Free Fall by Chris Grabenstein

First Line: For a cop, there's nothing worse than hearing an old friend say "I didn't do anything, Danny!" two seconds after you pull her out of a nearly lethal cat fight.

If a cop got a nickel for every time he heard someone say, "I didn't do it!" he could live a life of ease on a Caribbean beach. But it's harder to ignore when a friend says it. Danny Boyle's friend Chris is a home health care aide, and she's been accused of aggravated assault by one of Sea Haven's elite. 

Danny and Chief of Detectives John Ceepak trust Chris and work hard on her behalf, but when one of her patients turns up dead, the two detectives are faced with a question no policeman wants to hear: Did I just help a friend get away with murder?

It's with a real sense of sadness that I've come to the end of this marvelous series. I live in hope that Chris Grabenstein will see fit to continue it. It's always been filled with (often) laugh-out-loud humor-- and Free Fall certainly isn't an exception-- but the real reason I love these books is the growth of Danny Boyle's character. At the beginning, he's a rather lazy kid who wants to do good and have a good time on the beach, but he lacks real direction. That's where John Ceepak fits in. Ceepak is a truly good man who sometimes seems to be too much of a straight arrow to be real, but he's the role model Danny Boyle was hungering for. Now in the eighth book, Danny has grown up. He's had to do some really tough things in the line of duty. He's been affected by them and is still facing the consequences, but he's no longer a kid. Now the team of Ceepak and Boyle is a true partnership. And it makes you proud... as though you had something to do with it.

The suspect pool in Free Fall is long and distinguished, and it's simply a matter of narrowing it down to the right person and the right motivation. Sometimes those are the most enjoyable mysteries to solve. 

If you enjoy mysteries filled with action, intriguing investigations, marvelous characters and emotions that run from gales of laughter to (now and then) brushing a tear from your eye, I heartily recommend Chris Grabenstein's Ceepak and Boyle mysteries. Begin at the beginning with Tilt-a-Whirl. The entire series is a delight.   

Free Fall by Chris Grabenstein

eISBN: 9781453298695

Pegasus Books © 2013

eBook, 352 pages

Police Procedural/Humorous Mystery, #8 Ceepak & Boyle mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.


 

Rolling Thunder by Chris Grabenstein

First Line: The day starts like so many others with John Ceepak: We bust an eight-year-old girl for wearing high heels.

It's time for the grand opening run of Rolling Thunder, a huge wooden roller coaster on the boardwalk in Sea Haven, New Jersey. Police officers John Ceepak and Danny Boyle are checking out the people standing in line, weeding out those who are trying to cheat the height requirement when Rolling Thunder begins its maiden run, loaded with VIPs. The roller coaster comes to a screeching halt when the owner's wife has a heart attack.

Mrs. O'Malley's death is labeled a tragic accident until suspicions of foul play begin to rise, and when a local beauty's corpse is found, Ceepak and Boyle find themselves searching for a murderer.

If you like wonderful characters, action sequences that can curl your hair, and a delicious sense of humor, you can't go wrong with Chris Grabenstein's Ceepak and Boyle mystery series. Ceepak is the straight arrow, "an ex-military man who looks like he could still jump out of a helicopter with a Humvee strapped to his back." Young Danny Boyle looks up to him as a father figure, and he's the older man's Watson-like sidekick who takes us through their investigations. Danny has been learning and taking on more responsibility with each book, and it's a pleasure to watch him grow. Even Ceepak the Magnificent is slowly being revealed-- mostly through the presence of his no-good father, Joe. Once you learn about Joe, you know why straight-and-narrow Ceepak doesn't contradict people when they denigrate their parents.

Grabenstein is an expert with his fast-paced stories, and Rolling Thunder is no exception. The problem in this installment is the O'Malley clan. Most of the O'Malleys are unpleasant (starting with the father), most of them have a motive for committing the crimes, but it takes time for Ceepak and Boyle to work their way through them-- and that clock is ticking away precious minutes.

New Jersey seems to have its own special breed of mystery writers with a wonderful sense of humor. Chris Grabenstein, Brad Parks, and Jeffrey Cohen immediately spring to mind. Whenever I need a break from the psychologically dark crime fiction that I read, I know I can journey to Sea Haven to experience a fun and exciting investigation with two of my favorite policemen: John Ceepak and Danny Boyle.
      

