My Book Reviews

Category: Murder Mystery

I Didn’t Forget by James S. Kelly

I Didn’t Forget by James S. Kelly

Release: July 27, 2016
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Amazon
Source: Pump up your book
Find it at: Amazon__

_

_

The double murder of two long time friends has caused hysteria in the small town of Solvang, Ca. Hence, it is up to Clay Wrens, the county’s premier detective to solve the murders and calm the townspeople.

Complicating the investigation is a local politician who’s afraid the Wrens will uncover his financial transgressions, while a female reporter, with her own agenda, is suggesting that Wrens be replaced

So, as the investigation moves to a climax, Wrens is drawn to a twenty five year old murder and the convicted murderer, who’s just been released from prison.

About the Author:

James S. Kelly (Jim) is a retired Air Force Colonel, with twenty-five years of service. During his career, Jim flew over 100 missions in Vietnam and directed a program in Iran under the Shah. Jim has been writing for twenty years and this is his fourth published novel. He and his wife reside in Solvang, which is the backdrop for all his novels.

I Didn’t Forget Review:

I Didn’t Forget turned out to be a very nice crime, mystery novel with numerous plot twists that keeps you guessing.

What I really liked about the story is there is never a dull moment. The author did a great job with the fast paced story-line and adding new twists along the way. Wren keeps busy investigating multiple homicides, attempted murders, or protecting his friends and loved ones. Moreover, each chapter offers something new to the story by adding new suspects and new situations. Hence, the story is very interesting and led to a shocking twist in the end.

Similarly, I liked Wren as the main character. He is direct and at times comes across as harsh. But, I appreciate his dedication to solve the crime. Also, I actually liked Wren’s flings with his women, whether it was Jenny, Diane or Dyer. Even though they really didn’t add much to the plot, it was nice to see the character take a step back from the case and focus on his personal life.

However, my only criticism to the story was the numerous characters. Many characters enter the story just for a few scenes, and it is very hard to keep track of them. At times, Wren used to recall what a certain character did a few chapters back, and I had to go back to recall who they were. Also, I felt like the ending was a bit rushed, where we didn’t get history or details from the culprit. I was interested to see the murderer’s point of view and history behind their crimes.

Overall, this book is a very nice novel if you are in the mood for a murder mystery.

Book Tour Schedule

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the I Didn’t Forget by James S. Kelly Blog Tour hosted by Pump up your book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

Monday, August 3 – Virtual Book Tour kickoff at PUYB Virtual Book Club
Tuesday, August 4 – Interview at The Writer’s Life
Wednesday, August 5 – Book Feature at Blogging Authors

Thursday, August 6 – Book Feature at Pen Possessed
Wednesday, August 12 – Book Review at Books for books

Wednesday, August 12 – Book Feature at The Literary Nook
Thursday, August 13 – Book Feature at The Bookworm Lodge
Monday, August 17 – Book Review at Sefina Hawke’s Books
Monday, August 17 – Book Teaser Feature at YouTube

Tuesday, August 18 – Book Feature at My Book Launch
Wednesday, August 19 – Book Feature at A Title Wave
Thursday, August 20 – Book Review at Rajiv’s Reviews
Monday, August 24 – Book Feature at eBook Addicts
Tuesday, August 25 – Book Feature at As the Page Turns
Friday, August 28 – Book Feature at The Dark Phantom Reviews

Tuesday, September 1 – Book Feature at I’m Into Books
Wednesday, September 2 – Book Teaser Trailer Feature at Book Bloggin’ Princess
Thursday, September 3 – Interview at Book Cover Junkie
Friday, September 4 – Book Feature at Nuttin’ But Books
Monday, September 7 – Book Review at The Avid Reader
Tuesday, September 8 – Book Feature at Jazzy Book Reviews
Thursday, September 10 – Interview at Confessions of an Eccentric Bookaholic
Monday, September 14 – Book Review at From the TBR Pile
Tuesday, September 15 – Book Feature at Write and Take Flight
Thursday, September 17 – Book Review at The Faerie Review
Monday, September 21 – Book Feature at My Bookish Pleasures
Wednesday, September 23 – Interview at PUYB Virtual Book Club
Monday, September 28 – Book Feature at What the cat read
Wednesday, September 30 – First Chapter Review at Literarily Speaking

August 20, 2020
Murder Ahoy! by Fiona Leitch

Murder Ahoy! (Bella Tyson, #2) by Fiona Leitch

Release: June 15th 2020
Format: Ebook
Source: Rachels Random Resources
Find it at: Amazon

__

__

Famous crime writer Bella Tyson co-hosts a Murder Mystery cruise, on a luxury liner sailing from Southampton to New York. She’s expecting an easy ride; fun and games, surrounded by amateur sleuths and fans of her books. At the same time, she stays in a deluxe cabin and enjoying the spa and the amazing restaurants on board. She plans to end up her visit to one of her favorite cities in the world – the Big Apple.

