Sunday, July 31, 2011

August 2011 New Mystery Releases!

Now that I think about it, checking each month's new mystery releases is a lot like going Christmas shopping. Okay, so I'm shopping for myself, but I'm sharing the goodies with all of you!

Many times I'll have my list compiled, release dates noted, book covers and synopses saved-- and all I have to do is put the post together at the end of the month. For some reason known only to the publishers, the release dates kept changing for the books I'd chosen, which meant my list (and post) kept changing, too. Hopefully everyone's calmed down now because this post is being published regardless!

The titles are grouped by release dates, and I've included the information you'll need to find them at all your favorite book spots. Enjoy this summer weather by reading a good book or three!


==August 1==

Title: Dead End
Author: Leigh Russell
Series: #3 DI Geraldine Steel mystery set in Woolsmarsh, England
ISBN: 9781842433560
Publisher: No Exit
Paperback, 384 pages

"When the corpse of Abigail Kirby is discovered, police are shocked to learn that the victim's tongue was cut out while she lay dying. Then, shortly after coming forward, a witness is blinded and murdered. Meanwhile, Detective Inspector Geraldine Steel's work life helps her cope with the personal, as her flirtation with the pathologist on the case is helping her to deal with the the newest shock in her life—finding out she was adopted at birth. When Detective Sergeant Ian Peterson uncovers a shocking secret about the serial killer they are pursuing, will the discovery come soon enough to save Geraldine Steel from a similar dreadful fate?"





==August 2==

Author: James Sallis
Standalone
ISBN: 9780802779458
Publisher: Walker and Company
Hardcover, 240 pages

"A hired killer on his final job, a burned-out detective whose wife is dying slowly and in agony, a young boy abandoned by his parents and living alone by his wits. Three people, solitary and sundered from society.


In what is at one and the same time a coming-of-age novel, a realistic crime novel and a novel of the contemporary Southwest, The Killer Is Dying is above all the story of three men of vastly different age and background, and of the shape their lives take against the unforgiving sunlight and sprawl of America's fifth largest city, Phoenix.


The detective, Sayles, is looking for the killer, Christian, though he doesn't know that. Christian is trying to find the man who stepped in and took down his target before he had the chance. And the boy, Jimmie, is having the killer's dreams. While they never meet, through the course of the novel, all find community."



==August 16==

Author: Irene Fleming 
Series: #2 Emily Daggett Weiss mystery set in New Jersey and California in the early days of American movies
ISBN: 9780312575441
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Hardcover, 256 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

"In 1913, Emily Daggett Weiss is left stranded and destitute. Film tycoon Carl Laemmle comes to her rescue with a job offer directing a film in Hollywood, provided she can track down and bring back Laemmle’s own missing star actor...." 



==August 23==

Author: Laura Lippman
Standalone
ISBN: 9780061706516
Publisher: William Morrow
Hardcover, 352 pages

"Years ago, they were all the best of friends. But as time passed and circumstances changed, they grew apart, became adults with families of their own, and began to forget about the past—and the terrible lie they all shared. But now Gordon, the youngest and wildest of the five, has died and the others are thrown together for the first time in years. 

And then the revelations start. 

Could their long-ago lie be the reason for their troubles today? Is it more dangerous to admit to what they’ve done or is it the strain of keeping the secret that is beginning to wear on them and everyone close to them? Each one of these old friends has to wonder if their secret has been discovered—and if someone within the circle is out to destroy them."


==August 30==

Author: Charles Todd
Series: #3 Bess Crawford mystery set in England during World War I
ISBN: 9780062015709
Publisher: William Morrow
Hardcover, 352 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

"When battlefield nurse Bess Crawford returns from France for a well-earned Christmas leave, she finds a bruised and shivering woman huddled in the doorway of her London residence. The woman has nowhere to turn, and propelled by a firm sense of duty, Bess takes her in.

Once inside Bess’s flat, the woman reveals that a quarrel with her husband erupted into violence, yet she wants to return home—if Bess will go with her to Sussex. Realizing that the woman is suffering from a concussion, Bess gives up a few precious days of leave to travel with her. But she soon discovers that this is a good deed with unforeseeable consequences.

What Bess finds at Vixen Hill is a house of mourning. The woman’s family has gathered for a memorial service for the elder son, who died of war wounds. Her husband, home on compassionate leave, is tense, tormented by jealousy and his own guilty conscience.

Then, when a troubled houseguest is found dead, Bess herself becomes a prime suspect in the case. This murder will lead her to a dangerous quest in war-torn France, an unexpected ally, and a startling revelation that puts her in jeopardy before a vicious killer can be exposed."


Title: Black Diamond
Author: Martin Walker
Series: #3 in the Bruno Chief of Police mystery series set in southwestern France
ISBN: 9780307700148
Publisher: Knopf
Hardcover, 320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

"Something dangerous is afoot in St. Denis. In the space of a few weeks, the normally sleepy village sees attacks on Vietnamese vendors, arson at a local Asian restaurant, subpar truffles from China smuggled into outgoing shipments at a nearby market—all of it threatening the Dordogne’s truffle trade, worth millions of dollars each year, and all of it spelling trouble for Benoît “Bruno” Courrèges, master chef, devoted oenophile, and, most important, beloved chief of police. When one of his hunting partners, a noted truffle expert, is murdered, Bruno’s investigation into the murky events unfolding around St. Denis becomes infinitely more complicated. His friend wasn’t just a connoisseur of French delicacies, he was a former high-profile intelligence agent—and someone wanted him dead.

