Busy reading week!

I've read three great mysteries this week. Susan Elia MacNeal's Prisoner in the Castle, Vivien Chien's Dim Sum of All Fears, and Paula Munier's debut mystery A Borrowing of Bones. All worth reading!

The Prisoner in the Castle by Susan Elia MacNeal
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Prisoner in the Castle is the latest addition to the excellent Maggie Hope WWII mysteries. When the book opens Maggie is being held in on an isolated Scottish island along with a number of other SOE operatives who for one reason or another are literal prisoners for numerous reasons ranging from unsuitability after training, to fear that they may break under torture, to having too much knowledge regarding the secretive and highly classified information about the D-Day landings - which is Maggie's frustrating situation.

Their "prison" is an elaborate Victorian castle/hunting lodge that is allegedly haunted by the notorious murderer who built it. When the prisoners start dying one by one, Maggie is convinced that there is a murderer among her fellow prisoners. She and and a doctor, begin investigating. What they uncover is not only a dark secret, but also a spy among spies.

This is a simple plot summary, due to the intricate and involving plot, but I can tell you that author Susan Elia MacNeal has crafted a locked-room mystery reminiscent of Agatha Christie, but with her own unique flair and the wonderful Maggie Hope. It is involving, chilling, and historical. I loved it.

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A Borrowing of Bones by Paula Munier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A good beginning to a series. Great plot - I was kept guessing all along as to what was happening. Mistaken identities, two great dogs, a tragic backstory for the heroine, and a handsome Maine game warden. I'm looking forward to more Mercy and Elvis mysteries. I'm afraid to say more without giving away too many details of this introductory story! If you liked Alex Kava's Creed and Maggie mysteries, you'll love this book.

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Dim Sum of All Fears by Vivien Chien
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you love Cozy mysteries, Vivien Chien's Noodle Shop Mysteries are food for your reader's soul. What I loved most about this book was the way Vivien has made the Asian Plaza a small town peopled with quirky characters, stores, and, of course, Lana Lee's family restaurant.

Lana's family is front and center in this story. When her parents have to go to Taiwan to see what's up with the family matriarch, Lana and her sister are left in charge of the restaurant -- with Lana handling most of the work since her perfect sister is too busy with law school. When a new friend is found murdered, Lana can't help getting involved, even though she's promised family and her Police Detective plus one (and some) that she won't.

The setting is fun, Lana and her family and friends are engaging, and the mystery kept me reading later than I should have been! The ending is a perfect segue into the next book in the series Murder Lo Mein . Hallmark Mysteries should make these into a series. It would be fabulous!

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It's been a month!

I'm a bad blogger. It's been a month since I last stopped in. Progress on my original work? Maybe 1500 words. It's slow-going at this time of year with vacations, past and upcoming, schools invading the library, and life in general. Plus, it's hard to write when dealing with current events. But here's a few thoughts.

First, I've been reading a lot, which is both inspiring and not. When I read a really good book, self-doubt starts creeping in and I often find myself thinking what on earth made me want to be a writer? Maybe the reason I'm working so slowly is because what I'm writing isn't good enough. Maybe I should give up and take up crochet!

The truth is, I'm terrible at crochet, or crafts. I can't paint, draw, knit, crochet, or needlepoint. The only thing I'm really good at (other than my job - which is basically telling people about books, or answering reference questions) is writing. All the authors I admire say the same thing; if you want to be a writer, first you have to write, and keep writing until you're satisfied with what you've done.

So, along with the coming of Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Christmas Ale, maybe this is the season to write.

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Thoughts not on writing:

1. Vote. Register to vote before the deadline. Make sure your registration is current.
2. Keep the folks in Florence's path in you thoughts. Since my book deals with homeless veterans, and the homeless population in general, I'm concerned for their safety during the storm and the aftermath.

Thanks for listening to me ramble.

