Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: CLUE Awards

The 2023 CLUE Book Awards Semi-Finalists for Suspense/Thrillers
The Clue Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Suspense and Thriller Mysteries. The Clue Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (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 in the judging rounds from the 2023 Clue Suspense/Thriller Fiction Short List to the 2023 Clue Book Awards SEMI-FINALISTS. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC24).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 20th, 2024 at the Four Points by Sheraton in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the FINALISTS of the 2023 Clue Book Awards novel competition for Thriller/Suspense Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Roxana Arama – Extreme Vetting: A Thriller
- Nancy Adair – The Appearance of Guilt
- Margaret Mizushima – Standing Dead: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery
- Joanne Jaytanie – Retrieving Remy, The Winters Sisters Book 5
- Chuck Morgan – Crime Scene, A Buck Taylor Novel
- Linda Moore – Five Days in Bogotá
- Jonny Thompson – Atlantis
- Kevin G. Chapman – The Other Murder
- T.O. Paine – The Excursion
- Corey Lynn Fayman – Gillespie Field Groove
- Paty Jager – Damning Firefly
- Charlotte Stuart – Forget or Forgive? NEVER
- Jim Nesbitt – The Dead Certain Doubt: An Ed Earl Burch Novel
- Frederick Douglass Reynolds – Saint Bloodbath
- Joshua Cohen – Past Imperfect
- E. Alan Fleischauer – Sherlock and the Tiger
- J. Luke Bennecke – Echo from a Bayou
- Mark James – Friendship Games
- Steven Mayfield – The Penny Mansions
- Dave Lager – Sniper’s Day
- Daniel V. Meier Jr. – Guidance to Death
- Michelle Cox – A Haunting at Linley
- Anne Moose – When You Read This I’ll Be Gone
- Jode Millman – The Empty Kayak
- Alexandrea Weis & Lucas Astor – River of Ashes
- Kamille Roach – Pine Creek
- Justin M. Kiska – Fact & Fiction
- Melissa L. Berger – What Mae Brings: A Novel
- Mike Van Horn – Controlled Flight
- Decima Blake – Hingston: Smoke and Mispers
- Cathi Stoler – With A Twist: A Murder On The Rocks Mystery
- Richard C. Brusca – The Time Travelers
- Kathryn Lane – Missing in Miami
- Leslie Kain – Secrets In The Mirror
- D. R. Berlin – The Third Estate: Secrets of the Manor
- Lisa Towles – The Ridders
- Rita M Boehm – The Price of Revenge
- Philip Derrick – Saigon Spring
- Martha Crites – Danger to Others
- Raymond Paul Johnson – The Raven Society: Conspiracy Ignited
- Nina Romano – Dark Eyes
- Mary Keliikoa – Deceived
- Robert W. Smith – Long Way From Clare
- V. S. Anderson – Three Strides Out: A Horse Show Novel of Suspense
- Howard Berk and Peter Berk – TimeLock
- T.E. Lane – The Cornbread Letters
- Mary Keliikoa – Hidden Pieces
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 FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.

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

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 CLUE Awards is:

Have You Seen Me?

By Alexandrea Weis

See the Full List of 2022 Clue Award Winners here!

The 2023 CLUE Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC24 on April 21, 2024. Save the date for CAC24, scheduled April 18-21, 2024, our 12-year Conference Anniversary!

Submissions for the 2023 CLUE Book Awards are open until the end of September. Enter here!

Don’t delay! Enter today!

Winners will be announced at the 2023 CIBA Awards Ceremony, sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

The Chanticleer Authors Conference

Featuring authors like D.D. Black, Kim Hornsby, book doctor Christine Fairchild, and Mark Berridge, our twelfth annual conference is shaping up to be excellent! You won’t want to miss out on the best tips around the business of being an author!