As the strange crimes continue, Bruno’s detective work takes him from sunlit markets to dim cafés, from luxurious feasts to tense negotiations—from all of the paradisial pleasures of the region to its shadowy underworld—and reunites him with a lost love, an ambitious policewoman also assigned to the case. Filled with an abundance of food and wine (including, bien sûr, many, many truffles) and a soupçon of romance, Black Diamond is a deliciously entertaining concoction that delivers all the complexity and delights of the Dordogne itself."


Title: A Trick of the Light
Author: Louise Penny
Series: #7 in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series set in southern Quebec, Canada
ISBN: 9780312655457
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Hardcover, 352 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

"'Hearts are broken,' Lillian Dyson carefully underlined in a book. 'Sweet relationships are dead.' But now Lillian herself is dead. Found among the bleeding hearts and lilacs of Clara Morrow's garden in Three Pines, shattering the celebrations of Clara's solo show at the famed Musée in Montreal. Chief Inspector Gamache, the head of homicide at the Sûreté du Québec, is called to the tiny Quebec village and there he finds the art world gathered, and with it a world of shading and nuance, a world of shadow and light.  Where nothing is as it seems.  Behind every smile there lurks a sneer. Inside every sweet relationship there hides a broken heart.  And even when facts are slowly exposed, it is no longer clear to Gamache and his team if what they've found is the truth, or simply a trick of the light."

I don't know about you, but I think there's some marvelous reading in store during the month of August. I can't wait to get my hands on these books!

Are there any on this list that have you drooling in anticipation? Do tell!





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Saturday, July 30, 2011

Celebrating Mysteries: Books and Film

Celebrating Mysteries wraps up July with three authors who've written books set in France which have characters who work with books and film. What better way to end the month!

I've started following along my own posts by reading at least one book by a new-to-me author I've spotlighted, and next week I'll be reviewing one of the best books I've read so far this year. Vive la France!




Tonino Benacquista
Tonino Benacquista is an award-winning French crime fiction author, comics writer, and screenwriter who was born in Choisy-le-Roi, France.

He's written two books featuring Fred Blake, a man who's supposedly writing a history of the World War II Normandy landings. Actually Fred is Giovanni Manzoni, an ex-Mafia boss in the FBI Witness Protection Program. He and his family are now living in Cholong-sur-Avre, Normandy-- and hoping that no one from their old home town can find them.

Only one of the books has been translated into English, Badfellas in 2010.

Here's a brief synopsis of Badfellas:

"Under cover of darkness, an American family moves into a villa in Cholong-sur-Avre in Normandy. Fred Blake, the father, tells everyone he is there to write a history of the Allied landings. His wife Maggie gets involved in a local charity; their teenage children enroll in the lycee. At first glance a family like any other. But Fred's real name is Giovanni Manzoni - an ex-Mafia boss who has grassed and is now part of the FBI's witness-protection program. And his record in other locations would indicate that his cover is not likely to last very long."

Benacquista is known for his black comedy, and I've added this book to my own wishlist.




Alan Furst
Alan Furst was born and raised in Manhattan, and has lived in the south of France and in Paris. He's written many travel pieces as well as historical espionage novels.

The series that piqued my interest features Jean Casson, a film producer caught up in the Resistance during World War II in German-occupied Paris.

There are two Jean Casson books: The World at Night (1996) and Red Gold (1999).

From Publishers Weekly about The World at Night:

"Hedonistic Parisian film producer Jean Casson thrives in Paris's active film industry, enjoying the colorful social scene, the posh restaurants and the beautiful, available women. But this world he knows so well all but disappears when Germans march into France and seize the city. At first, Casson strives merely to survive, but he's soon drawn into duty as an amateur intelligence operative and finds himself in a precarious position, buffeted by British Intelligence, resistance forces and the Gestapo. In the process, Casson discovers two powerful forces within himself: his patriotism and his consuming passion for an old lover, the beautiful actress Citrine. Furst brings this fascinating, historic Paris to life with his usual masterful use of period detail."


"Claude Izner"
Claude Izner is the pseudonym of two sisters, Lilliane Korb and Laurence Lefèvre. They are both booksellers on the banks of the Seine in Paris who work as a team to write a series of mysteries featuring Victor Legris, a bookseller in late 19th century Paris.

There are nine books in the series so far, six of which have been translated into English: Murder on the Eiffel Tower (2007), The Disappearance at Père-Lachaise (2007), The Montmartre Investigation (2008), The Assassin in the Marais (due in September 2011), The Predator of Batignolles (2010), and Strangled in Paris (due in August 2011).

Publishers Weekly enjoyed the first book in the series:

"Fans of quality historicals will welcome Izner's debut, the first of a series to feature an engaging and fallible amateur sleuth. In 1889, Parisian bookseller Victor Legris finds himself in the midst of a baffling series of deaths connected with the newly opened Eiffel Tower. The victims all apparently died from bee stings, but Legris suspects foul play. His inquiry coincides with another role outside his usual occupation, as a contributor to Le Passe-partout, a new sensationalist newspaper. Almost as soon as the bookman seizes on a promising suspect, that person turns up dead as well, leaving him with a dwindling pool, which, to his chagrin, includes Le Passe-partout's attractive illustrator, an enigmatic Russian woman with whom he's become besotted. The taut pacing and vivid period detail will have readers eagerly turning the pages."

