Showing posts with label #MarchMysteryMadness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #MarchMysteryMadness. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

50 Pages a Day Keep the Good Reading... I Don't Know What Goes Here...


What’s on my reading plate after abandoning half of my October TBR?


"When V.I. Warshawski gets word that her close friend and mentor Lotty Herschel’s nephew has become a murder suspect, the legendary detective will do everything to save him. The cops found Felix Herschel’s name and phone number on the unknown victim’s remains, but Felix insists he doesn’t know why. Soon Vic discovers that the dead man was obsessed with Middle Eastern archaeology—the first clue in a bewildering case. 
But the trouble multiplies when Vic’s long-lost niece, Reno, goes missing. Reno is harboring a secret that may cost her her life. V.I. can hear the clock ticking on her niece’s safety and is frantic in her efforts to find her. She won’t leave any stone unturned until these very personal cases are cleared—a complex investigation that will entangle the Russian mob, ISIS backers, rogue ICE agents, a nefarious corporation preying on the poor, and a shady network of stock scams and stolen antiquities stretching from Chicago to the East Indies and the Middle East."

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Keeping the Sister Lou Momentum Going With Her Final Case, Alibis & Angels

"With the Lenten season fast approaching, Sister Louise “Lou” LaSalle looks forward to a final day of indulgence before giving up her favorite sweets. But one Briar Coast resident won’t get the chance to repent. Opal Lorrie, the mayor’s director of finance, was just found in the parking lot of the Board of Ed--with a broken neck. 
The sheriff’s deputies are calling the apparent slip-and-fall a freak accident. But Opal was driving her boss’s car and wearing her boss’s red wool coat. Mayor Heather Stanley has been receiving threatening letters and is clearly the real target. Offering her sanctuary could put the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Hermione of Ephesus at risk, but how can Sister Lou turn her back on a neighbor in need? Aided by her loyal sleuthing partners—her well-connected nephew Chris and reporter Shari Henson—Sister Lou must confront the mayor’s myriad detractors during this critical election year. And as the first day of April nears, it’s up to her to unmask an unrepentant killer who has everyone fooled."
Having recently read book two in Olivia Matthews’s Sister Lou cozy series, Peril & Prayer, I've decided to wrap up the series as a whole. I’m having a “what the hee-haw let’s read the third and final book while the gas is on” moment. And one must indulge such impulses. Besides, this has been a year of settling old debts with my favorite lane of reading: black women crime writers. And by “debts” I mean wrapping up many of the series I’ve been reading on and off again throughout the years. As, of course, seen in my August 2019 TBR.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

More Hillerman with a Good Ole Jim Chee Collection

What I got in the mail yesterday! Yay! Finding Hillerman's three-Leaphorn-books-in-one collection at the FotL sale last weekend got me thirsting. So I had to order the follow-up collection containing the next three books in the Leaphorn series. Yet, People of Darkness (book 4), The Dark Wind (book 5) and The Ghost way (book 6) introduce Hillerman’s other Native American detective, Jim Chee. Which was always fine and cool with me, but...

...I was always curious why the first three books were Leaphorn-led. Then how the following three books were for Hillerman's Jim Chee detective. Later down the series the two become a team. Still what was behind this move? In this video, the late Hillerman breaks down why the difference.




I can see myself grabbing these Jim Chee stories now. I can taste it now. Navajo reservations. Native American culture. A murder mystery with mystic themes. Setting. Setting. Setting. And, well, this is what I’ve been craving.

Monday, October 7, 2019

The Irresistible 25-Cent Friends of the Library Sale This Weekend

The timing couldn’t be more than perfect. I spent the latter of Saturday morning prowling around the public library’s 25-cent book sale. Who could resist? Who does resist? Plus, earlier that morning, I returned a few new releases and detoxed a shelf. So why not see what one can pick up for 25-cent? :)


Contents Under Pressure is the first book in Edna Buchanan’s Miami-based crime reporter, Britt Montero, mystery series. I had it for years in mass market; spotted this hardcover, and made the exchange.


More male crime writers are on my reading agenda. Having never read a Le Carra British spy novel, this three-book collection seems fitting. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is the third book in Le Carra’s Smiley series. While The Looking Glass War is the 4th. A Small Town in Germany is a stand-alone. These books released in the ’60s. Another edge of interest and joy for something new to taste.


I could have screamed when I spotted this book containing the first three books in Tony Hillerman’s Joe Leaphorn series. I checked out an exact copy from my library back in June, and read each story back-to-back in less than a week. Matter-of-fact, I read the first book, The Blessing Way, in less than five hours. So when I saw this at the sale for 25-cent, I snatched it and held it close for my personal library. Now I need to get the follow-up omnibus collection to continue Leaphorn’s stories. My excitement for finding this particular book is an understatement.

While I looked around at the sale, nothing else really caught my attention.  So I left it at this.  Adding the Hillerman book to my personal library was worth it all! Serendipity at its finest!

Friday, October 4, 2019

When I Buy a New Release That's Not Working...

...THIS HAPPENS...

1. Reputable author (in my eyes) has a new release; a stand-alone from her usual crime fiction series, though still a thriller/mystery


2. About 60 pages in to a vanilla story with a vanilla cast to a vanilla formula to a vanilla (instant) romance


3.  After being burned by another reputable-in-my-eyes author this year


4.  This is WHY I ALWAYS keep my receipt in the back of the book


She's out of here.  I don't care if Tess Gerritsen wrote this book.  I learned my lesson last month reading a stand-alone book from Nevada Barr.  Absolutely NO more stand-alone books from my favorite mystery authors.  From now on, either we're sticking with his or her series or not sticking at all.

What's in a REBOTCO TBR?

