Inkitt

Have I ever told you about Inkitt?

I don't remember how I found Inkitt. It is a great site to read books (online) by new authors for free but it is a place for new authors, and established authors, to get published.

Here is the website: https://www.inkitt.com/

They have many genres to choose books from: Sci Fi, Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Romance, Children and several more. They have online book clubs you can join. You can submit your writings and they can publish it on their site. You can get help with your writing. You can join groups to discuss books.
Did I say you can read books for free? They just ask that you let them know what you thought of the book. I like this site because it is a great place to "grab" a quick read online. Check it out.

Here are the books I read on Inkitt:

Breaking Point by C.T. Mitchell


"The Darkest Secrets Don't Stay Buried Forever.....Five Acts of Revenge....The Truth Will Come Out
All five victims are black, handcuffed and brutally murdered. But former UK resident Sam Thompson is different.
Cabarita Beach is normally a sleepy seaside village on the northern coast of New South Wales, Australia. But when Sam Thompson's handcuffed, charred remains are discovered, Detective Jack Creed soon realises he's on the hunt for sick, twisted individual whose killing spree spans up to a decade. The residents of the Tweed Coast are very nervous.....and so they should be. A serial killer is active!
The media is having a field day. The Chief Superintendent wants results yesterday. Creed needs more experienced crime fighters to solve these murder mysteries. Enter Detective Boston-Wright; female, no murder experience and a double barrelled surname - Creed's pet hate. This crime investigation will be fun!
Boston-Wright is determined to make her father proud and to stand tall in the male dominated Murder Squad. She unearths a vital clue that links a person to the killings. The arrest will cement her place on the team.....or possibly destroy it forever if she's wrong"


When The Clocks Stopped by Marion Eaton



"No 1 in the Mysterious Marsh Series
1976. A long hot summer in the mysterious Romney Marsh in the South of England.
Hazel Dawkins, a feisty young lawyer, takes maternity leave anticipating a period of tranquillity.
Instead, the dreams begin.n them she encounters Annie, a passionate young woman whose romantic and tempestuous life was adventurously lived, more than two centuries previously, in the cottage that Hazel now occupies.
As their destinies entwine, Hazel not only confronts a terrifying challenge that parallels history, she finds herself desperately fighting for survival in a cruel and unforgiving age. Even more disturbing is the realisation that her battle will affect the future for those in the past whose fate is, as yet, unwritten.
Her only ally is Annie. Together they face events that echo through the centuries, events that are as violent and compelling as they are unexpected.
And, as the past collides with the present, the time for the birth of Hazel's child draws ever nearer."



Graves in the Garden: a Savannah Hartman Mystery by Lisa D. Jones



"Texas born and bred, Savannah Hartman is a tough private detective and a lucky one at that. In the past few weeks she’s dealt with cheating spouses, thieves, gold diggers, surly employees, and psychos, just to name a few. Shawn Greenley (her best friend’s brother) has been arrested for murder after Sheriff Nate Russell caught him red-handed, or so it seemed. Join Savannah on a whirlwind ride of action and suspense and unveil the mystery!"

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Our Mystery Book Club selection for January 2018 is Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz.



About: "When editor Susan Ryeland is given the manuscript of Alan Conway’s latest novel, she has no reason to think it will be much different from any of his others. After working with the bestselling crime writer for years, she’s intimately familiar with his detective, Atticus Pünd, who solves mysteries disturbing sleepy English villages. An homage to queens of classic British crime such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, Alan’s traditional formula has proved hugely successful. So successful that Susan must continue to put up with his troubling behavior if she wants to keep her job.

Conway’s latest tale has Atticus Pünd investigating a murder at Pye Hall, a local manor house. Yes, there are dead bodies and a host of intriguing suspects, but the more Susan reads, the more she’s convinced that there is another story hidden in the pages of the manuscript: one of real-life jealousy, greed, ruthless ambition, and murder."

Anthony Horowitz has written Foyle's War and episodes of Midsomer Murders - my favorite tv series. He has also written episoses or Poirot, which was another favorite of mine.

Magpie Murders is a very clever book that I was not prepared for. It is really two books in one. Susan, the editor reads Magpie Murders, by one of their clients. We read Magpie Murders. The last chapters are missing. We don't know how it ends. Then we follow the story of Susan trying to find the last chapters and takes on the role of detective. Pretty clever.

Interesting things about the book: Atticus Pund reminds me of Poirot, writing styles of famous authors were described such as Agatha Christie, both stories are good. What I had trouble with was that first we read almost the entire book that Susan is reading. Then we read her story about the book she was reading. Both stories have similarities. By the time we get back to the book Susan is reading, I kind of forgot what was going on and confused the characters. I typically like books that go back and forth between characters or even time with each chapter. But I had trouble reading one almost entire book, then another and then going back to the first. But I read the whole thing didn't I.

If I could get better at reading like that, maybe I could read two books at the same time. That would be great. :)

If you like complex plots that make you think, lots of characters and great writing, I bet you would like Magpie Murders.