I have Murder on the Eiffel Tower waiting for me on my to-be-read shelves, and I don't think it will be long before it's off the shelf and in my hand. I certainly hope I've added a book or two to your wishlists. I know I've added to mine!

Join me next weekend when Celebrating Mysteries will have a whole new theme!

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Friday, July 29, 2011

A Quiet Weekly Link Round-Up


That doesn't mean that the links I've rounded up are meek and mild; it just means that this past week has been a bit of a snooze here at Casa Kittling.  The two most exciting events have been the delivery of a new slow cooker and my making a start at reorganizing linen cupboards and a shelf or two in the pantry. See what I mean? A real yawn of a week-- but I'm not complaining since I also spent afternoons out in the pool reading, watching clouds evaporate in the sky, and trying to catch a glimpse or two of our shy summer visitors.

One of our shy summer visitors
All right, you talked me into sharing the best photo I've managed to take so far. The fellow you see peeking at me from the other side of the hummingbird feeder is a male juvenile Bullock's Oriole. He flew into our neck of the woods with a young female almost two weeks ago, and I hope they decide to stay until it's time to winter in Mexico.

The first couple of times I saw more than the tailfeathers of this guy, I thought to myself, "What a pretty boy!" With my leaning toward crime fiction, this pair of orioles have been christened "Pretty Boy Floyd" and "Ma Barker."

On to the links (and I'm not talking golf here)!


Bookish Lists & Quizzes

Bookish News & Other Fun Stuff

eBook News

Social Media & Blogging Tips

New to My Google Reader

That's all for this week. Don't forget to stop by next weekend when I'll have a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure!



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Thursday, July 28, 2011

Fatal Fixer-Upper by Jennie Bentley

Title: Fatal Fixer-Upper
Author: Jennie Bentley
ISBN: 9780425224571
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime, 2008
Mass Market Paperback, 336 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery, Amateur Sleuth, #1 Do-It-Yourself mystery
Rating: A
Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.

First Line: The letter from Aunt Inga arrived, as the saying goes, a day late and a dollar short.

If Aunt Inga had put the correct amount of postage on the letter, Avery Baker might have arrived at the elderly lady's old house in Maine in time to find out what she needed help with. As it is, when Avery arrived, her aunt was dead and Avery found herself the heir to her aunt's estate-- including one very neglected Victorian house. What at first seemed like a huge inconvenience turns out to be a blessing in disguise. Avery sublets her New York City apartment, quits her job as a textile designer, and moves to Waterfield, Maine-- intent on renovating the old house in order to sell it for as much money as she possibly can so she can move back to New York.

Hiring handyman Derek Ellis to help her with the renovations, Avery soon realizes that some of the facts just don't add up, and that her aunt's fall down the staircase was not a case of an old lady losing her balance. She has to find out what's going on before she's the next one to have "an accident."

Mysteries that have the renovation of an old house at their centers are one of my reading weaknesses. It was good to see that Bentley didn't merely use the renovation as a springboard for the plot and then ignore the work done on the house. Avery is a complete novice. Her skills lie with textiles-- textures, colors and patterns. She's never tried to bring an old house back to life. The man she hires, Derek Ellis, has, and it's hilarious to see his burgeoning sense of horror as Avery talks about bringing Manhattan industrial loft-style chic to the old Victorian home. It's also fun to watch their attraction to each other grow.

Although I knew the identity of the killer as soon as I saw his shoes, the why of the crime totally escaped me even though the author put the reason right out in plain sight. My only defense is that I was enjoying the story and the characters too much to pay close attention.

The good news is that Avery plans to keep on renovating in future books, so I'll get to enjoy the chemistry between the former textile designer and the handyman, the do-it-yourself tips, more wonderful old houses, and a solid cast of secondary characters in this fun series.





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The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

Title: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
Author: Alan Bradley
ISBN: 9780385343497
Publisher: Bantam Books, 2010
Paperback, 416 pages
Genre: Historical Mystery, #1 Flavia de Luce mystery
Rating: B-
Source: Purchased from Bookman's.

First Line: It was as black in the closet as old blood.

If you have an eleven-year-old sister whose passion is chemistry, it would not be wise to hogtie her and lock her in a closet. But if you're the older teenage sister whose own interests never stray far from your own appearance and romance, you may not realize that payback will be forthcoming... and a bit ugly.

Once Flavia picks the lock and clambers out of the closet, already plotting her revenge, we quickly learn that: it's the summer of 1950; the de Luce family lives in a huge ancestral pile called Buckshaw outside the village of Bishop's Lacy in England; Colonel de Luce seems to live for nothing but collecting postage stamps; and his three daughters are pretty much allowed to do as they please.

In Flavia's case, she spends a lot of time on her own in an ancestor's fully-equipped laboratory teaching herself all about poisons. (Just what you want every eleven-year-old to know about.) However, shortly after she escapes from the closet, strange things begin to occur. A dead bird with a postage stamp skewered on its beak is found on the kitchen doorstep. Then a very rude red-headed stranger has an argument with Colonel de Luce late at night, and mere hours later, Flavia trips over his dead body in the cucumber patch. Naturally Flavia's father is arrested for the murder, and the young girl is determined to discover the identity of the real killer.