CHOP IT UP: A Killing Fire by Faye Snowden

CHOP IT UP: What Rose Forgot by Nevada Barr

Monday, September 30, 2019

A Bit of Cool J. D. Robb News I HAVE to Share...

Soooooo I got this email Friday from St. Martin's Press Marketing.  What did it say?  Well, it confirmed that my photo/selfie was selected for the mosaic image that'll be featured inside the dust jacket flap of J. D. Robb's 50th In Death release, Golden in Death.  I had to kind of stand there for a minute (as I was rushing to an appointment with a Snicker bar in mouth) to let this bit of excitement soak in.  My picture–as a dedicated fan of Robb's Eve Dallas In Death series–will be inside of Golden in Death's dust jacket with a slew of other fans.  And it'll be only a few weeks before my birthday when the book is released.  I could have passed out at the news, but went chattering about it to a lady in the waiting room.  Between excited chews of my Snicker's bar, of course.

Wait.  So they picked mine?  For real?

Seriously, despite losing someone incredibly special (mainly another mother) to me this year, cool things keep happening in 2019.  Back-to-back, dude.  With more on the horizon, so stay tuned.

So, wow.  This is something so neat that it'll take me a minute to soak in.  Eleven years reading this series and a photo of me will be plastered somewhere inside of the 50th (an incredible number for a book series as is) book's dust jacket.  Like... for forever!  That's wilddddddd!

THANKSSSSSSS!

Keep encouraged and keep glowing, people.  You know you're doing pretty good when good things keep coming at you.  

Stay blessed and receive whatever good comes your way!


Friday, September 27, 2019

Just Because It's FRIDAY Book Haul

Just because it’s freakin’ Friday and I got paid Book Haul.  Let me tell you, I be out of the house by 11:30am every other Friday to handle some business.  Once that’s done, I hit up bookstores while the traffic is low.  And today, here’s what I got…

1.  The Gunslinger by Stephen King.  Tried to read this thing back in 2008–per the urging of a co-worker.  I couldn’t get into it, and eventually sold my copy.  Flash-forward eleven years later; I think I’m finally ready for it.

2.  The Institute by Stephen King.  While I stopped buying Stephen King books upon their releases (mainly because of shelf space), I ended up bending to The Institute.  I had it on hold at my library.  However, being number 15 in line didn’t sound fun.  This was one of those purchases where I knew I would think about the book until I bought my own copy.  So I just did it.  Plus, I love the cover's composition!  And it sounds interesting.  Maybe if it’s good I’ll go back and check out some of his latest releases that I’ve skipped over the past few years.

Thursday, September 5, 2019

NEW RELEASE ~ J D Robb's Vendetta in Death ~ Eve Dallas Came to Town Again


Vendetta in Death by J. D. Robb (Amazon affiliate link)

"She calls herself Lady Justice. And once she has chosen a man as her target, she turns herself into a tall blonde or a curvaceous redhead, makes herself as alluring and seductive as possible to them. Once they are in her grasp, they are powerless. 
The first victim is wealthy businessman Nigel McEnroy. His company’s human resources department has already paid out settlements to a couple of his young victims―but they don’t know that his crimes go far beyond workplace harassment. Lady Justice knows. And in one shocking night of brutality, she makes him pay a much steeper price. 
Now Eve Dallas and her husband, Roarke, are combing through the evidence of McEnroy’s secret life. His compulsive need to record his misdeeds provides them with a wide range of suspects, but the true identity of Lady Justice remains elusive. It’s a challenging case, made even more difficult by McEnroy’s widow, who reacts to the investigation with fury, denial, and threats. Meanwhile, Lady Justice’s criminal crusade is escalating rapidly, and if Eve can’t stop this vigilante, there’s no telling how much blood may be spilled…"


Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Current & Future BWMW Series Reading Plans

Sooooooo. I spent the first week of August polishing off Barbara Neely Blanche White series, as well as Nora DeLoach’s Mama series. The second and third week I finished Chassie West’s Leigh Ann Warren series. But, also, the grande dame Eleanor Taylor Bland’s, Marti MacAlister series. All four mentioned were series I’ve been reading featured entries for the past seven to eight years. And, well, they’re some of the founding voices in this whole area of mystery reading.

Down the line I have Charlotte Carter’s jazzy Nanette Hayes series to finished. Years ago I ended up reading the second book in the series, Coq au Vin, thinking it was the first book. And, well, now I have the proper first book, Rhode Island Red, and the third and final book, Drumsticks, available for later consumption.

There's also a fourth book, but evidently it never got published. BOO! Anyway, it's been a long time since I read a book featuring musician/amateur sleuth Nanette Hayes book. Color my ass excited to revisit this lady.

Click HERE for my written thoughts on Carter's Coq au Vin.


Polishing off Nikki Baker’s work is on my future reading list as well. Her series features our lesbian sleuth, Virginia Kelly. I can't say I found myself wow'ed by the first book the series, In the Game. Still, I'm anticipating some stronger entries down the pipe in this four-book series. But all that is going to have to wait.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

He's... READYYYYYYY...


I be showing all my business sometimes.  Nevertheless, this kid is readyyyyyyy!  Faye Snowden's A Killing Fire is out tomorrow, August 22nd!  I HAD to buy the hardback (who else loves HB?), but the trade paperback will release the same day.  And shout out to Books-A-Million for that 20% off coupon on top of the normal 10% members discount.  Y'all know I love groceries (and an oil change), too.  So a little extra off helps an ole NASTY budgeting thug like myself!  Anyway, I want nothing but success for this book/author!  No, for real.  Black women writers tackling the mystery genre is my literary reading Candyland.  As many of you know by now... I'm sure... :)

I come with receipts!  LOL.
ICON!  And reasons WHY!

Speaking of Sisters in Crime reading in the month of August, I have an update coming soon...

PEACE!


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