Faces of the Gone by Brad Parks

Brad Parks is visiting our libraries today and tomorrow, along with Mystery authors Deborah Coonts and Nancy Martin.

Four people were shot dead execution style in a vacant lot in Newark, NJ and Carter Ross, an investigative reporter with the Newark Eagle-Examiner, wants to know why. The local police say it’s a revenge killing for robbery gone wrong at the bar across the street. Carter’s sources are telling him that the police have got it all wrong, but who will believe a homeless guy or a go-go dancer? There has to be some other connection between the four victims, but what is it?

Wanda was a single mom with four kids who worked as also worked as a go-go dancer to pay the bills. Tyrone Scott, AKA ‘Hundred Year’, had recently been released from prison and may or may not have been in a gang. Shareef Thomas was the alleged robber of the tavern and the “reason” in the minds of the cops for the murders. Devin Whitehead, AKA Dee-Dub, was a young man also believed to be in a gang, but the Brick City Brown gang, who operated on the other side of town from the murder site. What could tie these four individuals together? Carter is determined to discover the truth about these four brutal murders, no matter what the cost.

Faces of the Gone is a fast paced mystery that reads like a thriller. The rapid fire story takes place both in the gritty streets of Newark as well the newsroom of the Newark Eagle-Examiner. It is the first in the Carter Ross mystery series – followed by Eyes of the Innocent – and is a perfect read for a lazy day at the beach or the pool.

Brad Parks will be appearing along with Deborah Coonts and Nancy Martin today: Friday May 31, 2013 at 2 p.m. at the North Regional Library in Raleigh, and Saturday June 1, 2013 at 2:30 p.m. at the West Regional Library in Cary.

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Wanna Get Lucky? by Deborah Coonts

We’re pleased to re-post this book review of the first in Deborah Coonts’ Locky O’Toole Mysteries; we first ran it last year when Deborah visited our libraries, and we’re running it again because she’ll be here this week!

Meet Lucky. She works as the Head of Customer Relations at the Babylon Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, or as she likes to call herself, the Chief Problem Solver. What are some of the problems she gets to solve? Dealing with a naked man passed out in the stairwell or handling the aftermath when a Japanese hotel guest wrecks a Ferrari. As unpredictable as her job is, Lucky is loyal to her employer, known simply around the Casino as Big Boss.

Her life goes topsy turvy when a friend of hers, Lyda Sue, is pushed or falls out of a helicopter and dies. Was it an accident or was it murder? Lucky has her suspicions. When someone tries to blackmail the Big Boss for Lyda Sue’s death, Lucky goes into problem solver mode, determined to get down to the bottom of Lyda Sue’s death. With the help of her best friend, Teddy a cross-dressing man who has a stage act at the hotel, and a whole cast of characters that can only be found in Las Vegas, Lucky goes after the killer with a vengeance.  Will it be in time to save the Big Boss’ reputation? TheLucky O’Toole series is definitely for those who like plenty of humor in their mysteries.

Deborah Coonts will appear at several Wake County Libraries this week on a mystery author panel hosted by Raven award winner Molly Weston. She will be joined by fellow mystery writers Nancy Martinand Brad Parks.

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Hearse and Buggy by Laura Bradford

Welcome to Heavenly, Pennsylvania, a small town surrounded by Amish farms.  In Heavenly the Amish and English (non-Amish) folk have learned to coexist.  For Claire Weatherly, it is the perfect place to reboot her life after the hustle and bustle of New York City and a divorce.  Her Aunt Diane runs the local bed and breakfast and is willing to help Claire rebuild her life.  Claire decides to open up a shop, Heavenly Treasures, featuring furniture and crafts made by her Amish neighbors.  Unfortunately for Claire the previous tenant of her shop, Walter Snow, was a crook notorious for ripping off the Amish.  She realizes she must work to restore relations with the Amish.

Things go from bad to worse when Snow is found murdered in the alley behind Heavenly Treasures.  The prime suspect is a young Amish man, Eli, known in town to be a hot head.  Eli is trying to court Claire’s employee and friend, Ruth, but his reputation makes Ruth’s father leery. Claire is sympathetic to Eli, and she cannot imagine him as a murderer.

To further complicate matters, the detective investigating Snow’s murder, Jakob Fischer, is a man baptized in the Amish Church, who left to pursue a career in law enforcement.  As a result he has been shunned by the Amish.  Claire realizes Jakob is in a difficult situation and tries to help him as he investigates the murder of Snow.  We also get the sense that there may be a romance brewing between them.  Will Claire and Jakob find the killer?

The second book in the series, Assaulted Pretzel has just been released. Author Laura Bradford will be speaking at West Regional Library on Wednesday, March 27, 2013 at 2 pm.  Please call the library at 919-463-8500 for more details.

