Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Mystery

The 2022 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 2022 Clue Suspense/Thriller Fiction entries to the 2022 Clue Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2022 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 (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 SHORT LIST of the 2022 Clue Book Awards novel competition for Thriller/Suspense Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors 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
- Craig H. Bowlsby – Requiem for a Lotus
- Chris Norbury – Dangerous Straits
- Steve Mullaney – Twisted
- Steve Mullaney – Randomization
- J.J. Clarke – Dared to Dream
- Theresa Griffin Kennedy – Talionic Night in Portland
- Jon Kaledin – Dissonance
- Martin Roy Hill – Upriver
- Kevin Kuhens – Terror’s Sword – A Kyle McEwan Novel
- Elizabeth Crowens – Hollywood Holmes, a Babs Norman Mystery
- J. Luke Bennecke – Waterborne
- Lo Monaco – Suddenly Deadly
- Chuck Morgan – Crime Spree, A Buck Taylor Novel
- Gerard Shirar – The China Paradox
- Jim Gish – Hell Game
- Kevin G. Chapman – Dead Winner
- Jule Selbo – 9 Days, A Dee Rommel Mystery
- Michael Stockham – Confessions of an Accidental Lawyer
- Matt Andrus – T’HUG
- Robert Buschel – God$ Ponzi
- McKinley Aspen – Praesidium
- Merit Clark – Killing Innocence
- Michael Pronko – Azabu Getaway
- Saralyn Richard – Bad Blood Sisters
- Bryan Cassiday – Knot of Fear
- Craig W. Fisher – Baker Street Irregular
- Danielle M. Wong – Last Liar Standing
- Kim Hays – Pesticide
- Miriam Verbeek – The Website
- Michelle Cox – A Spying Eye
- Arthur Herbert – The Bones of Amoret
- Brooke Maddaleni – Next Door
- Britt Lind – Malevolence – A Hollywood Mystery
- Ralph R. “Rick” Steinke – Major Jake Fortina and the Tier One Threat
- D.V. Chernov – Severed Echoes
- AG Flitcher – Boone and Jacque: Cytrus Moonlight
- Kenneth Arbogast – Coast Guard Blues
- Paul Attaway – Eli’s Redemption
- Paul Attaway – Blood in the Low Country
- Justin M. Kiska – Vice & Virtue
- Paul Alexander Sangillo – The Golden Prison
- Susan Wingate – When You Leave Me
- Jodé Millman – Hooker Avenue
- Charlie Robinson – Hybrid Hysteria – A Novel of Corporate Intrigue Both Holy and Diabolical
- R.U. Randy – Astraphobia
- Carolyn M. Bowen – The Death of Me
- Cathi Stoler – Straight Up A Murder On The Rocks Mystery
- 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
- Carl and Jane Bock – Day of the Jaguar
- Chuck Morgan – Crime Exploded, A Buck Taylor Novel
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

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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

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!
November 29, 2022
FRUIT Of The POISONOUS TREE: Spider Green Mystery Thriller Series Book 1 by Norm Harris – Global Thriller, International Mystery, Action Adventure

A string of riddles awaits Military heroes in Fruit of the Poisonous Tree – a mystery that unravels into an adventurous and jarring epic of divergent national issues by Norm Harris.

JAG officer Faydra “Fay” Green opens a new investigation when Marine war hero Simon Lee is charged with the murder of Navy SEAL Paul Charma. Fay tries to demonstrate her worth as an investigator and prove that she is more than just the daughter of a former United States President. As she works her way through this challenging case, she will reveal a shady picture of government and military intrigue.

Despite Fay’s duty restricting her investigation, she can’t leave any inscrutable stone unturned.

Fay, believing Linn to be a victim of circumstance, turns to a clandestine mission to discover the true murderer. Constant roadblocks prove that forces are pushing back against her questioning Simon’s guilt. Among other mysteries, Fay couldn’t get her hands on Charma’s autopsy records and his remains are released by a Navy personnel who does not appear in any records.