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 12th annual conference and discover why!
January 29, 2024
The 2023 CLUE Book Awards Short List for Suspense/Thrillers
The Clue Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Suspense and Thriller Mysteries. The Clue Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (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 in the judging rounds from the 2023 Clue Suspense/Thriller Fiction Long List to the 2023 Clue Book Awards SHORT LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2023 Clue Semi-Finalist positions. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC24).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 20th, 2024 at the Four Points by Sheraton in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2023 Clue Book Awards novel competition for Thriller/Suspense Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following Short List authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Roxana Arama – Extreme Vetting: A Thriller
- Nancy Adair – The Appearance of Guilt
- Margaret Mizushima – Standing Dead: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery
- Joanne Jaytanie – Retrieving Remy, The Winters Sisters Book 5
- Jeremy Gluck – Face Value
- Ana Manwaring – Backlash Venom and Vendetta from ‘Nam
- Chuck Morgan – Crime Scene, A Buck Taylor Novel
- Linda Moore – Five Days in Bogotá
- Jonny Thompson – Atlantis
- Kevin G. Chapman – The Other Murder
- T.O. Paine – The Excursion
- Corey Lynn Fayman – Gillespie Field Groove
- Paty Jager – Damning Firefly
- Mary Desch – Tangled Darkness
- Jonny Thompson – Ash and Sun
- Charlotte Stuart – Forget or Forgive? NEVER
- Jim Nesbitt – The Dead Certain Doubt: An Ed Earl Burch Novel
- Frederick Douglass Reynolds – Saint Bloodbath
- Joshua Cohen – Past Imperfect
- Jacqueline Boulden – Her Past Can’t Wait
- E. Alan Fleischauer – Sherlock and the Tiger
- J. Luke Bennecke – Echo from a Bayou
- Mark James – Friendship Games
- Steven Mayfield – The Penny Mansions
- Dave Lager – Sniper’s Day
- Daniel V. Meier Jr. – Guidance to Death
- Michelle Cox – A Haunting at Linley
- Anne Moose – When You Read This I’ll Be Gone
- Jode Millman – The Empty Kayak
- Alexandrea Weis & Lucas Astor – River of Ashes
  Kamille Roach – Pine Creek
- Justin M. Kiska – Fact & Fiction
- Melissa L. Berger – What Mae Brings: A Novel
- Mike Van Horn – Controlled Flight
- Decima Blake – Hingston: Smoke and Mispers
- Cathi Stoler – With A Twist: A Murder On The Rocks Mystery
- Richard C. Brusca – The Time Travelers
- Bill Mesce, Jr – Median Gray
- Kathryn Lane – Missing in Miami
- Leslie Kain – Secrets In The Mirror
- D. R. Berlin – The Third Estate: Secrets of the Manor
- Lisa Towles – The Ridders
- Rita M Boehm – The Price of Revenge
- Philip Derrick – Saigon Spring
- Tejas Desai – The Dance Towards Death
- Martha Crites – Danger to Others
- Raymond Paul Johnson – The Raven Society: Conspiracy Ignited
  Chris Chan – Ghosting My Friend
- Nina Romano – Dark Eyes
- Mary Keliikoa – Deceived
- McKinley Aspen – Praesidium
- Robert W. Smith – Long Way From Clare
- Jason Kapcala – Hungry Town
- V. S. Anderson – Three Strides Out: A Horse Show Novel of Suspense
- Howard Berk and Peter Berk – TimeLock
- T.E. Lane – The Cornbread Letters
- Mary Keliikoa – Hidden Pieces
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 FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.

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

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 CLUE Awards is:

Have You Seen Me?

By Alexandrea Weis

See the Full List of 2022 Clue Award Winners here!

The 2023 CLUE Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC24 on April 21, 2024. Save the date for CAC24, scheduled April 18-21, 2024, our 12-year Conference Anniversary!

Submissions for the 2023 CLUE Book Awards are open until the end of September. Enter here!

Don’t delay! Enter today!

Winners will be announced at the 2023 CIBA Awards Ceremony, sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

The Chanticleer Authors Conference

Featuring authors like D.D. Black, book doctor Christine Fairchild, and Mark Berridge, our twelfth annual conference is shaping up to be excellent! You won’t want to miss out on the best tips around the business of being an author!

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 12th annual conference and discover why!
December 15, 2023
HAVE YOU SEEN ME by Alexandrea Weis – YA Mystery, Serial Killer Thriller, Amateur Sleuths

In Alexandrea Weis’s YA mystery thriller, Have You Seen Me? something is wrong at Louisiana’s Waverly School. Deadly wrong.