Rolling Thunder by Chris Grabenstein

eISBN: 9781453249215

Pegasus Books © 2012

eBook, 294 pages

Police Procedural/Humorous Mystery, #6 Ceepak and Boyle mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon 

Mind Scrambler by Chris Grabenstein

First Lines: I bumped into my old girlfriend Katie Landry this afternoon. Six hours later, she was dead.

John Ceepak and Danny Boyle are in Atlantic City when Danny runs into a former girlfriend. Katie's working for a magician, and her life seems to be going great. Danny is happy for her, but his happiness turns to sorrow when Katie is found strangled to death. Ceepak and Boyle will be staying in Atlantic City longer than they'd planned. They have Katie's murder to solve-- and lives to save.

I always enjoy Chris Grabenstein's Ceepak and Boyle mysteries, and Mind Scrambler was no exception. Strong characters, a strong setting, and a strong mystery laced with Grabenstein's trademark humor. What's not to like?

Although there is humor in the book, it's not as pronounced because the subject matter is serious and our Danny is grieving. Grabenstein knows how to write action scenes as well as strong characters and humor-- and he also knows how to tug on our heartstrings. 

There is one thing, however, that I wondered about all through Mind Scrambler. There are times that the tower of integrity that's known as John Ceepak is almost a cartoon figure with his exaggerated "Just the facts, ma'am" language and his unyielding book of rules. Once-- just once-- I'd like to see a scene of dialogue between Ceepak and his wife Rita when they're alone. Does Ceepak still sound like a stuffed shirt then, or does he actually unwind a little? It will probably never happen, but as I enjoy reading each book in this series, I can always dream.

Mind Scrambler by Chris Grabenstein

ISBN: 9780312382315

Minotaur Books © 2009

Hardcover, 352 pages

Police Procedural/Humorous, #5 Ceepak and Boyle mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Book Outlet. 

Hell Hole by Chris Grabenstein

First Line: It's almost 1:00 AM on a Saturday and the partiers inside the rental house at the corner of Kipper Street and Beach Lane are chanting like drunken sailors chasing a runaway keg of beer.

Danny Boyle is working the night shift with a part-time summer cop when they get a complaint about noise. When they arrive at the rental house, they can hear why neighbors can't sleep. A houseful of Army Rangers are celebrating, and they want everyone to know it. Their celebration is cut short when it is discovered that the one person who was late has been found dead in a bathroom stall at a highway rest area.

Out of Sea Haven, New Jersey's jurisdiction, Danny has to watch incompetents trample over a crime scene and totally misread the evidence right in front of their faces. As far as they are concerned, the guy committed suicide, but fortunately Danny filed away things that didn't seem right to him, and he managed to take a couple of photos with his cell phone. Now it's time to get together with the man he looks up to: John Ceepak. What the two piece together points to a dead man who may have been privy to information on a conspiracy leading all the way back to the Middle East. And to prove their suspicions and to do what's right, Ceepak and Boyle are going to find themselves on the wrong side of some very nasty people.

My love affair with this series and with the characters of Ceepak and Boyle continues. In this fourth book, Danny is beginning to show how much he's learned from the veteran Ceepak, whose stepson sometimes thinks of him as a combination overgrown Boy Scout/ Dudley Do-Right. Danny is beginning to shed his lackadaisical beach dude - good time boy persona. Oh, he still wants to have a good time, but he's finding that he has a knack for being a good cop, and he wants to be an even better one. Even Ceepak has mellowed a bit with the change in his home life, and readers get to see why he's been estranged from his father for so long.

This series has a lot of heart, and a lot of humor. It has two characters who can easily charm their way into readers' hearts, and these two do not remain static; they've been gradually changing from book to book. Heart, humor, characters-- and action sequences that grab you by the throat and don't let you go until they're good and ready. Add all those to a first-rate "locked stall" mystery filled with twists and turns and characters that are difficult to decide if they're in the Good Guy or Bad Guy categories.

My only complaint is that these books read much too quickly. Once I start, I don't want to stop, and when I come to the end, I immediately want to grab the next one and sink right down into the pages. You can start this series anywhere, but if you love marvelous characters like I do, you're going to want to start at the very beginning (Tilt-a-Whirl) so you can watch Danny Boyle grow up and John Ceepak mellow. Whichever path you choose to take, all I really recommend is that you read one. You'll be glad you did.

