Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: cozy mystery

  • The Mystery & Mayhem Awards 2014 – Official Finalists List

    The Mystery & Mayhem Awards 2014 – Official Finalists List

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     The M&M Awards recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of  Cozy Mysteries and Classic Mysteries. The M&M Awards is a division of Chanticleer International Blue Ribbon Awards Writing Competitions.

    More than $25,000.00 dollars worth of cash and prizes will be awarded to Chanticleer Book Reviews 2014 writing competition winners!

    The M&M Awards FIRST IN CATEGORY sub-genres  are:  Amateur Sleuth, Romance, Animals, Cooking/Knitting/Hobbies, Blended Genre, Medical/Lab, Travel, Humorous, Historical, Classic British, Y/A, and Senior Sleuth.

    The following titles will compete for the FIRST IN CATEGORY Positions and Awards Packages.

    The Finalists Authors and Titles of Works that have made in through the first three rounds of the M&M 2014 Novel Competitions are:

    Danger Comes Home by Judy Alter

    No Place Like Rome by Julie Moffett

    Mrs. Kaplan and the Matzoh Ball of Death by Mark Reutlinger

    Civil Blood by Linda Triegel

    Grand Theft Death by  Ann Philipp

    Sex, Lies, and Snickerdoodles by Wendy Delaney

    The Deep End by Julie Mulhern

    Peete and Repeat by Karen Musser Nortman

    The Only Clue by Pamela Beason

    Sati and the Rider by Winslow Eliot

    Behind the Walls by Elaine L.Orr

    Find Me Again by Janet K. Shawgo

    Murder on the Bermuda Queen by Cheryl Peyton

    The Ghost of Laurie Floyd by Courtney Mroch

    Tax Cut by Michele Lynn Seigfried

    Kauai Temptations by Terry Ambrose

    The Wham Curse by Virgil Alexander

    Contempt of Court by Ken Malovos

    Her Father’s Daughter by Kate Vale

    Who Killed Tom Jones by Gale Martin

    Sydney West by R. McKinsey

    Parchman Redeemer by Michael H. Thompson

    Ladd Springs by Dianne Venetta

    The Green Remains by Marni Graff

    Killed Milk by Stephen Kaminski

    Dead Silent by Amy Beth Arkawy

    Summerville by JoHannah Reardon

    The M&M Finalists will compete for the M&M First In Category Positions, which consists of Four Judging Rounds.  First Place Category Award winners will automatically be entered into the M&M GRAND PRIZE AWARD competition. The CBR Grand Prize Genre Winners will compete for the $1,000 purse.   

    • All First In Category Award Winners will receive high visibility along with special badges to wear during the Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Gala.
    • First In Category winners will compete for the M&M Awards Grand Prize Award for the $250 purse and the M&M  Grand Prize Ribbon and badges.
    • TEN genre Grand Prize winning titles will compete for the $1,000 purse for CBR Best Book and Overall Grand Prize.
    • A coveted Chanticleer Book Review valued at $325 dollars U.S. CBR reviews will be published in the Chanticleer Reviews magazine in chronological order.
    • A CBR Blue Ribbon to use in promotion at book signings and book festivals
    • Digital award stickers for on-line promotion
    • Adhesive book stickers
    • Shelf-talkers and other promotional items
    • Promotion in print and on-line media
    • Review of book distributed to on-line sites and printed media publications
    • Review, cover art, and author synopsis listed in CBR’s newsletter
    • Award winning books may be eligible to be included in the  Chanticleer Collections (which sell and promote the winning titles) in North America through Promontory Distribution. The Chanticleer Collection is represented toIndependent Book Stores and major bookseller chains such as Barnes & Noble and Books A Million through an exclusive agreement with Promontory Distribution for our vetted Chanticleer Collection. Participating in the Chanticleer Collections is not required.
    • The Chanticleer Collection is our way of helping new Indie authors find North American distribution for their titles, but is in no way mandatory. Self-published and Indie published authors in our pilot program have found the CC to be extremely beneficial in increasing sales and readership.

    As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, concerns, or suggestions at Info@ChantiReviews.com. We promise to reply. 

    • Default First in Category winners will not be declared. Contests are based on merit and writing craft in all of the Chanticleer Writing Competitions.

    Congratulations to the Finalists in this fiercely competitive contest! 

    Good Luck to all of the M&M Finalists as they compete for the coveted First In CATEGORY positions for the 2014 M&Ms.

    First In Category announcements will be made in March 2014. Results will be announced in social media as they come in.

    The M&M Grand Prize Winner will be announced at the September 29th Chanticleer Annual Awards Gala, which takes place on the last evening of the Chanticleer Authors Conference.

    We are now accepting submissions into the 2015 M&M Awards writing competition. The deadline for submissions is March 30th, 2015. Please click here for more information. 

