Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: chanti

SARITA by Natalie Musgrave Dossett – Adventure Western, Suspense, Historical Fiction

Set against the backdrop of Prohibition and Pancho Villa’s waning reign of terror, Sarita by Natalie Musgrave Dossett combines a page-turning western adventure and the coming-of-age of a bold young woman.

Set in 1920 South Texas, 19-year-old Sarita has already been through tough times. She had to return from high school, and her dream of being a reporter, to care for her dying mother. As she deals with those losses, Sarita’s fiancé, Jackson Cage, deserts her.

When the vicious tequila smuggler Javier Salsito de Ortega shoots her little brother, JJ, for their horses, Sarita finds herself alone in the face of grave danger.

The Texas Rangers focus their resources on Prohibition and the border incursion of Pancho Villa’s rebels, lacking the manpower to go after JJ’s murderer. Sarita worries that her grieving father will sell their land to an oil speculator. Weak with a bad heart, he is unable to pursue justice, so Sarita takes matters into her own hands.

Once Sarita crosses the Rio Grande, she stumbles into a situation much more treacherous than she’d imagined.

It doesn’t take long for Sarita to realize she is in over her head, caught in the clutches of criminals and drunks who think women are only good for one thing. To her surprise, Jackson Cage comes to her aid. But he seems to be in league with those who killed her brother. Sarita joins a childhood friend and that friend’s great-aunt on the dangerous trek to Santa Rosa, where Sarita hopes to find Javier and get her revenge.

As Sarita faces challenges beyond anything she was prepared for, she discovers an inner strength that chafes at the restrictions placed on women of her time. “A red-hot wave engulfed me. I was tired of being told what to do; of men taking what they wanted. I was tired of being threatened. I’d seen enough.”

Sarita by Natalie Musgrave Dossett is a suspenseful novel that does not shy away from the brutality of the 1920s, the consequences that others could suffer at the hands of ruthless smugglers and Villa’s rebels just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The tension is palpable as Sarita navigates her journey to justice all the while hoping to show her father that she is capable of taking care of their land.

Sarita by Natalie Musgrave Dossett won Grand Prize in the 2024 CIBA Laramie Awards for Americana Fiction.

October 29, 2025
THE ZUCCHINI FAIRY MURDER: Salty Sister Mysteries Book 2 by Ann Philipp – Cozy Mystery, Amateur Sleuths, Murder Mystery

Wherever zucchini grow, they grow with unstoppable vigor. Patricia Schuster and her mother face a legendary overabundance in The Zucchini Fairy Murder, Book Two in the Salty Sister Mystery series by Ann Philipp, but garden veggies are soon to be only a close second of their problems.

They have more zucchini than any family, friends, neighbors, and possibly the entire population of the surrounding several counties could possibly go through in a season, no matter how much zucchini bread they make. Mrs. Schuster, in an absolute riot of an opening scene, cruises through their California hometown in the middle of the night looking for cars with open windows to drop bags of zucchini into.

This camouflaged, highly questionable type raid on the neighborhood distresses her daughter, who tries without success to discourage her mother from her nighttime activities. Such hilarity threads through the background action of the story, as Patricia does her best to calm her mother down, rein her in, and manage her crazy.

Plot and humor merge when petty zucchini crime clashes with a murder investigation.

The mystery kicks into high gear as Patricia can’t resist trying to solve the case with the help of a group of golden-age ladies she inherited along with her grandmother’s house and antiques business. With nerves of steel, these formerly incarcerated elderly ladies now work for the FBI and are highly skilled in specialized areas like technology, firearms, languages, and psychology, and they have no problem breaking the law to solve a case.

After Patricia’s first ‘case’, detailed in book one of the Salty Sister Mystery series, Grand Theft Death, Patricia and ‘the Ladies’ have got a way of getting to the heart of an investigation. Even when that way involves a bit of subterfuge, a lot of illicit snooping, and more than a few sets of lockpicks.

In the best cozy mystery tradition, what makes The Zucchini Fairy Murder so much fun—besides the overabundance of summer squash—is the combination of spilling gossip about the small-town residents and their misdeeds with the one step forward, two steps back approach of an amateur sleuth.

Along with humor and intrigue, this story builds eclectic but earnest bonds between its central women.

We see sisterhood, motherhood, and cool aunt relationships between Patricia, her mother, and the four ‘Ladies’ of her grandmother’s generation who have taken both women under their wings. That web of relationships is sometimes nurturing, especially on the mornings when the Ladies make Patricia an excellent breakfast.