Hell Hole by Chris Grabenstein

ISBN: 9780312565619

Minotaur Books © 2009

Paperback, 304 pages

 Police Procedural, #4 Ceepak and Boyle mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Book Outlet

Whack-a-Mole by Chris Grabenstein

First Line: I've never been what you might call an "overachiever" but at age twenty-five I've already done the worst thing any human being can possibly do.

Summer's half over in Sea Haven, New Jersey. It's been quiet, but the sand sculpture contest on the beach is scheduled to begin soon, and things should start picking up. John Ceepak spends part of his days walking the beach with his metal detector and finds a high school class ring. It's possible that the owner can be found, so Ceepak decides to give it a try.

While he's playing boy scout, Danny Boyle picks up a young curvaceous hitchhiker and gives her a lift to town. Almost as if the girl is some sort of catalyst, weird things start going off like firecrackers. Items are stolen, money goes missing... and jars of body parts start showing up in places like a museum and a tourist shop. What Ceepak and Boyle begin to piece together can make a person's blood run cold: there's been a serial killer in Sea Haven's midst-- a serial killer who went dormant for a long time and now is showing signs of wanting to begin another killing spree. These two have their work cut out for them.

I fell in love with this series from the very first book, Tilt-a-Whirl, because of the relationship between the two main characters (which I likened to a partnership between the Lone Ranger and Beaver Cleaver). Ceepak has done too much and seen too much in his thirty-six years, and he's turned himself into the Great Stone Face with a set of rules that he insists on living by. I sometimes think that those rules are to keep himself from shattering into a million pieces. Danny Boyle is a fresh-faced, smart-mouthed kid who desperately needs a strong male presence in his life to keep him from running off the rails. When Boyle meets Ceepak, it's like watching a flower tracking the sun across the sky. Ceepak steadies Boyle and-- just by his quiet strength and his daily example as a police officer and a friend-- gives the young man a reason to look at the possibilities his future could easily hold.

Once again as in the previous two books, the plot really isn't the strong point of this book. There's a serial killer playing games with our two heroes, and it didn't take much deduction for me to realize the person's identity. No, the strengths in this book-- and in the series-- are the relationship between Ceepak and Boyle, an excellent sense of pace that can grab you by the throat and not let go, and Grabenstein's wacky sense of humor. Those three strengths are marvelous, and they'll keep me reading each and every book in this series.

Whack-a-Mole by Chris Grabenstein

ISBN: 9780786718184

Carroll and Graf © 2007

Hardcover, 320 pages

Police Procedural, #3 Ceepak and Boyle mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Alibris. 

May 2012 New Mystery Releases!

I love this time of year. Everything seems to be blooming, I get to sit in my back garden and watch baby birds learn the ropes, the pool water's warming up.... Bliss!

The only trouble I have is in trying to figure out where the time went. Any of you have that problem?

I also have a problem narrowing down my list of new mystery releases to twelve. It hurts to cut any out, yet I don't want a post that's five miles long. (2¾ miles will do nicely, thank you!)

Here is my May list of the books that I can't wait to get my hands on. As usual, the books are grouped by release dates, and I've included the information you'll need to find them at all your favorite book spots. Hopefully I've chosen a title or two that you just can't do without. (I don't want to be alone....) Happy reading!

=== May 1 ===

Title: Getaway

Author: Lisa Brackmann

Standalone

ISBN: 9781616952402

Publisher: Soho Press

Hardcover, 320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books!

From the back cover: "Michelle Mason tells herself she’s on vacation. A brief stay in the Mexican resort town of Puerto Vallarta. It’s a chance to figure out her next move after the unexpected death of her banker husband, who’s left behind a scandal and a pile of debt. The trip was already paid for, and it beats crashing in her sister’s spare room. When a good-looking man named Daniel approaches her on the beach, the margaritas have kicked in and she decides: why not?

But the date doesn’t go as either of them planned. An assault on Daniel in her hotel room, switched cell phones and an encounter with a “friend” of Daniel’s named Gary gets Michelle enmeshed in a covert operation involving drug runners, goons, and venture capitalists. Michelle already knows she’s caught in a dangerous trap. But she quickly finds that running is not an option. If she’s not careful, she’ll end up buried in the town dump, with the rest of the trash. Now she needs to fight smart if she wants to survive her vacation."