I avoided reading this book for a while due to the avalanche of press it received when it was first published. I knew that I did want to give it a try, but the more a book is touted as the best thing since sliced bread, the more I hesitate to pick up my butter knife.

I did find the first-person narrative laugh-out-loud funny several times as Flavia described her adventures, and the mystery did have some meat on its bones so that it was not easily deduced. The characters in the surrounding small villages were quite well-done, too. However, Flavia's father and older sisters were too stereotyped-- and Flavia herself was a bit scary. Colonel de Luce needs to spend more time with his children and less time with his stamps. Flavia would welcome the attention, and it would keep her away from her Bunsen burners and lethal concoctions.

All in all, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie was, for me, a fun, light-hearted way to spend an afternoon, but I failed to fall completely under its spell.





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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Scene of the Blog Featuring Charlotte of Charlotte's Library!

This week, we're visiting a New England blogger who's an archaeologist by day and the president of the Friends of a small library by night. Charlotte is an active member of Kidlitosphere, and a three-time Cybils Awards panelist.

If you want to know about fantasy and science fiction books for kids and teenagers, Charlotte's Library should be one of your first stops. One of the things I enjoy on her blog is her weekly round-up of links to as many reviews of middle grade fantasy and science fiction books as she can find. (As a fellow link rounder-upper, I know how time-consuming this can be!)

I hope you take the time to stop by Charlotte's Library to check it out and to say hello-- and before we get to the fun part, please remember that if you'd like to see a photo in a larger size, all you have to do is click on it. Now-- let's visit Charlotte!

Charlotte's home computer
Here's my home computer, where I do all of my blogging.  Some times are easier to blog than others...five in the morning, before the other users (the two shown, plus my husband) wake up, is rather nice.  The books shown next to the computer are anxiously hoping to be reviewed; their time has almost elapsed (judging by the thickness of the dust that's accumulated, but while they are still in the house, there's hope).   The books below the computer are simply overflow... I don't love them as much as the books that get to go on real shelves.

Charlotte's favorite place to read
Our house has lots of lovely sunny places to read, like the sofa in the downstairs sun room, which is my favorite.  Someday the upstairs sun room will be a lovely place to read too...we hope.  One reason why I'm behind on my reading is that over the last year and a half we have stripped and reglazed all but six of the windows shown on this part of the house.

Charlotte's desk at work
And here is a place I spend lots of time (but not, of course, blogging time)--my desk at work.  My office used to be the semi subterranean holding cell area for prisoners awaiting trial in the courtroom above...it is not a Beautiful place (we've tried to fix the moldering plaster several times, but water keeps getting in and moldering it afresh...), but it is odd and quirky, and not as bad as it might look.  Happily, the old metal table from the medical examiner's office that was my first desk got replaced.  I did not like thinking about that table's past life. 

Creating reading spaces can be hard work!

Charlotte sent me this collage, and I had to share it with you. She mentioned reglazing windows, and now you have a better idea of exactly what she's talking about. I love the view of the outside of her house! I am afraid that I'd spend more time looking out the windows than reading, though....

Charlotte, I'm so glad you shared your creative spaces with us-- and I'm also very glad that your desk at work was replaced with one that didn't have such unsavory associations!

Don't forget to stop by next week when another book blogger from our worldwide community will be sharing her creative spaces with us!

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Stop Hiding, You Varmint, It's Wordless Wednesday!

Click to view full size. More Wordless Wednesday.



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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

The Woodcutter by Reginald Hill


Title: The Woodcutter
Author: Reginald Hill
ISBN: 9780062060747
Publisher: Harper, 2011
Hardcover, 528 pages
Genre: Thriller
Rating: A+
Source: Amazon Vine

First Line: Summer 1963; Profumo disgraced; Ward dead; The Beatles' Please please me top album; Martin Luther King having his dream; JFK fast approaching the end of his; the Cold War at its chilliest; the Wind of Change blowing ever more strongly through Colonial Africa, with its rising blasts already being felt across the Gate of Tears in British-controlled Aden.

Wolf Hadda's life seems to be a fairy tale: he began life as a humble woodcutter's son in a wild and remote area of Cumbria in England, and he's now an extremely successful businessman worth millions and happily married to the woman he fell in love with while in his teens. Hadda knows differently. It took a lot of hard work to get where he is. What he doesn't realize is how quickly it can all be taken away.

A knock on the door of his London home one morning eventually sends him to prison, penniless and reviled by one and all. Abandoned by family, friends and business associates, Hadda retreats into silence until seven years later when prison psychiatrist Alva Ozigbo makes a breakthrough. Hadda begins to talk, and with Ozigbo's support, he is paroled and returns to his family home in rural Cumbria.

Certain people are made uneasy by his release, and they should be. During a very mysterious period in Hadda's youth, he left his home and was known by his employers as The Woodcutter. The Woodcutter is back, and he's searching for the truth, and for the identity of those who framed him. To Hadda, revenge would be very sweet indeed.

I made the mistake of reading this book in the pool, and it held me spellbound for so long that I nearly turned into a 5-foot 9-inch tall prune. Hill convinced me almost immediately that Hadda had been framed, and it was very skillfully done because Hadda does not wear a halo. I knew that he had a bad temper, rough edges, and had cut a corner here and there in his business, but I also knew that he was not guilty as charged.

