Book Details:
Book Title: A Carrows Murder (The Carrows Family Chronicles, Book 10) by Annabelle Lewis
Category: Adult Fiction 18+, 286 pages
Genre: Mystery/Crime/Romance/Humor
Publisher: PePe Press
Release Date: June 2024
Content Rating: PG13 +M: My book has cursing. The f-bomb. Sexual flirting but closed-door action.
A Note from Annabelle Lewis:
Welcome to the latest installment of The Carrows Family Chronicles. Don’t let the words Book 10 scare you! Dive into the adventure without the need for exhaustive backstory, as each page unfolds with its own excitement, color, and twists. While my characters’ pasts enrich their present journeys, rest assured that you can fully immerse yourself in this standalone tale. Prepare to be swept away by the twists, turns, fashion, humor and discoveries awaiting you within these pages.
Book Description:
A Crafty Plan. A Healing Sojourn. A Deadly Twister.
Royal Dutton, close friend and stylist for Charles and Angelica Carrows, has a broken heart and he’s falling to bits. Disturbed by Royal’s escalating depression and dangerous choices, the London-based Carrows family decide to distract Royal with a vacation to an English castle on the dazzling eastern shores of Yorkshire, Britain.
Well-intentioned, they plan a murder mystery using the villagers near the castle as characters who will each play a role in convincing the unsuspecting Royal that there is a murder to be solved for a real-life person.
It should have been fun.
But there are unforeseen consequences. The small town of Boswell Crag and its eccentric villagers will never be the same.
And someone . . . will not survive.
MY REVIEW
First things first. I have this thing where I have no compunctions about jumping into a series anywhere. I was a bit worried about it with this book as it’s the tenth in the series. I’m thrilled to say I had no issues about it being so far along. I was immediately captivated by the characters and the plot. Everything flowed so easily.
About the plot. A fake murder mystery event at a castle. How fun. I once did one of these on a ferry boat cruise. Highly recommend you do it if you have the chance. Of course, someone ends up dead, for real. And let the sleuthing begin. It’s not an easy solve. I always love that. And I really enjoyed the characters frustrations and fears as they tried to figure out the who and why while also making sure they aren’t a target for the killer.
This was a straight through read for me and I finished it in a couple of hours. If this book is any indication of the author’s other ones, I can’t wait to read more.
5 STARS
Tell us about a favorite book when you were a kid
I fell in love with books early. Fairy tales, picture books, comic books—Peanuts, I devoured what I could at home until I was old enough to pedal my bike alone to the library. There I spent hours roaming the stacks, amazed by every single volume and frustrated with giddy anticipation that there were so many worlds to explore and choices to be made. But the real favorite and love of my life came when I found the Chronicles of Narnia. I was never the same after entering that world and from that point on was reading whenever I found a moment to spare. Annabelle Lewis is a pen name and Lewis—is a humble hat tip to the great man who wrote the Narnian world – C.S. Lewis.
What is the last great book you’ve read?
I don’t know that it’s the greatest book in the traditional sense of what might qualify for that title, but I actually fell on the floor laughing while reading the book FU Penguin. Since it almost made me pee in my pants, I think that qualifies the book as something particularly special. The book is a farce – a collection of raging rants or blogs from a hysterically funny man named Matthew Gasteier who for no reason takes on cuddly pictures of animals and rages at them with absurd and foul-mouthed glee. I loved every single page of his absurd and twisted sentiments. Not everyone’s cup of tea to be sure, but damn, it worked for me! Thank you for the belly laughs, Matthew!
How many books have you written and which is your favorite?
It’s hard for me to choose, but I wrote a short story called Caliburnus that is very personal to me. It’s not part of a series, just a fictional story based on my journey as a special needs mom. It’s about a mother’s dream and the ache of hope. https://theannabellelewis.com/caliburnus-2/
Regarding time frames, what is your favorite era to work with and why.
My work is contemporary fiction. I’ve placed the story in the “now,” and this definitely has its drawbacks. Even before the work can be published, advancements and the use of technology, slang, trends, and societal developments vex me and my characters. I worry about the work holding up but hope that years from now the storytelling itself will still be enjoyable enough to accept.
Talk about how you outline a book
The process can vary, but I always have a broad outline in my head of what the book is about. It’s the ‘elevator pitch’ I would present if given 10 seconds to explain the synopsis while trapped in an elevator. Then I layer on the story with characters, and timeline, and events. Then I build a storyboard with a short explanation of what happens in each chapter. Often, however, I’m just dying to write the story and begin. Consequently, my characters often totally screw up my outline and I have to follow them where they take me. The story will often change, but the overall idea will not.
How long have you been writing?
In hindsight, I think I have always been writing. It began with journaling, and I often worked out my angst or issues after putting them on paper and looking at them. And I read books, all the time. As many as possible. When I became a mom, I started writing short stories about my children to capture the feel and memory of a moment or event. And my own mom always encouraged me to write a book, telling me over and over “I know you have a book in you.” But I didn’t really try until my children had graduated from high school and the activity level in the house decreased. One day, I drafted the first outline of Charlotte McGee, Book 1 of the Carrows Family Chronicles, and never looked back. I wish I had taken my mom’s advice and begun writing fiction earlier!
Meet Author Annabelle Lewis:
Annabelle Lewis—a pseudonym—is a Minneapolis-based, multi-genre writer, dog lover, incredible mom, and champion of the screwed over. In addition to her touching, yet oddly scathing blog posted on her website, she’s published two exciting fictional series.
The Carrows Family Chronicles are humorous and vengeful caper novels. If you’re interested in a light romp about a family of well-dressed billionaires serving yummy revenge to a string of unsuspecting bad guys who have it coming, look no further.
The second series—The Boston Clairvoyants—is also a set of good versus evil stories. These psychic mystery/thrillers have been edited so they could be read as stand-alones, but as Glinda the Good Witch says – “It’s always best to start at the beginning.” The books have a supernatural hierarchy, a wee bit of romance and mythology, and a solid sense of humor. Lovers of dogs and Dean Koontz fans will adore these books.
Annabelle typically sends out two newsletters a month—so she promises not to annoy her subscribers too much. They typically contain feverish reviews on the latest stuff she is watching or reading, links to book giveaways, contests to win a signed paperback, and book browsing for other author’s work.
Oh, and a warning. Annabelle loves to curse. And there is cursing in her books and her blogs . . . because she’s gotta keep it real.
Connect with the Author: Website ~ X/Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Pinterest ~Instagram ~ Bookbub ~ Goodreads
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