Best of 2017

Every December for our Mystery Book Club meeting, rather than having an individual book to read, we share titles of books we have read and enjoyed. Oh and did I mention we also share snacks and treats? And bring books to swap.. have a great time, talking, eating and looking at books.

Here is the list of the books the MBC members shared this year. They are not all mysteries and they are not all fiction. Yes, some read books other than mysteries (but I am not sure why).

Happy Holidays and Happy Reading.

Title	Author
The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death	Corinne May Botz
The Originals: The Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron of WWII	Sarah Byrn Rickman
Never Salute With a Broken Garter	Peggy Lutz
It's Hard to Salute Standing in a Wall Locker	Peggy Lutz
Mississippi Blood	Greg Isles
Boar Island	Nevada Barr
The Pope Who Quit: A True Medieval Tale of Mystery, Death and Salvation	Jon M. Sweeney
Living in the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds	Scott Weidensaul
The Sound of Rain	Gregg Olsen
Bone Box	Faye Kellerman
Oscar Wilde and the Vatican Murders	Gyles Brandeth
At Home in Mitford	Jan Karon
A Death in the Dales	Frances Brody
IQ	Joe Ide
Their Lost Daughters	Joe Ellis
The Girl in the Ice	Robert Bryndza
Samuel Craddock series	Terry Shames
Long Way Down, Saving Jason (?)	Michael Sears
The Late Show	Michael Connelly
A Man Called Ove	Frederick Backman
The Nightengale	Kristen Hannah
The Wild Trees	Richard Preston
The All Girls Filling Station Last Reunion	Fannie Flagg
Lilac Girls	Martha Hall Kelly
What Alice Forgot	Liane Moriarty
The Thing About Jellyfish	Ali Benjamin
Spenser series	Robert B. Parker
Further Along the Road Less Travelled	M. Scott Peck
Hillbillyelogy	J.D. Vance
The Underground Railroad	Colson Whitehead
The Circle	Dave Eggers
Ruff Cut	Kasey Riley
Tess Winnet series, Alex Hoffman series	Leslie Wolfe
When the Clocks Stopped: Mysterious Marsh book 1	M.L. Eaton
Brain Surgeon	Keith Black
Being  Mortal	Atul Gawande

Madam Tulip by David Ahern

Well...with the holidays upon us, I have not been able to read as much as I would have liked.
I most recently read Madam Tulip. This was recommended to me by my really long distance, internet friend, Virginia King, who writes the Selkie Moon series.



"Suspense, mystery, action, a little romance and lots of laughs.

Derry O’Donnell, an out-of-work American actress living in Ireland, is young, talented, a teeny bit psychic … and broke. Spurred on by an ultimatum from her awesomely high-achieving mother, and with a little help from her theatrical friends, Derry embarks on a part-time career as Madame Tulip, fortune-teller to the rich and famous. But at her first fortune-telling gig - a celebrity charity weekend in a castle - a famous rap artist will die.

As Derry is drawn deeper into a seedy world of celebrities, supermodels and millionaires, she finds herself playing the most dangerous role of her acting life. Trapped in a maze of intrigue, money and drugs, Derry's attempts at amateur detective could soon destroy her friends, her ex-lover, her father and herself.

Madame Tulip is the first in a series of Tulip adventures in which Derry O’Donnell, celebrity fortune-teller and reluctant detective, plays the most exciting and perilous roles of her acting life, drinks borage tea, and fails to understand her parents."

I really liked this first book of this new (to me) cozy series.

Derry's funds from her mother are about to be cut off and her career as an actress isn't really taking off. What is the daughter of a seventh son of a seventh son (as the legend goes) to do? With her gift of second sight, be a fortune teller for money of course. With a quirky costume put together by Derry and her friend, Bella, Madam Tulip is for hire for all your party needs. Sounds fun right? Derry gets more than she bargained for when a murder takes place at her first big event, and her friend is arrested for it. Derry is smack in the middle of murder, drugs and seedy characters. The book starts out fun and light, and turns to quite the thriller. Fast paced. A hint of romance. A lead into the second book in the series. What will Derry get into next with her career as MadamTulip? Probably more trouble.

About the author:

David Ahern grew up in a theatrical family in Ireland but ran away to Scotland to become a research psychologist and sensible person. He earned his doctorate but soon absconded to work in television. He became a writer, director and producer, creating international documentary series and winning numerous awards, none of which got him free into nightclubs.

Madame Tulip wasn’t David Ahern's first novel, but writing it was the most fun he’d ever had with a computer. The second in the Madam Tulip mystery series, Madam Tulip and the Knave of Hearts, was published in autumn 2016. He is now writing the third Madam Tulip adventure and enjoys pretending this is actual work.

David Ahern lives in the beautiful West of Ireland with his wife, two cats and a vegetable garden of which he is inordinately proud.

You can learn more about David Ahern and Madam Tulip on his website www.davidahern.info