Featured Author

Death of the Zanjero

by

Anne Louise Bannon

Summary:

          In Los Angeles in 1870, life was cheap and water could cost you everything. Then, the most powerful man in town was the Zanjero, or water overseer. And he was often the most corrupt, as well. When Zanjero Bert Rivers turns up dead in the irrigation ditch, or Zanja, leading to young widow Maddie Wilcox's vineyards, Maddie has the odd feeling he was murdered.

          Then the undertaker's wife, Mrs. Sutton, confirms that Rivers was shot, and not just hit on the head. Maddie finds herself drawn into finding the killer, first to see justice done, and then to save the skin of the one person she knows did not do it - the town's most infamous madam, Regina Medina.

          Maddie quickly discovers that Mr. Rivers was not the kind, upstanding civic benefactor he presented himself as, but a most despicable man who preyed on the weak and vulnerable, and cheated everyone else. With nearly everyone having a reason to kill the Zanjero, Maddie stumbles on more than a few secrets and ends up in a chase that will tax her intellect, her soul and her very belief in humanity before she's done.

Buy links:

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/death-of-the-zanjero-anne-louise-bannon/1128015290?ean=9781948616003

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Death-Zanjero-Old-Angeles-Book-ebook/dp/B07BF5YST6

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/death-of-the-zanjero

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/794598

Bio:

Anne Louise Bannon has made not one, but two careers out of her passion for storytelling. Both a novelist and a journalist, she has an insatiable curiosity. In addition to her mystery novels, she has written a nonfiction book about poisons, freelanced for such diverse publications as the Los Angeles Times, Ladies’ Home Journal, and Backstage West, and edits wine blog OddBallGrape.com. On the fiction side, she writes a romantic serial, a spy series, and her Kathy and Freddy historical mystery series, set in the 1920s. Her most recent title is Death of the Zanjero. She and her husband live in Southern California with an assortment of critters.

Featured Author

A HOLE IN ONE: A Glass Dolphin Mystery #2

by

Judy Penz Sheluk

Summary

          Hoping to promote the Glass Dolphin antiques shop, co-owners Arabella Carpenter and Emily Garland agree to sponsor a hole in one contest at a charity golf tournament. The publicity turns out to be anything but positive, however, when Arabella’s errant tee shot lands in the woods next to a corpse.

They soon learn that the victim is closely related to Arabella’s ex-husband, who had been acting as the Course Marshal. With means, opportunity, and more than enough motive, he soon becomes the police department’s prime suspect, leaving Arabella and Emily determined to clear his name—even if they’re not entirely convinced of his innocence.

Dogged by incriminating online posts from an anonymous blogger, they track down leads from Emily’s ex-fiancé (and the woman he left Emily for), an Elvis impersonator, and a retired antiques mall vendor with a secret of her own.

All trails lead to a mysterious cult that may have something to do with the murder. Can Arabella and Emily identify the killer before the murderer comes after them?

Bio

      Judy Penz Sheluk is the author of two mystery series: The Glass Dolphin Mysteries (THE HANGED MAN’S NOOSE and A HOLE IN ONE) and The Marketville Mysteries (SKELETONS IN THE ATTIC)

Judy’s short crime fiction appears is several collections. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, the Short Mystery Fiction Society, and Crime Writers of Canada, where she currently serves on the Board of Directors as the Regional Representative for Toronto/Southern Ontario.

Find Judy on her website/blog at http://www.judypenzsheluk.com, where she interviews and showcases the works of other authors and blogs about the writing life.

Buy Links for A HOLE IN ONE:

Amazon: http://authl.it/9f0

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-hole-in-one-judy-penz-sheluk/1127967500?ean=2940158640827

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/a-hole-in-one-3

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Judy_Penz_Sheluk_A_Hole_in_One?id=IERMDwAAQBAJ

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/a-hole-in-one/id1350574649?mt=11

Barking Rain Press: https://barkingrainpress.org/a-hole-in-one/ - 1473022241950-de2dbbf6-9e98

Books I have read

CIRCLE OF WIVES

BY

Alice La Plante

SUMMARY

When Dr. John Taylor turns up dead in a hotel room, the local police uncover enough incriminating evidence to suspect foul play. Detective Samantha Adams, whose Palo Alto beat usually covers petty crimes, is innocently thrown into a high-profile case that is more complicated than any she has faced before. A renowned reconstructive surgeon and a respected family man, Dr. Taylor was beloved and admired. But beneath his perfect façade was a hidden life—in fact, multiple lives. Dr. Taylor was married to three very different women in three separate cities. As the circumstances surrounding his death emerge.