Title: A Deadly Grind

Author: Victoria Hamilton

Series:#1 in the Vintage Kitchen mysteries set in Michigan

ISBN: 9780425248010

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

From the back cover: "When vintage cookware and cookbook collector Jaymie Leighton spies an original 1920s Hoosier brand kitchen cabinet at an estate auction, it’s love at first sight. Despite the protests of her sister that the 19th-century yellow-brick house they share in Michigan is already too cluttered with Jaymie’s “junk,” she successfully outbids the other buyers and triumphantly takes home her Hoosier.

But that night on the summer porch where they’ve left the Hoosier to be cleaned up, a man is murdered, struck on the head with  the steel meat grinder that is part of the cabinet. Who is this stranger—and what was he doing on their porch? Does his death have anything to do with the Hoosier?

As the police struggle to determine the man’s identity, Jaymie can’t help doing a little digging on her own, accompanied by her three-legged Yorkie Poo, Hopalong. But in her bid to uncover the truth about the hidden secrets of the Hoosier, Jaymie may be the one who ends up going, going…gone."

Title: Fatal Induction

Author: Bernadette Pajer

Series: #2 in the Professor Bradshaw mysteries set in Seattle in the early 1900s

ISBN: 9781590586143

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Paperback, 250 pages

*Upcoming review of the first in the series, A Spark of Death, on Kittling: Books!

From the back cover: "Seattle, 1901. The race to win an electrical competition incites Professor of Electrical Engineering Benjamin Bradshaw's obsession for invention in the second entry this exciting historical series. The contest winner's telephonic system will deliver music from the Seattle Grand Theater to homes throughout the city, and Bradshaw is confident he can win.

The contest is in full swing when President McKinley is assassinated, casting Bradshaw and the entire nation into shock. Then Bradshaw uncovers a crime closer to home: a gypsy peddler's cart is suddenly abandoned behind his house. What happened to the father and child who lived in this cart? When Bradshaw discovers the peddler's child may have witnessed a murder, he follows the girl's trail, plunging into a seedy underworld of bars and brothels.

Frustrated by the police department's apathy and caught between power struggles, he doesn't know whom to trust. Each step of his investigation entangles him deeper in crime and corruption until he realizes that to save the child, he must transform his contest entry into a trap to catch a killer and to protect his own household.

Bradshaw's electrical forensic and investigative skills, combined with a keen understanding of human nature, bring the Seattle police—and murder—to his doorstep during the social and scientific turmoil of the early twentieth century."

Title: Don't Die Under the Apple Tree

Author: Amy Patricia Meade

Series: #1 in the Rosie the Riveter mysteries set in 1942 New York City

ISBN: 9780758267580

Publisher: Kensington

Mass Market Paperback, 288 pages

From the back cover: "Life is definitely not easy for 32-year-old Rosie O'Doyle Keefe, but she can handle working in New York City's World War II shipyards - until her foreman winds up dead - right after she rebuffed his 'requirements' for a promotion. Never one to sit back and hope for the best, Rosie discovers that everyone who knew the foreman had good reasons to kill him off. She also finds that she has a surprise ally in the darkly handsome police lieutenant Jack Riordan. But Jack also has to produce a viable suspect for his captain in five days - even if it has to be Rosie. Before long, the mystery spirals onto the streets of wartime New York. With the clock ticking and her freedom on the line, Rosie and Lieutenant Riordan will need to join forces to find the truth and catch the now very desperate killer ...who may be much closer then they think."

Title: Fun House

Author: Chris Grabenstein

Series: #7 in the Ceepak and Boyle series set in New Jersey

ISBN: 9781605983363

Publisher: Pegasus

Hardcover, 336 pages

From the back cover: "What if a reality TV show like Jersey Shore set up production in the fictional seaside resort Sea Haven? What if hitting the gym, tanning, and doing a little laundry aren't the only things the contestants get into?

By-the-book officer John Ceepak and his wisecracking young partner, Danny Boyle, have to babysit the buff and boozy kids partying it up in a Jersey shore rental house for TV’s summertime hit Fun House while simultaneously trying to stop the rowdy kids from breaking the law up and down the beach.

