All or None by Clive Fleury (Spotlight, review, and GIVEAWAY) GFT

 

All or None

by 

Clive Fleury

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GENRE: Cozy Mystery

 

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BLURB:

 

Returning to Sydney, Detective Ramesh Ryan is promoted to the Homicide Squad. Zoe Yang joins him there. Now a detective herself, she is assigned as his junior partner. Straight up, the cops are off and running—investigating the discovery of a murdered company director. Following the clues, Detective Ryan finds that this and a second murder may be linked to past events.

 

As the pressure mounts for a quick solution to the case, the detective finds that he too, is in the killer’s crosshairs. But Ryan is distracted from the investigation by a romantic encounter with an old university friend. He also worries about his mother, Mumta, and her new obsessive desire for grandchildren from her only son. Could this be linked to her recent medical tests? And there’s another pressing problem—the plague of rats in his apartment block.

 

Detective Ryan’s hands are well and truly full.

 

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EXCERPT

 

Arriving in Sydney’s city center, Tommy parked. “Come back here when you’re finished,” he instructed the passengers before they disembarked to join the other protestors.

 

After everyone left, the reluctant driver ate the chicken and avocado sandwich his wife had made, lay across the back seat, and closed his eyes for a nap. 

When he awoke, the march was ending. The crowd was dispersing, and people were heading home. 

 

Tommy picked up his camera. Anne had reminded him to take a picture, which she would use to advertise the Transit van’s services. He attached it to a tripod and then joined the passengers lined up along the side of the truck for a group photo.

 

After that, Tommy set off at high speed, ignoring the rain that was now hurtling down. He was desperate to get back to see the end of the match, so it was only twenty minutes later that the van reached the top of Clifton Hill and began its descent.

 

The van picked up too much speed; Tommy tried to brake as the vehicle skidded on the wet, greasy bitumen. Passengers’ screams rent the air as the Transit spun around and out of control. It finally left the road, gliding across silky grass before plunging over the cliff into the angry, foaming ocean waters below.

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Clive Fleury is an award-winning writer of books and screenplays and has worked all over the world as a Film/TV director, writer and producer. He has written six books, most recently 'All Or None', the second novel in the Detective Ryan Murder Mystery series.

 

All Or None sees Detective Ryan back in the thick of things. His latest investigation into a mysterious death couldn’t come at a worse time. He discovers his mother is hiding a troubling secret and is further sidetracked by a new romance. Fans of who dunnit's, crime thrillers, and cop and detective stories will love this novel. 

 

Clive's other books include 'Off Season' - book one in the Detective Ryan Murder Mystery series; 'Kill Code' - a dystopian science fiction novel set in a world facing climate change;  ‘Scary Lizzy’  - a novel about an eight year old girl, who befriends an African child ghost –  and the teen action adventure book; ‘The Boy Next Door ‘ -  a story of what happens when a teenage girl has a crush on her next door neighbor, who isn’t all he seems.  He also co-wrote ‘Art Pengriffin and The Curse of The Four’ - a young adult fantasy adventure about a teenage boy who discovers his father was Merlin the Magician.

 

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My review:

4 stars

 

All or None by Clive Fleury is part of the ‘Detective Ryan mystery series’ and features Ryan and his new partner, Agnes, as they adjust to working together in a different location with different colleagues. Dealing with a mounting body count, unsupportive colleagues, and a boss who wants immediate results, the pair struggles to find a harmonious working relationship and decipher the clues before time runs out.

 

This is an entertaining contemporary suspense story that doles out pertinent clues, offers lots of red herrings, and shifts through multiple points of view. The story starts a little slow and builds up momentum just like the runaway van described in the opening. I enjoyed the glimpses of Ryan’s personal life and his strong connection to his mom, but wished for a bit more in-depth revelations about some of the other characters. Although the main storyline is resolved, there are a few dangling threads that piqued my interest, and I was disappointed that they will remain a mystery, at least for now. I was fascinated by the variety of murder techniques employed, but a bit overwhelmed by the myriad of voices that had brief appearances. Nonetheless, this was a fun read, and a great glimpse of life in a different part of the world.