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Murder in the Marais by Cara Black

“Is there a more romantic city than Paris?  It’s known as the city of lights and one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but PI Aimée Leduc sees a different side of the city when she unearths some deep dark truths of Paris’s past during World War II.  Aimée is a native Parisian.   She was raised by her late father, a cop, after they were both abandoned by her American mother.

When an old friend of her father’s comes asking for a favor, Aimée’s conscience and empty wallet cannot refuse. However, this case will be different from her normal assignments of background checks and corporate espionage.  Her father’s friend is a rabbi from the local synagogue, who needs Aimée to decrypt a photograph for one of his members.  One of the people in the photograph was alleged to have collaborated with the Nazis during World War II.

The assignment seems like an easy one until Aimée tries to deliver the photograph to Madame Stein only to find her dead.  There is evidence of a struggle, but is this just a robbery gone wrong or something more sinister? Aimée is determined to get to the truth of Madame Stein’s death, much to the frustration of police detective Inspecteur Morbier, her father’s old partner.  He strongly encourages Aimée to drop the case.  Instead, Aimée decides to go undercover in the Neo Nazi movement to see if she can connect them to Madame Stein’s death.  When Aimée almost gets killed she is not sure if it’s the Neo Nazis or Madame Stein’s killer, but she knows she needs to find out quickly before she’s the next one dead.

Murder in the Maris is author Cara Black’s first in the series. In subsequent novels, she works her way through ­Paris’s 20 arrondissements with each installment revealing secret byways of Paris known only to an insider.

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The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

“Princesses should be beautiful and smart and clever, but Princess Elisa feels like none of those things. Elisa would rather be off reading a book than among the court, unlike her older sister Alodia who enjoys the court scene.

As princesses of the kingdom of Orovalle both girls are destined to have certain obligations they must fulfill. Elisa, however, has a second obligation as the Chosen One; she has a gem embedded in her stomach called a Godstone. The bearer of a Godstone shows up once every 100 years to perform a great act of sacrifice for God.

As The Girl of Fire and Thorns opens up Elisa is turning sixteen as well as getting married to King Alejandro from the neighing kingdom Joya d’Arena. When she arrives at her new home she finds a court not much different from her own, but with more political intrigue. They are not sure what to make of this newcomer. When tragedy strikes, can Elisa summon up the internal strength to do what needs to be done?

Once she makes it to Joya d’Arena she finds a Court not much different than her own, but with more political intrigue. They are not sure what to make of this newcomer.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson is a book that is hard to put into a nice neat little box. However, I could see it appealing to those who like Games of Thrones by George RR Martin (albeit a lot less bloody) and The Thief by Megan Whelan Turner.

Wanna Get Lucky? by Deborah Coonts

Meet Lucky. She works as the Head of Customer Relations at the Babylon Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, or as she likes to call herself, the Chief Problem Solver. What are some of the problems she gets to solve? Dealing with a naked man passed out in the stairwell or handling the aftermath when a Japanese hotel guest wrecks a Ferrari. As unpredictable as her job is, Lucky is loyal to her employer, known simply around the Casino as Big Boss.

Her life goes topsy turvy when a friend of hers, Lyda Sue, is pushed or falls out of a helicopter and dies. Was it an accident or was it murder? Lucky has her suspicions. When someone tries to blackmail the Big Boss for Lyda Sue’s death, Lucky goes into problem solver mode, determined to get down to the bottom of Lyda Sue’s death. With the help of her best friend, Teddy a cross-dressing man who has a stage act at the hotel, and a whole cast of characters that can only be found in Las Vegas, Lucky goes after the killer with a vengeance.  Will it be in time to save the Big Boss’ reputation? The Lucky O’Toole series is definitely for those who like plenty of humor in their mysteries.

Deborah Coonts will appear at several Wake County Libraries in September on a mystery panel hosted by Raven award winner Molly Weston. She will be joined by fellow mystery writers Nancy Martin and Hank Phillippi Ryan.

Find and reserve this book in the catalog.

Mystery, Murder and Mayhem @ your library: Click here to find the library most convenient to you!

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Is The Hunger Games too disturbing and violent for your taste? Try Lois Lowry’s classic Newbery Award-winning book, The Giver. This Community, which is never named, is a polar opposite of Panem. There is no war, no starvation, and no strife of any kind. The lives of the residents are completely structured. A group of Elders looks out for the welfare of each of the citizens in the Community. A Community in which each married couple if approved will raise two children, a boy and a girl. Unlike the conflict torn world of Panem, Lowry has created a utopian society, where conflict and confrontation are avoided at all costs.