But even Ceepak and Danny can’t stop one young cast member from being murdered—and others from being threatened with the same fate."

=== May 8 ===

Title: A Simple Murder

Author: Eleanor Kuhns 

Standalone
ISBN:  9781250005533
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Hardcover, 336 pages

From the back cover: "Five years ago, while William Rees was still recovering from his stint as a Revolutionary War soldier, his beloved wife died. Devastated, Rees left his son, David, in his sister’s care, fled his Maine farm, and struck out for a tough but emotionally empty life as a traveling weaver. Now, upon returning unexpectedly to his farm, Rees discovers that David has been treated like a serf for years and finally ran away to join a secluded religious sect—the Shakers.

Overwhelmed by guilt and hoping to reconcile with his son, Rees immediately follows David to the Shaker community. But when a young Shaker woman is brutally murdered shortly after Rees’s arrival, Rees finds himself launched into a complicated investigation where the bodies keep multiplying, a tangled web of family connections casts suspicion on everyone, and the beautiful woman on the edge of the Shaker community might be hiding troubling ties to the victims. It quickly becomes clear that in solving Sister Chastity’s murder, Rees may well expose some of the Shaker community’s darkest secrets, not to mention endanger his own life."

Title: The Boy Who Stole the Leopard's Spots
Author: Tamar Myers
Series: #3 in the Amanda Brown series set in the 1950s Belgian Congo
ISBN:  9780061997730
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Paperback, 304 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books!

From the back cover: "A decades-old murder, a strange superstition, an enormous snake, and one giant secret are about to rock the beautiful Belle Vue to its core.

It is a time of great upheaval for the Belgian Congo and Belle Vue is not safe from the changes. But there are more pressing problems as an unsolved disappearance brings up issues for some of the denizens of the village. Add to that a sudden influx of strangers and a horrible storm that literally divides the village in half, and suddenly danger seems to be everywhere.

The lovely young American missionary Amanda, the police chief Captain Pierre Jardin, and the local witch doctor and his wise-woman wife, Cripple, all become embroiled in the mystery as evil omens and strange happenings at every turn suggest that more lives will be lost before the true killer is unmasked."

=== May 15 ===

Title: As the Crow Flies

Author: Craig Johnson

Series: #8 in the Sheriff Walt Longmire series set in Absaroka County, Wyoming 

ISBN:  9780670023516

Publisher: Viking Adult

Hardcover, 320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books!

From the back cover: "Embarking on his eighth adventure, Wyoming Sheriff Walt Longmire has a more important matter on his mind than cowboys and criminals. His daughter, Cady, is getting married to the brother of his undersheriff, Victoria Moretti. Walt and old friend Henry Standing Bear are the de facto wedding planners and fear Cady’s wrath when the wedding locale arrangements go up in smoke two weeks before the big event.

The pair set out to find a new site for the nuptials on the Cheyenne Reservation, but their scouting expedition ends in horror as they witness a young Crow woman plummeting from Painted Warrior’s majestic cliffs. It’s not Walt’s turf, but the newly appointed tribal police chief and Iraqi war veteran, the beautiful Lolo Long, shanghais him into helping with the investigation. Walt is stretched thin as he mentors Lolo, attempts to catch the bad guys, and performs the role of father of the bride."

=== May 22 ===

Title: The Murder Notebooks: Dead Time

Author: Anne Cassidy

Series: #1 in the Murder Notebooks series set in the UK

ISBN:  9780802723512

Publisher: Walker Childrens

Hardcover, 352 pages

From the back cover: [Ages 12 and up] "When Rose was twelve, her mother and stepfather went out for dinner and never came back. Now seventeen, she lives with her grandmother and goes to school in London. She’s always wondered about her stepbrother, Joshua, whom she only lived with briefly and who was also relocated after their parents’ disappearance. When Rose and Joshua meet again, they find they have much in common, including a desire to uncover the mystery surrounding their parents’ disappearance . . . and a mutual attraction to each other. But when Rose witnesses the murders of not one but two of her classmates, she must uncover who is behind these violent crimes. And when she and Joshua discover that a much larger conspiracy is underway, both of their lives will be in danger."

=== May 29 ===

Title: The Watchers

Author: Jon Steele

Standalone

ISBN:  9780399158742

Publisher: Blue Rider Press

Hardcover, 592 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books!

