Ten Years, Ten Books, Ten Winners #10

June is drawing to a close and so must my tenth anniversary giveaway. You all have certainly been keeping me busy tabulating entries, asking Denis for winning numbers, and getting each book ready for the mail. I'll have to do this again on my twentieth anniversary, won't I?

The book I saved for last is the latest in one of my very favorite series-- Elly Griffiths' The Dark Angel, in which Dr. Ruth Galloway finds herself in Italy. And just to make myself perfectly clear, I'm giving away an autographed copy of the UK edition of the book.

Here's a bit more about the book for those who aren't familiar with this marvelous series:

"Dr. Ruth Galloway is flattered when she receives a letter from Italian archaeologist Dr. Angelo Morelli, asking for her help. He's discovered a group of bones in a tiny hilltop village near Rome but doesn't know what to make of them. It's years since Ruth has had a holiday, and even a working holiday to Italy is very welcome!

So Ruth travels to Castello degli Angeli, accompanied by her daughter Kate and friend Shona. In the town she finds a baffling Roman mystery and a dark secret involving the war years and the Resistance. To her amazement, she also soon finds Harry Nelson, with Cathbad in tow. But there is no time to overcome their mutual shock - the ancient bones spark a modern murder, and Ruth must discover what secrets there are in Castello degli Angeli that someone would kill to protect."


How can you win this autographed book? I thought you'd never ask!


GIVEAWAY RULES

1. Send an email to me-- kittlingbooks(at)gmail(dot)com 
2. The subject header of the email must read "10 Years, 10 Books, 10 Winners #10"
3. The body of the email must include your name and mailing address.

That's it!


DEADLINE

Your entry must be posted by midnight (Arizona time), Monday, July 2. The winner will be notified and the book mailed later that same day.

Beware! If you don't follow all of the rules, your entry will not be included in the drawing, but there's one thing you don't have to worry about-- as soon as the winner's name has been drawn, all your names and addresses will be destroyed. (Spambots may love me, but I refuse to join their ranks!)


TO CLARIFY...


As long as it's before its giveaway deadline, you can enter the drawing for each and every book, but you will be able to win only one. Ten years, ten books, ten winners. I want to distribute the wealth evenly among you all.

Ready...set...go! Time to fill up my inbox!

The I Gotta Learn a New Trick Weekly Link Round-Up

Summertime and the living is easy... or at least it should be. Most of you who've been reading my blog for awhile know that I like to take photographs. You've also noticed that, unless our niece Daisy is in town, those photos are usually of flowers and landscapes and critters-- not people. I've learned a trick or two when it comes to photographing critters. Patience and a talent for remaining still are probably the top two. If you make sure the critter's eye is in focus, many other flaws in the photo will be forgiven; that would be the third. But sometimes you find out that you've got to learn a new trick.

The other day I was sitting in the shady end of the pool, book in hand, when an Abert's Towhee flew down to perch on the vacuum hose to drink from the pool. Now, Abert's Towhees have huge personalities, and over the years they've given me so much entertainment. There I was, book in hand, desperately wanting to take a photo of this towhee that was only a few feet away. (Lots closer than it appears in the photo.)

Wearing dark sunglasses and holding a book in front of my face is part of my cover. Wildlife can't see where my eyes are focused, and the book also gives them a feeling of added security. So, without moving my book or my head, I slowly reached for my phone and very awkwardly turned on the camera. The towhee was keeping an eye on me but I wasn't making any threatening moves. As I quickly snapped a couple of photos, I realized that, without the zoom, a lot of detail was going to be lost. All righty then. How in the Sam Hill, can I zoom in on the towhee without (1) moving my head, (2) moving my book-- which you can see in the lower right corner, and (3) not dropping my phone in the pool?

See what I mean about needing to learn a new trick? Can I zoom in with the tip of my nose? My tongue? Since the towhee came back four times while I was out there, I know it's going to do it again on other days. I have got to figure this out! Maybe moseying out to the corral will clear my head so I can come up with a solution. Head 'em up! Mooooooooove 'em out!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Amazon Publishing will be launching a new Patricia Cornwell series.
• An audio addict's guide to audiobook mysteries.
• Owning print books feels different from owning eBooks.
• This handheld device could print new skin onto burn victims.
• Tony Hillerman's daughter Anne on keeping her father's mysteries alive. 
• How a rare book appraiser passes judgment in thirty seconds or less.
• You cannot be "well read" without reading women authors. (Duh.)
• How ketchup revolutionized how food is grown, processed, and regulated.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• A 2,200-year-old gold coin has been discovered in Egypt.
• X-rays show that Van Gogh's Sunflowers will one day wilt.
• A $5 million nickel? An extremely rare 1913 coin is up for auction.
• An ancient Egyptian bird mummy turns out to be human.
• Picasso's Weeping Woman was auctioned for a Japanese national record price.
• New clues emerge in the search for a stolen Caravaggio. 
• A treasure trove has been discovered at an ancient fort destroyed by Vikings.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Ten classic Sci-Fi thrillers that tore down genre borders.
• Seven literary attractions across America.
• Ten of the greatest road trips in crime fiction.
• Eighteen of the biggest mysteries to read this summer.
• Twenty-five of Signature's favorite closing lines in literature.
• The BookList Reader hates these ten crime writers because they're too good. (Seems like a very silly reason to hate someone...)
• Twenty great writers on their favorite story collections. 