This private educational institute for the state’s wealthiest has an unsettling record of young women disappearing. Three, from decades ago, were never found. In the last few years, a girl by the name of Margaret vanished, and now her sister Lindsey has followed suit. Despite numerous investigations, no clues have surfaced. Moreover, the steely head of the school, Sara Probst, uses intimidation and fear to keep the school operating at any cost.

Were these disappearances just high-spirited women who left on their own accord, or was there something more sinister at play? And now, after Lindsey’s disappearance, it seems a serial killer has returned after all these years.

Into this morass steps Aubrey LeRoux, a recent Waverly graduate, hired by Sara to teach history.

The job offer is both temporary and precarious. Sara makes it clear that Aubrey must conduct herself in the precise manner that Sara dictates, using the same unsettling intimidating methods Aubrey experienced as a student.

Aubrey feels the impact of the school’s issues. As a scholarship attendee and a young Black woman, she understands fully the dynamic at Waverly. Harassment was part of her life there, often instigated by Margaret. When Margaret went missing, Aubrey was even briefly interrogated as a possible suspect.

With Lindsey having recently disappeared, Aubrey finds herself experiencing many of the same feelings she had as a student. But now, she’s in a position to deal with it all: Sara, the disappearing women, and now, her students.

What she doesn’t know is that Lindsey had gathered a crew of six misfits, creating a circle of friends who are devastated by her disappearance. They discover Aubrey’s problems with Margaret when they were both students, and so develop a devious plan.

These students will pretend to like Aubrey as a teacher, but meanwhile use every trick at their disposal to prove that Aubrey is connected to the fate of both missing sisters.

They conspire to push Aubrey into helping them become investigators into Lindsey’s disappearance, hoping to force Aubrey into making a misstep, dropping clues as to her knowledge of the disappearances.

Their investigation takes them to parts of the school grounds rarely frequented: founded on a Confederate-era plantation which was itself built upon burial grounds for a Native American tribe. Their unauthorized excursions draw Sara Probst’s wrath on Aubrey but also strengthen Aubrey’s resolve to discover the fate of the missing students.

When it appears their investigation is in full swing, a serial killer begins targeting Lindsey’s student crew, one by one.

Despite Aubrey’s desperate efforts to keep them safe, even with the help of a hunky local sheriff, it’s clear that no one can be fully protected, not when each of them thinks they can solve the mystery of Lindsay’s vanishing on their own. Each of the students is found murdered, with clues that make it clear that this is the work of a serial killer. But who would want them dead? And why?

Have You Seen Me? is a taut, well-written novel, a page-turner with enough plot twists and turns to keep the story moving on multiple fronts. Aubrey’s ethnicity is woven seamlessly into her character and the history that defines her relationship with Waverly. Overall, an immensely enjoyable read.

Have You Seen Me by Alexandrea Weis won Grand Prize in the 2022 CIBA Clue Awards for Suspense and Thriller Mysteries.

