Mark . . . It is alive and well. I, too, have been away from Crimespace for the better part of 2 months. I'm now back. Starting tomorrow, I will be putting up a week of blog posts on Midwest mystery writers. I hope you will read and enjoy them.
Jerry

Hi Mark , I want to introduce you to my debut novel "A Circle of souls" which is a murder, mystery, psychological thriller and a tale of justice and hope. Do visit www.acircleofsouls.com to read more about the book. Make sure you sign up to win an autographed copy of the book. You can also read more reviews by clicking on the More Reviews button at the website. Thanks for your time in advance.

Best regards

Preetham Grandhi

Early Endorsements for “A Circle of Souls”

Linda Fairstein, NYT Bestselling Author: "A fascinating debut - this novel takes the reader to the darkest places in the human soul, from a writer with the authenticity to lead us there. A stunning thriller and an important read."

Judge Judy Sheindlin, star of the Judge Judy Show: "The seminal work of this fine author kept me glued to my chair until the adventure was over and the mystery solved. A great read!"

Book Synopsis:

The sleepy town of Newbury, Connecticut, is shocked when a little girl is found brutally murdered. The town s top detective, perplexed by a complete lack of leads, calls in FBI agent Leia Bines, an expert in cases involving children.

Meanwhile, Dr. Peter Gram, a psychiatrist at Newbury s hospital, searches desperately for the cause of seven-year-old Naya Hastings devastating nightmares. Afraid that she might hurt herself in the midst of a torturous episode, Naya s parents have turned to the bright young doctor as their only hope.

The situations confronting Leia and Peter converge when Naya begins drawing chilling images of murder after being bombarded by the disturbing images in her dreams. Amazingly, her sketches are the only clues to the crime that has panicked Newbury residents. Against her better judgment, Leia explores the clues in Naya s crude drawings, only to set off an alarming chain of events.
In this stunning psychological thriller, innocence gives way to evil, and trust lies forgotten in a web of deceit, fear, and murder.

The Agatha Award winners will be announced at the Saturday evening banquet at the Malice Domestic conference the last weekend in April. Of course, I have to go, which means I'll be missing PPWC for the first time in years.

Mark,
Thanks for the congrats on my Agatha nomination! I've been flying high and having fun answering the emails.

I can see what you mean about FRACTAL MURDERS, but gave it extra points for the unique premise and, of course, being set in and around lovely Boulder.

Debbi

My brother recommended the Bookman series by John Dunning, which takes place in Denver. Also, "The Fractal Murders" by Mark Cohen, which takes place in part on the Boulder campus of Univ. of Colo.

Debbi

Just looking for readers...aren't we all?

Debbi,

Thanks. I'd love to know what's on your brother's list & I'll put Cloud Atlas on the "serious fiction" (what's the diff?) TBR list. Cheers, Mark

Thanks, Mark. I like to mix my reading up a bit. Why limit yourself, when there are so many great books out there--mystery and non? I think people who say so-called "literary" fiction (whatever that is) isn't well-plotted simply haven't read the good ones. I love mysteries, but there's some amazing fiction out there that doesn't fit neatly into any genre.

"Cloud Atlas" is very different--like a set of short stories of different genres with a common thread running through them. Unusual book.

Congrats on getting your first book published. It sounds interesting. My brother lives in Boulder CO and has recommended mystery authors who write about that town and Denver. Now I can add another Coloradan to TBR list.

Debbi

Hi Mark, yes, I grew up in Methuen. I will definitely check your book out, thanks for letting me know about it!

Liz

:-) Thanks for the recommendation! I love all sorts of reading and will certainly give it a try as soon as I can. I just found out that what I thought was my "good" eye actually has a fairly well developed cataract and the other eye has one beginning, but I'm sure I'll feel better next week once I get my new glasses. Surgery is looming, but still in the future so I'll be back to normal as soon as I get over the shock. Usually when something bad happens to me I have some idea it's coming.

Hey Mark! Thanks for the great review! I really appreciate it. Have you seen Beths? Virtual Death. I was ticked when I got to the end of the excerpt and there was no more to read.

Congrats on Antler Dust. I'm going to order it from Poor Richards down here. (I'd go Amazon, but I like to support local businesses)

Hmmmm, I better read yours so when I lose I know I've lost to a worthy and well-written tale!

Mark,
Thanks for letting me know that my books arrived for the CO book award contest. I, too, hope there are enough entries in our category and that we're both finalists! ;)
- Beth

Thanks alot for that Mark, much appreciated.
Look forward to becoming more involved.
Rgds
Melinda

Thanks for the invite Mark! A little mutual backscratching -- My novel, NASTY, is in the semi-finals for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. There's a link to the first 5000 on the review page, if you're interested in slightly over-the-top PI fiction, please drop by and leave a review. I'd appreciate it.

The link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0011G9XPU

The Publisher's Weekly review:

"Nate Jepson (a.k.a. "Nasty") is a solid entry into the P.I. hall of fame. . . ."

A Top 500 Amazon review:

"I have been surprised numerous times by the quality of ABNA entries, and Nasty is one of those manuscripts that grabbed my attention from the first paragraph . . . ."

Help a homie out? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0011G9XPU

Thank You for your comment I will pursue it. I am new to this site I apreciate your time in contacting me.

Hey, Mark. I wait with "baited" breath.

Mark, I've never tried it that way, but sounds good to me. Thanks