Tag Archives: Mystery

Book Review & Giveaway ~ A Flair for Drama by Deborah Garner

~~~~~ My Thoughts & Review ~~~~~

Sadie Kramer is a slightly eccentric, self-proclaimed sleuth, and somehow, mysteries just seem to fall into her lap. Sadie runs a successful and busy boutique shop in San Francisco with her assistant, Amber. She loves her little Yorkie Coco, fashion, wine, chocolate, and to travel.

In Flair for Drama, Sadie and traveling companion, Coco are invited to see a community theater play and get a backstage tour from her old friend, Roxy. It seemed like it would be a perfect chance for a little getaway to the Monterey Bay area.

She arrives at the theater, with Coco tucked safely away in her tote bag, to watch the dress rehearsal. At intermission, Roxy gives them a backstage tour. Roxy needs Sadie’s help with something and suggests that she leave Coco in a dressing room while she helps. The task took longer than expected and the second act had started. Sadie was concerned when she returned to the dressing room to find the door ajar and Coco missing. Then she heard the audience laughing and discovered that her little dog had wandered on stage and in a nutshell, stolen the show.

Thankfully, Sadie & Roxy were able to smooth it over with the director. Everything was on track for a successful opening night until the lead actress is found dead on the stage. Sadie and Coco are now entwined in murder mystery. Sadie, as usual, is intrigued and does her own investigating.

Deborah Garner is gifted at bringing each character to life. She adds details seamlessly, making it seem like you know these people. She presents scenarios that have you thinking you know who did it, and then in the next sentence you are second guessing yourself. And that is to say, this is a great “who done it” … it gets 2 thumbs up from me 🙂

NEW RELEASE….

When a former schoolmate invites flamboyant senior sleuth Sadie Kramer to a theatre production, she jumps at the excuse to visit the Monterey Bay area for a weekend. With quaint Carmel shops a short drive away and luxurious linens in her hotel accommodations, the excursion promises to be both entertaining and relaxing.

Plenty of action is expected on stage, but when the show’s leading lady turns up dead, Sadie finds herself faced with more than one drama to follow. With both cast members and production crew as potential suspects, will Sadie and her sidekick Yorkie, Coco, be able to solve the case?

Available on the following sites….
Amazon.com    Amazon.co.uk 

“Deborah Garner is gifted at bringing each character to life. She adds details seamlessly, making it seem like you know these people. She presents scenarios that have you thinking you know who did it, and then in the next sentence you are second guessing yourself. And that is to say, this is a great “who done it” … it gets 2 thumbs up from me :)” – reviews Tracy Helps You

“I love the way Deborah Garner describes everything in this book, and I can’t wait to read more in this series! This book literally kept me guessing until the very end.” – reviews Sanity is for those without children

“Deborah Garner has created a unique and very flamboyant main character who seems to find trouble all by herself and turns into an amateur sleuth!” – reviews Miki’s Hope

Above reviews from A Flair for Chardonnay (A Sadie Kramer Flair Mystery Book 1)

A Flair for Chardonnay (A Sadie Kramer Flair Mystery Book 1)
When flamboyant senior sleuth Sadie Kramer learns the owner of Cioccolato, her favorite chocolate shop, is in trouble, she heads for the California wine country with a tote-bagged Yorkie and a slew of questions. The fourth generation Tremiato Winery promises answers, but not before a dead body turns up at the vintners’ scheduled Harvest Festival.

All four Tremiato siblings have possible motives, as well as a few peripheral acquaintances, but only one could be the guilty party. As Sadie juggles truffles, tips and turmoil, she’ll need to sort the grapes from the wrath in order to find the identity of the killer.

Available to buy from….
Amazon.com    Amazon.co.uk 

About the author
Deborah Garner is an accomplished travel writer with a passion for back roads and secret hideaways. Born and raised in California, she studied in France before returning to the U.S. to attend UCLA. After stints in graduate school and teaching, she attempted to clone herself for decades by founding and running a dance and performing arts center, designing and manufacturing clothing and accessories, and tackling both spreadsheets and display racks for corporate retail management. Her passions include photography, hiking and animal rescue. She speaks five languages, some substantially better than others. She now divides her time between California and Wyoming, dragging one human and two canines along whenever possible.

Find the author on the following sites…
Website   Facebook   Twitter   Google+   Goodreads   Amazon Author Page

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Book Review & Giveaway ~ A Flair for Chardonnay by Deborah Garner

My Thoughts & Review

Spending time in the country, sipping wine and eating chocolate – it’s a rough job, but someone has to do it 🙂

Sadie Kramer is up for the task, and somehow, mysteries just seem to fall into her lap. Sadie runs a successful and busy boutique shop in San Francisco with her assistant, Amber. Sadie decided she needed / deserved a little getaway. Knowing Amber was more than capable of handling things in her absence, she decided to take a long weekend up the coast to wine country.

Since she has been worried about her friend and chocolatier business neighbor, Matteo, she decided she would visit his family’s winery, the Tremiato Winery in St. Vincent’s Hollow.