The Zucchini Fairy Murder by Ann Philipp is a zany romp where an amateur sleuth tries to figure out whodunit in spite of both herself, and the ladies who bring their specialized skills to the case.

This is the sort of cozy small town setting more than a bit outside the modern problems of everyday life. A perfect read to leave the ordinary and go to a place where a little dash of luck and the lead to a happy outcome for everyone in spite of many false accusations, mistaken arrests, and midnight zucchini drops from an unseen “fairy” along the way.

October 27, 2025
Five Days Remain: The Series, Collections, Nellie Bly, and Military and Front Line Awards call!
The 2025 CIBAs Close Soon!

Don’t let your book miss out!
Only 5 days left to submit your books to these prestigious CIBA Divisions and embark on an extraordinary journey to success.

The Chanticleer International Book Awards provide ongoing recognition that amplifies authors’ digital footprints through high-traffic website features, social media promotion, newsletter spotlights, and long-tail marketing that continues promoting winners throughout the year and beyond!

The Series, Collections and Anthologies, Nellie Bly and Military and Front Line Awards are still open!

Congratulations to the 2024 Winners of the Series Awards!
- Karen Inglis – Secret Lake Mystery Adventures
- Glen Dahlgren – The Chronicles of Chaos
- Sandra Wagner-Wright – Salem Stories
- Taryn R. Hutchison – A Cold War Trilogy
- Kari Bovee – The Pryce of Murder
- J.L. Oakley – The Jossing series
- Ralph R. “Rick” Steinke – Jake Fortina Series
- Mike Murphey – Tales of Physics, Lust and Greed
- Rose Prendeville – Brides of Chattan
And a huge round of applause to our 2024 Series Grand Prize Winner:

A Vengeful Realms

By Tim Facciola

Collections and Anthologies is our Newest Division, recently split off of the SEA Shorts Award!

SEA Shorts now covers Short Stories, Essays and Novellas together, and Collections and Anthologies is for exactly that, Multi-Story Collections and Multi-Author Anthologies!
The Nellie Bly Award for Journalistic and Research-Based Non-Fiction
- Carla Conti – Chained Birds: A True Crime Memoir
- Kori Reed – Men-in-the-Middle Conversations to Gain Momentum with Gender Equity’s Silent Majority
- Bonnie Bley – Stolen Voices: Missing and Murdered in Big Horn County
- Sarah Towle – Crossing the Line: Finding America in the Borderlands
And a huge round of applause to our 2024 Nellie Bly Grand Prize Winner:

The Sing Sing Files

One Journalist, Six Innocent Men, and A 20 Year Fight For Justice

By Dan Slepian

Congratulations to the 2024 Winners of the Military and Front Line Awards for Service to Others Non-Fiction!
- Roderick S. Haynes – Unauthorized Disclosures a Navy Memoir of the 1980s
- David Huntley – The B-17 Tomahawk Warrior: a WWII Final Honor
- Patrick Hogan – Coincidence, You Say?
- Shari Biery – It’s Your Turn How To Rediscover Yourself Prioritize Your Well-Being Thrive with Purpose
- Max Lauker & Antonio Garcia – Number 788: My Experiences in Swedish Special Operations – Preparing for NATO and the War on Terror
- Bibi LeBlanc – Wings of Freedom – The Story of the Berlin Airlift | Flugel der Freiheit – Die Geschichte der Berliner Luftbrucke
And a huge round of applause to our 2024 Military and Front Line Grand Prize Winner:

Memoirs From The Front Lines

Four States, Two Years, One Pandemic

By Kim Sloan

The CIBAs provide a ladder to success with a range of achievement tiers and expert long tail marketing strategies. From the highly anticipated Long List to the prestigious Overall Grand Prize Winner, the CIBA lists energize both authors and readers, maximizing your digital footprint and expanding your fan base.

We are always eager to support the Best Books through the CIBAs. Join the ranks of celebrated authors who have already taken this critical step in their publishing.

Your book deserves to be discovered, celebrated, and shared with the world. Don’t miss the chance to showcase your talent and gain valuable exposure at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (April 17-19, 2025) where Winners from all 28 Book Award Divisions will be announced and honored.

In a world hungry for good books, your story deserves to be heard. Submit now and leave a lasting impression.

Let’s celebrate exceptional storytelling together!