On another canvas of the thriller, the sinking of the frigate USS Jonathan Carr in North Korean sea territory shakes the peace between the two countries; one sailor died under questionable circumstances.

In the midst of unraveling the Charma case, Fay becomes embroiled in this other investigation. Several questions loom as she departs for Seoul to examine the “accidental” death of the sailor: what was that ship doing in North Korean waters? And how is this incident related to the escalation of biological warfare between multiple nations? As Fay struggles to make sense of two mind-boggling cases, the question arises: Are these cases somehow connected?

Across the sea, Egan Fetcher, Navy sailor and commander of Nalon Vet, the Navy’s ghost ship, is on sea trials for 28 days, unaware of the storm that awaits him. As Fetcher’s journey intersects with Fay’s, the hazy fate of the ghost ship becomes obvious. They embark on a voyage that will decide the peace of nations on the verge of war, among intrigue, shady politics, and death threats.

Fay is a modern-day heroine.

In her bearing, she displays strength and determination with a powerful independent streak that adds to her knowledge and confidence. Clever, charming, and lovable as well as professional, Fay strikes a personal balance. In advancing the book’s theme, she faces the dystopian elements of today’s world, where power triumphs over truth, and the daunting struggle against it.

Author Norm Harris offers a detailed picture of military personnel’s style and demeanor, reflecting his experience in military service.

This thriller’s tone is as exciting as it is serious. Its plot comprises a casual sequence of behind-the-scenes dark deals under an outwardly tranquil civilization, with complex politics, rackets, and black ops agreements. However, this mixture of mystery, political intrigue, and crime thriller does not obscure the plot’s humorous and romantic undertones. Fruit of the Poisonous Tree features the delicate romance between Petty Officer Pearce and Navy Captain Fletcher, as well as Fay’s delightful and hilarious relationship with her sister, offering refreshing and cheerful moments.

Fruit of the Poisonous Tree is a nail-biting military thriller that will captivate enthusiasts of national conflicts and military operations. Its intricate plot resembles George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four in its themes of control of information and diabolic misuse of technology.

November 21, 2022
Get Lit for Spooky Season! The Latest Halloween Reads from Chanticleer

Don’t be Scared of the Dark

Some say Yorick’s skull still rests on his TBR

Unless you need to be…

Fear often tells us where to use caution, to play it safe, and how to know what’s best. Our favorite way to get a scare is from the books we love to read.

What are the Spookiest Genres?

Knock knock…it’s the villain from the last book you read

Well, there can be plenty of honest debate on the subject. For us, we often find the Paranormal, Suspense, and High Stakes Thrillers are the creepiest stories.

And we can’t forget Southern Gothic—shudders and chills even in a hothouse environment! More on that tomorrow on All Hallows Eve!

Leading the pack is the modern masterpiece Dracul by J.D. Barker and Dacre Stoker featuring vampires including Dracul himself. Dracul is everything horror can and should be. It doesn’t rely on gore, but rather captivating storytelling; and yet, the terror and intrigue are unrelenting.

Of course, we’ve said before that the reasons we like to be scared range anywhere from wanting that rush of dopamine that fright can offer, to better understanding the terrors of modern-day society. What better way to do that than reading some hair-raising literature?

Recommended Reads to Scare you and Make you Think from Chanticleer!

Starting off strong, we have In the Underwood by Kourtney Spadoni.

First Place Winner of the Shorts Awards, the art in this is reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, but the focus is much more on depression and anxiety, two of the most difficult things for us to confront in the world.

In the Underwood by Kourtney Spadoni is a memoir in graphic novel form, a thoughtful and gentle story about a young girl struggling with mental health issues, and learning how to keep them at bay as she grows up.

What if Alice’s adventures in the strange and fabulous Wonderland were the result of a mental health crisis instead of a story? In the Underwood draws metaphors inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and evokes the mood of Robert Frost’s classic poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.”