 

A copy of this story was provided for review

Clean Win by Kevin R. Doyle (Spotlight, excerpt, review, and GIVEAWAY) GFT

 

Clean Win

by 

Kevin R. Doyle

 

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GENRE: Mystery

 

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BLURB:

 

Laura Mosby is like a lot of young women, working in a job she doesn't like, looking for a way out, and doing her best to enjoy her privacy. When she dies a violent death at the hands of an intruder, it's at first brushed off as a standard homicide. But when Lieutenant Santiago, the supervising detective, comes across evidence linking her death to a local politician, he begins to see the faint threads of a much nastier scheme. Desperate to shield his people from potential harm, he turns to Sam Quinton, full-time gym owner and part-time private investigator, to help solve Laura's murder and help the police department evade the wrath of City Hall.

 

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EXCERPT

 

We sat there for another minute or two before I prodded the cop. “Laura Mosby.”

“Right.” Santiago sat a little straighter, as if pulling himself back on track. “We’ve got a possible suspect.”

“From what the local news has reported, you’ve had more than one possible suspect.”

Santiago nodded. “A former boyfriend, another even more former boyfriend, and a low-rent cousin who lives out of state.”

“But?”

“But they were all dead ends. And now we’ve got someone new to look at.”

“Which I’m guessing has something to do with why you’re slumming enough to visit me this morning,” I said. “So why not get to it. Who’s the new favorite?”

Santiago looked away as he pressed his hands flat on his thighs. Despite our not-so-hot relationship, I decided to give him the time he needed.

He looked back my way, his expression as calm and controlled as I’d ever seen him.

“Bob Marlow,” he said, so quietly I almost missed it.

I blinked a couple of times, processing the name.

“Bob Marlow,” I repeated a few seconds later.

“Yeah,” Santiago said, giving me half a nod.

“As in Mayor Bob Marlow?”

Only a quarter of a nod this time, if that. “Yeah.”

“As in recently-announced candidate for governor Bob Marlow?”

No comment this time, except for Santiago giving me a dead-level stare.

“Well, shit,” I said.

“Yeah,” Santiago said.

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

A high-school teacher, former college instructor, and fiction writer, Kevin R. Doyle is the author of numerous short horror stories. He’s also written three crime thrillers, The Group, When You Have to Go There, and And the Devil Walks Away, and one horror novel, The Litter. In the last few years, he’s begun working on the Sam Quinton private eye series, published by Camel Press. The first Quinton book, Squatter’s Rights, was nominated for the 2021 Shamus award for Best First PI Novel.  The second book, Heel Turn, was released in March of 2021, while the third in the series, Double Frame, came out in March of 2022. The fourth Sam Quinton book, Clean Win, will be released in March of 2023.

 

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My review:

3.75 out of 5 stars

 

“Clean Win” by Kevin Doyle is the fourth book in the ‘Sam Quinton Mystery’ series. A reluctant request from the lead police detective in a murder case embroils Sam in a complicated situation that may have far-reaching political implications. The wily private investigator will have to use his knowledge from both his prior career and his current ones to get to the truth.

 

This mystery story features an engaging private detective, intriguing secondary characters, and nice twists and turns as the investigation proceeds. I enjoyed Sam’s insouciant attitude and quiet competence as he interacted with folks from all walks of life. The allusions to previous encounters makes me curious about the other stories in the series, but I had no problem reading this as a stand-alone story. Sam’s previous career as a wrestler gives an entertaining dimension to some of his encounters, and I like that he has a (mostly) cordial relationship with the police. This was a fun quick read, and I look forward to reading other stories that feature this colorful investigator.

 

A copy of this story was provided for review

Dead as a Duck by Colleen J. Shogan (Spotlight, excerpt, review, and GIVEAWAY) GFT

 

 

Dead as a Duck

by 

Colleen J. Shogan

 

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GENRE: Mystery/cozy mystery

 

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BLURB:

 

Congressional staffer Kit Marshall is looking forward to a much-deserved summer vacation in the Outer Banks. When the mayor of the beach town turns up dead, Kit and her friends need to put their fun and relaxation on hold to help solve the crime.

 

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EXCERPT

 

 

 

Before I could answer, Tobias spoke up. “The mayor got clobbered, at least politically speaking. It was a real mess. Lots of people were yelling, including her brother.” He pointed at me again.

 

Gomez turned to me. “Is your brother still in town?”

 

“Yes, we’re on vacation together. We’ve rented a beach house in Duck for the week,” I said.

 

“Sebastian is my significant other,” said Lisa. “That’s how Kit and I know each other.”

 

Gomez chewed on the end of her pen. “That’s enough for now. Wait over there until I tell you otherwise.”

 

We walked back to our original location. “If Ronan was murdered, it probably happened sometime last night, don’t you think?”