     

  • An Editorial Review of “An Ex to Grind in Deadwood” by Ann Charles

    An Editorial Review of “An Ex to Grind in Deadwood” by Ann Charles

    The Deadwood Mysteries by Ann Charles is a wickedly funny paranormal mystery romance series that takes place in its namesake city in South Dakota.

    Meet Violet “Spooky” Parker, a sassy single-mom real estate agent who is earning a reputation for selling haunted houses and finding dead bodies. And, now her agency’s boss is advertising that “she’ll show you a magic place that you’ll love…” on an interstate billboard. He also has her lined up to appear in a reality TV show featuring ghosts.

    But, Vi has more than her reputation to worry about when she gets a unsettling call from a mysterious women insisting that they meet immediately. When she and her sidekick Harvey arrive at the appointed place, all they find are ticking clocks, a shrunken head, and yet another dead body.

    Vi swears not to get involved especially after she is warned to keep out of the way by the police detectives on the case. She especially swears off the case when her ex decides to make a reappearance in her life. However, when she finds evidence that links her young son to the victim, all bets are off now that her child maybe in mortal danger.

    The Deadwood Mysteries offer a welcomed new twist for cozy mystery lovers! Fresh writing, lovable quirky characters, a good dose of randiness, peculiar situations (I have no idea how Ann Charles comes up with this stuff, but it makes for an entertaining read), and clever surprises at every twist and turn. An Ex to Grind keeps the laughs coming or the suspense building. Get ready for another hilarious and spooky suspenseful read from Ann Charles.

    [Reviewer’s Note: I LOVE the ending.]

  • An Editorial Review of “Double or Nothing” by Meg Mims

    An Editorial Review of “Double or Nothing” by Meg Mims

    Murder, mystery, intrigue, and romance make “Double or Nothing” by Meg Mims a historical Western page turner. The plot twists, engaging characters, and keen writing will keep you in suspense to the very end.

    The mystery is set during the rough and tumble California mining days of 1869. The author, Meg Mims, vividly brings these times to life with her accurate historical research and her clear and striking imagery of bustling towns, dangerous quicksilver mines, and rugged landscapes.

    Lily, our protagonist, is a spirited and headstrong young woman who is recovering from her two-thousand mile cross-country journey by train (that was not anywhere as safe and luxurious as she had previously read about in newspapers).

    She is still in mourning for her beloved father who died a few days before her twentieth birthday. Lily believes he was murdered in cold blood by one of his trusted business associates whom he was a partner with in a California quicksilver mine. Lily is determined to find the murderer and bring him to justice. She heads out immediately after the burial to Sacramento to her guardian uncle, her father’s brother, who also was a partner in the same mine with her father.

    Upon her arrival, Lily’s Uncle Harrison immediately throws her (Lily will inherit her father’s fortune on her 21st birthday) into socializing, attending soirees and hosting his dinner parties.  She quickly finds out he has a hidden agenda; he is intent on marrying her to a business associate in order to further his political ambitions before she comes of age and becomes independent of his guardianship. Harrison has forbidden her from seeing the one she truly desires, “Ace” Jesse Diamond. He is the ruggedly handsome gunslinger who saved her life more than once on her dangerous journey to Sacramento from her Evanston, Illinois home.

    Lily is  introduced to the man her uncle has planned for her to marry—Santiago—at a formal dinner soiree. Sparks and witty repartee fly when Ace enters the room and is seated next to them. He looks just as dashing in his cutaway coat and fancy white shirt as he did on horseback wearing his trail clothes.  His good looks, southern drawl, and disarming smile reaffirm Lily’s feelings for him.

    Ace, as it turns out, is Santiago’s business partner. Uncle Harrison then announces to the room of two hundred guests that Santiago and Lily are engaged to be  married. Ace leaves the dinner party in a huff after spitting out a toast to “the couple.” And the story has just begun.

    Headstrong Lily plans to use a visit to her friends in San Francisco as a way to escape the clutches of her uncle before he forces her into marrying Santiago. The rebellious Lily decides never to return to her uncle. She is also determined to find Ace so she can explain that she had no idea about the engagement and that she would never marry Santiago.

    Lily’s disappearance sets off a chain of events.  In way over her head, Lily’s strength is tested when she realizes just how deep the devious mine owners’ scams go and how connected they are to the politicians. She discovers just how low they will go to obtain and to keep their wealth and power when they frame Ace for a deadly explosion. And Lily is the only one who can prove his innocence.

    “Double or Nothing” by Meg Mims was awarded the Laramie Awards for Western Fiction First Place for Mystery.  An entertaining Western mystery read with just the right amount of romance. It is the second novel in the Lily Granville Western Mysteries series and we look forward to reading more about more of Lily’s adventures. Thank goodness that Meg Mims leaves her readers with the knowledge there is more to come!