As Alva Ozigbo, the prison psychiatrist began working with Hadda, it was amusing. She's young, very talented and intelligent, and knows just what she has to do in order to make Hadda see the error of his ways so he can be cured and released. What she doesn't know is that-- where intelligence is concerned-- Hadda runs rings around her. Once Ozigbo starts to understand what's really going on, her greatest fear is that Hadda will carry his quest for revenge too far.

I could go on and on about the unfolding of the complex plot, but it's always my policy to say as little as possible about it. Why read a book review to find out everything that happens in a book? What I will say is that the plot kept me in its clutches from beginning to end, and Wolf Hadda is one of the most complex and fascinating characters I've come across in a long time. If you're looking to be lost in a good book for a considerable length of time, open The Woodcutter and begin to read. My only recommendation is to stay out of the pool while you do.

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In Search of the Rose Notes by Emily Arsenault

Title: In Search of the Rose Notes
Author: Emily Arsenault
ISBN: 9780062012326
Publisher: William Morrow, 2011
Paperback, 384 pages
Genre: Suspense
Rating: B+
Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewer program

First Line: When I was a kid, I used to stop cold whenever one of those commercials came on.

Eleven-year-old best friends Nora and Charlotte used to go to Charlotte's house after school and spend the afternoon with their babysitter, teenager Rose Banks. When Rose disappeared without a trace, the girls knew they had to do something, so using old Time-Life books as their guide, they conducted their own investigation-- which led nowhere.

Now Nora is in her late twenties, married and teaching in Virginia. When she gets a phone call from Charlotte telling her that Rose's remains have been found, Nora doesn't really want to return to Connecticut where she and Charlotte became estranged and her teenage years were so troubled. But Charlotte can be a force to be reckoned with when she wants to be. Charlotte wants to join forces once again to find out what happened to Rose, and Nora reluctantly agrees to return. Nora was the last known person to see Rose alive, and she just doesn't feel ready to revisit her adolescence or the events surrounding Rose's disappearance. She's not back very long before long-buried secrets begin to emerge.

Almost from the beginning, I began to identify with Nora. Nora is a quiet observer, and it was obvious to me that she had suffered from depression. Charlotte is more in-your-face-- with an innate desire to be the winner, to be special. Charlotte is always probing for the facts, even though she doesn't really want to know what they're telling her. She likes to put her own spin on things.

Being no stranger to Time-Life books myself, the two young girls using them as a basis to conduct their investigation was amusing. They did indeed pick up clues along the way, but they were too young to interpret them. (And even though Rose isn't a part of the action very long, she's so well-drawn that you want to know what happened to her.) As adults, Charlotte is still digging for facts, but it's the more intuitive, more emotional Nora who very slowly begins to put things together.

In Search of the Rose Notes builds tension and suspense gradually and held my interest throughout. Nora and Charlotte were fully fleshed characters that I strongly reacted to-- Charlotte irked me to no end most of the time, and quiet Nora was really the winner, the special one. She found out what really happened to Rose all those years ago, and she found the strength to kick the toxic bits of her life to the curb and find happiness. As a mystery and as a character study, this book is a winner.





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Are You Sunrise or Sunset?



You Are Sunset





You are friendly, outgoing, and easily distracted. It takes you a while to get going during the day.

What you lack in productivity you may up for in imagination. You are very creative.

You are a natural rebel, and you don't like following anyone else's rules.

You are successful on your own terms. Many find you to be an inspiration.



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Monday, July 25, 2011

Scene of the Crime with Author Betty Webb

It's always a very special week when I have the chance to interview one of my all-time favorite crime fiction authors.

For several years now, I've been enjoying the cases of private investigator Lena Jones, who's based in Scottsdale, Arizona. Lena does most of her work in the Phoenix metropolitan area, but she's been known to travel to places as remote as the Arizona Strip. In this series, author Betty Webb shows her serious side, especially with two books concerning polygamy, Desert Wives and Desert Lost.

Three years ago, Webb "branched out" with a series much lighter in tone. The Zoo mysteries with main character Teddy Bentley gives the author a chance to show her love of animals-- and her marvelous sense of humor. (After you've read a Zoo mystery, read Betty's blog post about going on a book signing tour with her husband the driver. She wound up being left at a truck stop. I laughed so hard, my husband walked in the room and wanted to be let in on the joke!)

Betty Webb
If you'd like more information about Betty and her books, here are some sources:






Now let's get to the fun part-- the interview!





What was the very first book you remember reading and loving? What makes that book so special?

The Valley of Adventure by Enid Blyton. Since I began reading at around 4 years old, I’d read a lot of books before discovering this one at the age of 10. “Valley” impressed me so much I re-read it more than a dozen times, and remember it fondly to this day. It’s about 4 kids and a cockatoo who stow away on a plane and wind up near a camp of art thieves in a hidden valley, then through their own efforts, bring the thieves to justice. One of the reasons this book has stayed with me over the years is because for the first time I was reading about children – even GIRLS! – who took their fates into their own hands and triumphed. What a positive message that was for the independent woman I was in the process of becoming.


Outside of your writing and all associated commitments, what do you like to do in your free time?