 

“The medical examiner should be able to figure that out,” she said. “But yes, I would assume that would be the case. There’s a lot of people on this boardwalk when the restaurants and businesses are open. If someone tossed a body into the sound, someone would notice.”

 

“Then we don’t have anything to worry about.” I sighed in deep relief. “If it happened in the middle of the night, you can serve as Sebastian’s alibi.”

 

Lisa shifted from one foot to the other. “That’s going to be a problem.”

 

“What do you mean, Lisa?” I asked in a shaky voice.

 

“I woke up in the middle of the night and Sebastian wasn’t there,” said Lisa. “I don’t know where he went, but he wasn’t with me.”

 

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

 

Colleen J. Shogan has been reading mysteries since the age of six. A political scientist by training, Colleen has taught American politics at several universities and previously worked on Capitol Hill as a legislative staffer in the United States Senate and as a senior executive at the Library of Congress. She is currently the Senior Vice President of the White House Historical Association.

Colleen is a member of Sisters in Crime. 

 

"Stabbing in the Senate" was awarded the Next Generation Indie prize for Best Mystery in 2016. "Homicide in the House" was a 2017 finalist for the RONE Award for Best Mystery. “Calamity at the Continental Club” was a 2018 finalist in the “best cozy mystery” at Killer Nashville. She splits her time between Arlington, Virginia and Duck, NC in the Outer Banks with her husband Rob and beagle mutt Conan.

 

 

 

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My review:

 

3.75 stars

 

 

Dead as a Duck by Colleen J. Shogan is part of the ‘Washington Whodunit’ series and features the adventures of Kit Marshall, chief of staff for representative Maeve Dixon, and amateur sleuth. A “feeling out” stop for the congresswoman that is supposed to morph into a well-deserved vacation for Kit and her cohorts is complicated when her brother gets implicated in…what else? A murder!

 

This cozy mystery provides an armchair visit to a quaint seaside town in North Carolina named Duck. Glimpses of the fun activities to be had on a vacation that includes canines (despite one’s disappointing antipathy toward the beach) are interspersed with persistent investigation into the most recent murder to impact Kit and her crew. It’s fun to see Kit’s husband get more immersed in her propensity to solve murders, and I wholeheartedly approve of his decision about the subject of his next book.

 

I didn’t feel much connection to the secondary characters, but I had met several of them in previous stories, so it was good to get an update on where they were in their lives. I think this would be a perfect quick beach read for anyone who likes cozy mysteries and small-town stories.

 

 

A copy was provided for review

Knight Light by Claudie Riess (VBB, excerpt, and GIVEAWAY) GFT

 

 

 

Knight Light

by 

Claudia Riess

 

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GENRE:   Mystery

 

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BLURB:

 

On March 24, 1946, World Chess Champion, Alexander Alekhine, is found dead in his hotel room in Estoril, Portugal.  The cause of death remains mired in controversy when, three-quarters of a century later, a letter of his that could rock the art world is unearthed in a routine home renovation in upstate New York.  The letter is addressed to a person of international repute and offers information about art works looted during the German occupation of Paris.
When the young man in possession of the letter is brutally murdered, his mentor, art history professor Harrison Wheatley and Harrison’s sleuthing partner, art magazine editor Erika Shawn, hurl themselves into the dual mission of tracking down both the killer and the looted art.
The hunt takes the couple to far flung locations, and as the stakes rise along with the murder count, it looks like the denouement will take place far from the comforts of home.

 

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EXCERPT

Mid-afternoon Harrison was back from his lecture class on Baroque painting.  He found Erika holed up in her third-floor study, absorbed in whatever she was scribbling in her notepad.  He pulled out the chair from what had once been his grandmother’s vanity and sat beside her.  Displayed on the computer screen was a series of lines structured like a poem; at a glance, unintelligible.  He planted a kiss on her cheek.  “What the hell is it?”

 

She put down her pen and turned to him.  “It’s a translated excerpt from Jean Arp’s poem ‘Der Vogel Selbdritt.’”

 

“That explains why it’s inscrutable.  It’s Dada.  Why is it of interest to you?”

 

“To us,” she corrected.  “I’ve been trying to get a handle on our proposed investigation.  Let me start from the beginning.”

 

“Will Lucas be joining us?”

 

“Not for a while.  He’s sleeping.”

 

“He does a lot of that.”

 

She smiled and flipped back the pages of her pad.  “First question:  What’s the main subject of interest—the MacGuffin, so to speak?  Answer: Alekhine’s letter.  Why?  Because Alekhine died under murky circumstances shortly after he wrote it.  Because it contains leads to recovering art lost during the war, which is of great interest on all fronts honorable and evil.  Because it’s the only document Chuck conveyed to you, so he must have thought it was the most important one of the collection.  And last, because it’s the only tangible item we’ve got.”  She took a breath. 