December 8, 2023
The 2023 CLUE Book Awards for Suspense/Thrillers – CIBAs Long List
The Clue Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Suspense and Thriller Mysteries. The Clue Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (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 in the judging rounds from all 2023 Clue Suspense/Thriller Fiction entries to the 2023 Clue Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for the 2023 Clue Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalist positions. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC24).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 21st, 2024 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2023 Clue Book Awards novel competition for Thriller/Suspense Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Roxana Arama – Extreme Vetting: A Thriller
- Craig H. Bowlsby – Requiem for a Lotus
- Nancy Adair – The Appearance of Guilt
- Margaret Mizushima – Standing Dead: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery
- Joanne Jaytanie – Retrieving Remy, The Winters Sisters Book 5
- Jeremy Gluck – Face Value
- Ana Manwaring – Backlash Venom and Vendetta from ‘Nam
- Mikky Eagle – Burden of Proof – the Freya Files – A Most Despicable Deed of Arson
- B. C. Howard – SEL
- Chuck Morgan – Crime Scene, A Buck Taylor Novel
- Linda Moore – Five Days in Bogotá
- Kevin G. Chapman – The Other Murder
- T.O. Paine – The Excursion
- Corey Lynn Fayman – Gillespie Field Groove
- Paty Jager – Damning Firefly
- Mary Desch – Tangled Darkness
- Jonny Thompson – Ash and Sun
- Jonny Thompson – Atlantis
- Charlotte Stuart – The Sham Shamus
- Charlotte Stuart – Forget or Forgive? NEVER
- Jim Nesbitt – The Dead Certain Doubt: An Ed Earl Burch Novel
- Caroline Taylor – The Pit Road War
- Frederick Douglass Reynolds – Saint Bloodbath
- Gar Mallinson – Night Moves: The Stroll Murders
- Mark Shaiken – Cram Down
- Joshua Cohen – Past Imperfect
- Jacqueline Boulden – Her Past Can’t Wait
- Ron Roman – Of Ashes and Dust
- E. Alan Fleischauer – Sherlock and the Tiger
- J. Luke Bennecke – Echo from a Bayou
- Mark James – Friendship Games
- George Brown – Who Killed Jerusalem?
- Steven Mayfield – The Penny Mansions
- Dave Lager – Sniper’s Day
- Daniel V. Meier Jr. – Guidance to Death
- Michelle Cox – A Haunting at Linley
- Anne Moose – When You Read This I’ll Be Gone
- Jode Millman – The Empty Kayak
- Alexandrea Weis & Lucas Astor – River of Ashes
  Kamille Roach – Pine Creek
- Justin M. Kiska – Fact & Fiction
- Melissa L. Berger – What Mae Brings: A Novel
- Mike Van Horn – Controlled Flight
- Decima Blake – Hingston: Smoke and Mispers
- Cathi Stoler – With A Twist: A Murder On The Rocks Mystery
- Richard C. Brusca – The Time Travelers
- Bill Mesce, Jr – Median Gray
- Kathryn Lane – Missing in Miami
- Leslie Kain – Secrets In The Mirror
- D. R. Berlin – The Third Estate: Secrets of the Manor
- Lisa Towles – The Ridders
- Rita M Boehm – The Price of Revenge
- Philip Derrick – Saigon Spring
- Tejas Desai – The Dance Towards Death
- Martha Crites – Danger to Others
- Raymond Paul Johnson – The Raven Society: Conspiracy Ignited
  Chris Chan – Ghosting My Friend
- Nina Romano – Dark Eyes
- McKinley Aspen – Praesidium
- Robert W. Smith – Long Way From Clare
- Jason Kapcala – Hungry Town
- V. S. Anderson – Three Strides Out: A Horse Show Novel of Suspense
- Howard Berk and Peter Berk – TimeLock
- T.E. Lane – The Cornbread Letters
- Brigitte Goldstein – Death of a Diva-From Berlin to Broadway
- Mary Keliikoa – Deceived
- Mary Keliikoa – Hidden Pieces
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 FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.

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

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 CLUE Awards is:

Have You Seen Me?

By Alexandrea Weis

The 2023 CLUE Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC24 on April 20, 2024. Save the date for CAC24, scheduled April 18-21, 2024, our 12-year Conference Anniversary!

Submissions for the 2024 CLUE Book Awards are open now. Enter here!

Don’t delay! Enter today!

April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

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 12th annual conference and discover why!
October 16, 2023
Clue 2023 Hall of Fame – Criminally good reads!

Ready to dive into a thrilling adventure?

Find your next page-turning read here!

***Make your Case Known***

You have until September 30th to share your novel with us and enter the 2023 CIBAs!

Suspenseful stories filled with mystery have long held readers captive with their intricate plotting, enigmatic clues, and the tantalizing challenge of solving a puzzle or unraveling a crime. In these tales, protagonists are not just characters; they are the enigmatic detectives, the astute investigators, and the relentless truth-seekers who navigate a labyrinth of secrets, lies, and suspense. It’s a world where protagonists, inspired by the likes of Sherlock Holmes, navigate a web of mysteries, facing danger and moral quandaries with each step. From classic mysteries to contemporary thrillers, this genre captivates readers of all ages, drawing them into a labyrinth of secrets, where the ultimate reward is the satisfaction of solving the puzzle and the exhilaration of the chase.

If you are ready to unveil your next adventure, submit to the Clue Awards!

Lets take a moment to celebrate the Hall of Fame for the Grand Prize Winners of the Clue Awards!

The Vines
By Shelley Nolden

Shelley Nolden’s debut novel, The Vines, embraces multiple genres as it chills, fascinates, and horrifies, from historical and magical realism to fantasy and horror.