From the back cover: "Lausanne, Switzerland. In the cathedral tower lives a strange boy with a limp who talks to the bells. In a luxury penthouse lives a high-class prostitute who's in mortal danger. And in a low-rent hotel lives a private investigator who has no idea how he got there. Jay Harper finds himself in Switzerland on the trail of a missing Olympic athlete. A hard drinker, he can barely remember how he got home last night, let alone why he accepted this job. When he meets the stunning but aloof Katherine in a hotel bar, he quickly realises that he's not the only one in town who's for hire. She's a high-class hooker who can't believe her luck. Which is about to change. For the worse.In the meantime, Marc Rochat spends his time in the belfry talking to the statues, his cat and the occasional ghost. His job is to watch over Lausanne at night and to wait for the angel his mother told him he'd one day have to save. When he sees Katherine, he thinks his moment has come. Which indeed it has. But not in a good way…."

Title: The Yard

Author: Alex Grecian

Series: #1 in the Murder Squad series set in Victorian England

ISBN: 9780399149542

Publisher: Putnam Adult

Hardcover, 432 pages

From the back cover: "Victorian London is a cesspool of crime, and Scotland Yard has only twelve detectives—known as 'The Murder Squad'—to investigate countless murders every month. Created after the Metropolitan Police’s spectacular failure to capture Jack the Ripper, The Murder Squad suffers rampant public contempt. They have failed their citizens. But no one can anticipate the brutal murder of one of their own . . . one of the twelve . . .

When Walter Day, the squad’s newest hire, is assigned the case of the murdered detective, he finds a strange ally in the Yard’s first forensic pathologist, Dr. Bernard Kingsley. Together they track the killer, who clearly is not finished with The Murder Squad . . . but why?

Filled with fascinating period detail, and real historical figures, this spectacular debut in a new series showcases the depravity of late Victorian London, the advent of criminology, and introduces a stunning new cast of characters sure to appeal to fans of The Sherlockian and The Alienist."

=== May 31 ===

Title: Kissing the Demons
Author: Kate Ellis
Series: #3 in the DI Joe Plantagenet series set in North Yorkshire, England
ISBN: 9780727879844
Publisher: Severn House
Hardcover, 336 pages

From the back cover: "Thirteen Torland Place is a house with a disturbing past. When a student living there is found murdered, DI Joe Plantagenet wonders whether her death has anything to do with its grim history. Then other, similar deaths come to light and he fears that a ruthless serial killer is at work. Could the deaths be connected to Obediah Shrowton, an executed murderer whose presence still seems to linger in the house? Or is there a yet more sinister and dangerous explanation?"


Whew, that was quite a list! Which books tickled your fancy? 'fess up!

Scene of the Crime with Author Chris Grabenstein!

When Chris Grabenstein introduced John Ceepak and Danny Boyle to the world, I heard about it and thought to myself, "Sounds like a book I'd like to read." When people whose literary opinions I value highly began raving about the Ceepak mysteries, I said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll get to them one of these days." Since I have a book list that would choke every horse within a 25-mile radius of Lexington, Kentucky, it's not that unusual for titles to sink and not resurface for years.

Fortunately for me, Chris Grabenstein resurfaced sooner than most, and I read Tilt-a-Whirl. Doubly fortunate for me that I'm not quite as limber as I used to be because after reading that first John Ceepak mystery, I could've kicked myself in the butt for ignoring such a treat for so long. Naturally I suggested the Ceepak books to my husband the next time he asked for reading suggestions, so now there are two Grabenstein fans in the house.

Chris Grabenstein doing research.

If you'd like to know more about Chris, here are a few links for you:

Chris Grabenstein's website

Chris Grabenstein on Facebook

Chris Grabenstein on Twitter

More on Chris Grabenstein's books

Since I'm still doing a little internal Happy Dance that Chris said yes to this interview, you know what I'm going to say now, don't you?

Let's get to the fun stuff!

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

It was probably Mad's Don Martin Drops Thirteen Stories.   When I was ten, I somehow stumbled upon Mad Magazine.  It, plus Rocky & Bullwinkle, Get Smart, and F-Troop, totally warped my mind and set me on the path of satire, humor, and general monkey business.  I remember saving my money all year so I could buy Mad books when we went on vacation in the summer.  There was an honesty, a truth-telling in the satirical ramblings of the "usual gang of idiots" at MAD.  There were no sacred cows.  Not even sacred cows.   Decades later, I still subscribe to the magazine.