Your book deserves to be discovered

Enter Today!
October 26, 2025
The 2025 Global Thriller Short List for High Stakes Suspense
The Global Thriller Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of High Stakes Thriller and Lab Lit Fiction. The Global Thriller Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring suspense, thrilling stories that put the balance of world power or that will end the world as we know it. We include with Global Thrillers the Lab Lit genre. Lab Lit is when Fiction Meets Real Science and Research or stories that are based on real science and research up to a certain “what if” point.

These titles have moved forward from the 2025 GLOBAL THRILLER High Stakes Thriller Fiction Long List to the 2025 Global Thriller Book Awards SHORT LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 Global Thriller Semi-Finalists. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2026 in beautiful Bellingham, WA sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2025 Global Thriller Book Awards novel competition for High Stakes Thriller Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!
- Alexandra Pugachevsky – I Rodion
- Angela Greenman – The Child Riddler
- Anne Louise Girodet – Plan A
- Avanti Centrae – The Picasso Job a Phoenix Thriller
- Brad M Meslin – The Moldavian Gambit
- C.W. James – Mission Red Scythe a James Vagus Teen Espionage Thriller
- Dave Mckeon – Sabotage
- David R Leng – Echoes of Fortune the Search for Braddock’s Lost Gold
- Dheepa R. Maturi – 108 an Eco-Thriller
- Ellis K. Popa – Dawn To Dusk
- Ernesto H Lee – Action This Day
- J.L. Spears – Daemon Protocol
- James Alan Mcgettigan – The Altered Moon Dust Cosmos Book 1 the Second Edition
- Julie Lomax – A Pawn’s Game
- Kevin Hwang – The Regression Strain
- Kevin Miller – High End
- L.M. Weeks – Bottled Lightning
- M. E. Schuman – The Catalyst
- M. E. Schuman – Where the Sleeping Lady Lies
- Michael Maloof – Relentless
- Ralph R. Rick Steinke – Vital Mission a Jake Fortina Series Love Story
- Randall Krzak – Mission Yemen Xavier Sear Thriller Book 2
- RK Jack – Devourer From Beyond
- Stephanie Bretherton – The Fire in Their Eyes
- Susan Rogers and John Roosen – Warrior Pose
- T. D. Severin – Deadly Vision
- T.O. Paine – The Crisis
- Thomas Lapham – Beyond the Signal
- Thomas M. Wing – Against All Enemies
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

We will also be promoting this list in our Newsletter, which you can sign up for here!

Congratulations once more to the 2024 Global Thriller Grand Prize Winner

A Blanket of Steel

By Timothy S. Johnston

Click here to see the full list of 2024 Global Thriller Book Award Winners for High Stakes Thriller Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2026 GLOBAL THRILLER Book Awards for High Stakes Thriller Fiction.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2025 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 17 – 19, 2026! Save the Date for Registration!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our annual conference and discover why!
October 24, 2025
The 2025 M&M Short List for Cozy and Not-so-Cozy Mysteries
The Mystery & Mayhem Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Light-Hearted and Cozy Mysteries. The M&M Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring “mystery and mayhem,” amateur sleuthing, light suspense, travel mystery, classic mystery, British cozy, hobby sleuths, senior sleuths, or historical mystery, perhaps with a touch of romance or humor. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them. (For suspense, thriller, detective, crime fiction see our Clue Awards.)

These titles have moved forward from the 2025 M&M Long List to the 2025 M&M Book Awards SHORT LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 M&M Semi-Finalists. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2026 in beautiful Bellingham, WA sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2025 Mystery & Mayhem Book Awards novel competition for Cozy Mysteries!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!
- Beth Riner – Odd Job Annie
- Bill Cusano – The Old Cranberry Ladies Garden Club the Ghost and the Key
- C.B. Wilson – Puppied To Death
- Charlotte Stuart – In$urance Blues: A John Smith Mystery Book 3
- Carolyn Summer Quinn – The Mystery From Way Back When
- Christine Knapp – Murder at First Light
- Connie Berry – A Collection of Lies
- Connie Berry – A Grave Deception
- D. J. Adamson – Without a Doubt
- Diane Weiner – The Deadly Reveal
- Elizabeth Crowens – Round Up the Unusual Suspects
- Ellis Elliott – A Witch Awakens a Fire Circle Mystery
- George Petersen – The Summer of Haight
- Jane Bitomsky – An Inquest of Eels
- John W. Feist – Ship of Perils
- Jolie Tunnell – Shadows in Chinatown
- Joy Ann Ribar – Shake-Speared in the Park
- Julie Lomax – A Pawn’s Game
- Kate Damon – Jury Duty Is Murder
- Kathleen Donnelly – Killer Secrets
- Kathleen Kaska – Murder at the Faust
- Kathryn Gauci- Murder in the Garden of Enchantment: The Constantinople Diaries. A Madame Theodosia Mystery
- Kathryn Lane – Murder in Monte Carlo
- KD Straus – To Be True
- L. J. Aldon – Riddle of the Jeweled Cipher
- Laurel Martin – Her Last Few Days
- Laurel Martin – The Lowlands a Missing Couple a Family Desperate To Find Them
- Leta Serafim – The Nameless Dead
- Louisa West – Baby Got Ghost
- Lyn Squire – Fatally Inferior
- M. K. Dean – A Nose for Death
- M. S. Spencer – Railroad Ties the Marmion Grove Murders
- Maggie Parks – Knocked Off in Nederland
- Marshall Highet and Bird Jones – The Washashore
- Mary Seifert – Airplanes, Atlanta & an Assassin
- Mary Seifert – Juleps, Jockeys & Justice
- MJ Mac – Betrayed on the Promenade
- ML Barrs – Parallel Secrets
- Patrick E. Craig – 3 X 3
- Sandy Zelka – Blood Red Poppy
- Shannon Bennett Riester – The Lottery Aspect
- Sharon Lynn – The Romantic
- TJ Stecker – Redacted
- Wanda Brunstetter and Martha Bolton – The Rise and Fall of Miss Fannie’s Biscuits
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