Nolden has melded fanaticism, medical anomalies, and the frailties of human behavior together with a historic setting, creating a narrative Kudzu vine that grows rapidly and spares nothing in its path. This particular vine consists of two main branches that intertwine, bridging time and linking parallel realities, one past, one present.

The Gettler men of Long Island, New York have shepherded a secret medical research project for generations, with the exception of Finn, the youngest man in the family.

Read More Here

A Venomous Love
By Chris Karlsen

Detective Rudyard Bloodstone is facing the most bizarre crime spree of his career as a copper on the Victorian streets of London. Someone is using a poisonous Cape cobra as a weapon.

What begins as a simple robbery scheme turns deadly when a wealthy businessman is killed via cobra attack, the crimes go from strange to deadly. Rudyard (Ruddy) and his partner, Archie Holcomb, have few clues and no idea what would cause such a change in the criminal’s behavior.

When the criminal returns to the estate and attacks the victim’s daughter, Ruddy’s suspicions are confirmed.

Read More Here

Salvaging Truth
By Joanne Jaytanie

Famed marine biologist and researcher Claudia Rawlings is presumed dead. When Claudia’s research vessel goes down, her daughter Riley goes on a desperate search to discover what happened, eventually turning to Dagger Eastin, co-owner of Hunters and Seekers a marine salvage business. Dagger soon realize this isn’t a simple search and reclaim mission when someone takes a shot at him during an exploratory dive with Riley.

Former Navy SEALs, Dagger, and his partners Kaleb LaSalle and Stone Garrison are the definitions of relentless, and they quickly become embroiled in the investigation that has caught the attention of some very influential people, all seeking Claudia’s important research. And while Riley learns that her mother has left behind clues to her missing research, the Hunters and Seekers pull out all the stops to help and protect her. The wild scavenger hunt sends Dagger and Riley on a trip to discover the truth, but Russian spies, big oil cronies, and psychopathic hitmen lurk around every corner.

Read More Here

California Son
By Timothy Burgess

California Son, the second installment in the Liam Sol Mystery series by Timothy Burgess, presents another action-packed mystery for protagonist Liam Sol to solve. Honorably discharged after his tour of duty in Vietnam, Liam returns to his primarily Hispanic neighborhood of Baja La Bolsa, a coastal town near LA, California, where trouble finds him.

In his role as a journalist, Liam takes interest in the daily pleas of a Hispanic mother to find her son’s murderer, pleas that the mostly white La Bolsa Police seem to ignore. After an article he writes in hopes of renewing interest in the case appears in La Bolsa Tribune, the mother is found dead in her apartment. No stranger to death or violence, Liam soon finds himself on the personal side of a hunt for the killer of not only the son but also the mother.

Read More Here

The Review of the most recent winner is forthcoming.

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

Are you a Chanticleer Author who has some good news to share? Let us know! We’re always looking for a reason to crow about Chanticleerians! Reach out with your news to info@ChantiReviews.com

September 26, 2023
The 2023 Clue Awards Spotlight | Introducing a New Category to the Suspense/Thriller Division
A New Mystery has joined the Clue Awards

Submit to the Clue Awards by 9/30/23 to enter the CIBAs

The Clue Awards for Suspense/Thriller novels has a new category!

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).

Introducing the True Crime Category

The Clue Awards is delighted to welcome in a Non-Fiction black sheep into its fold with the True Crime / Investigations Category. While it would be tricky to fit this into our general Non-Fiction Awards, we took inspiration from bookstores everywhere that frequently put the True Crime section next to the rest of the excellent mysteries.

Book Riot did a great article on the differences between True Crime and Thrillers, saying

True crime aficionados liked the deep dive into the psychology of it all. Jack El-Hai, a true crime writer who recently published The Lost Brothers, wrote, “I’m only an occasional reader of murder mysteries. Many fictional works about murder are about finding out who did it, and the narrative concludes with that discovery or with catching the perpetrator. I’m more interested in why they did it and the aftermath for everyone affected by the crime.”

The readers they interviewed ranged from only wanting to read one or the other to loving both for different reasons. Do you have any of your own preferences?

Of course, this wouldn’t be a Chanticleer article if we didn’t have some excellent books for you to read!