I don’t really have time for any free time because my life revolves around writing. I’m a reading demon, too, and have a regular column on independent press books in Mystery Scene Magazine. I also teach creative writing courses here and there, such as at Phoenix College and the Scottsdale (AZ) Library. But again, writing is the main focus of my life. Both my daughters-in-law appreciate this benevolent neglect, because it keeps my nose out of their respective nests. Unfortunately, I have developed a certain amount of fondness for my five grandkids, and am always pestering them with unwanted attention. I’m sure I’ll hear from the daughters’-in-law about this someday. Oh – I almost forgot. I do love animals, and because of that, I volunteer at the Phoenix Zoo. Whenever and wherever I travel (with my camera-packing photographer hubby), I always take time to visit the local zoos, where I pester the animals, too. But that’s about it. If you leave aside the fact that I’m always plotting various ways to kill people, I’m a pretty dull person.


If I were to visit your hometown, where would you recommend that I go? (I like seeing and doing things that aren't in all the guide books.)

Phoenix Zoo resident
First, I’d take you to the Phoenix Zoo, which is wonderful, with large, wild-appearing habitats for the animals. The zoo’s giant anteaters (The Anteater of Death) and black-footed ferrets (highly endangered, and which will one day be featured in one of my zoo books) are particular draws. The second spot you’d visit would be the Desert Botanical Garden, which showcases thousands of desert species, and at this time of year, is hotter than Hell itself. After you’d had a few accidents with the spiny cacti, I’d drag you off to the desert area near the National Guard base at the western edge of Scottsdale, where the old German POW camp used to be located. This is the camp I used in Desert Run. Then we’d go over to the Salt River/Pima Indian Reservation and lose our shirts in their casinos. Believe it or not, all these places are within walking distance of my home. Next up would be a 20-minute drive to the Superstition Mountains, where the Lost Dutchman Gold Mind is supposedly located. If you found the gold mine, I’d bonk you over the head, hide your body, and keep the gold for myself.


You have total control over casting a movie based on your life. Which actor would you cast as you?

Shirley MacLaine
The “mature” me would be played by Shirley MacLaine. The young me, by Lindsay Lohan. In my early days in Los Angeles, I led a wild life. At least, that’s the way I choose to remember it.


Who is your favorite recurring character in crime fiction?

Peter Robinson’s Inspector Banks. He’s so confused and depressed. I find that refreshing.


There is such a difference between your two series, and I love it. What inspired you to move from the more serious Lena Jones books to writing about a zookeeper?

Anyone who’s read the Lena Jones books knows that they’re based on real human rights abuses that are still happening in America (and Arizona). To write those books requires mountains of research, and sometimes it entails hanging out with the very people who are committing those abuses, such as Arizona’s polygamists. After years of writing this serious material, I started the Gunn Zoo series as comic relief. This means that as soon as I finish a Lena Jones book, I jump right into a Gunn Zoo book (after finishing Desert Wind, due out in February 2012, I started The Llama of Death).

Lena Jones is a tortured private investigator raised in a series of foster homes, but Teddy – my zookeeper sleuth – is about as normal as a human being can get without becoming boring. Yes, her parents are a wee bit nuts, but Teddy -- bless her animal-loving heart -- is sane. Because I spent so much time as a reporter uncovering the same humans rights abuses I now write about in my Lena Jones novels, many of my readers think I modeled Lena after myself. They’ve even asked how many foster homes I lived in! (Answer: none) I resemble Teddy much more than I resemble Lena. My parents were both highly eccentric, and so was/am I. As a kid, I was always rescuing one animal after another and putting them up in our basement until I could find homes for them. I grew up planning to become a zookeeper, but somewhere along the way, took a wrong turn and became a journalist. [However, your readers are benefiting from that "wrong" turn!]


Before your very first published mystery, what else had you written (short stories, articles, unpublished manuscripts)?

I’d written thousands of syndicated newspaper articles and columns, plus a mainstream novel. I’m one of those rare birds who was able to find a publisher for her very first piece of writing. I still can't figure that out.


What did you do the first time you saw one of your books on a shelf in a bookstore? How did you celebrate when you first heard you were to be published?

I was living on a farm in a small, rural community in the Midwest when I received the letter from the publishing house that my first novel had been accepted. I immediately got drunk on my butt. A year later, when the novel finally made its way into the nation’s bookstores, no store within 60 miles of my house would stock it for several reasons: one, because it portrayed a happy racially-mixed relationship; two, because it showed a gay couple in a positive light; three, because I used several four-letter words (but not the F-bomb). Therefore, I never had the pleasure of seeing my first novel on a store shelf. Reading my reviews in out-of-state newspapers such as the New York Times and magazines such as Ms Magazine took some of the sting out. I’ve since moved to the big, bad city where bookstore owners don’t care who canoodles with whom, just as long as they don’t mix their metaphors.


I don't know if you've seen it, but I love Parnell Hall's video about book signings. What is the most unusual experience you've had at a book signing or author event?

I had the great pleasure of seeing Parnell perform that hilarious ditty live at one of the mystery cons. He’s a national treasure, isn’t he? As for my own “most unusual experience” at a book signing, it would have to be my very first national book tour for Desert Noir, when I combined the Webb Family Reunion in Hamilton, Alabama with my tour. The last day of the reunion, we Webbs went tromping through the piney woods to visit the graves of our ggg-grandpa (William Douglas Webb) and ggg-grandma (Nancy Boyd Webb). While I was standing there admiring their hand-carved tombstones (we’re talking backwoods pioneers, here), something stung my leg. I looked down to find that I was standing on a red ant hill, and that the red ants had managed to make their way up my legs and onto my chest, where they were making a meal out of me. Other Webbs leapt to the rescue, but within minutes I’d blown up like a balloon.