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

Have a great weekend, and read something fabulous!

July 2018 New Mystery Releases!

I hope your summer is going as well as mine is. My month-long anniversary celebration is almost over. Thank you so much to everyone who has participated in the giveaways and to those of you who sent me emails. Since I don't do this for monetary gain, a little feedback is always icing on my cake.

I've also been reading some excellent books, and you'll be reading my reviews, but-- you know me-- I'm always on the lookout for something to read. Here are my picks from the new crime fiction being released throughout the month of July. I have them grouped according to release dates, and the covers and synopses are courtesy of Amazon.

Did I pick anything that tickles your fancy? Let's find out right now!

=== July 1 ===

Title: The Tin God

Author: Chris Nickson

Series: #6 in the Tom Harper historical police procedural series set in 1890s Leeds, England.

224 pages

Synopsis: "Leeds, England. October 1897. Superintendent Harper is proud of his wife Annabelle. She’s one of seven women selected to stand for election as a Poor Law Guardian. But even as the campaign begins, Annabelle and the other female candidates start to receive anonymous letters from someone who believes a woman’s place lies firmly in the home.

The threats escalate into outright violence when an explosion rips through the church hall where Annabelle is due to hold a meeting – with fatal consequences. The only piece of evidence Harper has is a scrap of paper left at the scene containing a fragment from an old folk song. But what is its significance?

As polling day approaches and the attacks increase in menace and intensity, Harper knows he’s in a race against time to uncover the culprit before more deaths follow. With the lives of his wife and daughter at risk, the political becomes cruelly personal …" 

=== July 2 ===

Title: A Necessary Murder

Author: M.J. Tjia

Series: #2 in the Heloise Chancey historical series set in 1860s England.

272 pages

Synopsis: "Stoke Newington, 1863: Little Margaret Lovejoy is found brutally murdered in the outhouse at her family's estate.

A few days later, a man is cut down in a similar manner on the doorstep of courtesan and professional detective Heloise Chancey's prestigious address. At the same time, Heloise's maid, Amah Li Leen, must confront events from her past that appear to have erupted into the present day.

Once again Heloise is caught up in a maelstrom of murder and deceit that threatens to reach into the very heart of her existence.

In this second installment of the Heloise Chancey Mysteries, M.J Tjia brings us another enthralling historical crime where the twists and turns are as numerous and dark as the London streets which serve as their setting." 

=== July 3 ===

Title: Stay Hidden
Author: Paul Doiron
Series: #9 in the Mike Bowditch game warden series set in Maine.
336 pages

Synopsis: "A woman has been shot to death by a deer hunter on an island off the coast of Maine. To newly promoted Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch, the case seems open and shut. But as soon as he arrives on remote Maquoit Island he discovers mysteries piling up one on top of the other.

The hunter now claims he didn’t fire the fatal shot and the evidence proves he’s telling the truth. Bowditch begins to suspect the secretive community might be covering up the identity of whoever killed the woman, known as Ariel Evans. The controversial author was supposedly writing a book about the island's notorious hermit. So why are there no notes in her rented cottage? 

The biggest blow comes the next day when the weekly ferry arrives and off steps the dead woman herself. Ariel Evans is alive, well, and determined to solve her own “murder” even if it upsets Mike Bowditch’s investigation and makes them both targets of an elusive killer who will do anything to conceal his crimes."

Title: Safe Houses
Author: Dan Fesperman
Standalone Thriller set in Berlin, Germany.
416 pages

Synopsis: "West Berlin, 1979. Helen Abell oversees the CIA's network of safe houses, rare havens for field agents and case officers amidst the dangerous milieu of a city in the grips of the Cold War. Helen's world is upended when, during her routine inspection of an agency property, she overhears a meeting between two people unfamiliar to her speaking a coded language that hints at shadowy realities far beyond her comprehension. Before the day is out, she witnesses a second unauthorized encounter, one that will place her in the sight lines of the most ruthless and powerful man at the agency. Her attempts to expose the dark truths about what she has witnessed will bring about repercussions that reach across decades and continents into the present day, when, in a farm town in Maryland, a young man is arrested for the double murder of his parents, and his sister takes it upon herself to find out why he did it."

=== July 10 ===

Title: Disorderly Conduct

Author: Mary Feliz

Series: #4 in the Maggie McDonald cozy series set in the Silicon Valley of California.

233 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "With a devastating wildfire spreading to Silicon Valley, Maggie preps her family for a rapid evacuation. The heat rises when firefighters discover the body of her best friend Tess Olmos’s athletic husband—whose untimely death was anything but accidental. And as Tess agonizes over the whereabouts of her spouse’s drop-dead gorgeous running mate, she becomes the prime suspect in what's shaping up to become a double murder case. Determined to set the record straight, Maggie sorts through clues in an investigation more dangerous than the flames approaching her home. But when her own loved ones are threatened, can she catch the meticulous killer before everything falls apart?"