Author Spadoni relates with a simple narrative and delicate art style how as a child she was prone to severe bouts of anxiety, leading to her crying uncontrollably in her classes and avoiding other children in social situations. Now that can be scary!

Next, we have The Insane God by Jay Hartlove.

A current Short Lister for the 2022 Cygnus Awards, Hartlove’s tale follows a trans woman’s experience fighting the eldritch beings of H.P. Lovecraft. The cover makes it clear! This book will give you the tingles! A great book for social commentary.

Sarah, a transgender schizophrenic teenager, has spent the past seven years in a psychiatric ward. When all her symptoms of schizophrenia disappear after receiving a special necklace from a nurse, she must learn to live in a world that moved on without her, in The Insane God by Jay Hartlove.

She receives strange visions of two opposing gods in battle with each other, which Sarah and her brother Nate work together to understand. The reality of these visions threatens to endanger the lives of everyone on Earth unless they change the course of an eternal battle.

The Insane God touches on topics such as mental illness, mental health, gender identity, and racism.

A little closer to home, we have Past This Point by Nicole Mabry

This Global Thriller First Place Winner was actually written before the COVID-19 pandemic, with eerie echoes into the future of a pandemic apocalypse that focuses on one woman’s mission to reunite with her family.

Nicole Mabry draws from her own life, the impact of a deadly snowstorm, and the subsequent shutting down of the subways to create Past This Point, an action-packed dystopian novel featuring a strong woman who seeks a way out of a world gone mad.

Karis Hylen is working in New York City a massive snowstorm shuts down the city. A total quarantine of the city becomes quarantine for half of the nation.

Last, but not least, we have a classic psychological thriller in The Mask of Midnight by Laurie Stevens

This suspenseful novel took home a Clue First Place Win for its intricate story where the killer and detective are already acquainted.

The Mask of Midnight by Laurie Stevens centers on a game of cat and mouse, made sinister and horrifying by the intricate plots of a murderer.

When L.A. Police Detective Gabriel McRay arrests serial killer Victor Archwood, known as the Malibu Canyon Murderer, he has no idea that the killer has some serious vengeful plans directly involving him. Archwood is a most clever, resourceful “mouse” who confounds McRay, the Los Angeles Police department, the L.A. district attorney, and an entire jury through skillful lawyering and a commanding interpretation of the evidence. Despite what appears to be an airtight case against a mass murderer, a jury finds him not guilty.

Got a Spooky Read? Submit to the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards Today!

2022 CIBA DEADLINES FOR OCT 31
OZMA – Fantasy Fiction
Global Thrillers – High Stakes & Lab Lit
Paranormal – Supernatural Fiction

The only thing scarier is not entering!

Chanticleer Editorial Services – when you are ready

Did you know that Chanticleer offers editorial services? We do and have been doing so since 2011.

Tools of the Editing Trade

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. Here are some handy links about this tried and true service: https://test.chantireviews.com/manuscript-reviews/

And we do editorial consultations. for $75. https://test.chantireviews.com/services/Editorial-Services-p85337185

October 30, 2022
TWISTED by Steve Mullaney – Psychological Thriller, Internet Crime, Horror

In Twisted, Steve Mullaney gives readers a tale of fear, cruelty, and perversion, involving those who lurk in the darkest corners of the internet.

Readers are first introduced to Derek, a man who roofies women in order to record his sexual activities with them for profit on the dark web. He runs a complete operation to peddle his illegal media, including ways to cover his identity and launder the money as well as maximize his profits through technical skills and better equipment to up his production quality.

Meanwhile, Ned, a philandering family man, gets an offer to work remotely for three weeks each month away from his family. At his new job, he gives in to temptation and starts a romantic relationship with a woman named Gina. This relationship will lead him to cross paths with Derek, and become entwined in his horrific world.