 

“Next.  Who would benefit from getting their hands on this letter, either to gain information from it or to make sure the information remains hidden?  We have to exclude anyone with honorable intentions, since violence was employed to secure the document.  The agency of evil comes from the dark side of the art world.  From blackmail to black market.”  She stared hard at him. 

 

“We can voice our suspicions, but we cannot actually go there.  You do understand, right?”

 

Harrison nodded.  “I do.”

 

“I’m not convinced.”

 

“I will never put you at risk.”

 

She shook her head.  “You left yourself out of the equation.  Not good enough.”

 

It will have to be, sweetheart.  “We will both stay safe,” he said aloud.  “Behind the line of scrimmage.  Go on with your report.”

 

“Just so you know, I don’t quite believe you.  But for now, let’s not lose our train of thought.  So.  What are the lines of inquiry generated by Alekhine’s letter to Ambassador Martins?  One. Learn anything we can about the fate of the Jules Eisenberg Gallery in Paris. This includes its owners, their living relatives, if any, and its wartime art inventory.  Two. Try to trace the provenance of the paintings specified in the letter.  Three. Contact organizations that might help identify the German referred to in the letter—the one who Alekhine says fled to Brazil.”  She skewered him with another look.  “The operative word here is identify.  We identify.  The guys in bullet-proof vests track down.”           

 

“Got it.”

 

“Do you?”  She glanced down at her notes to check if she’d missed anything.  She hadn’t.    

 

“Anyway, the hope is that down the road these lines of inquiry will intersect, and we’ll be able to contribute a couple of leads to pass on to the authorities.”

 

“Who are fixated on another line of reasoning altogether,” Harrison reminded her.

 

“We’ll have enough evidence to convince them otherwise.”

 

“You’re an optimist.”

 

“Realistic, not wide-eyed.”

 

“And it’s contagious,” he said, laying his hand on hers.  “Now, tell me why you’ve got Jean Arp’s poetry on display.”

 

 

 

Amazon link

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

 

Claudia Riess is a Vassar graduate who's worked in the editorial departments of The New Yorker and Holt, Rinehart and Winston.  She is author of the Art History Mystery Series published by Level Best Books and includes: “Stolen Light,”* “False Light” and “Knight Light.” She is also author of “Semblance of Guilt” and “Love and Other Hazards.”

“Knight Light,” the third novel in her Art History Mystery Series, released February 23, 2021, follows the series amateur sleuths Erika Shawn, art magazine editor and Harrison Wheatley, art history professor, as they tackle the sinister world of art crime that tests both their courage- and love-under-fire.

 

 

 

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Blood of the Dragonfly by Hawk MacKinney (VBT, guest post, excerpt, and GIVEAWAY) GFT

 

 

I have the pleasure of sharing a guest post by author Hawk MacKinney, who provides thoughts on...

 

 

The Craft of Writing

by

Hawk MacKinney 

www.hawkmackinneyauthor.com

 

 

Genre, the writing process, and hobbies are all aspects of the same juices that drive one to write. Genre is generated by content which begins to emerge with intros and initial settings in the first chapter. That sets the background with the ‘classic’ genre format, be it science fiction, romance, mystery, adventure, or fantasy. For me, I prefer to let an outline float behind my writing as I attempt to set the hook for readers in setting, plot, and characters. 

 

One common mistake new writers make is to create superfluous characters or story lines for the sake of bulk. Readers can pick this up in a heartbeat of a single sentence. Deleting or editing-out characters shouldn’t be a problem. In my process, I usually already have the sketch for the last chapter in mind before I finish with the opening paragraphs. In this way, subordinate or secondary characters or supporting serial characters don’t run away with some humdrum mundane wordy digression or plot twists that do nothing to move the story forward. 

 

None of these cornerstones are sacrosanct. Any can be changed. Every writer has a different process. However, in my case, I have found that outlines and final chapters hold me to my original objective. Twists and double twists are fun. Readers like sniffing out the false and the lethal. Psychotic perps are great for turning scenes and suspicions downside-up with underlying plots changing with each page and chapter.  

 

Caveat—dialogue is character-specific. Regional/planetary/cultural linguistics can be tricky and fatal for a story line if a writer is unfamiliar with usages or mismatches them. Most importantly, let your fantasies decide what you want to write—then make it yours. Your readers will recognize the heart, the passion, and the feeling behind your words.