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

Think about what I might write next.   I also like to jog around Central Park, play with my dog and cats, and volunteer at my church's tutoring program and a neat writer-patient project at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center called "Visible Ink."

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.)

Central Park

In New York City, stay away from the tourists.  New Yorkers find Times Square with its Bubba Gump Shrimp and Olive Garden to be a strange, suburban land.   

I think I would spend the day in Central Park, people watching.  Then, at night, I'd head down to Greenwich Village for dinner and an off (or off-off) Broadway show.  

After midnight, I'd ride the subway for the danger-laced adrenaline rush.  No.  That's a joke.  Don't do that.

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

Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks.   Everybody would love me, no matter what I did.

Who is your favorite recurring character in crime fiction?

Sherlock Holmes.  Or Bullwinkle.

Name one book that you've read that you wish you had written. What is it about that book that made it come to mind?

A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving.   I still think about that book, 20 years after reading it.  How real the (sometimes) bizarre characters felt and how it surprised and moved me.

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?

Why isn't the cover facing out?   Why is there only one copy in this whole Barnes and Noble?  How come it's not on the Staff Selects table?

When I first heard I was being published, I believe I uttered Homer Simpson's immortal words:  Whoo-hoo!

And then I probably wondered -- but will I ever publish another book?

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?

Cotton candy, anyone?

We gave away fresh-made cotton candy when we had a launch party for my second Jersey Shore Ceepak book Mad Mouse.  I forgot that cotton candy machines spew out sugar.  Onto rare first editions lining the bookstore's shelves.  We had to run to the store for emergency handi-wipes!

And, at a school signing for my middle grades books, I was asked why some of my adult titles have devil words in them.

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?

I confess to loving e-books.  They make shopping at 11 p.m. when you're going to bed and need something to read so much easier.  I think story telling will survive.   It's just a new way to deliver the goods.  I am hoping that, somehow, bookstores can become curators of e-books and collect a share of the money.  I also fear that mid-list (or whatever is  below mid-list) authors like myself won't have a chance up against the titans.  

But, thanks to e-books, I am able to keep my first three Ceepak mysteries alive in the Kindle and Nook stores -- even though they are out of print and without a publisher (besides me!).

On Sale Now!

Having recently acquired my own Nook Color, I'm finding eBooks to be an excellent resource for out-of-print, mid-list crime fiction, and for that fact alone, I love my eReader!

Thank you so much for spending this time with us, Chris. We really appreciate the opportunity to get to know you a little better!

May your book sales do nothing but increase! Speaking of which, I'm really looking forward to the release of Fun House next year!

Mad Mouse by Chris Grabenstein

Title: Mad Mouse
Author: Chris Grabenstein
ISBN: 9780786719365
Publisher: Carroll & Graf, 2007
Paperback, 336 pages
Genre: Police Procedural, #2 Ceepak and Boyle mystery
Rating: A+
Source: Purchased from Amazon.

First Line: August 30th is National Toasted Marshmallow Day, so, naturally, we're celebrating.

It's almost Labor Day in Sea Haven, New Jersey, and Danny Boyle is really hoping the new police chief is going to name him the new full-time officer. In the meantime, he's going to spend the evening celebrating National Toasted Marshmallow Day with his friends. Unfortunately the night is spoiled when Danny and his group are targeted by paint ball ninjas.

For a short while, everyone thinks it's "just kids" getting drunk, getting high, and blowing off steam at the end of summer. But there's another attack that includes bullets as well as paint, and one of Danny's friends is rushed to the hospital, fighting for her life. Ceepak doesn't have to convince Danny that someone is looking for revenge on him and his friends-- but Danny's got to figure out why. The big Labor Day celebration in Sea Haven is about to start. Danny and his friends won't be the only ones in the line of fire.