Mullaney explores themes of depravity and assault, and the consequences of such activities through the eyes of both victims and offenders. Readers walk through the systems of rationalization that even the vilest characters assemble to justify their actions.

Ned, the character who holds the point of view for most of the story, starts as a narcissist who cares for no one but himself. His self-centered ways are put to the test when their consequences fester to the point where he must deal with them whether he wants to or not.

Mullaney does a great job painting a grim picture of how business in the dark web functions, as well as providing believable details of how a man can hide the fact that he has a family and kids in another state while dating single women. At times, the details can feel gratuitous, but they add a strong sense of realism that heightens the horror aspect of this story.

Overall, Twisted will give readers a feeling of grime, leaving them to wonder if and how characters like Ned will pay for their actions.

Anyone looking for a trip along the darker wires of the web will find just that in the pages of Twisted. Mullaney has penned a delightfully ‘twisted’ thriller with serious bite that will drive readers page by page to the end.

October 28, 2022
Spotlight on the October Awards! Don’t be Afraid!
Adventure rises. Will you answer the call?

October is the best month to step out into an adventure. We have three scintillating Programs to Submit to:
- Ozma Awards for Fantasy
- Paranormal Awards for Supernatural Fiction
- Global Thrillers for High Stakes Suspense
This spooky month feels like the best time for stories that inspire us to dream of realities beyond imagining, and threats to the world that leave us white-knuckled and waiting for the conclusion. What better place to find your next reads and submit your work than the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards!

Here are the Awards that are hungrier for your work than a horde of zombies.

Ozma Awards

Fantasy is that special world where anything can happen. We often go beyond Earth for this, looking into swords and sorcery, chosen ones and villains awash with power.

Start out with our 2021 Fantasy Grand Prize Winner A Plague of Flies by Laurel Anne Hill.

Excellent prose & description with an effective mingling of historical and fantasy elements. The tension is gripping and the pace is good.

Follow that up with From Brick and Darkness by J.L. Sullivan, a great YA Urban Fantasy.

A new Teen Favorite, this Urban Fantasy delves down passages of mythology and more when Bax Allen unwittingly unleashes a demon into the world.

And then you can wrap everything up with the 2020 Ozma Grand Prize Winner, Divinity’s Twilight by Christopher Russell.

In the epic space opera a group of cadets must face the bloody past of their world, threatened by age-old conflict, and change the course of empires. Highly recommended!

See the full list of 2021 Ozma Winners for Fantasy Fiction here.

Paranormal Awards

What goes bump in the night and who are the superheroes who face them? The supernatural genre often involves vampires, werewolves, angels, demons, and superheroes. The characters may begin as ordinary, but they soon discover they may be extraordinary or transformed to be more than human.

We would be remiss not to crow about J.W. Zarek’s The Devil Pulls the Strings. Reminiscent of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, this book took home the Overall Grand Prize Awards.

J. W. Zarek weaves magic on the page, developing an epic, urban fantasy – first in series – readers will want to stick with for a long time. Highly recommended.

The Insane God by Jay Hartlove brings back the cosmic horror of H.P. Lovecraft in his mystery led by a trans woman.

Sarah is cured of schizophrenia, only to face a battle with The Insane God. Her story balances humor, social issues like gender identity, and cosmic horror. Recommended!

And, of course, it never hurts to remember Stoker’s Dracula with a book like Suburban Vampire Ragnarok by Franklin Posner that won First Place in the Paranormal Awards.

Scott Campbell must face his divorce, job, and thirst for human blood, while caught in his fellow vampires’ political infighting. Recommended!

See the full list of 2021 Paranormal Winners for Supernatural Fiction here.

Global Thriller Awards

When you write a Global Thriller, you write about global consequences. The stakes are higher than ever before, whether or not this is a meticulously researched disease or a terrorist attack of epic proportions, you’ll want to read each one of these stories in one sitting.