First and foremost, we are delighted to celebrate the 2022 winners of the Clue Awards!
- Marie Sutro- Dark Obsessions
- Michelle Cox- A Spying Eye
- Jodé Millman- Hooker Avenue
- Kevin G. Chapman- Dead Winner
- Arthur Herbert- The Bones of Amoret
- Brenda Stanley- The Still Small Voice
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 Clue Award is:

Have You Seen Me?

By Alexandrea Weis

It’s time to take your work to the next level.

Take the next step in promoting your books and submit to the Clue Awards today!

Whether Fiction or True Crime, we’re tracking down your book!

You know you want it…

Be Part of the Legacy: Join the Illustrious Roster of Winners

With over $30,000 in rewards and prizes given away every year, what are you waiting for? Submit today!

The Grand Prize Winners of the 2022 Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards!
September 11, 2023
The Ropes Around Research for the Accurate Writer — Chanticleer Toolbox Article by David Beaumier

When you start researching a project? Where do you begin? What should you include?

Doing research for your stories isn’t just for creative Non-Fiction, though we do have 7 Non-Fiction Book Awards ready to discover new books year round. The other categories that we think benefit most from research are the Lab Lit section of our Global Thriller Awards here, hard SciFi as seen in our Cygnus Awards here, and of course our pre-1750s Chaucer Awards here, and post-1750s Goethe Awards here, both in historical fiction.

Speaking of our Chanticleer International Book Awards, remember that the 2023 CIBAs will be announced at our 12th Anniversary Conference on April 18-21, 2024! Seating is limited, so register today!

In this article, we’ll look through different types of research, including interviews, ethnographies, and place-based research. You can learn more from Carol M. Cram’s article here on tapping experts for your book.

1. Interview for Research

This is a simple and reliable option to learn more about the subject at hand. For example, one of our favorite Chanticleerians, Janet Oakley (interviewed here), is no stranger to tracking down people to talk to in order to complete her novels. In writing her book, The Jøssing Affair (read the review here) set in occupied Norway during WWII, Oakley interviewed people who lived through the occupation to better understand what they went through.

In giving an interview, you often want to start out with the easier questions, warming your subject up and giving them a chance to relax into the easy rhythm of responding. This gives you a chance to form a connection with a real person that might even last beyond the interview, and it lets you warm up to more difficult questions.

2. Ethnography for Research

Ethnography refers to observing people from the outside to better understand how they work. If you’re writing a police procedural (as one might for the Clue Awards) and want to capture the atmosphere in a police station, you might ask to sit in one for a while and take notes.

In conducting good ethnographic research, you want to record the day of the week, the time, and a basic standard for how you take notes. If it’s quiet, how do you interpret the quiet and why? Is it the end of the day when people are ready to go off shift or has something bad happened that’s set a pall over the precinct? How do those quiets look different to you?

You’ll record the day of the week and the time because places look different at different times. There’s a Friday feel, even at places that work through the weekend, and any obstetrician will tell you the difference between a normal workday and a full moon.

3. Place-Based Research

This is similar to ethnography except you are going and spending time in the location where your work takes place – whether Non-Fiction or Fiction. You can bet that Janet Oakley also went to Norway to better understand what living there would be like and see what changes have taken place since WWII. Plus, it’s always easier to find people to interview in the country that you’re writing about.

Fantasy writers travel to new lands through portals in trees.

The question to ask here is how does the setting become a character for you in a way that will let your reader believe that the place is real. And remember, just because it is real or what you’re describing really happened a certain way, that doesn’t mean the way you’ve described it is believable to the reader. Having the extra experience of actually lived or visited the place that you’re writing about adds that extra touch of veracity.

4. Research Map

As you embark on your research you can begin your research map. We recommend starting with your central question. Oakley’s question for The Jøssing Affair was “What would it be like to be a couple in occupied Norway?”

From this point she can begins to expand into other interests as she goes through the story. As you start your research map, you might end up finding out that your central question, while great for generating research, might not end up being the focus of the story. Be open, let the ideas take you where they need to go in the story.

5. Find a Second Pair of Eyes

Once you’ve put everything together it’s easy to be so close to your work that you can’t be objective about it in a regular novel, but once you start using research it can fall into many pitfalls. Maybe your historical novel starts to sound too much like a travelogue, or your lab lit begins to like a textbook instead of a thriller. Inviting someone from outside your area of the specialized novel is a great way to find out how your readers will react to your text.

