Search Results for: blog dead on arrival jeffrey savage

Author Interview—J. Scott Savage on The Magic of Writing

We’ve been joined for the last two days by J. Scott Savage, author of the new young adult fantasy novel, “Farworld: Water Keep.” If you missed parts one or two, you can click here to catch up. Scott, we’ve talked about your new series in terms of what it’s about. Now I’d like to talk about the nitty-gritty of how it came about. When you write, do you outline, or do you go with the flow? One of the biggest debates among writers is whether to outline or not. Most people who don’t outline are afraid it requires too much … Continue reading →

Dead on Arrival – Jeffrey Savage

We were first introduced to newspaper reporter Shandra Covington in Jeffrey Savage’s novel “House of Secrets.” “Dead on Arrival” picks up not too long after the conclusion of “House” with Shandra still recovering from injuries sustained on her first adventure. A little wiser and a little more leery of dating, she’s back at work focusing on her career when an old man named Pinky Templeton appears at her desk, with the strange tale that his wife is trying to kill him. Oh, but he’s already dead, and so is his wife. Shandra doesn’t know what to think, and is more … Continue reading →

Smell of Death – F. M. Meredith

“Smell of Death” is a great cozy mystery starring the fictional Rocky Bluff Police Department. Our main officer is Stacey Wilbur, a widow, a young mother, and a woman devoted to her job. When called out to investigate a crying baby and a non-responsive mother in an apartment complex, she knows what she’ll find almost before she opens the door – the mother has been repeatedly stabbed. When Stacey goes to tell the victim’s mother what has happened and to arrange for childcare, she discovers that woman, also dead, but this time shot. Stacey believes the two murders are connected … Continue reading →

Murder on a Girls’ Night Out – Anne George

“Murder on a Girls’ Night Out” is a slightly irreverent but completely hysterical cozy mystery. Patricia Anne is our point of view character, a sixty-year-old woman of slight stature who is often called by her childhood nickname of “Mouse” by her sister, Mary Alice. Mary Alice is the exact opposite of Patricia Anne in every way. She’s big and brash, uses terrible grammar, and has lots of money. Together these women are an unstoppable team, reading each other’s minds and finishing the other’s sentences. This premiere book in the series won the Agatha Award for Best First Mystery Novel, and … Continue reading →

Vanished – Lynn Gardner

Maggie McKenzie has just landed her dream job as a newspaper reporter in California. A small town girl from Idaho, she didn’t think it would ever happen to her, but she won a journalism contest and the prize was this job. Stepping into the newspaper office for the first time, trying to appear confident, she’s surprised when the receptionist drops the phone in shock when she sees her. It turns out that Mr. Lawson, editor-in-chief of the newspaper, had a daughter kidnapped seven years ago, and Maggie is a dead ringer for that girl. Lily, the receptionist, doesn’t want Mr. … Continue reading →

The Case of the Amorous Aunt – Erle Stanley Gardner

Having just met author Erle Stanley Gardner in our author review yesterday, I thought it would be fun to take a closer look at one of his novels. “The Case of the Amorous Aunt” begins as most Perry Masons do, with a client coming in to the office to visit the famous California lawyer. This time it’s a young engaged couple, Linda Calhoun and George Latty. Mason receives them in his private office, with his confidential secretary Della Street sitting nearby, notebook at the ready. Miss Calhoun’s aunt Lorraine has been corresponding with a gentleman friend for some time, and … Continue reading →

Tristi’s Picks: Best Novels Read in 2006

Happy New Year! For my first blog of 2007 (this is rather a momentous occasion!) I thought I would answer a question that is regularly posed to me. Because of the large amounts of reading I do, I am asked: “What are the best books you’ve read recently?” And so I give you my top ten list of novels I read in the year 2006. It was hard to rank them; they all deserve the #1 slot, but after careful consideration, this is the order I finally chose. Click on the title to read the full review! 1. “I Capture … Continue reading →

The Last Suspect – Susan Evans McCloud

Inspector Callum MacGregor has been called out to investigate the murder of one Archibald Linton, businessman, playboy, and now, dead. Found in a glass-enclosed gazebo on his property, the only known person to have been on the premises that night was his business partner, a timid man named Clarence Thomas. From their first meeting, Callum can’t believe that a man such as Clarence could have committed this murder, and so he sets out to investigate every other possibility, further fueled by the need to protect Archibald’s daughter, a girl named Rosetti, now in the care of her spoiled step-mother. Meanwhile, … Continue reading →