Archive for September 14, 2015

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Threads of Evidence
by Lea Wait

This book was an attention getting, fast moving story that led to a reveal like none I have read.
~Lisa Ks Book Reviews

I love the blend of past and present in this series; it gives the town and the people a depth …
~The Bookwyrm’s Hoard

Ms. Wait is an accomplished storyteller. She has a wonderful talent for weaving friendship, mystery, and romance into her books, creating characters and situations which are realistic and enjoyable.
~Book Babble

Threads of Evidence
(A Mainely Needlepoint Mystery)

18938930
2nd in Series
Cozy Mystery
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Kensington (August 25, 2015)
ISBN-13: 978-1617730061

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My Review

There are several things I look for in a cozy. Let me break these down for you.

The cover. It must be colorful and fun and have something to do with the story. The cover for Threads Of Evidence is all of those things. It’s fun, colorful and a bit spooky. Showing the antiques, the needle point, and the candle gives it a haunted atmosphere.

The title. The title is quirky and leads right into the theme of this one.

The mystery. This has more than one. I had fun reading how they connected and didn’t have clue until near the end. Then, I was wrong. You have a cold case, the accidental death or murder of a young girl in the 70s. And the attempted murder of a new resident in the town of Haven Harbor, Maine.

The town. I like small towns. Haven Harbor, Maine is just that. The author painted a pretty picture with her words and I felt comfortable there, despite the dark deeds occurring.

The characters and their names.

I’ll talk about names first. I like it when names are used that are popular in the area the story takes place. Some are quite unusual and fun to try to pronounce in my head. You get plenty in this cast.

About those characters themselves. I’m huge on character driven stories and like to have several to love and loathe. There are so many in this book, I can’t possibly pick a favorite.

Angie’s return home is anything but uneventful. She lands a job appraising the contents of Aurora, a long abandoned and fallen to ruin mansion. Doesn’t every town have one of these? She’s quickly drawn into the cold case of a young girl’s possible murder. Her previous job working for a private investigator help her in this case. She’s good at sniffing out clues and handling the local police. Let’s just hope her curiosity, like a cat’s, doesn’t require she needs nine lives.

There’s the famous actress, Skye West, who along with her handsome son, Patrick,(possible love interest for Angie?) purchased the aging mansion and are fixing it up. I believe there is more to the purchase than that. Perhaps another mystery to explore?

I could go on, but then I’d be telling you half of the story.

I read this one fairly quickly. The writing flowed easily, the characters were engaging and distinct, and the mysteries had me hooked. I needed to solve them for myself.

I was also fascinated with the old mansion. I used to spend summers with my best friend at her father’s place. He had this small cabin in the middle of nowhere. We’d find these overgrown roads and drive down them to see where they went. We found many old houses in various states of decay. Being careful, we explored them. I found a lot of interesting stuff, and often wondered about the previous owners. Why did they abandon the house and leave their stuff behind? Did something tragic happen? I often thought I felt a presence lingering. Pretty sure it was my over active imagination.

What fun it must have been for these characters to go through that old mansion. Discovering it’s past, uncovering it’s secrets.

A fun cozy, with all the material to make me happy.

4 Stars

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Synopsis

It’s hard to imagine anything bad ever happening in picturesque Haven Harbor, Maine–until a famous face rolls into town and unthreads some very dark secrets. . .

Angie Curtis and the Mainely Needlepointers are all too familiar with the Gardener estate. The crumbling Victorian mansion, known as “Aurora,” has been sitting vacant for nearly twenty-five years–and some say it’s haunted by the ghost of Jasmine Gardener, the teenage girl who died there in 1970 under mysterious circumstances…

Harbor Haven is abuzz with excitement when Hollywood actress Skye West decides to buy Aurora and sell off its furnishings. And Angie is intrigued when Skye asks her to appraise the estate’s sizable collection of needlepoint pictures. But the more she examines the pieces, the more they seem to point toward Jasmine’s murder–and the murderer–and it’s up to her to stitch the clues together. . .

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About This Author

Lea Wait lives on the coast of Maine. A fourth generation antique dealer, and author of the Agatha-nominated Shadows Antique Print mystery series, she loves all things antiques and Maine, and she’s learning to do needlepoint. She also writes historical novels for young people set in (where else?) nineteenth-century Maine. Lea adopted her four daughters when she was single; she’s now the grandmother of eight, and married to artist Bob Thomas.

http://www.leawait.com/

 

Purchase Links: Amazon        B&N             Shop Indie Bookstores

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

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This books sounds so thrilling.

I didn’t have time to read and review it for the tour, but I will be doing it later!

Cops, bad guys, and a magnificent K9 Police Dog. What’s not to love.