We will also be promoting this list in our Newsletter, which you can sign up for here!

Congratulations once more to the 2024 M&M Grand Prize Winner

If Two Are Dead

By Jeanne Matthews

Click here to see the full list of 2024 M&M Book Award Winners for Cozy Mysteries.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2026 M&M Book Awards for Suspense and Thriller Mysteries.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2025 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 17 – 19, 2026! Save the Date for Registration!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our annual conference and discover why!
October 22, 2025
THE RABBI’S KNIGHT by Michael J. Cooper – Historical Fiction, Mystic Theology, Adventure

Knight Templar Jonathan St. Clair bears two messages for Rabbi Samuel of Baghdad, one of mortal treachery and another of mystic wonder. In The Rabbi’s Knight by Michael J. Cooper, they journey across the Holy Land to Jerusalem while divisions of faith portend the bloody conclusion of the Crusades.

Games of knowledge and influence play across the Mamluk Sultanate, as the Latin Kingdom holdout city of Acre braces for its last fight.

Samuel and another Rabbi, Solomon Petit, stand opposed in a bitter debate within Judaism concerning the integration of philosophy and science with religious tradition—a controversy sparked by the writings of the medieval philosopher Maimonides.

Samuel plans to excommunicate Petit for burning the writings of Maimonides and desecrating his tomb. Petit doesn’t intend for him to get the chance. Before Samuel can arrive in Acre, Petit makes a deal with the nearby Emir to kill Samuel in exchange for the secrets of Acre’s defenses as the last city under Christian rule will soon be put to siege.

Petit’s pupil, Isaac, realizes his teacher’s betrayal only after he helps him carry it out. He rushes to stop the scroll on Acre’s defenses from reaching the Emir, aided by William Wallace, a young Scottish pilgrim bound for Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, St. Clair and Samuel elude the Emir’s soldiers by hiding in a leper colony on the shores of the Galilee.

Throughout their adventure, Samuel teaches St. Clair some aspects of the mystic tradition of Kabballah—guiding the knight to an understanding of the inscription on the ancient scroll that St. Clair had brought to Samuel to unlock the hidden secrets of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.

The Rabbi’s Knight weaves together fictional characters and fictionalized historical figures into a dynamic, lively cast.

Each of the central characters brings a distinct view of their world into the story, multifaceted and endearing in their own way. Isaac’s clever and welcoming nature makes Petit’s cruelty against him keen, and his friendship with Wallace—a newcomer unfamiliar with the region—pushing both young men to consider how they relate to the broader conflicts around them. As intrepid underdogs, their side of the story is particularly exciting to follow.

We also gain insight into the motivations of the villains, as bound by histories of violence as they are willing to perpetuate them. Rabbi Petit ruminates on the burning of Jewish holy texts in France while plotting the death of his own chosen ‘heretic’. Emir Abdullah and Prince Khalil, son of Qa’la’un, both use the coming siege of Acre as leverage to grasp at the Mamluk Sultanate throne.

