Friday, March 31, 2017

Professional Review Fest!

(Okay...sort of like a BAR-B-Q Fest -- and this place is in Virginia where my novel, Gone on Sunday, is set...)



Hi all...no ghost stories just yet, but I have one coming about bees and evil spirits in the pink room. Hang on for that.

Today I'm celebrating two professional reviews of my first novel in a new series: The Cotton Lee Penn Historical Novels.

The first appeared in Foreward Clarion Reviews.

Here's a quote:

With nary a mint julep or other southern cliché to be found, Gone on Sunday mixes the light touch of a cozy mystery, the terrible weight of history, a hint of romance, and the secrets of stifling summer to engrossing and highly entertaining effect. The result is a historical mystery combined with a modern one, satisfying on every level. -- Foreward Clarion Reviews

 The second, and most surprising to me, appeared in Kirkus Reviews. Those guys can be so-o-o mean -- but they gave me a thumbs up.  Here's a little of what they had to say:


The author does an admirable job of tying the two eras and two crimes together. She deftly drops a trail of crumbs from suspect to suspect, leading the reader down multiple paths before revealing the surprising truth in a climax worth waiting for.…This vibrant first installment of a detective series should leave readers looking forward to more adventures with the engaging heroine. --Kirkus Reviews

For a writer, every book is a work of love -- until the next book comes along.  But I am so pleased this mystery story has entertained readers and now -- a few critics.

I recently finished the first draft of the  next book in this series, tentatively titled Premonition. Here's an excerpt:

Anselm tugged on his flannel shirt and held his gun loosely at his waist, making his way through chiggers and ticks and the underbrush where they thrived. A shot fired in the distance, followed by a hollow echo and a scrambling noise in the brush. A male deer, antlers high into the green, stopped some fifteen yards ahead. Anselm made eye contact. Deep in the brown iris he saw a story unfold.
A small boy with dark hair and pink puffy hands reached up, asking Anselm to take him. The hunter thought to lift the child, but the figure grew to six feet and became a young man, holding a law book in long curved fingers. Anselm drew back from the deer and grabbed his satchel. The tall young man shouted at him.
“Daddy. Watch out!”
Another shot fired, striking Anselm through the heart. The startled buck blinked, and then leapt high into the forest, taking with him the young man and the law book. Anselm felt the sadness of the young man’s going, as he did the sadness of his own passing.