Buy link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18114494-a-circle-of-wives?ac=1&from_search=true

BIO

Alice LaPlante is an award-winning writer of both fiction and non-fiction. She teaches creative writing at Stanford University, where she was a Wallace Stegner Fellow and Jones Lecturer. She also teaches in the MFA program at San Francisco State University. She lives with her family in Northern California.

Books I have read

PANE AND SUFFERING

(First in a new series)

by

Cheryl Hollon

Summary

After Savannah's father dies unexpectedly of a heart attack, she drops everything to return home to St. Petersburg, Florida, to settle his affairs--including the fate of the beloved, family-owned glass shop. Savannah intends to hand over ownership to her father's trusted assistant and fellow glass expert, Hugh Trevor, but soon discovers the master craftsman also dead of an apparent heart attack.

Buy link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23360001-pane-and-suffering?from_search=true

BIO

Cheryl Hollon writes full time after she left an engineering career of designing and building military flight simulators in amazing countries such as England, Wales, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan and India. Fulfilling the dream of a lifetime, she combines her love of writing with a passion for creating glass art. In the small glass studio behind their St. Petersburg, FL, 1920's craftsman bungalow, Cheryl and her husband design, create, and produce fused glass, stained glass and painted glass artworks.

Friday's Featured Author

The Last Witnesses

by

Anne Louise Bannon

Summary

It's back to the 1920s with socialite author Freddie Little and his editor and not-so-blushing bride Kathy Briscow. In fact, Freddie and Kathy are happily enjoying their newly-married bliss when Freddie's sister, Honoria, finds a dead body in her apartment. Honoria had taken the young woman in as a favor to a friend but it soon becomes clear that the favor caught up. Honoria goes into hiding and Freddie and Kathy take up a chase that will lead all three of them across the country and into a conspiracy that, no matter how unbelievable, could get them all killed. 

Bio

Anne Louise Bannon is an author and journalist who wrote her first novel at age 15. Her journalistic work has appeared in Ladies' Home Journal, the Los Angeles Times, Wines and Vines, and in newspapers across the country. She was a TV critic for over 10 years, founded the YourFamilyViewer blog, and created the OddBallGrape.com wine education blog with her husband, Michael Holland. She also writes the romantic fiction serial WhiteHouseRhapsody.com, Book One of which is out now. She is the co-author of Howdunit: Book of Poisons, with Serita Stevens, as well as the Freddie and Kathy mystery series, set in the 1920s, and the Operation Quickline series and Tyger, Tyger. She and her husband live in Southern California with an assortment of critters.

Books I have Read

To Catch a Treat - A Barkery and Biscuits Mystery

by

Linda O. Johnston

Summary

When a Dog-Snatching Scheme Leads to Murder, Carrie Must Sniff Out the Truth

Carrie Kennersly, veterinary technician and owner of the Barkery and Biscuits bake shop, agrees to a day of hiking with her brother Neal—mostly because she wants to meet and critique his latest romantic interest, Janelle Blaystone. But instead of judging her, Carrie feels only sympathy for Janelle, whose beloved black Labrador, Go, was recently dognapped.

BIO

Linda O. Johnston's first published fiction appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and won the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for Best First Mystery Short Story of the Year. Since then, Linda has had more short stories and novellas published, plus, by the end of 2015, she will have had forty-one novels published, including mysteries and romance. 

Linda currently writes two cozy mystery series for Midnight Ink, the Superstition Mysteries and the Barkery and Biscuits Mysteries, both featuring dogs. She has also written the Pet Rescue Mystery series for Berkley Prime Crime, which was a spinoff from her Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series. And yes, they involved dogs, too.

Buy link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26796664-to-catch-a-treat?ac=1&from_search=true

Books I have read

Psychic Damage

by

Carol Sojka

Summary

Murder and small-town corruption mingle in the most sinister of ways in Carole Sojka's "Psychic Damage."

Computer analyst Eva Stuart, employed by a small city in Southern California, is shocked when she hears someone ask, "Where's the body?" and a moment later overhears that evidence is being "cleaned up." She knows then that the topic of conversation is murder, and she recognizes one of the voices as that of a city official.

Eva knows she heard the conversation right when she learns of a death on the news. She confides in a psychic who warns of danger but also tells of a lover who will come to her aid. When the psychic is found dead and Eva is threatened, she knows she must uncover the corruption that leads directly to the top level of city government.

Buy link:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30400518-psychic-damage?ac=1&from_search=true

BIO

Carole Sojka grew up in New York but has spent most of her life in Southern California. She and her husband, Boris, were Peace Corps volunteers in the newly independent Republic of Somalia in the 60's and later she spent many years as the administrator in a public law office. She is the author of A Reason to Kill and the sequel So Many Reasons to Die, both set on Florida's Treasure Coast and the stand alone mystery novel, Psychic Damage. The third book in the Florida series, Reasons to Disapear, will be out at the end of this year.