St. Clair and Samuel share a confluence between their faiths, nurturing a friendship that underpins their journey, though disagreeing in the face of Zahirah—a Mamluk woman who joins their pilgrimage from the leper colony. Samuel tries to convince St. Clair that his growing affection for Zahirah is a sanctification of God, rather than a betrayal. Zahirah herself embraces her desire for St. Clair, dedicated to her own bold will despite how much it clashes with her culture’s expectations for women.

Readers get the pleasure of growing familiar with these good-hearted people through their complicated negotiations with religious philosophy and the various social structures that shape their world.

Cooper relishes in historical detail, welcoming readers to the lived-in corners of 13^th-Century Palestine.

Isaac maneuvers through the cosmopolitan port of Acre while its Templar defenders are supplied by sea for the looming attack. The narrow alleys of Jerusalem reveal remnants of ancient history beside the works of restoration and craftsmen. Wallace chafes with his gaudy disguise as a Genoese merchant. Lepers cling to the hope that Rabbi Samuel’s examination will declare them clean.

The Rabbi’s Knight opens with a helpful map of the Holy Land in 1290. As the characters journey through it, readers get to explore living cities and hallowed landmarks through reverent sensory descriptions.

Despite how far in the past this story takes place, the setting feels suitably ancient to the characters themselves. They and readers share the experience of trying to understand a long-past but still relevant time.

Beneath its adventure, suspense, and history, The Rabbi’s Knight embraces a mystic philosophy of the pan-human search for the divine.

Jewish theological debate defines the conflicts between Rabbis Petit and Samuel, while Samuel’s instruction of St. Clair introduces readers to some Kabalistic concepts—uncovering the layered emanations of God’s essence. In his role as teacher, Samuel refutes the sectarian divides between and within different religions, insisting that each faith is dedicated to understanding the sacred pattern of creation.

The characters themselves grow to reflect this philosophy, risking all to help one another, they come to a far greater understanding of the world than they ever could have alone.

A thoughtful and rewarding tale, Michael J. Cooper’s The Rabbi’s Knight will satisfy lovers of history and theology alike, all on a well-paced adventure to the Holy City. Readers can follow the story further, centuries into the future, through Cooper’s earlier novels Wages of Empire and Crossroads of Empire.

October 22, 2025
Ten Days Left! The Chatelaine, Somerset, and Humor & Satire Awards Close Soon!
The 2025 CIBAs Close Soon!

Don’t let your book miss out!
Only 10 days left to submit your books to these CIBA Divisions and embark on a journey to discovery.

The Chanticleer International Book Awards provide ongoing recognition that amplifies authors’ digital footprints through high-traffic website features, social media promotion, newsletter spotlights, and long-tail marketing that continues promoting winners throughout the year and beyond!

The Somerset, Chatelaine and Humor and Satire Awards are still open!

Congratulations to the 2024 Winners of the Chatelaine Awards for Romantic Fiction!
- Reenita M. Hora – Vermilion Harvest – Playtime at the Bagh
- John W. Feist – Edged in Purple
- Gail Noble-Sanderson – A Cup of Revenge
- Nancy Herkness – Royal Caleva: Luis
- George T. Arnold – The Heart Beneath the Badge
- Sonja N. Griffing – Chasing Noelle
- Deborah Swenson – Till My Last Day, Book Two in the Desert Hills Trilogy
And a huge round of applause to our 2024 Chatelaine Grand Prize Winner:

The Key

By Jo Morgan Sloan

Congratulations to the 2024 Winners of the Humor and Satire Awards for Satirical and Allegorical Fiction!
- Bill Burkland – The Misconceived Conception of a Baby Named Jesus
- Julie L. Brown – No One Will Save Us: A novel
- Dan Kopcow – Madcap Serenade
- Marco Ocram – The Awful Truth About The Name Of The Rose
And a huge round of applause to our 2024 Humor and Satire Grand Prize Winner:

The Man Who Saw Seconds

By Alexander Boldizar

Congratulations to the 2024 Winners of the Somerset Awards for Literary and Contemporary Fiction!
- Robert Gwaltney – Sing Down the Moon
- Ann Bancroft – Almost Family
- Christina Boyd – Woman in the Painting
- Kay Smith-Blum – Tangles
- Anthony Horton – Unpaved
- Erika Shepard – Abomination Child
- Leslie DeBrock – The Frog-Eyed Gospel, A Texas Exodus
And a huge round of applause to our 2024 Somerset and Overall Grand Prize Winner:

Vermilion Harvest- Playtime at the Bagh

By Reenita Malhotra Hora

The CIBAs provide a ladder to success with a range of achievement tiers and expert long tail marketing strategies. From the anticipated Long List to the prestigious Overall Grand Prize Winner, the CIBA lists energize both authors and readers, maximizing your digital footprint and expanding your fan base.

