Tag: murder mysteries

FREE BOOK GIVE-A-WAY! The World of Murder

Frnt.COVER.tasteofmurder_11OCT‘The Taste of Murder‘ has just been released and ‘The Art of Murder‘ (revised) has a new cover and two new chapters.

YOU CAN WIN A FREE BOOK!  Just like my page on Facebook www.facebook.com/writeratplay
and follow me on Twitter  @writeratplay4.  Write a comment about this post letting me know which book you would like to receive and your USA mailing address. artofmurder_cover (2)A contact email would be good.

In Book 5 in the series The World of Murder, Detectives O’Roarke and Garcia have a cold case dumped on their desk. Despite their objections that they ‘don’t do cold cases’ their Commander tells them that they do now since the new Mayor has asked for them…. Continue reading “FREE BOOK GIVE-A-WAY! The World of Murder”

‘Art of Murder’, Book 1 has a NEW Look!

Book 1 in the World of Murder Series has a NEW Look and NEW chapters.  Available now here in my store and at www.amazon.com

New dynamic cover, new title, and new love interest woven through the true crime mystery.

When I wrote this less than a year ago, I thought, ‘just a murder mystery, something fun to try, a different genre,’ and then I’d move on.  Little did I know at the time that it would become a popular series and Book 5 has just been published.

So I thought the other day that I should revisit Book 1 and see what I thought about it now, 1+ years later.  And this is especially aimed at my fellow writers. Don’t ever be shy about revisiting something you’ve written; maybe you can make it better.  Low and behold I discovered that I had not given my readers enough about O’Roarke’s and Garcia’s personal lives and I had neglected to tie up some loose ends.

What I discovered with a critical look at my own work, was that there was more to write! I ended up with 6,000 additional words and  new chapters.  AND a better story!

If you liked this story don’t miss:

Book 2 ‘Dance of Murder’
Book 3 ‘ Act of Murder’
Book 4 ‘ Angel of Murder’
Book 5 ‘ Taste of Murder’
Book 6 ‘(Beneath the) Bridge of Murder’
Book 7  Video of Murder
Book 8  Shadow of Murder
Book 9 Triad of Murder (Soon to be Released) 

Available  on  e-books and Audio books.
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!

In addition to my twice weekly blog I also feature an interview with another author once a month. So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!    

To receive my posts sign up for my blog, blogs, blogger, writer, author, playwright, books, plays,fiction  On the home page, enter your email address.  Thanks!

 

 

REVIEW~~With Mother’s Approval by Mike Wells

reviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writing

Three out of five quills  A REVIEW  With Mother’s Approval Mothers.510-HJSgo5L._AA160_
by Mike Wells

When the Seattle Police Department bumbles the investigation of a serial killer who has brutally taken the lives of five women, Detectives Allie and Jeremy Branson take over the case. The husband and wife team work out of the King County Sheriff Department’s Violent Crime Unit and have one of the best track records in the country. But this time around, the Bransons are tested to their limits. Will they catch “The Call Girl Killer,” or will the sadistic murderer continue his spree of horrific crimes unchecked?

If you like extremely incestuous, murderous, cra-cra.…you will love Mike Wells’ latest offering.  I know his fans will be ecstatic that he has written another one.   Stephen King is all this reviewer’s stomach can handle and With Mother’s Approval goes way, way beyond King’s warped world.  I found it a little ingenuous that the Seattle PD was painted with such a broad brush as ‘bumbling’ and totally incompetent.  And I couldn’t get my head around Jeremy giggling, given his physical description and demeanor.

It’s well written but not to my taste.  I know his fans, old and new, will love it!   Going on sale as an e-book TODAY!!!

  Don’t miss my Interview with Mike Wells coming in December!
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!

In addition to my twice weekly blog I also feature an interview with another author once a month. So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!    Barbara Delinsky and Elizabeth Hoyt will be my October authors.

To receive my posts sign up for my blog, blogs, blogger, writer, author, playwright, books, plays,fiction  On the home page, enter your email address.  Thanks!

