Saturday, July 25, 2020

Sew Deadly

In Elizabeth Lynn Casey's Sew Deadly, the first installment in the Southern Sewing Circle crafty cozy mystery series debut, this riveting new cozy series will have you at the edge of your seat. When Victoria "Tori" Sinclair moved to Sweet Briar, South Carolina, from Chicago, it was a fresh new start for her when she landed a new librarian job. But things aren't when they seem when fellow Southerners treated her as an outsider. Her first day at the job didn't go as planned and she needed to impress others in a local sewing circle by her skills and what treats she brought to the table. The former librarian gave her a hard time, certain objects disappeared from her left to right, and she discovered a dead body. At the certain of all, she envisioned a children's room in the library and dodges the local police as a potential person of interest. She does a bit of snooping  on her own to clear her name and  discovers what happened to the deceased in question. If that wasn't enough, she charmed the local kindergartners, helped a local girl to learn to read, and had swoony feelings for their teacher.  In the end, she solved the puzzle, learned new revelations, and made herself a home in Sweet Briar to start her new life there.

This was a charming introduction to this crafty cozy debut by Laura Bradford (aka Elizabeth Lynn Casey). I did instantly care for Tori on how she devoted her time to help children to read and experiments for their reading assignments. I did connect with her and how she transformed an ordinary room to something extraordinary in the end. I loved how she didn't give up and made new friends who had her back. I've found the Sweet Briar community charming and endearing for a small town in South Carolina. The theme is to find people who get you and never give up your dreams, no matter what it is.

If you love a great crafty cozy with tips to help you started with non-stop drama, plenty of suspense, lots of action, and plenty of mystifying twists to keep you guessing, check out Sew Deadly today!


Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Buried

In Lynda La Plante's Buried, the first installment in the DC Jack Warr thriller series, the Queen of Crime Thriller had cooked up a compelling and complex storyline. It all started for Jack Warr and his fellow police officers had discovered a dead, burned skeleton corpse skeleton in a cottage house. From there, they picked up the pieces of who died in the fire, which led them to the discovery of a train robbery from two decade ago. In flashback sequences, we learn who this female bandits were and why they stole diamonds and money from this train. While Jack worked hard to earn a promotion with the force, he'd dealt with a devastating blow that his adoptive father was dying from cancer and the revelation he was adopted at age five. That prompted him to search for his biological father, which might have a strange relatable connection to this case in hand. From there, Jack and his fellow police officers work hard to discover new leads from identifying the dead body and why he'd gotten caught into the train robbery mess. While the female robbers in their later years planned to thwart the police like they did in the past, they were one step ahead of them. In the end, while they discover an old trail  to lead them out of Europe, it was up to them to stop them in the tracks before it became too late.

This was an interesting and compelling new thriller series from Lynda La Plante. I instantly cared about Jack, who wanted to voice his opinions and have heard to DCI Ridley and others. I was heartened to hear about his father's dying from cancer and how he yearned to know about his biological father... though it might've been obsessive at times. But I can see how he cared about Maggie and how she cared about him. He could be a stand-out lead for the rest of the series. I loved the English scenic settings and the mesmerizing locations throughout the story. It took us there and set us to places even back in time to the train robbery. The theme is that blood might be thicker than water, but love who you with and not to take life for granted.

If you love hard-core crime thrillers with plenty of twists and turns that leave you guessing with non-stop action, and plenty of dramatic suspense with lots of intrigue and mystery, check out Buried today!



Sunday, July 19, 2020

Unveiling the Past

In Kim Vogel Sawyer's Unveiling the Past, this beautiful Christian novel will warm your heart and tug on your heart strings. For Meghan De Ford-Eagle, she's always wanted to know about her father who's been absent in her life. She's a Cold Case Detective in Carson Springs, Arkansas, and works there with her husband Sean Eagle. When she asked her mother Diane about his name and how to contact him, it set them off on a personal journey of exploration and for forgiveness. When her boss assigned Megan to a new case, he split them up and worked with someone else. While she worked with a missing persons case, her husband Sean stayed on with the same case he worked on with a new partner. While she worked in Fort Smith, her mother Diane reaches out to Kevin Harrison, a workaholic who had failed marriages, and a weak relationship with his step-son Kip. When they meet for the first time in years, she forgives him and helps him redecorate a loft apartment in Las Vegas with her mother Hazel. While Megan waffled on the decision on motherhood and starting her own private investigation agency with Sean, she asked God for his help on truth, on forgiveness, and to help find answers for her client on the search for her missing father. In the end, both mysteries are solved, and Meghan sees things in a new light and a new definition on family in the end.