Ron McManus’ The Chameleon won the 2021 Global Thriller Awards

Delightful to read with great development of story and characters. Clearly researched with a healthy dash of personal experience. A story to relish.

Then you have First Place Winner Mission: Angola by the prolific Randall Krzak. Anyone who needs a series would be wise to check this one out.

Xavier Sear is caught between dangerous factions and outnumbered in the first book of a new action-packed, tension-filled thriller series. Highly recommended!

For those who prefer more of an environmental story, check out A Divine Wind by Norman M. Jacobs, another First Place Winner.

See the full list of 2021 Global Thriller Winners for High Stakes Fiction here.

You Can’t Win if you Don’t Submit!

Enter the CIBAs today! Your book deserves to be discovered.
October 19, 2022
THE OUTLAW GILLIS KERG: A Tale of Physics, Lust and Greed by Mike Murphey – Time Travel, Murder Mystery, Sci-fi Thriller

Be careful what you wish for, because it may turn on you in The Outlaw Killis Kerg by Mike Murphey.

It’s midway through the 21^st century, and time travel is spreading. Who doesn’t want to travel back in time to change their present? However, the best plans can often bring dire consequences. When those in the present invent time travel, then people in the future also have the same ability. What might the future impose on the past to change the course of humanity?

Marta Hamilton and Marshall Grissom believe their time-traveling days are soon coming to an end. But while vacationing on their boat, they’re attacked by a group of intruders; they leap into action to defend themselves, and after defeating their attackers they recognize one of them from the time travel office. Someone ordered this attack. The intrigue begins, energizing Marta and Marshall on a journey to overturn the political machinations of a powerful partnership between government and corporate power. Their search leads to the ultimate confrontation against the cult of vengeance and The Outlaw Gillis Kerg.

Despite the high stakes, Marta and Marshall keep their biting sense of humor.

When they discover a federal judge murdered, the clues indicate what they most feared. This murder was committed by an agent from the future, but how do you prove something like that? Marta and Marshall must find a way to do so, and catch the killer.

They are pushed, as a team, to risk their lives for the truth. Even when they realize they’re walking into a trap, they must move forward, with creative precautions. Marta and Marshall are a thrilling pair, diving into the storm, defying the forces against them, including those powerful opponents who sometimes act in unfamiliar, futuristic ways. Their challenging confrontations are an exciting read.

Author Mike Murphey has continued his epic Physics, Lust and Greed series with this fourth book that treats his readers to the same high level of action.

The author’s witty humor is laced throughout the dialogue, with pointed political satire. Readers will cheer for Marta and Marshall from the beginning, and find the other characters, including the US President, unique and entertaining. Some of these other characters may seem outrageous, but each follows their own motives.

Writing about all the past, present, and future actors invading different times could become overwhelming, but Murphey is very clear in his plotting and makes the action easy to follow.

Will Marta and Marshall prove the killer of the judge, come from the future? Can they catch that killer? How will they confront The Outlaw Gillis Kerg?

Mike Murphey’s series Physics, Lust and Greed was a Finalist in the Chanticleer 2021 Series Book Awards.

October 5, 2022
THE INSANE GOD by Jay Hartlove – Cosmic Horror, Paranormal Mystery, LGBT+ Fiction

Sarah, a transgender schizophrenic teenager, has spent the past seven years in a psychiatric ward. When all her symptoms of schizophrenia disappear after receiving a special necklace from a nurse, she must learn to live in a world that moved on without her, in The Insane God by Jay Hartlove.

She receives strange visions of two opposing gods in battle with each other, which Sarah and her brother Nate work together to understand. The reality of these visions threatens to endanger the lives of everyone on Earth unless they change the course of an eternal battle.

The Insane God touches on topics such as mental illness, mental health, gender identity, and racism.

While the author tells a complex story with these subjects, he doesn’t fully address them all to a satisfying degree.