Everything but the Kitchen Sink~~(new series) Diary of a Mad Writer!

So many of you have asked how I can be so prolific in my fiction, how I maintain a blog twice a week and interview otwriting, process, writers, styleher authors too.   So maybe it would be fun for you if I wrote once in awhile about what I’m doing…..I’m calling it Everything but the KITCHEN SINK because I’m throwing everything into the pot ……..no rhyme or reason.

This week I have the great pleasure to review Peter May’s latest book “The Lewis Man” during his book tour in the US.Saturday my blog will begin my interview with him and he has been so generous with his time and writing processes.

One of my favorite posts coming is how the (; ) smiley face was created back in 1982.  After some research I found the original email that first featured these emoticons.

Don’t know if you remember or not, but a few years ago I spent 10 days in Argentina at the invitation of two young professors and their university, National University of Villa María .  They teach English (through action) there. The families of Mariana, Marta, and Fiorella hosted me in their homes with dinners, lunches, and Continue reading “Everything but the Kitchen Sink~~(new series) Diary of a Mad Writer!”

‘The Lewis Man’ by Peter May…a Review

reviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writing   reviews, authors, writing reviews, authors, writingFive out of five quills    
A REVIEW   The Lewis Man by international best selling author, Peter May

 

Peter May writes in black and white.  I rarely see ‘color’ in his books….and that’s high praise. 

He plunks me down inLEWISScan the stark, forbidding Outer Hebrides, a group of islands northwest of Scotland and bared to the North Atlantic Sea.
“A sky torn and shredded by the wind.  A sky that leaks sunlight in momentary flashes to spill across dead grasses where the white tips of bog cotton dip and dive in frantic eddies of turbulent air….” ( prose at its best!)

After reading about the people settled there one wonders why they stay.  And that is at the core of why his characters are so intriguing and entertaining.  There is little soil on these rocks jutting out of the sea.  And trees for shelter and fuel?  Forget that.   But peat bogs flourish and provide fuel for heat in the oldest tradition of the Gaelic world.  When a body turns up in a bog the remains could be a month old, several decades old, and in some instances, centuries old.

As I’ve mentioned before I’m not a reviewer who fills the page with a synopsis of the story.  For me, the reader, it spoils it to be given the plot on a plate.  Continue reading “‘The Lewis Man’ by Peter May…a Review”

Fiction mimics real life…doesn’t it?

I have realized over the years that I am attracted to writing stories based on real life experiences, whether they are mine or someone else’s.

WhileWOW.BanW._wow (2) visiting a convicted murderer (Cook County Justice) at a state prison for men I observed women waiting with me to see their men. Some of them had been coming for years.  What was that like I asked myself.  How do they survive on the outside?  What are the stories that brought them to this place?  Were they married to monsters, gang members, killers?  Or just regular guys who had made some very stupid choices?  (Women Outside the Walls)

The most rewarding effort has been writing about what I know of life.  Confronting the challenges that life throws at all of us and then  goJohn.Songof YUkon 001 on to deal with it with some sort of grace under fire.  That’s how “The Ash Can” was born.  An experience very close to me where a person threw away everything  in a blink of an eye.  Deciding to take irrevocable actions and leaving heart-break and tragedy in their path.

 

Continue reading “Fiction mimics real life…doesn’t it?”

Stellar Review for “The Taste of Murder”

REVIEW ~~~ The Taste of Murder is Book 5 in Sugarek’s ‘The World of Murder’ series (previously acclaimed by this reviewer as a tight, compelling series that builds powerful scenarios and believable protagonists) and is especially recommended for prior fans of the books who want a continuation of the same successful devices employed in the previous titles: emotion-driven protagonists and a whodunit scenario that puzzles readers as much as the characters doing the investigating.