When she stops in the tasting room, she meets all of Matteo’s siblings and mother, without them knowing of her friendship with Matteo, who is apparently the black sheep of their family. She agrees to come back in the morning to enjoy their annual Harvest Festival.

She arrives refreshed the next day, after a pleasant nights stay at a local B&B (also owned by a Tremiato family member); to find the hubbub of a crime scene … someone had been murdered at the winery. And just like that, another mystery falls into Sadie’s lap.

Deborah Garner is gifted at bringing each character to life. She adds details seamlessly, making it seem like you know these people. She presents scenarios that have you thinking you know who did it, and then in the next sentence you are second guessing yourself. And that is to say, this is a great “who done it” … it gets 2 thumbs up from me 🙂

NEW RELEASE….

When flamboyant senior sleuth Sadie Kramer learns the owner of Cioccolato, her favorite chocolate shop, is in trouble, she heads for the California wine country with a tote-bagged Yorkie and a slew of questions. The fourth generation Tremiato Winery promises answers, but not before a dead body turns up at the vintners’ scheduled Harvest Festival.

All four Tremiato siblings have possible motives, as well as a few peripheral acquaintances, but only one could be the guilty party. As Sadie juggles truffles, tips and turmoil, she’ll need to sort the grapes from the wrath in order to find the identity of the killer.

Available to buy from….
Amazon.com    Amazon.co.uk   

About the author
Deborah Garner is an accomplished travel writer with a passion for back roads and secret hideaways. Born and raised in California, she studied in France before returning to the U.S. to attend UCLA. After stints in graduate school and teaching, she attempted to clone herself for decades by founding and running a dance and performing arts center, designing and manufacturing clothing and accessories, and tackling both spreadsheets and display racks for corporate retail management. Her passions include photography, hiking and animal rescue. She speaks five languages, some substantially better than others. She now divides her time between California and Wyoming, dragging one human and two canines along whenever possible.

Find the author on the following sites…
Website   Facebook   Twitter   Google+   Goodreads   Amazon Author Page

Follow the book tour

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I received this book to review through Beck Valley Books Book Tours, all the opinions above are 100% my own.

NOW FOR THE AUTHOR’S GIVEAWAY

Win a $25 Amazon.com Giftcard or Paypal Cash
(winners choice)
Open Worldwide

Ending on Sunday 5th June at 11.59pm EST

Enter Below and Good Luck !!

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Book Review & Giveaway ~ Three Silver Doves by Deborah Garner

My Thoughts:

I read and thoroughly enjoyed Three Silver Doves by Deborah Garner as a standalone book, even though it is actually part of the “A Paige Mackenzie Mystery” series. It was a fun and easy read; perfect for summer … I plan on reading the other two books as well 🙂
Paige Mackenzie is a reporter for a New York newspaper and is working on a series about the Old West. For her next assignment, her boss sends her to New Mexico to write an article about the healing powers of the natural mineral springs at the Aqua Encantada Resort in Tres Palomas. It sounds intriguing and relaxing, so she schedules some much deserved vacation time and extends the trip.
Paige has a reputation for her curiosity and her persistent nature sometimes gets her into trouble. Actually, she is naturally drawn to mysteries and has a talent for exposing the truth. She is friendly and easy going, and she quickly befriends the resort staff and owner.
The author does a great job in vividly describing the resort, town and surrounding landscape, she makes you feel like you are actually there. She also has a gift for making her characters come to life. I almost feel like if I were at the resort in New Mexico, I would recognize Miguel!
I recommend this book for good, clean fun … no foul language, no steamy sex scenes and no extreme violence. Just a fun and intriguing “who-done-it” with memorable characters 🙂

NEW BOOK RELEASE….

When New York reporter Paige MacKenzie heads to Tres Palomas, New Mexico, the resort of Agua Encantada seems a perfect destination to combine work with pleasure. A quick article on the healing mineral springs and a few leisurely soaking sessions in the resort’s soothing waters promises well-deserved rest and relaxation.

Paige is immediately intrigued with a local artist’s one-of-a-kind jewelry designs, as well as weekly gatherings to hear legends from an elderly storyteller. But when identical jewelry shows up on another guest and the storyteller goes missing, Paige’s R&R is soon redefined as restlessness and risk. Curious and persistent by nature, Paige is convinced there’s a connection. Enlisting the help of a flirtatious resort worker seems like a good idea until it begins to test her loyalty to her favorite cowboy, Jake Norris. Will an unexpected overnight trip to Tierra Roja Casino lead her to the answers she seeks, or are darker secrets lurking along the way?

eBook available from…Amazon.com    Amazon.co.uk

Paperback also available from…Amazon.com    Amazon.co.uk   Barnes and Noble

About the author
Deborah Garner is an accomplished travel writer with a passion for back roads and secret hideaways. Born and raised in California, she studied in France before returning to the U.S. to attend UCLA. After stints in graduate school and teaching, she attempted to clone herself for decades by founding and running a dance and performing arts center, designing and manufacturing clothing and accessories, and tackling both spreadsheets and display racks for corporate retail management. Her passions include photography, hiking and animal rescue. She speaks five languages, some substantially better than others. She now divides her time between California and Wyoming, dragging one human and two canines along whenever possible.
