Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: Elaine Douglas

  • An Editorial Review of “The Hourglass” by Sharon Struth

    An Editorial Review of “The Hourglass” by Sharon Struth

    This debut novel could be said to be a story within a story: the male protagonist, CJ Morrison, is a best-selling author who pens a dark thriller called The Hourglass shortly after his wife’s death in a car accident that leaves CJ guilt-ridden, for reasons that are unclear. CJ hires Brenda McAllister, a relationship and sex counselor and self-help author as a consultant for his manuscript on the advice of his publisher, to help him move forward with the main character. The two instantly share a mutual, and in CJ’s case unwanted, attraction. The author, Sharon Struth,  has a knack for creating a palpable attraction between the two.

    When Brenda evaluates CJ’s other bestsellers, she realizes that the fictional character in CJ’s new story may reflect his personal demons. Brenda has her own baggage as well, not least of which is the recent death of her husband of 25 years, whose suicide is viewed by nearly everyone as proof that he was guilty of fraud at the Stamford, CT office of Global Business Systems. Brenda doesn’t believe it, but worries that the almost-violation of her marriage vows with her late husband’s best friend and colleague, Luc, might be why her husband took his own life.

    The main characters each possess a set of all-too-human flaws as well as other romantic interests which complicate their reactions to the attraction each feels during their work sessions, but each of them must conquer their personal demons before they can act on said attraction.

    Their repartee at each subsequent meeting is well-written and accurately reflects each of their conflicting push-pull emotions. These characters are in the midpoint of their lives, but how they react to each other, along with their respective sexual tension reads well without requiring that the author haul us into a bedroom with the characters. The motivation that keeps these characters working with each other is skillfully woven around Brenda’s need to clear her husband’s name even as Luc seeks to “help” her. Struth deftly adds some twists and turns to this contemporary romance as she ramps up the intrigue and the chemistry as Brenda discovers that her late husband’s work may not have been what she was led to believe.

    Struth has added touches of humor and quick-witted dialogue that makes for an entertaining read, while she presents very real-life situations and human frailties within this well written story.  The Hourglass will leave you thinking about it long after reading the last page. Throughout this suspenseful romance, the author provides clues that, by themselves, are easily missed, but which, when added together, resemble the gathering sands in an hourglass. We look forward to reading more of Sharon Struth’s contemporary women’s fiction.

    The Hourglass by Sharon Struth is a Chatelaine First in Category award winner for Romantic Women’s Fiction.

     

  • An Editorial Review of “The Grave Blogger” by Donna Fontenot

    An Editorial Review of “The Grave Blogger” by Donna Fontenot

    The Grave Blogger is a murder mystery that is not for the faint-hearted. The horrors of the torturings and killings detailed within its pages are definitely not for those who prefer their mysteries to be the cozy kind. This story, complete with a psychotic psychiatrist, takes place in the Deep South where a special kind of macabre is required to send chills up your spine.

    The main character, Raya, is a true crime blogger who begins having flashbacks of a gruesome massacre–one that she witnessed as a young child while she remained, she now hopes and prays, hidden out of sight of the killer. The human monster who committed the revolting crimes twenty years ago in this small, seemingly idyllic, bayou town was never caught.

    Enter the attractive Nick Simoneaux, a detective, who agrees to talk with Raya about the case. He harbors fears that his own father might have been involved as they begin to interview townspeople who were around when the first murders were perpetrated. It has been suspected that the killer was one of the town’s own. No one is above suspicion.

    Fontenot’s style allows the reader to see through the eyes of the main characters, which is especially chilling from the killer’s perspective. Readers’ hearts will be racing as the story twists and turns and the suspense rapidly intensifies in this creepy “OMG-this could really happen” page-turner. Prepare to devour this fast-paced thriller in one sitting with the lights on and the doors locked.

    The Grave Blogger was awarded 1st Place in the Murder/Suspense Category of the INDIE Awards, a division on the Chanticleer Blue Ribbon Awards 2013. Fontenot’s first novel, The Grave Blogger, was selected for showcasing a new style in fiction writing for fans of modern crime stories.