We always recommend a Manuscript Overview that does a deep dive into the general strokes of your book followed by our Editorial Services to move step by step through your book and really make it sing.

No matter where you are in your story, you should be proud of the work you have put in so far! Research is difficult, and we know you’re on your way to great things!

Writer’s Toolbox

Thank you for reading this Chanticleer Writer Toolbox article.

Writer Toolbox Helpful Links:

TAPPING the EXPERTS – Researching for Your Works in Progress by Carol M. Cram

10 QUESTION INTERVIEW WITH MULTI-AWARD WINNING AUTHOR JANET OAKLEY

An Editorial Book Review of The Jøssing Affair by J.L. Oakley

The traditional publishing tool that indie authors can use to propel their writing careers to new levels? https://test.chantireviews.com/2016/05/15/the-seven-must-haves-for-authors-unlocking-the-secrets-of-successful-publishing-series-by-kiffer-brown/

Got a great book?

The 2023 CIBAs are open now!

View all awards and upcoming deadlines here. Over 30,000 in Cash and Prizes are given away annually!

When you’re ready, did you know that Chanticleer offers editorial services? We do and have been doing so since 2011.

Our professional editors are top-notch and are experts in the Chicago Manual of Style. They have and are working for the top publishing houses (TOR, McMillian, Thomas Mercer, Penguin Random House, Simon Schuster, etc.).

If you would like more information, we invite you to email Kiffer or Sharon at KBrown@ChantiReviews.com or SAnderson@ChantiReviews.com for more information, testimonials, and fees.

We work with a small number of exclusive clients who want to collaborate with our team of top-editors on an on-going basis. Contact us today!

Chanticleer Editorial Services also offers writing craft sessions and masterclasses. Sign up to find out where, when, and how sessions being held.

A great way to get started is with our manuscript evaluation service, with more information available here.

And we do editorial consultations for $75. Learn more here.

If you’re confident in your book, consider submitting it for a Editorial Book Review here or to one of our Chanticleer International Awards here.

July 28, 2023
The CLUE 2022 CIBA WINNERS for Suspense/Thriller Mysteries
The Clue Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Suspense and Thriller Mysteries. The Clue Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (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).

1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners were announced at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony by Ted Neill on Saturday, April 29th, 2023 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

This is the OFFICIAL 2022 LIST of the CLUE BOOK AWARDS First Place Category Winners and the CLUE Grand Prize Winner.

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2022 CIBAs.
- Marie Sutro – Dark Obsessions
- Michelle Cox – A Spying Eye
- Jodé Millman – Hooker Avenue
- Alexandrea Weis – Have You Seen Me?
- Kevin G. Chapman – Dead Winner
- Arthur Herbert – The Bones of Amoret
- Brenda Stanley – The Still Small Voice
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 CLUE Awards is:

Have You Seen Me?

By Alexandrea Weis

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

Attn CIBA Winners: More goodies and prizes will be coming your way along with promotion in our magazine, website, and advertisements in Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards long-tail marketing strategy. Welcome to the CIBA Hall of Fame for Award Winners!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, for Facebook to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.

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

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Facebook and Twitter handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in June. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items.

To ALL the WINNERS: You will receive an OFFICIAL EMAIL NOTIFICATION with Digital Badges and more information.

Grand Prize Division Winners will receive a customized digital badge. When we receive it from our graphic artist, we will also post here and in the Grand Prize Division Winners Official Posting.

Thank you for participating in the 2022 CIBAs! We are looking forward to reading your future entries.