What Hartlove does well with The Insane God is create a surreal horror novel. Sarah and Nate quickly accept their strange new reality, contending with surreal visions of these monster-like gods in a cataclysmic struggle of the cosmos. The Insane God will appeal to readers who like their expectations subverted.

Sarah shows remarkable strength in keeping herself together despite everything she has to endure. Because she is dealing with present and past struggles, her character development suffers within the confines of the story’s length and pace. The chapters that focus on Sarah generate the most interest through strong emotional engagement. Her gift is given by the necklace she wears; Sarah can just take it off and walk away from the conflict, but she chooses to face the gods, hoping that she can make a difference.

The Insane God is fast-paced, driving readers on with an excited curiosity to know what strange thing will happen next.

As the story reaches its climax and Sarah’s dreams are rapidly defying the laws of time and reason, it seems the threat is insurmountable. Will Sarah be able to fulfill her part in the workings of the universe? A strong current of humor balances this horror, even until the end.

Jay Hartlove’s The Insane God is a surreal science fiction journey that struggles at times to find its rhythm, but nevertheless tells an enthralling story like none other. Readers will be left wanting to see Sarah continue to grow, hoping that her story does not end here.

September 23, 2022
Got a Mystery? Get a Clue! Suspense/Thriller Awards open until the end of September!
Fall into a good book with us this September as we walk down the Chanticleer Clue Book Awards Hall of Fame.

It doesn’t take a sleuth to realize the best way to have your work to be discovered is by submitting it to the Clue Book Awards Program!

Just take a look at some of these incredible authors who have won the past Clue Awards!

The 2021 Grand Prize Winner of the Clue Awards was Shelley Nolden for The Vines

Born and raised in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area, Shelley Nolden headed east after matriculating from the University of Minnesota. After living in New York City for five years while working in finance, she and her husband decided they weren’t meant for city life and moved to Ridgewood, New Jersey.

Shelley’s debut novel, The Vines, was released on March 23, 2021. Her obsession with forbidden North Brother Island in New York City’s East River, as well as her personal health history and passion for equality, heavily influenced the creation of this historical fiction thriller.

You can read more about North Brother Island here.

See the full list of 2021 Clue Winners here.

The 2020 Grand Prize Winner of the Clue Awards was Chris Karlsen for A Venomous Love.

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.

Chris Karlsen was born and raised in Chicago. A retired police detective, Karlsen spent twenty-five years in law enforcement with two different agencies. Her desire to write came in my early teens. After retiring, she pursued that dream. She writes three different series: Knights in Time (Paranormal Romance), (Romantic Thriller), and the newest is The Bloodstone Series. Each series has a different setting and some cross time periods.

She currently lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and five wild and crazy rescue dogs.

See the full list of 2020 Clue Winners here.

The 2019 Grand Prize Winner of the Clue Awards was Joanne Jaytanie for Salvaging Truth.

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.

Joanne was born and raised in Sherburne, New York, a quaint village surrounded by dairy farms and rolling hills. From the moment she could read she wanted to explore the world. During her college years, she slowly crept across the country, stopping along the way in Oklahoma, California, and finally Washington State, which she now proudly calls home. She lives with her husband and Dobermans, in their home located on the Olympic Peninsula with a panoramic view of the Olympic Mountains.

Joanne writes romantic suspense, paranormal, mystery-thriller, supernatural suspense, and contemporary romance. She loves to submerge herself in the world of her characters, to live and breathe their lives and marvel at their decisions and predicaments. She enjoys a wide variety of books including paranormal, suspense, thriller, and of course romance.

See the full list of 2019 Clue Winners here.

The 2018 Grand Prize Winner of the Clue Awards was Timothy Burgess for California Son

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.

Growing up in Southern California, Tim Burgess was always fascinated by the 1960s surf culture. Though he was only a child, he could tell this was not a Beach Blanket Bingo world. Beneath the innocent surface of the sun and the sand lurked a dark and dangerous undercurrent. The setting, he realized, would be perfect for a mystery series. The Never-Ending Swell and California Son are the first two books in the Liam Sol Mystery Series.