We are always eager to support the Best Books through the CIBAs. Join the ranks of celebrated authors who have already taken this step in their publishing.

Your book deserves to be discovered, celebrated, and shared with the world. Don’t miss the chance to showcase your talent and gain valuable exposure at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (April 17-19, 2025) where Winners from all 28 Book Award Divisions will be announced and honored.

In a world hungry for good books, your story deserves to be heard. Submit now and leave a lasting impression.

Let’s celebrate exceptional storytelling together!

Your book deserves to be discovered

Enter Today!
October 21, 2025
The 2025 Clue Short List for Thriller/Suspense
The Clue Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Suspense and Thriller Mysteries. The Clue Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is seeking the best books featuring suspense, thrilling adventure, detective work, private eye, police procedural, and crime-solving, we will put them to the test to discover the best! (For lighter-hearted Mystery and Classic Cozy Mysteries please check out our Mystery & Mayhem Awards, and for High Stakes Suspense Novels please check out our Global Thriller Awards).

These titles have moved forward from the 2025 CLUE Long List to the 2025 Clue Book Awards SHORT LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 Clue Semi-Finalists. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2026 in beautiful Bellingham, WA sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2025 Clue Book Awards novel competition for Suspense and Thriller!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!
- A.J. Mccarthy – The Boy on the Dock
- Aja Holland – Casco Bay
- Ana Manwaring – Kickback
- Arthur Coburn – Murder in Concrete
- Ashley Thomas Sheikh – Kentucky Blood: Book I of the Kentucky Blood Series
- Avanti Centrae – The Picasso Job: A Phoenix Thriller
- Becky Anyanwu – Mind the Blinds
- Brian Cuban – The Body Brokers
- Carlo J. Emanuele – The Sins We Inherit
- Cathi Stoler – No Good Time: A Nick Donahue Adventure
- Charlotte Stuart – Unicorns Can Be Deadly a Discount Detective Mystery 5
- Cheryl Campbell – Bodies in the Bayou
- Chris Chan – Well-Behaved Children Seldom Make History
- Dan Ramm – Long Branch: Never Let the Truth Stand in the Way of a Good Story
- Danielle M. Wong – Tiny Wild Things
- David Tenenbaum – Premonition
- Dwight Holing – The Thunder Head
- E. Alan Fleischauer – The Dark and Evil Sky
- Ellis K. Popa – Awaken the Dawn
- Francesco Paola – Left on Rancho
- Frank J. Edwards – Doctor Witch
- Holly Harrison – Death in the Land of Enchantment
- Jack Luellen – Someone Had to Lie
- Jeannée Sacken – The Women Who Stand Between
- Jl Spears – Daemon Protocol
- Joe Salerno – The Decision
- Julie Lomax – A Pawn’s Game
- Kd Sherrinford – The Whistle of Revenge
- Kevin Hwang – The Regression Strain
- Kit Karson – Savage Malice
- Larry Weindruch and Richard A. Yach – Nicky V: A Chicago Crime Story
- Leslie Liautaud – Butterfly Pinned
- Marian Exall – Loners
- Matthew John Parker – The Lost Last Prophecy
- Melanie Anagnos – Nightswimming: A Jamie Palmieri Mystery
- Michael Wendroff – What Goes Around
- Mike Van Horn – The Ivy Leaguers
- Miriam Verbeek – The Bank
- Nannette Potter – Deception’s Edge
- Otho Eskin – Black Sun Rising
- Paty Jager – Crapshoot
- Paty Jager – Wolverine Instincts
- Paul Levine – Midnight Burning
- Phillip Vega – Death in Utopia
- Sarah P. Blanchard – Grabtown
- Sean Hagerty – Cabal
- Sheila Sharpe – Artist, Lover, Forger, Thief
- Stephen G. Eoannou – After Pearl
- Stephen J Wallace – Hazardous Lies
- Susan Rogers and John Roosen – Warrior Pose
- T.O. Paine – The Crisis
- Tamar Anolic – This Side of the Law
- Theresa Janson – Reservations: A Samantha Wright Crime Series
- TJ Stecker – Redacted
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE.

We will also be promoting this list in our Newsletter, which you can sign up for here!