With its dash of romance, culinary-based intrigue, and a New York City setting, The Taste of Murder is as riveting as its predecessors and offers much to newcomers as well as prior fans. And having the subject be a culinary competition mystery is perfect timing, by the way, given current TV viewer interest in cooking show competitions (which are proliferating – sans murder scenarios, of course!)he story opens on the set of a cooking show competition where four chefs are charged with using ingredients from three mystery shopping bags. All is progressing smoothly … until a world-renowned chef/judge keels over dead.
Cut! Continue reading “Stellar Review for “The Taste of Murder””

‘The Angel of Murder’, Now In Audio!

Cover.Angel - CopyJust released! Book 4 in the World of Murder series is in AUDIO now!

Murder cops, O’Roarke and Garcia have a serial killer on their hands in Book 4 of The World of Murder series. The bodies of children, dressed for communion, are turning up in all five boroughs of New York City and there are no suspects. To complicate their investigation, a private detective has been hired by one of the families to find one of the missing girls. In spite of all their efforts, O’Roarke and Garcia watch as their case goes cold. Who is this monster and when will he strike again?

Available at:  www.audible.com, www.amazon.com, and iTunes.com  AUDIO SAMPLE:angel

Audible.com is offering it FREE now with a free trial membership!

REVIEW:  ……‘what really makes this book interesting is that the author lets us see into the mind of the killer without giving away the identity. All the while you are wondering how the perpetrator can get away with it, you are seeing the world as the murderer sees it.  It’s chilling, and insightful, and a nice addition to the police work and the side stories.

Oh, and there’s a new character, a PI, that I hope we’ll see more of, either in future World of Murder books or in his own series. A good read.’

‘The World of Murder’ books are available in paperback, e-books and audio.
Narration by: Daniel Dorse, www.acx.com (the voice of Jack O’Roarke)

 

 

 

‘The Angel of Murder’, Newest Book in the mystery series Available now!

Cover.Angel - CopyBook 4 in this chilling, surprising mystery series is now available on the author’s web site and at www.amazon.com.

Murder cops, O’Roarke and Garcia have a serial killer on their hands in Book 4 of The World of Murder series.  The bodies of children, dressed for communion, are turning up in all five boroughs of New York City and there are no suspects.  To complicate their investigation,  a private detective has been hired by one of the families to find one of the missing girls.  In spite of all their efforts, O’Roarke and Garcia watch as their case goes cold.   Who is this monster and when will he strike again?

  REVIEW: ‘As with previous investigations in ‘The World of Murder’ titles, readers are also in the dark about the perp’s identity, and are given just as many clues as the detectives on who the murderer could be. This approach in “The Act of Murder” keeps readers interested, capturing attention first through probing the emotionally charged personality of an abusive director and then by offering a series of clues that embrace the essence of a murder mystery puzzle along with insights into motivations on all sides.

Of course crack detectives O’Rourke and Garcia would be chosen to oversee such a high-profile case. As chapters progress, murder mystery fans are drawn into an ever-complex, changing story that holds not just too many perps, but many twists and turns of plot. The story marches deftly to a gripping, unpredictable courtroom conclusion, involving murder mystery fans every step of the way and creating directions that change at a moment’s notice in a winning recommendation for even the most seasoned murder mystery fan.’ ~~ Midwest Book Review
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‘The Act of Murder’ in Audio-books now Available!

Act.Murder.Cover.Book3  Just Released in Audio-books!  My third in the series, The World of Murder

Give a listen:  Act.Sample.ActoM–RAS

 

http://www.audible.com/pd/Mysteries-Thrillers/The-Act-of-Murder-Audiobook/B00IEIDX9A/ref=a_search_c4_1_4_srTtl?qid=1392728753&sr=1-4

In Book 3 of The World of Murder series, O’Roarke and Garcia are called when a famous Broadway director dies. It appears that everyone hated this man, making the murder cops’ job just that much harder. They have their pick of suspects as everyone within a five mile radius of Broadway had a reason to want this guy dead. From the jealous stage manager, to the resentful actors, to a disappointed and hurt lover. From a scorned understudy, to his ex-wives, any one of them could have done it. This mystery takes the reader back stage into the tumultuous, gossip ridden, world of the theatre.

Also available in paperback and e-books.