Tim grew up in West Covina, CA. and graduated from Cal Poly, Pomona–Go Broncos!

See the full list of 2018 Clue Winners here

And the 2017 Grand Prize Winner of the Clue Awards was Kaylin McFarren for Twisted Threads

Interested in a holiday cruise? Surround yourself with luxury, romance, secrets and multiple murders while traveling through the Caribbean with author Kaylin McFarren in her new sexy, action-packed book, Twisted Threads. There is only one assignment for a Japanese crime lord’s favorite assassin: take out a dastardly couple in less than ten days. But can Akira Hamada complete her mission without losing her head and heart during her most steamy and complicated hit thus far?

It isn’t part of the assignment to fall in love with someone close to murder suspects, Sara and Paul Lyons, but then Akira has never been bound by rules. Devon returns Akira’s feelings with all his being. However, there are notorious secrets between them, and now this surging romance is putting his life at risk as well. With no avenue for escape, multiple disappearances and murders increase the onboard tension. And that’s not all. Descriptions of the steamy scenes behind closed doors are beyond intense, with exhilarating adult situations and language.

Kaylin McFarren has received more than 60 national literary awards, in addition to a prestigious Golden Heart Award nomination for Flaherty’s Crossing – a book she and her oldest daughter, New York Times/USA Today best-selling author Kristina McMorris, co-wrote in 2008. Prior to embarking on her writing journey and developing the popular Threads psychological thriller series, she poured her passion for creativity into her work as the director of a fine art gallery in the Pearl District in Portland, Oregon; she also served as a governor-appointed member of the Oregon Arts Commission.

See the full list of 2017 Clue Winners here

Again, a huge congratulations to Shelley Nolden, the most recent Clue Grand Prize Winner. We are honored to continue to promote and celebrate the winning books of the CIBAs.

Have an excellent Suspense/Thriller? The Clue Awards closes at the end of September! Submit today!

Chanticleerians in the News? We love celebrating our Chanticleer Authors! Anytime you have something to crow about, email us at info@ChantiReviews.com to let us know!
September 16, 2022
BOONE and JACQUE: Cytrus Moonlight by A.G. Flitcher – Urban Fantasy, Mystery, Psychological Thriller

A.G. Flitcher’s Cytrus Moonlight continues the Boone and Jacque series (book 4 of 4) with a thrilling journey through fear for the young characters – an exploration of psychological traumas and the uncanny manifestations in the surrealistic setting of Cytrus.

Disasters can stir up a society’s darkest fears, spurring suspicion and ignorance. Cytrus Moonlight grows and evolves from its character’s obsessive worries. Boone, Jacque, and Shammy have moved to Cytrus and are living reasonably normal lives until an inexplicable murder disrupts their peace. Jacque’s uncle Leon is killed by poison. As the evidence of the murder case is revealed, more underlying tunnels of unrest come to light in Cytrus.

The circumstances underlying Leon’s murder are unknown. However, Boone has a strange foreboding: he unexpectedly finds himself driving Leon’s car and feels a burning feeling on his neck. Boone begins to feel as if he is being watched – as if there are “a thousand eyes on him.”

Soon, a psychedelic drug is loosed on the town, driving its recipients to witness their greatest fears and embrace repressed emotions.

Mayor John Winterson invites the friends to a Christmas party, where the drug renders everyone into naked fools. The key suspect looks to be the eccentric, maniacal Dr. Button. However, the doctor’s own inexplicable death flips everything upside down.

Jacque notices a monster while detectives are trying to locate the key to the puzzle of death and fear. He is cautioned not to ask questions that draw the wrong kind of interest. Cytrus’ many secrets, and Jacque and Boone’s tendency to attract trouble, make them susceptible to certain people – people who want to prevent them from “causing history in town to repeat itself” just as they did in their former town Saddleton.