Write a Tapestry, not a Quilt

This is another excellent exercise from Career Authors, a fantastic resource for writers with advice on everything from writing skills to marketing and more.

https://careerauthors.com/polish-your-prose-write-a-tapestry/

I think a little leeway should be given to allow for establishment of setting and character at the beginning of a story. This is on the third page of a 29 page story, and the first page had a lot more pink and yellow than green. As the story progresses, there is more green than pink and yellow. If you're writing a thriller or mystery, there should be more green. If you're writing a love story, perhaps more yellow and pink. But those are just my thoughts. Try this on a sample of your writing and let me know how it pans out. Meanwhile, do take a look at the Career Authors website. It's great!

Here's a screen shot from something I've written to illustrate:

Book Review: The Ruin

The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


It been a while since I read a mystery as compelling and complex as The Ruin. McTiernan sets the mood from the first page when Cormac Reilly (at that time a very green Garda), is sent to a country house teetering on the brink of ruin to investigate the report of a death. He finds a woman, apparently dead of an overdose, and two children who show clear signs of physical abuse. Maude and James Blake. He takes them to the hospital for treatment, where Child Services will take custody. Maude, at 15, vanishes from the hospital. James, not much more than a toddler, is fostered and then adopted. Cormac moves on.

End of the story? No, just the beginning. Ten years later Cormac Reilly, now a high-ranking Detective in Dublin, has been assigned to a Drug Task Force in Galway when James' body is found in a river, an apparent suicide. His partner, Aisling, doesn't believe it, neither does, a newly returned Maude Blake.

The three lives, Maude, Aisling, and Cormac's entwine quickly in a mystery that starts with a ten-year old death and ends following a mystery of complex twists and turns that leave you breathless as you read.

The story is spellbinding, the atmosphere evocative, the characters likeable and challenging.I am looking forward to McTiernan's next Cormac Reilly mystery, due out in 2019.




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Book Review: Stay Hidden by Paul Doiron

Stay Hidden by Paul Doiron

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The best way I can describe Stay Hidden by Paul Doiron, is Maine Noir. Normally, when you think of Maine, you think of beaches, lobster, and vacations. The Maine Doiron writes about is gritty, dark, and tough. This book is no exception.

Doiron's hero, Game Warden turned Investigator, Mike Bowditch is called to investigate a hunting "incident" on a rocky island off the coast. He's greeted with suspicious townspeople, inclement weather, and the certainty that the killing of journalist Ariel Evans was anything but an accident.

Doiron weaves a story of revenge, infidelity, mistaken identities and tragedy with the hand of a master. Mike Bowditch is on his first case as an investigator after being seriously wounded. He's healed physically, but doubts and insecurities make him vulnerable. The mystery of the killing is as opaque as the fog enveloping the island, but it kept me enthralled.



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CareerAuthors.com ... Writer's Block

Hi, all.

The wonderful Hank Phillipi Ryan composed a great essay on the Career Authors site that leads you through the shoals of the dreaded Writer's Block. It's well worth a read. There are probably days, I know I have a lot of them, when you don't feel like writing. It's understandable, particularly if you're dealing with a full-time job, studies, housework, or a million other distractions that sap your desire to write. But that's not Writer's block. Procrastination and exhaustion, but not a creative doldrums.

If you need help with fending off the psychological impediment of not knowing where your story is going, or characters who have suddenly fallen silent, here's a few ideas to get your Muse out of solitary confinement and back to the story you really want to tell.

 https://careerauthors.com/writers-block-not-a-chance/

I can't recommend this site enough. It's well worth joining if you are writing and hoping to be published at some point. Invaluable advice from great authors who have been through the process and who have succeeded.

From Pantser to Plotter: An incomplete road map

I’m in the process of trying to organize the final third (maybe) of my story into a coherent and cohesive narrative. I’m usually a “pantser,” but I’ve reached the point where I need to become a “plotter,” and make an outline of what has to happen to wrap the story up. I’ve still got a long way to go to make this rough draft a complete story with all the characters I’ve developed. I’ve come up with a list of things I need to do in order to make it happen. Will it be helpful to me or to anybody in the process of writing a mystery? I don’t know, but I’ll keep you updated!

1.       Will the idea hold up?

2.       Review the pertinent chapters

3.       Go over the clues

4.       Follow the trail

5.       Discovery – who knows what, and who needs to know everything.

6.       Confrontation

7.       Resolution

8.       Conclusion of the story