Congratulations once more to the 2024 Clue Grand Prize Winner

Enemies Domestic

By John DeDakis

Click here to see the full list of 2024 Clue Book Award Winners for Suspense and Thriller Mysteries.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2026 Clue Book Awards for Suspense and Thriller Mysteries.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2025 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 17 – 19, 2026! Save the Date for Registration!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our annual conference and discover why!
October 20, 2025
OF WHITE ASHES by Constance Hays Matsumoto and Kent Matsumoto – WWII Historical Fiction, Asian American Literature, Romance

When the world is upended by war, the important pieces of your life fall around you, victims of a swirling wind. This is the story of Of White Ashes by Constance Hays Matsumoto & Kent Matsumoto.

Just as radioactive ashes smothered Hiroshima after the United States dropped its first atomic bomb on Japan in August 1945, the unimaginable effects of war press down on Ruby and Koji, two kids on opposite sides of the Pacific.

Ashes caught in swirling wind become a metaphor for the romantic story of these two children. Their mirrored journeys reveal layers of their identities they never knew existed, while the demands of their warring countries reshape their lives.

Grounded in historical accuracy and part love story, Of White Ashes begins in 1939 with Ruby and Koji both living happily, Ruby in a beachfront Hawaiian town and Koji on his family’s farm near Hiroshima. Both will have their carefree childhoods taken from them after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

Ruby and Koji share Japanese heritage and American citizenship, but far divergent attitudes to both.

Ruby is an all-American girl, only vaguely aware of her heritage, largely from Japanese-American community. Koji, in contrast, only finds out about his American citizenship when he discovers his parents’ secret history of living several years in the U.S. All the while, Japan, the country he calls home, plunges headlong into the war.

Ruby is ripped from her peaceful life, first by her mother’s sudden death and her father’s quick remarriage, then by forced incarceration due to the United States’ Executive Order 9066.

Made a prisoner because of her race, Ruby grows embittered about her government’s willingness to persecute rather than protect all U.S. citizens because of its entrenched racism. Her fight is both philosophical and personal, and becomes more extreme when she is told by her father that she must emigrate with him back to Japan after the war. As a child she is powerless to make her own decisions.

Koji, on the other hand, is curious and fascinated about his American heritage even though he must act like the standard-issue, politically faithful child expected by Japanese government and society.

He sees his government’s harsh demands for people to scrimp for the war effort, taking every scrap of metal in their households for weaponry, and forcing children to leave school to make rifles in factories. Once the war ends, he manages to immigrate to the U.S. where he learns to speak English, goes to college, and even volunteers to serve in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Despite the horrors of World War II, and his early life in Japan, he emerges as a proud U.S. citizen.

Constance Hays Matsumoto and Kent Matsumoto’s Of White Ashes develops a beautifully complex love story through Ruby and Koji dealing with their deeply held differences.

Their diametrically opposed philosophical stances cause years of heartache and stress after they meet and fall for one another. There is no easy path to pave over their conflicts no matter how many years have passed. However, as they couple, uncouple, and finally find a lasting path together, their story becomes a warm, relatable search for the goodness deep within themselves and each other that makes being together possible.

Of White Ashes by Constance Hays Matsumoto and Kent Matsumoto won Grand Prize in the 2024 CIBA Hemingway Awards for 20th Century Wartime Fiction.

October 20, 2025
The 2025 Somerset Hall of Fame for Literary & Contemporary Fiction

Contemporary tales of literary proportions?

Submit to the Somerset Awards by October 31st!

***Submit Your Novel Today!***

Are the pages of your book full of rich literary themes, captivating contemporary narratives, a touch of magical realism, or heartfelt explorations of family dynamics? If so, it’s time to put your work to the test by submitting it to the Somerset Awards! These awards seek to celebrate and honor books that shine with literary brilliance, offering a platform for those that delve into the complexities of human existence through the written word. Whether your work weaves enchanting tales of magical realism, delves into the intricacies of modern life, or delves deep into the bonds that tie families together, the Somerset Awards is your chance to gain recognition and acclaim for your extraordinary storytelling.

For Humorous, Satirical, or Allegorical works, we suggest that you consider the Humor and Satire Book Awards division of the CIBAs.

Let’s take a look at the Grand Prize Winners of the Somerset Awards!

Vermilion Harvest: Playtime at the Bagh
By Reenita M. Hora

Chanticleers 2024 Overall Grand Prize Winner and a Chatelaine First Place Winner!

Reenita M. Hora’s Vermilion Harvest weaves love and liberation into literary gold.

“Why do love and freedom have such a complicated relationship?” This haunting question pulses through every page of Vermilion Harvest, Hora’s breathtaking debut that creates, in one of history’s darkest moments, a luminous testament to the power of love in transcending boundaries.