Title: A Gathering of Secrets

Author: Linda Castillo

Series: #10 in the Kate Burkholder police procedural series set in the Ohio Amish country.

320 pages

Synopsis: "When a historic barn burns to the ground in the middle of the night, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is called in to investigate. At first, it looks like an accident, but when the body of eighteen-year-old Daniel Gingerich is found inside—burned alive—Kate suspects murder. Who would want a well-liked, hardworking young Amish man dead? Kate delves into the investigation only to find herself stonewalled by the community to which she once belonged. Is their silence a result of the Amish tenet of separation? Or is this peaceful and deeply religious community conspiring to hide a truth no one wants to talk about? Kate doubles down only to discover a plethora of secrets and a chilling series of crimes that shatters everything she thought she knew about her Amish roots—and herself.

As Kate wades through a sea of suspects, she’s confronted by her own violent past and an unthinkable possibility."

=== July 17 ===

Title: Rescued

Author: David Rosenfelt

Series: #17 in the Andy Carpenter series set in New Jersey.

304 pages

Synopsis: "Defense lawyer Andy Carpenter is reluctant to take on any more cases. He’d much rather spend his time working for his dog rescue organization, the Tara Foundation, than find himself back in a courtroom. However, when a truck carrying over seventy dogs from the South to the rescue-friendly northeast turns up with a murdered driver, Andy can’t help but get involved.

Of course, Andy is eager to help the dogs, many of whom come to the Tara Foundation while awaiting forever homes – it’s the man accused of murder who he has a problem defending. The accused just happens to be his wife Laurie’s ex-fiance; her tall, good-looking, ex-Marine ex-fiance. Even though he acknowledges having argued with the victim, he swears that he is not a killer, and though he would rather not, Andy has to admit he believes he's telling the truth.

For Andy, even with dozens of successful cases behind him, this case that his wife insists he take may prove to be his most difficult."

=== July 24 ===

Title: Hangman

Author: Daniel Cole

Series: #2 in the William Fawkes & Emily Baxter police procedural series set in London and New York City.

384 pages

Synopsis: "Detective Emily Baxter is still reeling from the Ragdoll case, and from the disappearance of her friend William “Wolf” Fawkes. Despite her reluctance to jump into another gruesome case, she’s summoned to a meeting of a new FBI/CIA/UK law enforcement task force in New York. There, she is presented with photographs of the latest copycat murder: a body contorted into a familiar pose, strung up from the Brooklyn Bridge, the word “BAIT” carved deep into its chest.

As the media pressure intensifies, Baxter is ordered to assist with the investigation and attend the scene of another murder, again with a victim inscribed with a word—“PUPPET.”

The murders continue to grow in spectacle and depravity on both sides of the Atlantic, and the team helplessly plays catch-up. Baxter must shake off the grief and fear that have paralyzed her for the last year so she can stop another terrible killer before it’s too late."

Title: Smoke and Ashes

Author: Abir Mukherjee

Series: #3 in the Sam Wyndham historical police procedural series set in India just after World War I.

352 pages

UK Release

Synopsis: "Captain Sam Wyndham and his side-kick Surrender-Not Banerjee return in this dynamic, prize-winning crime series set in 1920s Calcutta, India. There’s a serial murder case on the cards in this atmospheric addition to the series. Sam Wyndham must investigate this most unusual series of deaths, whilst his past life – fighting in the Great War – proves harder to deal with than ever before."

=== July 31 ===

Title: A Tale of Two Murders

Author: Heather Redmond

Series: #1 in the Dickens of a Crime historical series set in London.

320 pages

Synopsis: "In the winter of 1835, young Charles Dickens is a journalist on the rise at the Evening Chronicle. Invited to dinner at the estate of the newspaper's co-editor, Charles is smitten with his boss's daughter, vivacious nineteen-year-old Kate Hogarth. They are having the best of times when a scream shatters the pleasant evening. Charles, Kate, and her father rush to the neighbors' home, where Miss Christiana Lugoson lies unconscious on the floor. By morning, the poor young woman will be dead.

When Charles hears from a colleague of a very similar mysterious death a year ago to the date, also a young woman, he begins to suspect poisoning and feels compelled to investigate. The lovely Kate offers to help—using her social position to gain access to the members of the upper crust, now suspects in a murder. If Charles can find justice for the victims, it will be a far, far better thing than he has ever done. But with a twist or two in this most peculiar case, he and Kate may be in for the worst of times . . ."

Well, how did I do? Did any of my picks make it to your own wish lists? Which ones? You know inquiring minds would love to know!

Ten Years, Ten Books, Ten Winners #9

Unbelievable! My ten-book giveaway is down to the next-to-the-last book! I'm happy to report that June has been a very happy month for me. Not only have you all been keeping me tabulating all the entries for the book contests, I actually hit a patch of reading where three of the four mysteries I read I rated an "A+." Add a few more goodies to the mix, and yes indeed, June has been a Very Good Month.