  • “Dirty Laundry” by Liz Osborne

    “Dirty Laundry” by Liz Osborne

    Nothing seems to go right on Friday the thirteenth for Robyn Kelly, Patient Relations manager at Madrona Bay Hospital, when she collects professional and personal crises like a movie star collects fans.

    First, she is confronted by an injured homeless man who wanders into her office. Then nurses and a food service worker complain about a flasher patient, who turns up dead—murdered—when Robyn goes to his room to speak with him. On the personal front, her friend, Detective Pierce, injures his back hauling gardening supplies for her. And then her son announces he’s going to Africa as a volunteer for a company Robyn has never heard of. Next her father, who considers himself invincible, has to be convinced to come to the hospital to be evaluated after he collapses at his ranch.

    When Detective Pierce, now trussed up in traction, asks Robyn to quietly look into the details surrounding the murder of the patient, she begins to unearth unexpected issues related to the hospital. But, how can she investigate and get all her work done when the new hospital administrator insists Robyn take over for him in writing reports, presenting same, and participating in numerous meetings long on time-wasting? Meanwhile, situations on all fronts begin to escalate.

    Robyn begins to suspect someone in the hospital has to be involved. Is it the unpleasant contract nurse whose behavior at Madrona Bay and other hospitals is less than stellar? A hospital staffer who has it in for Robyn? The homeless man whose hospital room begins to look more like a pleasant hotel suite each day that he remains there?

    Can Robyn, with the help of Detective Pierce, still unable to walk, solve the case before his boss intends to charge her with the murder? Mystery buffs will thoroughly enjoy trying to identify the clues Robyn will need to put together before she gets herself killed by the real perpetrator.

    Dirty Laundry by Liz Osborne was awarded the First Place Blue Ribbon for Cozy Mysteries in the Chanticleer Book Reviews Writing Competition 2012. This is the second novel in the Robyn Kelly Mystery series. Cozy mystery fans will find Robyn Kelly an engaging amateur sleuth fighting crime, and sometimes fighting for her life, in a deadly arena —the hospital where she works. Readers will never look at hospitals in the same way again after reading this well-researched classic cozy mystery novel.

  • “The Gentleman Poet: A Novel of Love, Danger, and Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest'” by Kathryn Johnson

    “The Gentleman Poet: A Novel of Love, Danger, and Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’” by Kathryn Johnson

    Historical romances have never been my favorite genre, but I’m now rethinking my previous hesitations to indulge in such stories after reading the entertaining and dramatic tale of The Gentleman Poet.

    In keeping with the seventeenth century recipes found in this book, the author mixes one maidservant heroine, Elizabeth, with a ship’s cook, Thomas, who really doesn’t know his herbs or spices, a mystery man whose first name is Will, his last name beginning with S (but, is he really Shakespeare?) and tosses them with another hundred-plus souls onto the good ship Sea Venture. Their destination? The Virginia colony in New Britannia. But a storm—we’ll call it a tempest—sends them off course and onto a chain of uninhabited islands, perhaps the Bermudas.

    Elizabeth knows how to cook and spices up her concoctions with local herbs, nuts, mushrooms, and the like, to the delight of the ship’s captain. Friend Will encourages her growing relationship with Thomas, the cook, to protect her from the more unruly sailors. Thomas’ courtship of the reluctant Elizabeth, who now prefers to be called Miranda, is described in language that felt delightfully Elizabethan to me.

    But their much-delayed arrival in Virginia threatens their relationship and is presaged by Miranda’s headaches. When tragedy strikes, our heroine experiences a true emotional tempest that carries the reader through to the end of the tale. In The Gentleman Poet, Kathryn Johnson poses an intriguing question: Did Shakespeare personally experience a shipwreck before he wrote The Tempest?

    For those who have not ventured into Shakespeare’s works, The Gentleman Poet, in this reviewers opinion, would make for a wonderful introduction to his literary feast. But whether or not you have or haven’t partaken, this delightful and clever tale is enjoyable in its own right.