This novel was so beautifully written and so lovely to read. I cared about Diane on her journey to forgive Kevin and to help him see the error of his ways with Kip. I could see her softened to him as Kevin warmed up to Meghan and made it up to him. I loved Meghan on how she took charge of a tough investigation and found a closeness bond to Sheila Menke, who wanted answers on her father Anson. I also cared for Sean on how he stuck to his guns and his crusty partner Tom Farber when they got down to the truth on a sad cold case. I loved the trio of locations of Las Vegas and Fort Smith and Carson Springs, Arkansas. It came to life like a moving picture show and transported you there. The themes are that family comes in different shapes and sizes and not only from blood and to put your trust and faith in God.

If you love inspirational heart-warming novels with plenty of non-stop drama, lots of action, great suspense, and plenty sparks of intrigue, check out Unveiling the Past today.




Saturday, July 18, 2020

The Wife Who Knew Too Much

In Michele Campbell's The Wife Who Knew Too Much, this shocking new thriller is so dark and twisted, it would leave your head spinning by the ending. When Tabitha Girard met Connor Ford years ago, it was love at first sight.  But when other people, like her grandmother, warned her about him, she was already head over heels in love with him. And they broke up and went their separate ways. Years later, she met Connor at the restaurant she worked at as a waitress. They reconnected and restarted their love affair, though he was married to an older rich woman he didn't love. They had to keep their reunion under wraps since he planned to leave his wife for her. But then things had hit a snag. Tabitha discovered about  her pregnancy ,and planned to tell him on Nina's 4th of July party--the same night when her ex stalked her, someone tried to run her off the road, and then Nina drowned in her pool. Shortly after her death, she married Connor and lived the glamorous life to travel to UAE for work. But when she arrived in Windswept, she learned how she was the outsider and how Nina's staff had appeared unwelcoming to her. Caught in a media blitz with the press, people pointed her out as the killer, putting additional pressure when the police came swarming in interview and later arrest her. To prove her innocence and Connor's,  she would have to find out who had it in them and why... in a life-and death battle in the end.

This was another shocking thriller that had plenty of twists and turns. I cared for Tabitha and the sordid messes she'd gotten herself into, when she was younger, and now years later. But we can see how much she cared and loved Connor, though she doubted him with a certain degree. Nina was a cold bitch we all love to have, though her staff didn't exactly worship the ground she walked on. Connor was torn and did tell the truth, though it might come too late. I didn't like Juliet much and despised her right in the end. I loved the dual locations between Dubai and good old NYC in the USA--very mesmerizing and awestruck for the scenic settings to transport us there. The theme is to be careful on who you trust and what you might know in the end.

If you love heart-stopping, twisted dark thrillers with a sucker-punch for drama, plenty of intense suspense, non-stop action, and a hint of mystery, pre-order The Wife Who Knew Too Much when it comes at the end of the month!




Saturday, July 11, 2020

River of Lies

In R.M. Greenaway's River of Lies, the 5th installment in the B.C. Blues Crime thriller series,  this startling tale had a bit of deep overtones that tugs at the heart. It's February, the most romantic month of the year, that's filled with romance and love and promises. But for Detectives Cal Dion and Dave Leith at the RCMP, it's nothing but that, when they were assigned on another case. It all started with a tragic death of a elementary school's janitor. While they worked that angle, a call for a missing child approached their desks. From there, it landed on a bunch of tangled up lies and deceit in the midst of a custody case between two parents. In the midst of the all is the children, when one's withdrawn from the world, and later takes his life in his own hands at his young age. From there, they discover what really happened and what went wrong, when another child's caught in the crossfire of heated argument. Lo and behold, they pieced the together the biggest mystery of it all. Is the child still alive or buried to hide the fact of an accidental death? When they clinched the two cases together to form this big and darkened mystery, they learned a whole lot of twists and turns that would love you shocked in the end with a gripping climax.

This was another terrific crime thriller from RM Greenaway. I instantly cared for poor Luna Garland and Vivi and Tiago Garland. They were caught in the middle of a complicated custody battle. I also cared for Cal who had gotten his heart broken and crushed from Kate, and how to look over his shoulder, due to a previous case he worked on for the RMCP. I did think Jane (JD) Temple might have feelings for Cal when she least expected it. But she's one tough police detective who helped cracked open this case. I did love the compelling scenic settings and amazing Canadian locations for this story that placed me there in the scene. The theme is that family matters when you put your kids first, no matter how old or troubled they are. Resolve the issues too.

If you love great crime thrillers with non-stop action, plenty of drama, lots of suspense, and sparks of twists for a mystery, check out River of Lies today.