Find the author on the following sites…
Follow the book tour 018836-glossy-silver-icon-symbols-shapes-square-2
I received this book to review through Beck Valley Books Book Tours, all the opinions above are 100% my own.

 

NOW FOR THE AUTHOR’S GIVEAWAY

 

 

Win a $25 Amazon.com Giftcard or Paypal Cash
(winners choice)
Open Worldwide

 

Ending on Sunday 19th July at 11.59pm EST

 

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Book Review & Giveaway ~ The Girl in White Pajamas by Chris Birdy

When Officer Bud the PR face of the Boston Police Department is gunned down, his brother, Bogie McGruder, returns from Palm Beach for the funeral. Since the BPD is investigating the death of one of their own, Bogie believes his trip to Boston will be a short condolence visit and a chance to meet his secret love child.

But interacting with a family fueled by alcohol and mired in scandals, Bogie is reminded why he does investigations for his Boston based company from a computer in Florida. Although Bogie wants to contact his ex-lover, Bailey Hampfield, he’s reluctant to do so since Bailey dumped him four years earlier. Knowing that Bailey had his child after she cut him loose, Bogie ponders how he can establish a relationship with the three year old daughter he’s never met. While he thinks about it, Bailey gets in touch with him and asks for protection. Someone is trying to kill her.

By the time Bogie meets Isabella, it’s apparent that he still loves the mother and adores the child. Bogie tells himself that he’s not interested in the BPD investigation into Bud’s death, but he continues to be drawn into it while trying to discover who is attempting to kill Bailey. The investigations seem to parallel each other, then intersect and become intertwined. As the story develops, Isabella, a precocious child obsessed with martial arts, slowly becomes the focus.

The underlying theme of this mystery is lies. Everyone seems to be running on lies and half truths. The only pure and true character is The Girl in White Pajamas.

My Thoughts:

Bogie McGruder thinks he has finally gotten his life (and health) straightened out now that he lives in Palm Beach. He left behind a morally bankrupt, dysfunctional, blended family, as well as, a young daughter he has never met (because of an equally dysfunctional love affair), back in Boston. Then he finds out that his teenage daughter is pregnant and wants to drop out of high school to marry the father. All this is nothing compared to the tangled mess he finds when he travels back to Boston to attend his half brother’s funeral.

The plot thickens when he discovers that Bud was murdered in front of the law office where his ex-lover, Bailey, works. Soon after he arrives, he finds himself in the middle of every type of emotional drama that dysfunctional families seem to thrive on. He finally meets his daughter, Isabella, who proves to be a highly intelligent, precocious 3 year old. He then learns that her mother is in danger and proceeds to try to find out who is trying to hurt her (and by association), his precious daughter. His investigation turns up that the murder and the ex-lover’s case are deeply intertwined. To keep her safe, he takes Isabella with him as he follows leads to solve the mystery of finding out who wants to see Bailey dead. At R&B headquarters (his security company), a couple of the bodyguards are assigned to keep an eye on his daughter for a while. Needless to say, Isabella soon has these big, burly tough guys wrapped around her little finger. They bought her a miniature white “gi” (pajamas) and taught her some basic martial arts moves.

This novel is part mystery / part family drama / part reunited romance. It is fast paced with many twists & turns, scandals and skeletons falling out of lots of closets. I look forward to reading the next book in this series 🙂

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About the Author

Chris Birdy was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After graduating from high school, she did a four year stint in the Middle East. When she returned to the States, Chris settled down in the Boston area and became a true Bostonian by collecting college degrees while raising a family.

For more than twenty years, Chris has been a member of the legal community performing investigative work for Boston law firms conducting business in rough housing projects and crack house neighborhoods. Several years ago, while sitting in a courtroom with a client, Chris watched as a police officer was lambasted by an attorney. The attorney was defending a young woman who crashed her car into two other vehicles before she passed out drunk behind the wheel. The occupants of the other cars were seriously hurt and the cop, a former EMT, tried to assist the injured while waiting for ambulances to arrive. The attorney questioned the cop’s every move, shredded his testimony and made him seem inept. Embarrassed, the cop returned to his seat beside me and muttered, “Everybody lies. The judges lie, the lawyers lie, the witnesses lie..” Chris wanted to tell him not to worry that in about five years he’d be just as good a liar as they were.

The seeds for The Girl in White Pajamas were planted in that courtroom.

Chris lives outside of Boston and in Palm Beach, Florida with her husband.

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Follow the book tour

I received this book to review through Beck Valley Books Book Tours, all the opinions above are 100% my own.

NOW FOR THE AUTHOR’S GIVEAWAY

 

 

1 Lucky Winners will win $25 Amazon GC or Paypal Cash (winners choice)

 

Ending on Sunday 7th September at 11.59pm EST Open Worldwide

 

Enter Below and Good Luck !!

 

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