NEW RELEASE ~ Borrowed Time by Tracy Clark (Spotlight on Sisters in Crime)

Gurllllll, Mrs. Clark got me getting off my tail to make (errr, upload) a video.  Anyway, we're back with Clark's former cop turned PI Chicago-based crime fighter, Cassandra (Cass) Raines in Borrowed Time.  Good times, baby.  Good.  TIMES!  Welcome to a second book, Mrs. Clark.  We're rooting for a 3rd.  4th.  5th.  6th.  7th.  Hell, all the way up to 82!

Tracy Clark's Cass Raines Chicago Mystery Series on Amazon 

Mini Amazon synopsis...

"Sitting in cold cars for hours, serving lowlifes with summonses . . . being a P.I. means riding out a lot of slow patches. But sometimes the most familiar paths can lead straight to danger—like at Cass’s go-to diner, where new delivery guy Jung Byson wants to enlist her expertise. Jung’s friend, Tim Ayers, scion of a wealthy Chicago family, has been found dead, floating in Lake Michigan near his luxury boat. And Jung is convinced there’s a murderer on the loose . . . "

What have I been up to lately on my blog Comic Towel?  Check these links out!

1.  GUEST POST: How to Always be on the Lookout for New Inspiration by Kelvyn Fernandes

2. CHOP IT UP: Call Numbers by Syntell Smith 

3.  David Weber's Honor Harrington Series HYPE (Yeah, a Book Haul of Sorts)

2 Popular Cozy Mysteries I'm CANCELLING| #MarchMysteryMadness

Don't cuss me out, Sis.  But life is life, 'cause life is life.  And things of that nature.  LOL.  No, seriously.  I just couldn't get with these books.  Tell me where I went wrong, okay?

1.  The Long Quiche Goodbye (Cheese Shop Mystery Book 1) by Avery Aames

Welcome to the grand opening of Fromagerie Bessette. Or as it's more commonly known by the residents of small-town Providence, Ohio-the Cheese Shop. Proprietor Charlotte Bessette has prepared a delightful sampling of bold Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, delicious tortes of Stilton and Mascarpone, and a taste of Sauvignon Blanc-but someone else has decided to make a little crime of passion the piece de resistance. Right outside the shop Charlotte finds a body, the victim stabbed to death with one of her prized olive-wood handled knives.

2.  Knit One, Kill Two (Knitting Mysteries, No. 1) by Maggie Sefton

Kelly would be the first to admit her life in Washington, D.C., is a little on the dull side. But coming back to Colorado for her beloved aunt’s funeral wasn’t the kind of excitement she was seeking. The police are convinced that her Aunt Helen’s death was the result of a burglary gone bad, but for the accountant in Kelly, things just aren’t adding up. After all, why would her sensible, sixty-eight-year-old aunt borrow $20,000 just days before her death? With the help of the knitting regulars at House of Lambspun, Kelly’s about to get a few lessons in cranking out a sumptuously colored scarf—and in luring a killer out of hiding...

IT IS WHAT IT IS!  BOOOOOMMMMMMM!  GOTTA JET!

FauxCast ~ CHOP IT UP: War Trash by Ha Jin

WHADUPPPPP!  So, yeah.  Ha Jin's War Trash.  Let's GO!

War Trash by Ha Jin on Amazon (affiliate link)

Ha Jin’s masterful new novel casts a searchlight into a forgotten corner of modern history, the experience of Chinese soldiers held in U.S. POW camps during the Korean War. In 1951 Yu Yuan, a scholarly and self-effacing clerical officer in Mao’s “volunteer” army, is taken prisoner south of the 38th Parallel. Because he speaks English, he soon becomes an intermediary between his compatriots and their American captors.With Yuan as guide, we are ushered into the secret world behind the barbed wire, a world where kindness alternates with blinding cruelty and one has infinitely more to fear from one’s fellow prisoners than from the guards.

David Weber's Honor Harrington Series HYPE (Yeah, a Book Haul of Sorts)

The Honor Harrington Series (Amazon affiliate link)

No words.  Completely obsessed with this series.  I made myself take a break after reading book four [Field of Dishonor] because of some crazy events that took place afterwards.  And it's those titillating type of crazy events that sets up the next book.  Which is another reason why I'm loving this series; each book set-up the events of the following book.
  

TURN UP FOR HONOR HARRINGTON-TYPE BOOKS

OUT TUESDAY (5/28/2019)! Tracy Clark's New Release TIME (Sisters in Crime)

"In Tracy Clark’s electrifying new mystery featuring Cassandra Raines, the former Chicago cop turned private investigator looks into a suspicious death as a favor to a friend—and makes some powerful enemies . . .

Sitting in cold cars for hours, serving lowlifes with summonses . . . being a P.I. means riding out a lot of slow patches. But sometimes the most familiar paths can lead straight to danger—like at Cass’s go-to diner, where new delivery guy Jung Byson wants to enlist her expertise. Jung’s friend, Tim Ayers, scion of a wealthy Chicago family, has been found dead, floating in Lake Michigan near his luxury boat. And Jung is convinced there’s a murderer on the loose . . . 

Cass reluctantly begins digging only to discover that Jung neglected to mention one crucial fact: Tim Ayers was terminally ill. Given the large quantities of alcohol and drugs found in his body, Ayers’ death appears to be either an accident or suicide. Yet as much as Cass would like to dismiss Jung’s suspicions, there are too many unanswered questions and unexplained coincidences.   

Why would anyone kill a dying man? Working her connections on both sides of the law, Cass tries to point the police in the right direction. But violence is escalating around her, and Cass’s persistence has already attracted unwanted attention, uncovering sinister secrets that Cass may end up taking to her grave."

Not One but TWO Patricia Cornwell Books This YEAR...

Finally–after a good year or two or three since its announcement–Patricia Cornwell’s new series’ debut has a release date.  Amazon Publishing is taking the reigns on this book.  I suppose somewhere in all that (along with contracts) was the reason they used to hold the exact release date around so long.  Shoot, for a minute I believed the whole thing was scrapped.  

Nevertheless, October 1st of this year is the DAY!  Hee-YAH!  We are finally getting our hands on Cornwell's Quantum, first in her Captain Calli Chase series.  And I'm writing this because they FINALLY released the cover as well!  BHA!

CHOP IT UP: Call Numbers by Syntell Smith

I love the public library. Loved the place since I got my first library card in the first grade (and still have it). Spent my childhood begging to go there, and dreaming I had a car to take myself whenever I wanted. I can do so now three or four times a week if I choose, thank you very much. Nevertheless, life is always good when you have access to a public library. Which is why I wanted to read Call Numbers when asked by the author, Syntell Smith, to do so and share my thoughts afterward. And while the library-centric aspect was the titling piece in my decision, other interesting elements were too. For starters, Call Numbers is set in the '90s ('80s baby/'90s kid here). And it carries a cast of knotty characters traversing personal and professional troubles inside a New York (say "hey" to the big city piece and messy drama) public library. So it has the decade, character and setting that rang my bells. And, despite a few grievances, bells it rang.