Lesa Holstine's Blog

Margaret Coel at Mesquite Public Library

When Margaret Coel appeared at the Mesquite Public Library in Phoenix yesterday, she was introduced as the award-winning author who sets her books on the Arapaho Indian Reservation. Her latest book, Blood Memory, starts in Denver, though.

Margaret said after thirteen novels set on the Arapaho Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, she decided to do something else. Father John O'Malley, from her series, went to Rome at the end of the… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on September 10, 2008 at 12:28am — No Comments

Alafair Burke at The Poisoned Pen

When Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen Bookstore, introduced Alafair Burke to the audience, she said they had both graduated from Stanford. They went on to mention other authors who went to Stanford - Michele Martinez, Diane Mott Davidson, Tess Gerritsen, Twist Phelan, and

Yxta Maya Murray. Barbara said when she was in school, Wallace Stegner was their famous graduate, and they used to say John Steinbeck failed Freshman English… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on September 9, 2008 at 12:30am — No Comments

Chris Grabenstein at The Poisoned Pen

Improvisational comedy. Ad writer. Successful author of mysteries and young adult ghost stories. Chris Grabenstein is the creative artist who combines all of these skills. Thursday night, he spoke at The Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale.

It felt as if it was a gathering of friends. Chris' appearance was so casual that Lorri Amsden, the moderator for the evening, actually joined the group after Chris had already started a conversation.… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on August 24, 2008 at 12:04am — No Comments

One Bad Apple

Some people snidely refer to a book as a cozy mystery. Sheila Connolly's One Bad Apple is an example of everything that is right with the cozy mystery. Her book has a likable heroine, an attractive small town setting, a slimy victim, and fascinating side elements. I hope Connolly returns readers to Granford, Massachusetts again.

Meg Corey lost her banking job in Boston in a downsize. She took on the joint ownership of an old house in… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on August 7, 2008 at 11:29pm — No Comments

Dead in Red

L.L. Bartlett introduced the fascinating character of Jeff Resnick in Murder On The Mind. Now, in Dead in Red, he and his brother, Richard, track a killer, because Jeff won't be satisfied "until justice was done."

When Jeff was mugged and hit by a baseball bat, he injured his head. Now, he has flashes of a "sixth sense" that reveals pictures of events that have happened, and will occur in the future, related to violence and murder. When Tom… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on August 5, 2008 at 11:54pm — No Comments

King of the Holly Hop

I received the nicest note from Les Roberts about my review of King of the Holly Hop, saying I "Got" the book. Yes!

Here's my review.

It's been twenty-three years since I lived in Ohio, so Les Roberts' Milan Jacovich mysteries always take me back. It's been six years since the last book in the series, and even Milan seems to be looking back in King of the Holly Hop. It's a sad book. For Milan, and me, there's no going back to… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on July 25, 2008 at 12:04am — No Comments

The Last Embrace

Denise Hamilton takes the reader back to Los Angeles, in the heyday of Hollywood, for two violent weeks in 1949 in her first standalone, The Last Embrace. The reader sees the city, and its dangers, through the fresh eyes of Lily Kessler. Her impressions bring the story to life.

Lily was a stenographer and spy for the OSS in Europe. Following the war, she found herself without a job, as so many women were as the men returned. She lost her… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on July 24, 2008 at 12:20am — No Comments

Hell Hole

Hell Hole The Jersey Shore portrayed in Chris Grabenstein's Hell Hole isn't exactly the paradise a chamber of commerce would want publicized. Instead, Grabenstein takes us to the world of Sea Haven, New Jersey, where police officers John Ceepak and Danny Boyle deal with the underside of a resort town - the drunken parties, the drugs, the run-down trailer parks.

Danny Boyle, who has grown from a part-time summer cop to a… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on July 22, 2008 at 12:48am — No Comments

Jeffery Deaver on his The Broken Window Tour

Jeffery Deaver was in the Valley today, to appear at The Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale, promoting his latest Lincoln Rhyme book, The Broken Window. Since he was in town, he appeared this afternoon at Sunrise Mountain Library in Peoria, and The Poisoned Pen sold the books at the library.

He was introduced as the winner of the Ian Fleming Dagger Award. His books have been translated into twenty-seven languages. He's an Edgar nominee, who has… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on June 26, 2008 at 2:00pm — No Comments

The Blood Detective

"The past is a living thing; it's always present." It's the comment that haunts Dan Waddell's debut mystery, The Blood Detective. Nigel Barnes, a genealogist, knows that the keys to a modern murder spree are found in the past.

Detective Chief Inspector Grant Foster and Detective Sergeant Heather Jenkins are puzzled by the bizarre series of letters and numbers carved in the chest of a dead man found in London. It takes a genealogist to recognize them as numbers referring to… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on June 10, 2008 at 2:13pm — No Comments

Anthony Award Nominees

Thanks to Judy Bobalik's posting on DorothyL, I have this year's Anthony Award Nominees. The Anthonys will be presented at Bouchercon in Baltimore in October.