Team Chanticleer
May 8, 2023
The 2022 CLUE CIBA Finalists for Suspense/Thrillers
The Clue Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Suspense and Thriller Mysteries. The Clue Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (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 in the judging rounds from all 2022 Clue Suspense/Thriller Fiction Semi-Finalists to the 2022 Clue Book Awards FINALISTS. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC23).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 29th, 2023 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the First Place and Grand Prize Winners of the 2022 Clue Book Awards novel competition for Thriller/Suspense Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following Finalists and their works in the 2022 CIBAs.
- Marie Sutro – Dark Obsessions
- J.J. Clarke – Dared to Dream
- Martin Roy Hill – Upriver
- Elizabeth Crowens – Hollywood Holmes, a Babs Norman Mystery
- Chuck Morgan – Crime Spree, A Buck Taylor Novel
- Kevin G. Chapman – Dead Winner
- Michael Stockham – Confessions of an Accidental Lawyer
- Michael Pronko – Azabu Getaway
- Saralyn Richard – Bad Blood Sisters
- Brenda Stanley – The Still Small Voice
- Bryan Cassiday – Knot of Fear
- Danielle M. Wong – Last Liar Standing
- Michelle Cox – A Spying Eye
- Arthur Herbert – The Bones of Amoret
- Britt Lind – Malevolence – A Hollywood Mystery
- D.V. Chernov – Severed Echoes
- Kenneth Arbogast – Coast Guard Blues
- Paul Attaway – Eli’s Redemption
- Paul Attaway – Blood in the Low Country
- Lisa Towles – Ninety-Five
- Leah Angstman – Falcon in the Dive
- Susan Wingate – When You Leave Me
- Alexandrea Weis – Have You Seen Me?
- Jodé Millman – Hooker Avenue
- Brian Cuban – The Ambulance Chaser
- Chuck Morgan – Crime Exploded, A Buck Taylor Novel
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 FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.

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

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2021 CLUE Awards was:

The Vines

by Shelley Nolden

See the full list of 2021 winners here!

The 2022 CLUE Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC23 on April 29, 2023. Save the date for CAC23, scheduled April 27-30, 2023, our 11-year Conference Anniversary!

Submissions for the 2023 CLUE Book Awards are open until the end of July. Enter here!

Don’t delay! Enter today!

IN-Person – April 27-30, 2023! Register Today!

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 11th annual conference and discover why!
February 20, 2023
The 2022 CLUE Book Awards for Suspense/Thrillers – CIBAs Semi-Finalists
The Clue Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Suspense and Thriller Mysteries. The Clue Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (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 in the judging rounds from all 2022 Clue Suspense/Thriller Fiction Short List to the 2022 Clue Book Awards SEMI-FINALISTS. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC23).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 29th, 2023 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the FINALISTS of the 2022 Clue Book Awards novel competition for Thriller/Suspense Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following Semi-Finalists and their works in the 2022 CIBAs.
- Marie Sutro – Dark Obsessions
- Leah Angstman – Falcon in the Dive
- Kenneth Arbogast – Coast Guard Blues
- D.V. Chernov – Severed Echoes
- J.J. Clarke – Dared to Dream
- Martin Roy Hill – Upriver
- Elizabeth Crowens – Hollywood Holmes, a Babs Norman Mystery
- Chuck Morgan – Crime Spree, A Buck Taylor Novel
- Kevin G. Chapman – Dead Winner
- Michael Stockham – Confessions of an Accidental Lawyer
- Michael Pronko – Azabu Getaway
- Saralyn Richard – Bad Blood Sisters
- Bryan Cassiday – Knot of Fear
- Danielle M. Wong – Last Liar Standing
- Michelle Cox – A Spying Eye
- Arthur Herbert – The Bones of Amoret
- Britt Lind – Malevolence – A Hollywood Mystery
- D.V. Chernov – Severed Echoes
- Kenneth Arbogast – Coast Guard Blues
- Paul Attaway – Eli’s Redemption
- Paul Attaway – Blood in the Low Country
- Susan Wingate – When You Leave Me
- Jodé Millman – Hooker Avenue
- R.U. Randy – Astraphobia
- Brian Cuban – The Ambulance Chaser
- Lisa Towles – Ninety-Five
- Alexandrea Weis – Have You Seen Me?
- John J. Valentino, Chief John J. Mandeville – Old Dark and Dangerous
- Chuck Morgan – Crime Exploded, A Buck Taylor Novel
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 FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.

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

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2021 CLUE Awards was:

The Vines

by Shelley Nolden

See the full list of 2021 winners here!

The 2022 CLUE Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC23 on April 29, 2023. Save the date for CAC23, scheduled April 27-30, 2023, our 11-year Conference Anniversary!

Submissions for the 2023 CLUE Book Awards are open until the end of July. Enter here!

Don’t delay! Enter today!

IN-Person – April 27-30, 2023! Register Today!

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 11th annual conference and discover why!
January 19, 2023