This story’s Magical Realism presents a farcical and satirical tone, with dark humor that never leaves the narrative’s surface.

There is a consistent appearance of a bathos element in the YA urban fiction – a quick transition from a serious topic to dramatic dry humor. This ambiguity in the gravity of certain events implies a reflection of the traumatic brains of characters, which manifest themselves much more in a bizarre and topsy-turvy Cytrus. The combination produces an unreal atmosphere throughout the story – much like Terry Gilliam’s Brazil (1985).

This thriller gently explores the idea of free will vs. fate.

Boone and Shammy want to live a calm existence free of the turbulence and trauma they tend to attract, but numerous circumstances lead them along a path that looks to take them to their fate.

Likewise, trauma remains an underlying theme throughout the story, as the novel sheds light on some of the characters’ psychological anguish. Be it Boone’s attempt to overcome past traumas, Jacque and Xantia’s explicit acknowledgment and embrace of their identities as pansexual and transgender, or Myamirah’s fear of Cytrus’ peace, the pent-up emotions spill out profoundly.

Boone and Jacque: Cytrus Moonlight introduces some new bizarre characters while recalling some old ones from the prequel. Flitcher fills the novel with scenes and an atmosphere that is visually and auditorily stimulating, letting characters voice up their innermost thoughts and feelings. The mystery persists till the end as Cytrus’ Pandora’s Box of puzzles keeps readers guessing about the whys of many events and what awaits Boone and Jacque inside.

The Boon and Jacque series achieved Finalist status in the OZMA Fantasy Fiction, 2021 CIBA Awards.

August 31, 2022
UNTIL DEAD: A Cold Case Suspense by Donnell Ann Bell – Murder Mystery, Suspense, Police Procedural

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does anyone care? If the tree has connections to the rich and powerful, they just might. In Until Dead, Donnell Ann Bell suggests the many ways “elites” – those with seemingly limitless wealth and power – can manipulate the world to their wishes.

Events that might otherwise go unnoticed take on great importance when they affect the powerful elites. With subtlety and skill, Bell reveals this as she takes the reader from an odd encounter in 2017 to an assassination attempt in Colorado two years later.

Until Dead begins when Mark Rafferty, an up-and-comer in a general practice Denver law firm, well on his way to full equity, dies in a one-car accident at the beginning of rush hour in the fall of 2017. He leaves behind several open cases and his widow, Theresa O’Neil, an Assistant United States Attorney. Theresa has a lot of support behind her, including her boss, the Colorado U.S. Attorney, and an aunt who is a U.S. Senator.

After Theresa survives an assassination attempt clearly set up by a knowledgeable killer, law enforcement realizes that she has a target on her back. Someone wants her dead, but who, and why?

The Senator’s powerful connections push the issue until a multi-agency task force forms to investigate—the same multi-agency that brought the Black Pearl Killer to justice. Everett Pope, a Denver police investigator, works with agents from the FBI and ATF to bring the would-be-killer to justice and learn who hired him for the hit.

Pride, greed, envy, and perhaps even a smattering of lust make for a tantalizing set of motives. The story is told from multiple points of view, even getting into the hit man’s head. The reader can develop rapport with these relatable, multi-dimensional characters.

Bell’s familiarity with the city of Denver and the mountainous regions of Colorado shines in her imagery. Her knowledge of the structures and workings of U.S. government agencies is impressive, suggesting a lot of research went into this story. Until Dead is a deep dive into a complex web of government hierarchies, power brokers, cybercriminals, and cyber security combined with drones and C-4. It will keep you on the edge of your seat.

The specificity of government structures works for and against the narrative, as the numerous acronyms attached to those government entities. But such is the nature of bureaucracies. Aside from this, the complex plot maintains its suspense, with an ending that hits like a destructive Colorado derecho.

The second book in the Cold Case Suspense Series has launched Donnell Ann Bell into a spot as one of our favorite authors. Highly Recommended!

August 29, 2022