Let's give you the synopsis of the ninth book I'm giving away, especially since I think it's one that may have flown beneath a lot of readers' radar-- Melanie Winawer's The Scribe of Siena.

"Readers of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander and Tracy Chevalier’s Girl with a Pearl Earring…will be swept away by the spell of medieval Siena” (Library Journal, starred review) in this transporting love story and gripping historical mystery.

Accomplished neurosurgeon Beatrice Trovato knows that her deep empathy for her patients is starting to impede her work. So when her beloved brother passes away, she welcomes the unexpected trip to the Tuscan city of Siena to resolve his estate, even as she wrestles with grief. But as she delves deeper into her brother’s affairs, she discovers intrigue she never imagined—a 700-year-old conspiracy to decimate the city.

As Beatrice explores the evidence further, she uncovers the journal and paintings of the fourteenth-century artist Gabriele Accorsi. But when she finds a startling image of her own face, she is suddenly transported to the year 1347. She awakens in a Siena unfamiliar to her, one that will soon be hit by the Plague.

Yet when Beatrice meets Accorsi, something unexpected happens: she falls in love—not only with Gabriele but also with the beauty and cadence of medieval life. As the Plague and the ruthless hands behind its trajectory threaten not only her survival but also Siena’s very existence, Beatrice must decide in which century she belongs.

The Scribe of Siena is the captivating story of a brilliant woman’s passionate affair with a time and a place that captures her in an impossibly romantic and dangerous trap—testing the strength of fate and the bonds of love."


How can you win an autographed copy of The Scribe of Siena? I thought you'd never ask!


GIVEAWAY RULES

1. Send an email to me-- kittlingbooks(at)gmail(dot)com
2. The subject header of the email must read "10 Years, 10 Books, 10 Winners #9"
3. The body of the email must include your name and mailing address.

That's it!


DEADLINE

Your entry must be posted by midnight (Arizona time), Friday, June 29. The winner will be notified and the book mailed later that same day.

Beware! If you don't follow all of the rules, your entry will not be included in the drawing, but there's one thing you don't have to worry about-- as soon as the winner's name has been drawn, all your names and addresses will be destroyed. (Spambots may love me, but I refuse to join their ranks!)


TO CLARIFY...


As long as it's before the deadline of the giveaway you can enter the drawing for each and every book, but you will be able to win only one. Ten years, ten books, ten winners. I want to distribute the wealth evenly among you all.

Ready...set...go! Time to fill up my inbox!

Daisy at the Old Vulture Mine

Daisy's adventures during her two weeks with us here in Arizona come to an end with this post. On her last full day, Denis and I decided to take her to a genuine Old West ghost town, Vulture City, which sprang up around Arizona's most successful gold mine, the Vulture Mine, in 1866. If you'd like to read more about it, just follow the Vulture Mine link above.

This was the first ghost town I visited when I moved to Phoenix. (I'd gotten the ghost town bug while living in Utah.) At that time, the Vulture Mine Road was a dirt road, and you could walk around Vulture City to your heart's content. My first trip there is so vivid-- I had a roadrunner come out of the brush at the side of the road and pace my car for almost a half mile before it disappeared into the brush again. (It goes without saying that I slowed down, down, down to make the experience last as long as possible.) Now the road is paved, and there's an entry fee to Vulture City. When you pay, a fluorescent ribbon is tied around your wrist so the armed guards know you have a right to be there... well, as long as it's within visiting hours. Yes, you read that properly. Armed guards. There's a good reason which I'll get to later on in my photo tour.

Historic plaque telling you a bit about the history of the Vulture Mine. It's worth reading, so click on it to view it in a readable size.

The Vulture's Roost used to be the superintendent's house but is now the gift shop and guest check-in area.

I love how all the buds on the arms of this saguaro formed perfect little caps. You don't see this very often. Did you know that a saguaro doesn't grow its first arm until it's reached the ripe old age of 75? These giants deserve our respect.

The kitchen and bar for mine workers. Since most of the eating is al fresco that says a lot about the climate here in the Sonoran Desert. But when the wind blows, you'd sure get a mouthful of grit with your food!

Inside the kitchen. Never ceases to amaze me how folks cooked so much with so little "back in the day."

In the kitchen.

The original mine was closed in 1942. It recently reopened and mining is being done now on a limited basis just over that hill. I don't know about you, but I've always wanted to know what's over the next hill. (And mining is Reason #1 for the armed guards.)

Daisy out in front of the old gas station. I've always had a fondness for Mobil gas signs.

Gold-en Girl Cola sign perfect for catching miners' eyes. It sounds like it was heavily laced with caffeine.

Restoration is an ongoing process.

If I'd packed more water, I might've gone to see what's on the other side of this hill.

The town brothel with founder Henry Wickenburg's house in the background. Must've been interesting living next door to the brothel.

Henry Wickenburg's house, complete with outhouse. Not only did the man live next door to the brothel, the hanging tree was right out front. The man wasn't short on entertainment.

It's not often you get to stand below the noose on a hanging tree.