However, she stumbles on a boat in mid Atlantic with her deceitful ex-husband Joel Quigley and fellow crime writer, Louise Meyers. When real live dead bodies with fake ones turn up – Bella’s dreams of indulgence turn sour.

Soon, they found her guilty of a murder she didn’t commit. She is helped (or hindered) by a gang of unlikely detectives. Can Bella find out the real murderer before the ship reaches its destination and New York’s finest drag her off?

About the Author:

Fiona Leitch is a writer with a chequered past. She’s written for football and motoring magazines, DJ’ed at illegal raves and is a stalwart of the low budget TV commercial, even appearing as the Australasian face of a cleaning product called ‘Sod Off’. After living in London and Cornwall she’s living in sunny New Zealand, where she enjoys scaring her cats by trying out dialogue on them. She spends her days dreaming of retiring to a crumbling Venetian palazzo, walking on the windswept beaches of West Auckland, and writing funny, flawed but awesome female characters. Audible publishes er debut novel and first in the Bella Tyson series, ‘Dead in Venice’, as one of their Crime Grant finalists. Fiona is represented by Lina Langlee at the North Literary Agency.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pintrest

Murder Ahoy! Review:

I loved reading this book! Take an Agatha Christie mystery, add a bit of raunchiness and a touch of humor, and you get this delicious novel.

It is so refreshing to see middle aged characters be naughty, immature, quirky and charming in the lead. Bella is awesome as the main character and I loved her romance with Will. Both of them have such a wonderful chemistry, and at times I could not believe are in their 40s. I also liked Joel and felt bad for him. To be honest, I loved Louise and wished she had stayed longer in the story. It would have been hilarious to see both of them bickering for a while. I laughed so many times at Bella’s retorts and her opinions of the situation and people.

Moreover, I adored the author’s style of writing. It made me nostalgic for all the Miss Marple and Poirot novels I read back in the day. The story is gripping, and it is interesting to see how Bella and Will try to clear Bella’s name while the murders pile up with Bella as the prime suspect. While I guessed the culprit beforehand, it was nevertheless fun to read their motives behind it. The setting of the plot, aka a murder mystery cruise, sounds so intriguing, and made me want to participate in one.

After reading this, I would definitely pick up the previous books to see how it all started. I really hope the author continues to write more Bella Tyson novels, because they are so entertaining.

Tour Schedule:

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the Murder Ahoy! by Fiona Leitch Blog Tour hosted by Rachels Random Resources.

August 4, 2020
Rags of Time by Michael Ward

Rags of Time by Michael Ward

Release: July 1st 2020
Format: Ebook
Source: Random Things Tours
Find it at: Amazon

__

__

‘Rags of Time’ is set in London in 1639. It tells the story of spice merchant Thomas Tallant, accused of murder and fighting to clear his name, and the enigmatic Elizabeth Seymour whose passion for astronomy and mathematics is only matched by her addiction to tobacco and the gaming tables.

Can Elizabeth’s brilliance untangle the web of deceit that threatens to drag Tom under, as England slides into civil war?

‘Rags’ is a murder mystery but not just a procedural thriller. Tom’s hunt for the real killer takes him on a journey through the ferment of new thinking that’s sweeping London in the 1640s. Change is everywhere – science, street politics, commerce and religion – and this shapes the plot, action, characters and outcome.

“Rags Of Time’ was published on August 15th 2019. It’s available on Amazon as a paperbook, Kindle and also on Kindle Unlimited.

About the Author:

Writing has been central to Mike Ward’s professional life. On graduating from university he became a journalist, working in newspapers and for the BBC. He then went into journalism education, teaching and researching journalism practice before becoming head of the UK’s prestigious Journalism School at UCLan. For the last eight years he has run his own content creation company.

‘Rags of Time’ is Mike’s debut novel. Its sequel is due to be published late in 2020.

Twitter

Rags of Time Review:

This story was just marvelous! A historical fiction masked with a murder mystery, where the lead is wrongfully accused? If you are a fan of either of these genres, it doesn’t get any better than this. I don’t think I have every read a historical murder mystery this good. I loved every minute of it and could not put it down!