The 2008 Anthony Award Nominees

BEST NOVEL

James Lee Burke-Tin Roof Blowdown (Simon and Schuster)

Lee Child – Bad Luck and Trouble (Delacorte Press)

Robert Crais- The Watchman (Simon and Schuster)

William Kent Krueger-Thunder Bay (Atria)

Laura Lippman – What the Dead Know (William… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on June 2, 2008 at 2:12am — No Comments

The Fault Tree

Louise Ure did a wonderful job this week, speaking first at my library, then for 80 librarians in Maricopa County. Now, I have two autographed copies of her latest book, The Fault Tree, to give away in the contest on my blog. Check my blog at www.lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com for details.

Added by Lesa Holstine on May 23, 2008 at 1:05pm — No Comments

Sandra Ruttan's What Burns Within

What Burns Within by Sandra Ruttan marks the debut of a police procedural series, one that is a must-read for anyone who appreciates the genre. The reader follows RCMP Constables Tain, Hart and Nolan through the investigation of three difficult cases, until the officers discover their cases converge.

Tain, Hart and Nolan are three officers who "share a common tendency toward insubordination and independence." They were split up due to fall-out from a difficult case. Now, the… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on May 13, 2008 at 12:24am — No Comments

Out sick, New Books, and Contest for Betty Webb's books

I've been out of work this week, out sick with a nasty cold and fever. Once the fever broke, it was a good week for reading - Bob Greene's latest book, an Edgar winner, two cat books. Check out my blog at www.lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com for the book details. And, details about a contest to win autographed copies of two Betty Webb titles - Desert Wives and Desert Run.

Added by Lesa Holstine on May 9, 2008 at 12:38pm — No Comments

Win an autographed copy of Antiques to Die For

If you haven't read Jane K. Cleland's Josie Prescott Antiques Mysteries, I'm giving you a chance to win one this week. I have two autographed copies of the latest book in the series, Antiques to Die For, to give away in a contest on my blog. Check the blog at www.lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com for details.

Added by Lesa Holstine on May 2, 2008 at 1:14pm — No Comments

Agatha Award Winners

The Agatha Award winners were announced last night at Malice Domestic in Washington, D.C.

The Agatha for Best Young Adult Mystery went to Sarah Masters Buckey for A LIGHT IN THE CELLAR

The Best Short Story Agatha went to Donna Andrews for "A RAT'S TALE".

Best Nonfiction Agatha went to Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower and Charles Foley for ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: A LIFE IN LETTERS.

The Best First Novel Agatha went to Hank Phillippi Ryan for PRIME… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on April 28, 2008 at 11:24am — No Comments

Contest for Baby Shark's High Plains Redemption

It's win it before you can buy it this week on my book blog, where I have a special contest. Robert Fate's latest Baby Shark novel, High Plains Redemption, is due out in May. He's offering five autographed copies of the book, to be sent directly from the author. However, you have to enter the contest on this site in order to win. Don't wait until Baby Shark is made into a blockbuster movie to discover this series. Now's your opportunity to read the… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on April 25, 2008 at 1:05am — No Comments

Latest Morgue Mama Mystery - The Unraveling of Violeta Bell

I'm a librarian from Ohio. It would be hard to not like C.R. Corwin's Morgue Mama Mysteries, featuring a newspaper librarian in Ohio. Here's the review from my blog.

The third Morgue Mama Mystery, The Unraveling of Violeta Bell by C.R. Corwin, provides a little more proof that a crusty librarian may have a heart of gold, and a mind for crime.

Maddy Sprowls is the Head Librarian for The Hannawa Herald-Union, an Ohio newspaper. Behind her back, she's known as Morgue Mama to… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on April 23, 2008 at 11:17pm — No Comments

Louise Penny at The Poisoned Pen

Louise Penny at The Poisoned Pen

Last night, I went to see Louise Penny at The Poisoned Pen. Louise is just as kind as her character, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. She's warm and personable. Before the formal introduction, Louise went around to the audience, introduced herself, and spoke to each person. And, funny! She has a witty sense of humor, with no unkindness. The audience appreciated her warmth and style. With only one teen in the audience, Louise started by asking her age,… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on March 16, 2008 at 11:42am — 2 Comments

Hell for the Holidays

Chris Grabenstein's Hell for the Holidays is an entertaining, page turner. If you want to take a chance on winning one of the two copies, you need to enter the contest on my blog, www.lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com, within the next two days. It's a great kickoff to…

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Added by Lesa Holstine on December 5, 2007 at 8:45am — No Comments

Lesa Holstine's Blog (73)