The Assay Office where the gold and silver was taken to be graded and then shipped. On my first visit, we were told that this had been built from cast-off rocks from the mine and that the walls contained tens of thousands of dollars worth of gold and silver ore. Not a peep is said about this today because, for years, people were sneaking in and taking anything they wanted. Now you see why the armed guards make sense?

The main entrance to the Assay Office

The door on the left leads to where the gold and silver bars were stored before shipment. The door on the right leads to the guards' living quarters.

Inside the Assay Office

Daisy walking down the main street past the post office and toward the Assay Office. Phoenix owes its existence to the Vulture Mine. Almost all the miners' food was grown here in the Salt River Valley and shipped to them by wagon.

There are a lot of photos I didn't share simply because I didn't want this post to go on forever. There is quite a bit of old mining equipment lying around. Many pieces have labels telling you what they are and what they were used for. My favorite is the Hit and Miss motor, one of the smallest they used at the mine. I have a feeling that the name says a lot about the motor!

I hope you enjoyed the tour. If you ever find yourself up that way, make sure you wear a wide-brimmed hat, are slathered down with sunscreen, and have plenty of water to drink. It gets more than a bit crispy out in that blazing sun!

White Corridor by Christopher Fowler

First Line: "Concentrate on the moth."

Arthur Bryant and John May are famous for solving crimes that the ordinary police cannot. How do they do it? These two "well-seasoned" officers who refuse to retire use anyone and anything from crackpot psychics to the latest in forensics. All their expertise is needed to solve this latest case: a fellow member of the Peculiar Crimes Unit has been killed inside a locked autopsy room.

The room is only populated by the dead, and just four PCU members have a key. Trouble is, the Unit has been shut down for a forced "vacation" and Bryant and May are stuck in a van somewhere in the Dartmoor countryside during a freak blizzard. The two men must not only try to solve a murder via cell phone, they must take care not to freeze to death. Furthermore, what they don't know quite yet is that a murderer is on the prowl among all the snowed-in vehicles along the road, a murderer searching for a beautiful woman and her young son.

Years ago, I read the first book in Fowler's Bryant and May series and didn't care for it at all, but always at the back of my mind, I thought there might have been extenuating circumstances. You see, I read Full Dark House while on my very first trip to the UK, and I'm pretty sure my brain was on sensory overload. I am very happy to announce that I thoroughly enjoyed this fifth book in the series, and now I'm wanting to catch up with all the adventures of these two men.

One of the small things that was so enjoyable was that Fowler increased my vocabulary. It's not often that writers use words that I'm not familiar with (and may I also add that the built-in dictionary is one of the perks of owning an eReader). Both storylines worked together extremely well. Everyone at the Peculiar Crimes Unit is used to having Bryant and May on hand to solve the crimes, but this time Sergeant Janice Longbright is in charge, and she's petrified that she's going to make a hash of it all. Then there's the young mother and son running from the homicidal maniac while the wind howls and the snow piles up. Fowler lets readers see things from several different perspectives, and my mind really got a workout trying to piece together the clues for both crimes.

As marvelous as the story is in White Corridor, the characters of Bryant and May are superb, especially if you like mysteries with flashes of brilliant humor. How old is Arthur Bryant? "Mr. Bryant is so old that most of his lifetime subscriptions have run out." One of the books in his office is Code-Breaking in Braille, and he planned the route to the psychics convention using a map printed in 1907. You'd never think in a million years that such a person could be any good at solving crimes or be allowed to get away with the things that he does. For the most part, John May is the slightly younger and steadier of the two, but at this stage of the game, May knows it's useless trying to rein in his determined partner. And as far as that "getting away with things" goes, as Fowler says in White Corridor, "The PCU got away with murder because few of their suspects ever did." And that's what it's all about, isn't it? Well, except for the fact that those two have a cell phone with a charge that seems to last till the end of time....

I am thrilled that I gave this series a second chance. Now I have fourteen books to read in order to catch up. Happy reading for me!

White Corridor by Christopher Fowler

eISBN: 9780553903768

Bantam Books © 2007

eBook, 354 pages

Police Procedural, #5 Bryant & May mystery

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon. 

Ten Years, Ten Books, Ten Winners #8

I can't believe that I'm already on the last week of my tenth anniversary celebration, and all you folks who have been entering in the drawings to win my stash of autographed mysteries are certainly keeping me on my toes. I would like to give one word of warning: Some of you aren't paying attention to the deadline of each giveaway and are trying to enter giveaways that are past their sell-by (give-by?) dates, so be careful!

This last week starts off with the most recent entry in one of my favorite cozy series, Vicki Delany's The Cat of the Baskervilles. I could go on to say that I like whatever Vicki writes, but I must keep focused!

Here's the synopsis of the book:

"Legendary stage and movie star Sir Nigel Bellingham arrives on Cape Cod to star in a stage production of The Hound of the Baskervilles put on by the West London Theater Festival. When Sir Nigel, some of the cast, and the director visit the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop at 222 Baker Street, Gemma Doyle realizes that Sir Nigel is not at all suited to the role. He is long past his prime and an old drunk to boot. The cast, in particular the much younger actor who previously had the role, is not happy, but the show must go on.