Click to view on instagram

The author is an amazing storyteller. The style of writing is simple, yet gripping. On one hand, he beautifully depicts the landscape of the 1600s and the mindset of the residents living in London during that time. The story also highlights the unrest and turbulent atmosphere that sparks the English Civil War. Although I know the highlights of the war, reading this book gave me a better understanding of it, and inspired me to further research it.

On the other hand, we have a gripping murder mystery where the lead is wrongfully accused. As the murders keep piling, Tom needs to investigate and clear his name before its too late. There are a lot of red herrings and possible suspects, which make the story very entertaining. You don’t know who the culprit is, and I was honestly shocked with the reveal.

The characters are also well written. Tom is stubborn and impulsive, but also determined and kind, and makes you root for him. I also loved Elizabeth. She steps away from the stereotype of the genre and is equally important in the story-line. She is smart, curious and energetic. I loved her passion for astronomy and science. The author also makes nice references to Galileo and William Harvey. It is clear that he has done significant research to the story, making it memorable. Overall, “Rags of Time” is just perfect and I loved it!

July 13, 2020
The Guest List by Lucy Foley

The Guest List by Lucy Foley
Release: June 2nd 2020
Format: Ebook
Publisher: William Morrow
Source: Amazon

__

Set on a remote island off the Irish coast, this is one guest list no one would want to be on, just as no one would have wanted an invitation to the New Year’s Eve party in Foley’s previous novel, The Hunting Party . Lives unravel amid the revelry on an eerie and remote island as family and friends assemble for a glam wedding in an updated Murder on the Orient Express. Each of the principal characters has a reason to want one of their number dead, there are old secrets, and one of them is murdered.

Lucy Foley studied English literature at Durham University and University College London and worked for several years as a fiction editor in the publishing industry. She is the author of The Book of Lost and Found and The Invitation. She lives in London.

Instagram @lucyfoleyauthor
Twitter: @lucyfoleytweets.

Watch my video review:

The Guest List Review:

“The Guest List” is amazing and I love how the author wrote the story! She slowly sets the pace and introduces the characters, and then starts dropping so many twists and turns along the way. She beautifully links people who you thought would never be connected to each other. Somehow, she also gives valid motives for them to target and hate each other. Each character is a suspect for the events that take place in the island. As you start to learn more about them, surprisingly, even the innocent of them all has a violent side. Not only that, the event takes place near this cemetery, which makes the whole setting so atmospheric and creepy. At a certain point, you don’t even know if there are some supernatural elements that could be involved. It was indeed a delightful read.

Click image to view on Instagram

Moreover, the characters have history which they are not proud of, so there is never a dull moment. I honestly liked reading about all the characters, whether it be Hannah, Jules, Johnno, Olivia and Will. Moreover, the author keeps the story energetic by alternating the plot from various point of view of each different character in each chapter. Hence, the story never feels dull at any point. The villain is also someone that you love to hate because of the horrible things they do. After a point, you want to see revenge on this person like so many others at the event.

Overall, this is a delightful murder mystery book and I enjoyed it a lot!

June 3, 2020
Killing Ashish Karve : An Inspector Saralkar Mystery

Killing Ashish Karve : An Inspector Saralkar Mystery by Salil Desai
Release: November 1 2011
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Fingerprint! Publishing
Source: Amazon

Killing Ashish Karve Synopsis:

Senior Inspector Saralkar is back at his desk after spending a rather annoying week at a Secrets of Living course, especially for police officers and he is itching for some action now. Luckily, an exciting new case turns up right away!

The body of Ashish Karve, a local businessman has been found in the back seat of his car. To PSI Motkar, Saralkar’s diminutive assistant, it seems to be a straightforward case of suicide. But Saralkar’s sharp mind is agog with the dark possibility of murder. As the case unfolds Saralkar finds enough motives for people, be it Ashishs business partner, his wife, his brother, his friend, his brother-in-law or even strangers to want to do away with him! Is the senior inspector becoming too fanciful in his imagination or is he on the right track in assuming that Ashish was killed?

Delve into this deliciously thrilling whodunit and walk along with Senior Inspector Saralkar and PSI Motkar as they set out to sift the truth from lies and half truths.

Review:

Watch my booktube video review of “Killing Ashish Karve” by Salil Desai!

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoZBqd9XB_g[/embedyt]

This was a interesting and intriguing, Indian, Crime Fiction, murder mystery. Frankly, I did not see the climax reveal in the end and that itself made it a memorable read. Moreover, I found the reasons mentioned int he climax more interesting rather than the person who had done it. Salil Desai has a a perfect style of writing these kind of books for the genre. He puts the right clues in the right places for the readers to keep guessing as to what is happening. Overall, this was a fun murder mystery.

September 8, 2018