Lesa Holstine's Blog

Donis Casey, Troy Cook, Tim Maleeny & Mark Coggins

In the last week, I've had the chance to meet and hear Donis Casey, Troy Cook, Tim Maleeny & Mark Coggins. My notes are much too long to write here, so check out my blog at www.lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com.

Added by Lesa Holstine on December 3, 2007 at 3:07am — No Comments

Cries & Whiskers Contest

As promised, the prizes this week in the contest on my blog, at www.lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com, are copies of Clea Simon's Cries and Whiskers. The latest book to feature Theda Krakow has not yet been… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on November 15, 2007 at 11:59pm — No Comments

Cries & Whiskers

Clea Simon's third Theda Krakow mystery, Cries and Whiskers, is a treat for cat lovers, as well as those of us waiting for further developments in Theda's life. Over the course of three books, Theda has matured and developed important relationships.

However, the freelance journalist's life crashes around her in this latest book. And, Theda has a great deal of trouble handling change. Her boyfriend, Bill, a homicide detective, is laid up with a broken leg. An… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on November 14, 2007 at 2:49am — No Comments

Giving away ARCs in latest contest

I have two ARCS (Advanced Reading Copies) by authors whose names begin with H for the latest contest on my blog, www.lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com.

One is Down River by John Hart, bestselling author of The King of Lies. Adam Chase was acquitted of murder,… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on November 9, 2007 at 12:00pm — No Comments

Contest for Darker Crime Novels

This week, I have two darker crime novels to offer as prizes on my blog at www.lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com. One lucky person will

win an ARC of the hot book, HeartSick by Chelsea Cain. Two years after his… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on November 2, 2007 at 12:21pm — No Comments

December Treasures in My Closet

With the December holidays, people probably don't take as much time to read. These books, scheduled for December publication, may still be treasures that you'll want to watch for. If you don't have time to read them before Christmas, why don't you ask for one of them as a present? Or a true treasure would be a gift of all of the following books!

I just know that Chris Grabenstein asked for the publication date of Hell for the Holidays to be changed to December, so the… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on November 1, 2007 at 11:15pm — No Comments

Tapped Out

Natalie M. Roberts makes it dangerous to be a dance instructor in her Jenny T. Partridge Dance Mysteries. Jenny went from escaping from psycho dance moms in Tutu Deadly, to facing mad bombers in the latest book, Tapped Out.

Jenny's question? "Who would maim an innocent pink Volkswagen Bug? What kind of monster? The kind that… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on October 27, 2007 at 2:30pm — No Comments

Iron Ties wins Colorado Book Award

Congratulations to Ann Parker, whose mystery, Iron Ties, just won the Colorado Book Award for Popular Fiction.… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on October 21, 2007 at 7:08am — 2 Comments

The Drop Edge of Yonder

The summer of 1914 is already sweltering in Oklahoma, but murder makes life even more oppressive in Donis Casey's latest mystery, The Drop Edge of Yonder. Casey, who just won the Arizona Book Award for Best Mystery for her debut, The Old Buzzard Had It Coming, brings back Alafair Tucker in this third mystery, to cope with a family… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on October 20, 2007 at 10:40am — No Comments

Some Like It Hot-Buttered

How can one author come up with someone as loveable as Aaron Tucker for one mystery series, and then another one just as sweet in Elliot Freed? Jeffrey Cohen introduces Elliot in Some Like It Hot-Buttered, the first Double Feature Mystery. I'm projecting great success for this series, since the first book manages to be fun and witty, and… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on October 10, 2007 at 3:01pm — No Comments

Bones to Ashes

Kathy Reichs' tenth novel, Bones to Ashes, takes forensic anthropologist Temperance "Tempe" Brennan into her own past. It's a troubling, but fascinating, examination of Tempe's troubled childhood, and that of other young women who lost their innocence, childhoods, and sometimes, their lives.

Following her brother and father's deaths, Tempe's mother… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on October 10, 2007 at 3:00pm — No Comments

The Muse and Other Stories of History, Mystery and Myth

Lillian Stewart Carl's latest anthology is a magical escape into the past, the past of history and literature.

If you have a familiarity with the basic bones of Carl's stories, they are even more enchanting. She covers literature, from Charles Dickens to Shakespeare to Johnson and Boswell. There's wonderful historical elements, from Ann… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on October 5, 2007 at 12:51pm — No Comments

Face Time

It's not often that a mystery brings tears to your eyes, but Hank Phillippi Ryan's second book, Face Time, does just that. It takes a special character to make a reader care about their life.

Charlotte "Charlie" McNally is back, eight months after Prime Time, still working for Channel 3 in Boston as an investigative… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on October 5, 2007 at 12:49pm — No Comments

Zoё Sharp at the Velma Teague Library in Glendale, AZ

Zoё Sharp, author of First Drop and Second Shot, the Charlie Fox thrillers that are set in the U.S., appeared today at the Velma Teague Library in Glendale, AZ. She and her husband, Andy, arrived early enough that Zoё was able to judge the final pictures in our library photo contest.

If you get the chance to… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on September 17, 2007 at 1:44pm — No Comments

The Girl with Braided Hair

Why Margaret Coel's books are not as well known as Tony Hillerman's is a mystery to me. She brings to life the culture and history of the Arapaho Indian Tribe of the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. Her latest mystery, The Girl with Braided Hair, is one of her masterpieces. She skillfully ties together a cold case,… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on September 13, 2007 at 12:22am — 1 Comment

Second Shot

Doubt is "a sword that kills", and it might just kill Charlie Fox. The opening of Zoё Sharp's Second Shot finds the bodyguard lying on her belly in the bottom of a snow crusted shallow ditch, shot twice. As Simone, the woman she was hired to protect, stands over her with a gun, Charlie saw grief and anger and shock in her eyes. It was never supposed to… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on September 11, 2007 at 7:55am — No Comments

Margaret Coel at The Poisoned Pen

Margaret Coel appeared at The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale today, to celebrate the publication of her thirteenth book, The Girl with Braided Hair. I've read all but that last book, and I've been waiting to see her. She was vivacious and knowledgeable, and wonderful to hear.

Coel said when her first book, The Eagle Catcher came… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on September 10, 2007 at 12:30am — No Comments

Road Kill

Zoё Sharp revs up the tension in Road Kill, a Charlie Fox thriller. Road Kill serves as a transition piece. Charlie needed downtime after her job in Florida, an experience related in First Drop. She needed time to regroup and make decisions about her feelings for her boss and lover, Sean Meyer, and her current job as a bodyguard,… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on September 4, 2007 at 7:59am — No Comments

Contest for autographed copies of Prime Time

This week, I have a special treat for you. I recently reviewed Prime Time by

Hank Phillippi Ryan, at http://lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com/2007/08/prime-time.html. This… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on September 1, 2007 at 12:48am — No Comments

Paths Not Taken

When I can't get into any other book, Simon R. Green's Novels of the Nightside work. Paths Not Taken is another creepy novel featuring John Taylor, a private investigator in the Nightside.

The Nightside is the "sick, magical city within London." It's always night there, always three in the morning. Taylor's mother, Lilith, is a powerful being, not human, and the creator of the Nightside.

Taylor's convinced that someday he may be the destruction of everyone and everything… Continue

Added by Lesa Holstine on August 25, 2007 at 8:19am — No Comments

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