 

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Blood of the Dragonfly

by 

Hawk MacKinney

 

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GENRE: Fiction/Mystery/Suspense

 

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BLURB:

 

While dangling a fishing hook from his flat bottom skiff before dawn, former SEAL-turned-PI Craige Ingram spots grey-black smoke coiling above the treetops across the river in the direction of the Georgia bayous and Corpsewood Manor. Bayou or bogs, fire in the uncut cypress and pines bodes a sense that the river is no barrier to the fire that threatens his ancestral home, Moccasin Hollow. Neither are the bodies later found in the burned mansion of Corpsewood Manor. Craige wastes no time in helping his ex-SEAL buddy Lt. Graysen MacGerald who is now Head of Buckingham Homicide Investigations by unofficially investigating the bodies and an exquisite dragonfly brooch found in the mansion with a reputation for evil, hauntings, and mystery.

 

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EXCERPT

 

 

Spinner and Craige dodged the potholes and bayou-puddled sorrowful drive that was already weeded-up with pieces of blackened 2x4s and tumbled rubble. Nestled among old cypress and giant hardwoods, the scorched ruins of a once-elegant time and place cast a brooding haunted ambiance. A lonesome tangle of police tape fluttered around one blackened trunk, while wads and scraps of yellow plastic flurried here and there among the blossom of mushrooms and cinders snagging on bushes and heat-brittle weeds among the char and ash clinging to seared limbs of dead shrubs. Except for half of one lonesome brick chimney, come next season, the surrounding marshes and scrubby undergrowth and vines would reclaim the scarred skeleton that once was Corpsewood and leave a burial mound of vines and voracious pitcher plants.

 

Spinner said, “I want to check that shallow ravine that follows along the north side of the drive. Looks like an overgrown gulley draining toward the river. Be an easy approach to the house without being seen.”

 

Craige said, “Dogs would've spotted them unless they’d been baited or poisoned.”

 

“Bogs won’t hold many tracks.” As the green underbrush swallowed Spinner, he called over his shoulder, “If they came in by river, I might get lucky in the mud along the riverbank for any trace of a boat being pulled up and beached.”

 

“Watch out for moccasins on those overhangs,” Craige called back to him. “If you come up on a weedy dry knoll of brush, sticks, and leaves above the water, leave it be. You don’t want to rile a mama gator guarding her nest. A twenty-footer may look cumbersome, but those big ones can move fast.” Craige stepped over chunks of tumbled cement and distorted rebar where a foundation had been an outside kitchen wall. One windowpane hung lopsided but intact in its section of wall that had collapsed outward into the soft dirt of what had been a flower garden. Sunshine peaked through to splash a glass pane angled among the ruins.

 

Beyond the foundation was a rose garden, trampled blossoms crinkled with burnt petals, broken stems buried amid tumbled bricks, crumbled mortar, and stinking charred timbers. Craige picked his way around the corner of the kitchen. He stopped at the front of the garage with its oily smudges, where the two autos had once parked. A few sooty cement blocks had tumbled from the corner of the garage. The wall had obviously been added as an afterthought. None of the square hollowed-out cement grabbed his attention until he noticed the broken end on one wasn’t smoked-seared or stained. The fire hadn’t touched it. The end had been broken off after the fire, but it wasn’t the inside hollow that grabbed him. It was the small wrapped yellowish-brown brick protruding from inside. CTU R&S ops had come across too many caches of potent hash oil and loose dry kief for him not to recognize it. He leaned down, touched nothing, saw the wrappings had been torn. The heady smell wrinkled his nose. Along one side of the package, he noticed a smattering of scattered pallid crystals. Neither the powder nor the brick with any ash or cinders; what he was seeing came after the fire. The brick looked as though it had been hurriedly pried open, an empty space inside where something had been removed. Someone had known where to look for whatever it was that was taken—someone not interested in the stash.

 

 

Amazon link

 

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Hawk MacKinney began writing mysteries for his school newspaper, served in the US Navy for over 20 years, earned two postgraduate degrees with studies in languages and history, taught postgraduate courses in the United States and Jerusalem, authored professional articles and chordate embryology texts on fetal and adult anatomy, and is well known for his works of fiction. Moccasin Trace, a historical novel, was nominated for the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award. Both his CAIRNS OF SANCTUARIE science fiction series and the MOCCASIN HOLLOW MYSTERY series have received worldwide recognition.

 

 

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The tour dates can be found here