Before the play opens, Leslie Wilson, mother of Gemma’s best friend Jayne, arranges a fundraising afternoon tea to be catered by Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room. The tea is a huge success, but when it’s time to leave, Sir Nigel has gone missing—only to be found at the bottom of the rocky cliff, dead. Along with the dead body, Gemma finds evidence incriminating Leslie Wilson. When the police, in the presence of handsome detective Ryan Ashburton and suspicious detective Louise Estrada, focus their attention on Leslie despite the numerous other suspects, the game is once again afoot and it’s again up to the highly perceptive Gemma and the ever-confused but loyal Jayne to clear Jayne’s mother’s name."


How can you win an autographed copy of this book? I thought you'd never ask!


GIVEAWAY RULES

1. Send an email to me-- kittlingbooks(at)gmail(dot)com
2. The subject header of the email must read "10 Years, 10 Books, 10 Winners #8"
3. The body of the email must include your name and mailing address.

That's it!


DEADLINE

Your entry must be posted by midnight (Arizona time), Wednesday, June 27. The winner will be notified and the book mailed later that same day.

Beware! If you don't follow all of the rules, your entry will not be included in the drawing, but there's one thing you don't have to worry about-- as soon as the winner's name has been drawn, all your names and addresses will be destroyed.





TO CLARIFY...


You can enter the drawing for each and every book, but you will be able to win only one. Ten years, ten books, ten winners. I want to distribute the wealth evenly among you all.

Ready...set...go! Time to fill up my inbox!

Ten Years, Ten Books, Ten Winners-- #7

It was difficult enough for me to realize that I've been writing this blog for ten years, but now this entire month is flying by! I carefully hoarded a stash of ten autographed hardcover mysteries representing various subgenres and authors, and now I'm giving them away one at a time. It's my way of saying thank you to all my readers.

The seventh book in this giveaway is by one of the reigning queens of crime fiction, Louise Penny. The book is her most recent Armand Gamache novel, Glass Houses.

Here's a synopsis of the book:

"When a mysterious figure appears in Three Pines one cold November day, Armand Gamache and the rest of the villagers are at first curious. Then wary. Through rain and sleet, the figure stands unmoving, staring ahead.

From the moment its shadow falls over the village, Gamache, now Chief Superintendent of the Sûreté du Québec, suspects the creature has deep roots and a dark purpose. Yet he does nothing. What can he do? Only watch and wait. And hope his mounting fears are not realized. 

But when the figure vanishes overnight and a body is discovered, it falls to Gamache to discover if a debt has been paid or levied.

Months later, on a steamy July day as the trial for the accused begins in Montréal, Chief Superintendent Gamache continues to struggle with actions he set in motion that bitter November, from which there is no going back. More than the accused is on trial. Gamache’s own conscience is standing in judgment.

In Glass Houses, her latest utterly gripping book, number-one New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny shatters the conventions of the crime novel to explore what Gandhi called the court of conscience. A court that supersedes all others."


How can you win this copy of Glass Houses? Here's all the information you need--


GIVEAWAY RULES

1. Send an email to me-- kittlingbooks(at)gmail(dot)com
2. The subject header of the email must read "10 Years, 10 Books, 10 Winners #7"
3. The body of the email must include your name and mailing address.

DEADLINE

Your entry must be posted by midnight (Arizona time), Monday, June 25. The winner will be notified and the book mailed later that same day.

Beware! If you don't follow all of the rules, your entry will not be included in the drawing, but there's one thing you don't have to worry about-- as soon as the winner's name has been drawn, all your names and addresses will be destroyed. (Spambots may love me, but I refuse to join their ranks!)


TO CLARIFY...


You can enter the drawing for each and every book, but you will be able to win only one. Ten years, ten books, ten winners. I want to distribute the wealth evenly among you all.

Ready...set...go! Time to fill up my inbox!

The What Did I Get Myself Into Weekly Link Round-Up

Summer is working its usual magic on me; trying to lure me away from all responsibilities and into a never-ending round of sunshine, cool water, piles of books, and birdsong. If only I could let myself follow that siren call... but I think Denis might have a word or two to say about it!

You know how you can start something as a one-off, a bit of a laugh, and expect it to die a swift death? It happened to me last year when Denis purchased what appeared to me to be an entire fleet of plastic yellow ducks for the pool. There are only three-- large, medium, and small-- but they can seem to be everywhere. Well, everywhere if you mean continually sneaking up on a reader intent on a book while sitting in the shady end of the pool.

You didn't think I was going to let you read, did you?

I don't remember why I did, but I took a "duck" photo last summer with my iPhone and posted it to my Facebook page along with a humorous caption. I got such a response from it that I let myself be persuaded to post one every day. It immediately became the most popular series I've ever had on my personal page.

You may not know this, but those three ducks can be very uncooperative when it comes to their photo ops. And trying to come up with a suitable caption day after day? Not that easy after a few weeks!

You see to the left the first duck photo of Summer 2018 along with its caption. When I finish rounding up the links I've been saving for you, it will be time to get in the pool with Denis's duckies. If only they'd stop sneaking up behind me and startling me!

What did I get myself into???