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K9 Blue

Ground Zero

by Matt McCredie

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Police dog handler Mike Winters and his furry partner Falcon love a good chase. They’ll do anything to protect the streets of Sydney, whether it’s tracking a murderer through the woods or breaking up a bar brawl. To them, it’s all fun and games until the bad guy gets hurt. And then it’s just fun.

Lately though, it seems that violent incidents are on the rise. When Mike and Falcon’s beloved commander is killed in action, Mike is determined to bring the perpetrators to justice, but he has no idea just how deep this malevolent plot runs.

A terrorist organisation has devised a plan to attack the city from all sides, and they have taken over a refuelling ship in Sydney Harbour. Mike and Falcon must use all of their wit and courage to battle the killers, expose police corruption, and, if they’re lucky, save a city from obliteration.

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Check out this thrilling excerpt.

Falcon had forced a hole in the cheering crowd, persuading them to move with his loudest and most intimidating bark. A few quick snaps at the slower-moving buttocks and he was through. Mike was right behind him, and looking just as menacing with his leather-and-chain lead in one hand and a long baton in the other.

‘Jesus Christ’. One brother officer was lying under pot plants in a pool of his own blood, while the other was being strangled by one of the biggest Islanders he had ever seen, who was seemingly immune to the punches and kicks of the two door men on his back. The only damage and pain they were inflicting was on themselves as their blows bounced off his muscled exterior. It took about half a second before Mike pulled himself together.

‘Dog 26, signal one! Officer down, get everyone here now!’

The radio answered, but Mike wasn’t listening. He ran forward, which was relatively easy as Falcon was working all four legs at double overtime. He had targeted the massive Samoan and was going to take him on no matter what. Mike knew what was coming and yelled out to the bouncers.

‘Get off him, now!’

As soon as the two bouncers were clear of the action, Mike let go of the lead, releasing Falcon about five metres from his target. The Samoan looked up just in time to see a set of open jaws on a direct collision course with his face. He let go of the female cop, raising his fists in a vain attempt to punch the flying dog back to where it came from. All too late, he opened his mouth to yell. Falcon locked jaws with the Islander, driving his snout clean into the man’s mouth and clamping his jaws shut. The soft tissue inside the drunken cavity popped and tore as Falcon bit down even harder, using the strength in his powerful neck to shake the man left and right; he forced the Samoan to the ground. He couldn’t even scream in terror or pain as Falcon still filled his mouth. He moved his ham-sized hands to Falcon’s throat, not to try and force him off, but to strangle him.

Mike saw what was happening and, even though he knew Falcon could take care of himself, he took exception to this grub trying to throttle his mate. He raised his long baton up over his shoulder and swung the entire spun-aluminium shaft down as hard as he could, smashing it into the right elbow of the bulging arm. The devastating impact popped the joint, which forced his forearm down on an ugly, unnatural angle. Dislocated, it swung uselessly to his side. The blood sprayed harder from the corners of the Samoan’s mouth as he forced the deep red fluid out with his silent scream. His manic breathing forced air noisily between Falcon’s jowls and his own torn mouth.

‘Sorry, mate, just evening things up,’ Mike quipped as he saw other police wading into the crowd. They barged towards the front doors, pushing bodies aside in their frantic attempts to back up their mates.

‘I’ll take care of this idiot. You guys check on those two. And we’re going to need three ambulances.’

Mike directed the rest of the police around the scene as he leaned over Falcon and gave him his command to let go. Falcon’s broad chest and muscular front legs were splattered with a goryreminder of his emphatic victory. He stood next to Mike with his ears up and his chest stuck out with pride. His hackles were still up and massive paws firmly planted, daring anyone else to come near for the same treatment. He kept up a low, menacing growl, interrupted at intervals by a booming bark as he watched four other police officers handcuff and drag the Samoan over to a waiting ambulance. The layer of blood splattered over his chest and body only made him look crazier. Mike checked over Falcon’s body to make sure there were no injuries.

‘Jesus, mate, you really went to town on this one. Now you look like a prop from a bad horror movie.’

He took out a hose from behind the pot plants and washed the red stain away from Falcon’s black and tan fur. Satisfied with the quick rinse, he trotted him back over to their car. There was no need to yell at anyone or tell them to move. They had all seen it, and nobody wanted to take the chance of becoming the next bite bag.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Matt McCredie

Matt McCredie joined the New South Wales Police Force in 1992 working in Uniform and plain clothes before being accepted into the elite NSW Police Dog Squad where he spent 13 years as a dog handler. During his police service Matt was awarded two Commissioners Commendations for bravery. He has published two non fiction titles, Blue Paws (2009) and The Real Inspector Rex (2013). Matt is an accomplished public and corporate speaker and lives in Sydney with his wife and two children.

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Links

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Buy Link

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NOTE: The book is only $0.99.

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Matt will be awarding an eCopy of K9 Blue: Ground Zero to 3 randomly drawn winners.

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

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