     

  • An Editorial Review of “Murder Strikes a Pose” by Tracy Weber

    An Editorial Review of “Murder Strikes a Pose” by Tracy Weber

    In this award winning mystery, yoga instructor Kate Davidson tries her best to live the Zen life, but she often finds herself being challenged with her fluffy hips, her struggling yoga business, and missing her deceased dad, who was a cop. Date-free for nine months, three days and seven hours since her break-up, Kate tries to resist friend Rene’s numerous attempts to set her up with dates.

    Into Kate’s world steps George, a homeless alcoholic with a German shepherd sidekick named Bella who loves to bark. The duo has decided that the entrance to Kate’s yoga studio is the perfect place for them to hang out, which definitely challenges Kate’s savasana.

    An uneasy truce develops between Kate, Bella, and George as she learns more about George’s history and that Bella adores him. She also learns that Bella was stolen, but George corrects her: “Bella wasn’t stolen. She was rescued.”  Bella needs costly medicine, and George has a scheme to get the funds needed for his dearest friend in the world.

    But George is murdered, and the Seattle cops dismiss it as another drug-related street crime. Kate ends up taking care of the sickly, shedding dog that is the size of a small horse. She also finds that having a murder take place within steps of your business is not the best thing to increase clientele. Despite warnings, Kate takes on solving George’s murder. She is also desperate to find Bella a home.

    Kate and Bella become unlikely partners on the murder beat and at home when Kate realizes George’s murderer is hot on her trail and that Bella may know too much. Weber keeps the plot twisting and turning until its climactic conclusion.

    Its fresh writing, social relevance, and suspenseful page-turning plot makes Murder Strikes a Pose a hands-down winner. We look forward to reading more of Kate and Bella’s clever sleuthing adventures in the next novel of Tracy Weber’s Downward Dog Mystery series.

    Murder Strikes a Pose by Tracy Weber was awarded a First Place Category Winner in the Mystery and Mayhem Awards 2013, a division of the Chanticleer Book Reviews writing competitions.

    [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][Reviewer’s Note: Even if you don’t know your downward dog pose from your dolphin plank, we believe that cozy mystery readers will enjoy this engaging first novel in Tracy Weber’s Downward Dog Mystery series.][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

  • An Editorial Review of “Trudy, Madly, Deeply” by Wendy Delaney

    An Editorial Review of “Trudy, Madly, Deeply” by Wendy Delaney

    Witty, fresh, and full of surprises, Trudy, Madly, Deeply, delivers. Wendy Delaney’s debut novel in her Working Stiffs mystery series is a fun and immensely entertaining read with its odd assortment of lovable characters, clever writing, and twists and turns that will keep you turning the pages.

    When Charmaine Digby is cut loose as “excess baggage” from her ex-husband whom she met at culinary school in California, she heads back home to the small town of Port Merritt, a retirement mecca on the waterfront of Washington state.  She finds herself living with her Gram, slinging cheeseburgers at her great-aunt Alice’s diner, and living across the street from a guy who used to pull her pigtails when they were in grade school together.

     Charmaine Digby is also living up to her school moniker of “Chow Mein;” she has been eating her way through her divorce. She is out of work, out of money, and out of shape.

    This wonderfully humorous cozy mystery will have you cracking up at the trouble that “Char” manages to get into when she finally lands a “real job” as a deputy coroner to the Chimacam  County Prosecutor’s office—if she can make it past Day One of her 30-day-trial period.

    She was hired not for her crime fighting abilities (unless that includes her handiness with a rolling pin), but for her special ability – Charmaine is a human lie detector. Apparently only .25 percent of the population has this uncanny ability—these few people are known as “truth wizards.” Really.  And Charmaine, bless her heart, is one, which doesn’t help to make her life any easier. And it is about to get tougher.

    A handsome doctor at the local hospital reports a suspicious death of a patient, Trudy Bergenson, who was a  dear friend of Char’s Aunt Alice. Trudy was supposed to be released to come home on Charmaine’s first day of work–not end up at the county morgue.

    With Aunt Alice’s diner at the eye of the gossip hurricane of Port Merritt, it isn’t long until Char is in hot pursuit of clues to discover if Trudy’s unexpected demise is the most recent in a chain of suspicious deaths at the county hospital.  It seems that childhood neighbor, now all grown-up and sexy, Detective Steve Sixkiller, is not appreciative of Charmaine ‘playing detective.’ Sparks fly—in more ways than one.

    If you enjoyed reading Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, you will love Delaney’s Trudy, Madly, Deeply. I had no idea whodunit until the very end (and I have read hundreds of mysteries). Well done, Ms. Delaney, well done!

    I cannot wait to read the next novel in Delaney’s Working Stiffs mystery series so I can learn more about the goings-on of Chimacam County, its cast of lovable (if not, peculiar) characters, and any new mysterious treats that Ms. Delaney decides to dish out to her awaiting fans, yours truly included.

    Trudy, Madly, Deeply by Wendy Delaney is a Finalist in the M&M Awards 2013 for Mystery & Mayhem Novels, a division of Chanticleer Book Reviews writing competitions.