At an annual ceremony every eleven year old is given their assignment for their adult responsibilities. We meet eleven year old Jonah, who is a bit apprehensive at the thought of his adult assignment. Jonah does not know what job he would want in the community. His father is a Nurturer, who cares for infants from birth until they get placed with their families at age one. His mother works in the Justice Center, where she is a judge. Neither of these occupations seem very exciting to Jonah. He also knows the Committee works very hard to ensure the proper match for each person. When Jonah is chosen for the most prestigious job in the community, The Receiver, his world begins to be altered. Will Jonah be able to survive in the Community as he learns of the truth about it?

This book is also as an audio book on CD and a downloadable audio book narrated by Ron Rifkin.

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Shop till You Drop by Elaine Viets

Helen Hawthorne is a woman with a secret!  She is on the run from a court order to pay alimony to her cheating ex-husband, Rob.  Helen, a PR person in a respectable St. Louis company, has been the bread winner for several years while Rob stayed home.  All that changed when she came home early from work and caught Rob kissing the neighbor.  When the divorce judge ordered her to pay alimony, Helen fled St. Louis, refusing to pay money to her cheating ex-husband.  She ends up in Fort Lauderdale, FL trying to stay off the radar of law enforcement.

In order to do so she needs to take jobs that pay “under the table.”  She discovers Juliana’s, an exclusive boutique, where women must be buzzed in beyond the green door.  The women who frequent Juliana’s are trophy wives or mistresses to older rich gentlemen. Their lives are very different from Helen’s. They get the latest cosmetic procedures and spend more money than Helen earns in a week on a purse.

Things change for Helen when her customers began to turn up murdered. Helen fears the women murdered might be a result of something fishy going on inside Juliana’s. These fears escalate when someone is found murdered inside Juliana’s itself. Can Helen manage to keep a low key profile while a murder investigation is going on around her? Will the publicity allow Rob to find her?  Shop Till You Drop is the first in the series with the 11th book in the series being released May 1st. Elaine Viets writes books that are the perfect read for a long beach weekend.

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In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming

A newly ordained Episcopalian minister, Clare Fergusson, gets involved when an infant is left on the rectory doorstep one cold winter night in upstate New York.  The note pinned to his blanket says his name is Cody.  The note goes on to explain that the child should be adopted by a couple who belong to the Church and had been trying to adopt a child. Clare pushes to make this happen, exasperating both the chief of police, Russ, and the social worker who know that there are procedures that must be followed in cases like this.

Clare decides to ask the police chief if she may ride along with him in order to get a feel for Millers Kill.  Clare is also an adrenaline junkie; she was an Army helicopter pilot prior to becoming an ordained priest.  The police chief agrees, but soon there is tension between them.  While Russ believes Clare is an intelligent woman, he also thinks she may be just a little too naïve for her own good.

A case in point for Russ is Clare’s insistence on getting involved in Cody’s case.  During what should be a routine Friday night patrol in Millers Kill, the worst happens; the body of a young girl is found.  During the autopsy it is discovered that this young woman had recently given birth.  Could this poor woman be Cody’s mother?  Who is Cody’s father and where is he?

These are the questions Clare struggles with as she tries to make sense of the young woman’s murder, as well as adapt to her new parish.  Six more books follow in this award winning and highly recommended series.

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Here If You Need Me: A True Story by Kate Braestrup

I tend to like to listen to audio books narrated by the author.  I think when an author narrates his or her book it lends a different dimension to the story.  This is true of Here If You Need Me: a true story, by Kate Braestrup, narrated by Kate Braestrup.  Kate chronicles her journey of becoming a Unitarian Universalist minister.  Kate’s husband, Drew, a Maine state trooper, was killed in a car accident.  It was his dream, after his retirement, to become a law enforcement chaplain.  Kate fulfilled his dream while caring for their four children.  Upon completing divinity school Reverend Braestrup accepted a position as chaplain for the Maine Fish and Game wardens.  She talks of the death of her husband and being the one who bathed and dressed his body for his funeral.  Kate talks about the beauty of her job in the Maine wildlife. Here If You Need Me begins with Kate telling the story of the night she sat with parents of a missing six year old girl, Alison.  Alison’s parents are atheists and they tell Rev. Braestrup this.  To Reverend Braestrup this does not matter her job is the same regardless of the beliefs of the parents.  She is there to comfort the parents as best she can while all around them the area is buzzing with search parties and even the occasional cadaver dog.  She makes sure the parents are comfortable and remain hopeful that their daughter is alive somewhere out in the Maine woods.  The first story in the book is a happy one: Alison is found alive by a K-9 team curled up asleep near a tree.  Not all of Reverend Braestrup’s stories have happy endings, but all are filled with love, and even some hope in the darkest hours.  Here If You Need Me is a story of love, hope, faith and the human spirit .

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