A star-crossed romance sparks against the backdrop of empire.

Set in 1919 Amritsar, Vermilion Harvest introduces readers to Aruna Duggal, a nineteen-year-old Anglo-Indian schoolteacher caught between worlds—too brown for British acceptance, too white for Indian belonging. Born from violence, raised in the shadows between communities, Aruna navigates life’s margins until she meets Ayaz Peermohammed, a passionate Muslim law student from Lahore. Ayaz’s dreams of Indian independence ignite something revolutionary within Aruna’s heart.

Read More Here

You Can’t Fool A Mermaid
By Judy Keeslar Santamaria

You Can’t Fool a Mermaid by Judy Keeslar Santamaria is a glorious dance of well-intentioned ghosts. In the words of Violet, a twenty-one-year-old pianist, it’s “bewitching as hell.”

Santamaria opens with a tiny mermaid bodysurfing through the gutters of Seattle. College student and pianist Violet Bacon chalks up “gutter-mini-mermaid” to her wildly imaginative mind, but when she stumbles upon a magical theater-turned-piano-rescue with a retinue of shopkeeping cats, the separation between imagination and reality no longer seems as important as discovering her true self.

Violet has been living a lie: keeping up the pretense that she’s dating a woman to make her father angry. She reluctantly goes along with what other people want and pretends she doesn’t desperately need a cat. As she practices a complex Stravinsky concerto, her abiding love for music is all that sustains her.

But Hector Kouris, the proprietor of the theater-turned-rescue, reintroduces Violet to her childhood piano, Bossy.

Read More Here

Everything That Was
By Conon Parks, Chris Sempek, Mike MacNeil and Larry Knight

Everything That Was echoes myriad broken emotions born of the world in turmoil after 9/11, intricate and politically bold, and as disturbing in its brutal humanity as it is satisfying with witty jests.

The 9/11 terrorist attack has shattered the psyche of the American people. A volcanic eruption of questions demands the whys and hows of the attack. From this anger, a massive war on terror begins. This historical fiction reflects the chaos of 9/11 and its ensuing global chaos – resulting in a series of violent endeavors and events. Throughout Everything That Was, one can find a swarm of fragmented ideologies, mini memoirs of war veterans, and witness accounts – all screeching reasons for the attack, the ensuing war, and its consequences: political, ideological, and theological.

Read More Here

Lies In Bone
By Natalie Symons

From the first paragraph of Lies in Bone, Natalie Symons’ debut novel delves into human darkness.

Lies in Bone, set in a factory town in 1986 Pennsylvania after its industrial boom faded, is told from the point of view of a girl who struggles with more than usual teenage angst. Symons relentlessly reveals the fear, ignorance, and poverty which often suffuse a community left behind.

The residents of Slippery Elm, Pennsylvania, were bewildered and ill-equipped to deal with their new reality when the steel mill shut down seven years before, leaving many unemployed and discouraged.

Frances Coolidge, known as Frank, knows the struggle of being left behind.

Read More Here

A Season in Lights
By Gregory Erich Phillips

Gregory Erich Phillips’ A Season in Lights is a well-crafted, engaging exploration of creatives, each following their heart and trying to reach their dream.

Against backdrops of the 1980s AIDS crisis and the more recent COVID-19 pandemic, the story entwines the lives of a 30-something dancer and an older musician as they strive to make their artistic mark in the cultural capital of New York City.

Here in a two-fold unveiling, the story comes to life from the first-person perspective of Cammie, a starry-eyed aspiring dancer from Lancaster, PA, and the third-person reveal of Tom, a more seasoned black pianist. He longs for a classical career but is too often labeled a jazz musician. Cammie first encounters Tom in a studio dance class where he’s taken a job as the musical accompanist. Befriended by the gay dance instructor, Tom heeds the worldly advice offered about surviving in the Big Apple. “All you’ve got to do is convince people that you belong. You’ve got to tell them who you are before they tell you.”

Read More Here

Now that you’re set on your next reads, what are you waiting for? The only way to join this amazing list of Somerset Winners is to submit today!

Those who submit and advance will have the chance to win the Overall Grand Prize of the CIBAs and $1000!

Submit to the CIBAs Today!

Now is your chance to touch the hearts of readers everywhere. Your Contemporary story deserves to be discovered, and you can submit to the 2025 Somerset Awards by the end of the October. Don’t miss this chance to give your book the recognition it deserves.

The Somerset Awards is your chance to shine!

October 17, 2025