waxahachie TX

Guest Post: MARILYN MEREDITH on VIOLENT DEPARTURES (Rocky Bluff PD)

I'm pleased to have as my guest today MARILYN MEREDITH, author of the Rocky Bluff PD Series and VIOLENT DEPARTURES...

Introduction to the Rocky Bluff P.D. Mystery Series

Because this is my first time on this blog, some of the regular readers might not have heard about the RBPD series. Though I call it a police procedural, some have also termed it as a cozy though it doesn’t have the right attributes for one. I think that label has come from the fact that there is no bad language or on-the page sex.

However, there is at least one murder in every book.

When I wrote the first book, Final Respects, I had no idea that it would become a series. My intention was to show how what happens on the job affects the family, and things that happen with the family affect the job. This is a theme that continues throughout the series.

Once I’d finished, I knew I wanted to know more about the characters I’d created, and the only way to do that was to write another book—and another—and another.

People have died, romances and love affairs have happened, marriages began and ended, babies were born, crimes investigated and solved, and I’ve kept on writing about the men and women who serve on the Rocky Bluff Police Department and their families.

Though it’s a series, it doesn’t have to be read in order. Though things change for the characters from book-to-book, the mystery or mysteries in each book are solved.

For those who must read a series in order these are the titles from the beginning:

Final Respects, Bad Tidings, Fringe Benefits, Smell of Death, No Sanctuary, An Axe to Grind, Angel Lost, No Bells, Dangerous Impulses, Murder in the Worst Degree, and Violent Departures.

F. M. aka Marilyn Meredith

Blurb for Violent Departures:

College student, Veronica Randall, disappears from her car in her own driveway, everyone in the Rocky Bluff P.D. is looking for her. Detective Milligan and family move into a house that may be haunted. Officer Butler is assigned to train a new hire and faces several major challenges.

Bio:

F.M. Meredith, also known as Marilyn Meredith, is the author of over thirty published novels. Marilyn is a member of three chapters of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. Besides having family members in law enforcement, she lived in a town much like Rocky Bluff with many police families as neighbors.

Contest:

Because it has been popular on my other blog tours, once again I’m offering the chance for the person who comments on the most blog posts during this tour to have a character named for him or her in the next Rocky Bluff P.D. mystery.

Or if that doesn’t appeal, the person may choose one of the earlier books in the series—either a print book or Kindle copy.

Links:

Webpage: http://fictionforyou.com/

Blog: http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://facebook.com/marilynmeredith

Tomorrow head on over to http://gumbojustice.blogspot.com/ and you can read about my writing process.

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