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• After decades of dwarfs and elves, writers of color are redefining fantasy.
• A Spanish author's guide to Spanish crime fiction.
• Many of you have probably seen this video in which people on the street are asked to name a book. Any book. Perhaps it's because I'm wearing my rose-colored glasses today, but I'm hoping that people's dismal showing can be partly attributed to brain freeze when someone shoves a microphone in their faces.
• A Victorian guide to oppressing women.
• The Hachette Book Group has launched Novel Suspects, a mystery/thriller vertical that features movies, TV shows, and podcasts along with books.
• What's going on in your child's brain when you read them a story? 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• What they thought was a rusty box in their backyard was a safe with $52,000 worth of treasure. 
• An autonomous vehicle helped locate the "holy grail of shipwrecks" off the coast of Colombia. Here's an article from the Smithsonian about the wreck.
• DNA sampling may help scientists find the Loch Ness monster.
• Sue's replacement, the largest dinosaur ever, is standing tall in the Field Museum.
• New evidence reveals a 17,000-year-old coastal route into North America.
• Serbian archaeologists have found a sarcophagus with two skeletons and jewelry in an ancient city.

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• Australia builds the world's largest cat-proof fence to protect threatened species. 
• Scientists discovered a dinosaur's tail preserved in amber. By the way, dinosaurs had dandruff, too.
• This royally adorable baby kingfisher perpetuates a species extinct in the wild.
• A huge blue whale was sighted in the Red Sea for the first time.
• Smart software helps fishermen catch the fish they want, not endangered species.
• A whale dies in Thailand with 80 plastic bags in its stomach.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Five guilt-free ideas for decorating with books.
• The seventeen most addictive TV mysteries.
• All the best new crime fiction for summer 2018.
• The best Maltese Falcon covers, ranked.
• Eleven real-life inventions inspired by science fiction novels.
• The mystery buffs in the White House.

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

Have a great weekend, and read something fabulous!

A Coin for the Hangman by Ralph Spurrier

First Lines: It was the photograph that did it for them. All three of them.

Estate sales can turn up some fascinating treasures. When a bookseller takes his latest purchases back to his shop, he discovers the tools of one of England's last hangmen along with the diary of a condemned man he executed. As he reads the diary, he realizes that he has a mystery to solve because the wrong man may have died at the noose.

If I had to tell you what there was about A Coin for the Hangman that made me buy it, I couldn't. I just don't remember. What I do know is that I'm extremely happy that I took advantage of the sale. What a marvelous read!

Ralph Spurrier tells his story from multiple points of view, and this device works perfectly. One is the voice of the bookseller in 2006 who wonders just what he's got his hands on. Another is the voice of George Tanner, a British soldier who stayed after war's end to guard Nazi prisoners while they were put on trial. The third voice we pick up in 1953-- Reginald Manley, one of the last hangmen in England. His is a voice of such supreme self-confidence that it borders on hubris. Finally, the fourth voice is that of the condemned man, Henry Eastman, and we learn about him from his youth at the beginning of World War II to his death in 1953. Each voice has an important part of the story to tell, but it was lonely, misunderstood Henry that I came to care for most.

I was enjoying the story so much that I wished it would slow down... or that my reading speed would. Each voice is so distinct, and each one drew me right into not only the story, but into the time period itself. Manley and Tanner both helped liberate a Nazi concentration camp-- a section that was almost visceral in its impact, but I think some of the best scenes in the book involved the effects of the war on families. How those blackout curtains meant that family life shrank into just one room (the kitchen), and-- even more importantly-- how difficult it could be for both men and women to pick up their disrupted relationships after the war.

I didn't do very well when it came to solving the mystery in A Coin for the Hangman. If only I'd given one critical scene more thought instead of merely finding it puzzling as I raced on to the conclusion! This is a story where the vagaries of fate, coincidence, and even a misplaced word can all have consequences. At book's end, I was left with a profound sense of loss-- and the knowledge that I'd just read a remarkable book. I'm definitely going to keep an eye peeled for more books by Ralph Spurrier.
 

A Coin for the Hangman by Ralph Spurrier

eISBN: 9780993287473

Hookline Books © 2016

eBook, 268 pages

Historical Mystery, Standalone

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.


 

The Unquiet Grave by Sharyn McCrumb

First Line: The place was as quiet as it ever got in the hours around midnight, with only occasional screams or sobs from the cells down the corridor to disturb his contemplation.

Following a suicide attempt, attorney James P.D. Gardner finds himself under the care of Dr. James Boozer in a segregated insane asylum in Lakin, West Virginia. It's 1930, and Boozer is eager to try the new talk therapy. It takes quite a bit of work for his elderly patient to open up, but when he does, Gardner tells of his most memorable case-- one in which he helped to defend a white man on trial for the murder of his young bride, a case the prosecution based on the testimony of a ghost.

In 1897, spoiled and pretty Zona Heaster went against her mother's advice and married Erasmus "Trout" Shue, a handsome blacksmith new to the county. Two months later, Zona is dead. A month after her funeral, her mother is determined to get justice for her daughter, so she goes to the county prosecutor and tells him that Zona's ghost appeared to her, saying that she'd been murdered.