This book has a lot to say about being young, about being thoughtless, about how actions have consequences, about doing what's right... but a lot of that may become obscured by the relentless pace of the plot. "Mad mouse" is a term for a small roller coaster whose sharp turns make the riders feel as though they're being pitched out into space-- and to their deaths. "Mad mouse" could also be an excellent term for the plot of Grabenstein's book. Once this roller coaster has started, there's no stopping it.

it was good to see that John Ceepak is less tightly wound than in the first book in the series, and young Danny Boyle is the perfect narrator-- a rather gawky Every Guy who's smarter than he thinks and is extremely impressionable. His lucky day was when he teamed up with John Ceepak, a man with a strong moral code that he will not break ("I will not lie, cheat or steal nor tolerate those who do"). It's almost impossible not to like Danny when he notices things like this:

Her eyes tell me she's probably somebody's mom because they look tired, maybe even sad. I figure her kid is a teenager. I remember my mom's eyes when my brother and I were teenagers-- she looked like we never let her sleep. I also figure Rita is a single mom. Maybe it's the way she looks when Ceepak is polite, like maybe her first guy wasn't so nice.

If you put your mind to it, the bad guy isn't all that difficult to figure out, but I didn't care. Besides, Grabenstein throws a curve or two in with the bad guy's identity so you feel as though you're heading for another one of those mad mouse turns.

I know I mentioned reading the first book in the series, but it's not necessary to read it (Tilt-a-Whirl) before reading Mad Mouse. Just enough detail is given to keep things moving without making anyone confused.

When I finished the last page, I had that best of all reader reactions: a stunned (and whispered) WOW. And those last five sentences? They choked me up and put tears in my eyes. It's a good thing I didn't have the rest of the books in this series sitting on a shelf. I would've grabbed them all, put a DO NOT DISTURB sign on the door, and holed up until I'd read every single one.

Wow....

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Tilt-a-Whirl by Chris Grabenstein

Title: Tilt-a-Whirl
Author: Chris Grabenstein
ISBN: 978-0-78671-781-1, Carroll & Graf, 2006
Genre: Police Procedural, #1 Ceepak & Boyle mystery
Rating: A

First Line: Some guys have a code they live by, some guys don't.

Sea Haven, New Jersey cops John Ceepak and Danny Boyle are eating breakfast in the Pancake Palace when a young girl covered in blood runs screaming down the middle of the street. She is Ashley Hart, and her father, millionaire Reginald Hart, has just been shot to death on the Tilt-a-Whirl ride at Sunnyside Playland. For part-timer Boyle, it will be his first murder investigation. For John Ceepak, a former M.P. recently returned from Iraq, it's far from being his first experience with violence and death.

This is another of those series that I've heard so much about from my fellow mystery-loving friends. Instead of trying to get my hands on the books immediately, I filed the info away and bided my time with lots of other books. My inner bookworm always seems to know when it's the right time for me to try a new author, and now it was time for Chris Grabenstein.

I must've read too much F. Scott Fitzgerald in my youth ("Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.") because I tend to be very distrustful of rich characters when I read mysteries. Although the plot is a strong one, it really didn't hold many surprises for me-- undoubtedly due to my own cynicism. No, the gold mine in this excellent book is its characters, Danny Boyle and John Ceepak.

Danny Boyle is such a kid. He's twenty-four, and he likes being a summer cop because he has time to spend with his buddies on the beach. He hasn't given much thought to his future, and although he may make sarcastic comments about driving Ceepak around town or the number of items Ceepak can pull out of the pockets in his cargo pants, it's obvious that Boyle has a growing case of hero worship. Ceepak is the only person Boyle knows who has a Code: "I will not lie, steal, or cheat, nor tolerate those who do."

Ceepak on the other hand seems very stiff and unapproachable, and I doubted that I'd warm up to him; however, Grabenstein gives us just enough glimpses into the character's past for his behavior to make sense. By book's end, I felt as though Danny Boyle were my kid brother and John Ceepak a man I definitely wanted to know more about.

For some strange reason this partnership of Boyle and Ceepak seemed to beg for a comparison, and after tossing aside--among others-- Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes, I finally settled on a new one: The Lone Ranger and Beaver Cleaver. (Hopefully I haven't totally alienated Tonto and Wally.) Ceepak is a loner. Life has carved big chunks out of him, and although he wants to Do Good and be a Good Example, he needs his downtime away from others. Boyle is so full of wide-eyed innocence that it's not only fun but a pleasure to watch him grow up.

These two New Jersey cops have really got their hooks in me, and I won't be satisfied until I've read every single one of their adventures!

[Book source: Paperback Swap]