However, I still had about six more signings in various states to go to before I could head home, so – dosed with antihistamines and slathered with calamine lotion – I headed for Oklahoma. I won’t identify the store, but my visit just happened to coincide with a tornado warning, so I and my books and the staff hid under sales tables while we chatted about literature and weather. They were nice enough not to ask why I had oozing pustules all over my face, neck and arms. When the tornado warning was lifted, we came out from under the sales tables, but by then it was time for the store to close. Not one person had entered the store in the meantime; they were probably too busy cowering in their basements.


The way some people talk, the only way to read now or in the future is with some sort of electronic device, like my husband's Nook. What is your opinion of eBooks, and how will they affect you as a published author?

All of my own books, which are published by the superb Poisoned Pen Press, are available as eBooks as well as hardbacks and paperbacks, so I’m more or less neutral on the subject. I don’t care where my royalties come from, just as long as the checks clear the bank. But regardless of what all the eBook hype would have us believe, I’m still making more money on print copies than I am via downloads. This may change in the future, but for now…

Let’s use my own buying/book browsing habits to make a point. I’m a pretty busy person and my time is limited (as they say, time is money). When I go to a bookstore, I can look at, say, 20 books in 15 minutes. I can flip back and forth through them and check out the writing style. I can read the reviews on the back cover by The New York Times and such. And I still haven’t yet invested one penny (by the way, I ignore Amazon reviews; those are usually done by the author’s mother and people he owes money to). While at the bookstore, I can also ask the bookseller about the book, whether it lives up to its press or not. The way they answer lets me know the truth (Embarrassed pauses? Not meeting my eyes?). Anyway, it’s pretty hard to match that kind of selection speed and depth with the eBook process.

EBooks are still clumsy to navigate around if I’m simply scrolling through them, looking for new writers who are producing material I might be interested in. And there’s another problem I’ve found with the eBook selection process, too. These days, everybody and his dog is self-publishing their own eBooks, so even if I could find a quick way to scroll through dozens of the things, I’d still have to wade through a lot of amateurish writing before I hit on something that’s been professionally written. This irritating, time-consuming process isn’t true, of course, if while on line I plug in a known (and beloved) author’s name and scroll through their offerings.

But then, you see, I’m right back to a bookstore situation. When I want a book by a famous author, I go into a store knowing what I want, the title I want, and the author’s name. As it stands now, the brand new writers on eBooks – even the very, very good ones -- are being left to make their way through the huge literary forest populated by amateurs who haven’t bothered to hire an editor to fix their problem-prone manuscripts. I just don’t have the time and patience for that sort of thing. Yes, I’ve heard people say that even the big New York publishing houses produce bad books, but take it from me – there’s a difference between hopelessly amateurishly bad, and bad by a jaded pro who just phoned it in. At least the jade’s book is readable.

Regardless of all this, I’m not a “fame whore.” I buy an average of 3 to 5 hardbacks per month, usually signed by the author, many of them first-timers (I love to find new talent!). I also buy numerous mass market paperbacks. This past week, because there the Poisoned Pen Mystery Conference was in Scottsdale, I bought five hardbacks at the conference (only one of them by an author I was familiar with), then drove over to the Poisoned Pen Bookstore and bought nine mass market paperbacks. Three-quarters of those purchases were books written by authors who were new to me.

For the meantime, I’ll continue to restrict my book purchases to print, where at least I’m not buying – as we used to say on the farm – a pig in a poke. When making my selections, I can flip through printed pages a lot faster than I can download. To read the Wall Street Journal’s take on the eBook slush pile (which is what it’s become) check out "Cherish the Book Publishers, You'll Miss Them When They're Gone."


===


Thank you so much, Betty, for spending this time with us. May your book sales do nothing but increase! I, for one, am eagerly anticipating Desert Wind and The Llama of Death.





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Saturday, July 23, 2011

Celebrating Mysteries: Les mystères historiques

Okay, so I'm getting a bit fancy with my post title. I just thought that, since I'm celebrating crime fiction set in the beautiful country of France, the least I could do was use a bit of my high school French!

This week, I'm looking at three authors who write historical mystery series. I've sampled two of the series, and one of the books in the third is waiting for me on my To-Be-Read shelves. Let's get started!

Sarah A. Hoyt
As a small child growing up in Portugal, Sarah Hoyt rapidly realized that her ambitions of becoming a cat or a first communion girl were unrealistic, so she focused on becoming a novelist instead. Now she lives in Colorado with her husband, two sons, and varying numbers of cats, and she writes books in different genres under different names. The name we're interested in today is Sarah D'Almeida, which is the nom de plume she uses for her excellent historical mystery series set in seventeenth century France. Who are her main characters? D'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis-- the musketeers Alexandre Dumas made so famous.

There are five books in the series: Death of a Musketeer (2006), The Musketeer's Seamstress (2007), The Musketeer's Apprentice (2007), A Death in Gascony (2008), and Dying by the Sword (2008).

Publishers Weekly didn't enjoy Death of a Musketeer nearly as much as I did. Perhaps the reviewer was having an off week....