Sharyn McCrumb is a master at finding strange-but-true bits of history that have taken place somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains and then weaving a mesmerizing tale around them. You can't get much stranger than a murder trial based on the testimony of a ghost, and that's a fact.

McCrumb tells her tale in a two-pronged approach. One storyline follows Gardner in the insane asylum in 1930. Gardner, the first black attorney to practice law in nineteenth-century West Virginia, is such a calm, measured, educated voice of reason that you'd never dream he could have been associated with such a trial-- or be a patient in an insane asylum.

The second storyline follows Mary Jane Heaster, first as she worries about her headstrong daughter's extremely poor life choices, and then as she fights to make "Trout" Shue pay for her daughter's death. There's very little doubt that Shue did indeed murder Zona, but there's no proof that would be admissible in a court of law. Make that a court of law in the twenty-first century. So-- here you have the sane man in the asylum and the possibly insane woman free to bend an entire courtroom to her will. Mary Jane Heaster is a force of nature.

The story is a good one, and the voices of Mary Jane and Gardner come shining through. Through them, you really get a feel for how people lived and thought back then. I've long been an ardent fan of McCrumb's Ballad novels; in particular, the ones featuring Nora Bonesteel and Spencer Arrowood are lyrical and... marvelous. Although The Unquiet Grave is listed in some places as a Ballad novel, that's simply a matter of geography-- Ballad novels take place in the Appalachians. Regardless of designation, this is not one of McCrumb's better books. The pace drags, but even worse, there is no spark, no heart to the story she tells. If you want vintage Ballad, look for The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, She Walks These Hills or The Rosewood Casket. That's where you'll find gorgeous writing and heart and soul.

The Unquiet Grave by Sharyn McCrumb

ISBN: 9781476772875

Atria Books © 2017

Hardcover, 368 pages

Historical Fiction, Standalone

Rating: C

Source: Purchased from The Poisoned Pen. 

Ten Years, Ten Books, Ten Winners-- #6

One of the things I've tried to do for my tenth anniversary giveaways is to choose a little bit of everything from the various subgenres: police procedurals, cozies, historical mysteries, mysteries set in various parts of the world, and-- today's offering-- a book that harks back to the Golden Age of Crime.

The sixth book in my celebratory giveaway is Leslie S. Klinger's In the Shadow of Agatha Christie: Classic Crime Fiction by Forgotten Female Writers: 1850 - 1917.

Here's a synopsis of the book:

"Before Agatha Christie became the world’s Queen of Crime, she stood on the talented shoulders of the female crime authors who came before her. This splendid new anthology by Leslie S. Klinger brings these exceptional writers out of Christie’s shadow and back into the spotlight they deserve.

Agatha Christie is undoubtedly the world’s best-selling mystery author, hailed as the “Queen of Crime,” with worldwide sales in the billions. Christie burst onto the literary scene in 1920, with The Mysterious Affair at Styles; her last novel was published in 1976, a career longer than even Conan Doyle’s forty-year span.

The truth is that it was due to the success of writers like Anna Katherine Green in America; L. T. Meade, C. L. Pirkis, the Baroness Orczy, and Elizabeth Corbett in England; and Mary Fortune in Australia that the doors were finally opened for women crime-writers. Authors who followed them, such as Patricia Wentworth, Dorothy Sayers, and, of course, Agatha Christie would not have thrived without the bold, fearless work of their predecessors―and the genre would be much poorer for their absence. So while Agatha Christie may still reign supreme, it is important to remember that she did not ascend that throne except on the shoulders of the women who came before her―and inspired her―and who are now removed from her shadow once and for all by this superb new anthology by Leslie S. Klinger.

Featuring: Mary Fortune, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Ellen Wood, Elizabeth Corbett, C. L. Pirkis, Geraldine Bonner, Ellen Glasgow, L. T. Meade, Baroness Orczy, Augusta Großer, M. E. Graddon, Anna Katherine Green, Carolyn Wells, Susan Glashell."


It's been my personal experience that, if you're wanting to learn more about the writing during a specific time, anthologies like this are one of the best places to begin. (And Klinger is an excellent anthologist.) How can you win an autographed copy of In the Shadow of Agatha Christie? Here's all the information you'll need--


GIVEAWAY RULES

1. Send an email to me-- kittlingbooks(at)gmail(dot)com
2. The subject header of the email must read "10 Years, 10 Books, 10 Winners #6" 
3. The body of the email must include your name and mailing address.

 DEADLINE

Your entry must be posted by midnight (Arizona time), Friday, June 22. The winner will be notified and the book mailed later that same day.

Beware! If you don't follow all of the rules, your entry will not be included in the drawing, but there's one thing you don't have to worry about-- as soon as the winner's name has been drawn, all your names and addresses will be destroyed. (Spambots may love me, but I refuse to join their ranks!)


TO CLARIFY...


You can enter the drawing for each and every book, but you will be able to win only one. Ten years, ten books, ten winners. I want to distribute the wealth as evenly as I can among you all.

Ready...set...go! Time to fill up my inbox!