"Dumas fans eager for further details of the lives of his swashbuckling musketeer heroes may enjoy this first in a series of historical mystery novels that transforms those men of action and intrigue into the king's detectives. The concept is less far-fetched than it might seem; in one of Dumas's own sequels to The Three Musketeers, The Viscount of Bragelonne, D'Artagnan displays almost Holmesian powers of deduction. The whodunit posed for her four heroes—a young woman who closely resembles the queen has been murdered by an unknown assailant—is not especially tricky due to a paucity of plausible suspects, and the colloquial language can jar." 


Carole Nelson Douglas
As a child, Carole Nelson Douglas loved the Sherlock Holmes stories, but as an adult, she felt there was something missing: strong women. So she set out to rectify that oversight.  Taking Irene Adler, the only woman to outwit Sherlock Holmes, as her main character, Douglas built a series around her as an opera singer and sleuth in nineteenth century France.

There are eight books in the Irene Adler series, the first three of which are: Good Night, Mr. Holmes (1990), Good Morning, Irene (1990) APA The Adventuress (2004), and Irene at Large (1992) APA A Soul of Steel (2006).

Publishers Weekly turned cartwheels over Good Night, Mr. Holmes (and made me find my copy that's been sitting on the shelf):

"Setting herself the task of creating a heroine worthy of Sherlock Holmes, Texas writer Douglas succeeds smashingly. In providing an inventive, believable past for Irene Adler, the one woman (and an American at that) who ever duped Holmes, Douglas writes in a voice that resonates of Dr. Watson's (or Conan Doyle's) when appropriate, and links Adler's adventures with information offered about her in Doyle's 'A Scandal in Bohemia.' Narrated with credible Victorian style and sensibility by Penelope 'Nell' Huxleigh, a parson's daughter, this lively caper establishes Adler's sleuthing skills as she solves cases that involve Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker, among others. The novel has more going for it than the usual Holmesian pastiche, presenting a truly original perspective of the one whom the great detective himself dubbed 'the woman.' She's a superior woman at that: readers will doff their deerstalkers."


Sharan Newman
Medieval historian Sharan Newman has done her homework when it comes to her marvelous historical mystery series featuring Catherine LeVendeur, a novice and scholar in twelfth century France. (She's done research in Paris and Toulouse, among many other locations.) The historical detail adds richness to a series that is also strong in plot and characterization.

The first three books in this ten-book series are: Death Comes as Epiphany (1993), The Devil's Door (1994), and The Wandering Arm (1995).

It's so much nicer when Publishers Weekly and I agree about a book like Death Comes as Epiphany:

"A medievalist breathes life and vigor into the scholastic debates and religious controversies of 12th-century France in this entrancing mystery debut. Catherine LeVendeur, a young novice and scholar at the Convent of the Paraclete, is sent by the Abbess Heloise on a perilous mission to find out who is trying to destroy the reputation of the convent and, through it, that of the abbess's onetime lover and patron, theologian Peter Abelard. A psalter created at the convent and given as a gift to the powerful abbot Suger of Saint-Denis is later rumored to contain heretical statements in its accompanying commentaries. Catherine, in the role of a disgraced novice, must find the book and copy the disputed passages to determine if they are forgeries. Further complicating her search, Saint-Denis's master stonemason, Garnulf, is murdered, a crime which may be tied to the sinister hermit Aleran and the rebuilding of the splendid Abbey of Saint-Denis. Re-entering worldly life, the young novice must face both her sometimes disapproving family and her attraction to Garnulf's mysterious apprentice, Edgar. Newman skillfully depicts historical figures and issues in a very different age, one in which piety and great beauty coexist with cruelty." 

I hope you've enjoyed my journey through three historical mystery series set in France. If I've left out any of your personal favorites, please let us know which one was neglected. We all need to add to our wish lists, you know!

Join me next weekend when I'll wrap up French crime fiction month!

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Friday, July 22, 2011

A Weekly Link Round-Up with Aliens


This is the perfect time of year to get a lot of reading done while sitting in the shade in the pool, and that's exactly what I've been doing. Cicadas are whirring away at varying decibel levels. Monsoon thunderheads build and collapse high above me in the cobalt sky. Hummingbirds and dragonflies play in the water of the pool aerator. I can even tell how good a book is by my skin: the higher the prune factor, the better the book.

The only time my paradise in the Valley of the Sun is threatened is when the aliens land. Think I'm kidding? Take a look at the alien to the right. It's a small one... only about five inches long. It's a palo verde beetle, and is one of the Evil Triumvirate in my bug world. (Earwigs and sewer roaches are the other two.)

I well remember the first time I met one of these beetles. It flew at me out of nowhere, and I found myself running for cover. Dashing into the laundry room, I managed to get my hands on the broom and gave it a couple of good whacks. In no time at all, it was lying on the patio, deathly still. I had conquered the alien!

For good measure, I went inside and got a can of foaming bug spray, guaranteed to "kill bugs dead". I sprayed a mound of the stuff on the alien-- until it was completely buried under the avalanche. An hour later, I remembered that I had to remove the corpse, but when I went out to do so, what do I see but an antenna waving above the foam! I would tell you that the thing crawled off and lived to divebomb me another day, but it wouldn't be true.  And that's all I shall say on the matter; I have links to share!


Bookish Lists & Quizzes

Bookish News & Other Fun Stuff

eBooks

Blogging & Social Media Tips

New to My Google Reader

That's it for this week. I hope you found an item or two that tickled your fancy. Don't forget to stop by next weekend when I'll have a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure!
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