Louise Penny Zoom event

 New Year's Resolution: do more blog posts.

Meanwhile, do you know about the Barnes and Noble sponsored Zoom event coming up with Louise Penny? One of my Mystery Book Club members thankfully saw the information on this event.

It is a chat with Louise Penny featuring her next book,  A World of Curiosities. The book will be out tomorrow! 11/29/22

About: "It’s spring and Three Pines is reemerging after the harsh winter. But not everything buried should come alive again. Not everything lying dormant should reemerge.

But something has.

As the villagers prepare for a special celebration, Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir find themselves increasingly worried. A young man and woman have reappeared in the Sûreté du Québec investigators’ lives after many years. The two were young children when their troubled mother was murdered, leaving them damaged, shattered. Now they’ve arrived in the village of Three Pines.

But to what end?

Gamache and Beauvoir’s memories of that tragic case, the one that first brought them together, come rushing back. Did their mother’s murder hurt them beyond repair? Have those terrible wounds, buried for decades, festered and are now about to erupt?

As Chief Inspector Gamache works to uncover answers, his alarm grows when a letter written by a long dead stone mason is discovered. In it the man describes his terror when bricking up an attic room somewhere in the village. Every word of the 160-year-old letter is filled with dread. When the room is found, the villagers decide to open it up.

As the bricks are removed, Gamache, Beauvoir and the villagers discover a world of curiosities. But the head of homicide soon realizes there’s more in that room than meets the eye. There are puzzles within puzzles, and hidden messages warning of mayhem and revenge.

In unsealing that room, an old enemy is released into their world. Into their lives. And into the very heart of Armand Gamache’s home."

The online event is Monday December 5th at 6 p.m. CST. Here is the link to register. With the fee, you will receive a hard copy of the book. No it will not be signed.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bn-virtually-presents-louise-penny-discusses-a-world-of-curiosities-tickets-429339023577

I am attending in addition to a couple of the MBC members. I can't wait!

And don't forget! Three Pines debuts on Amazon Prime Friday December 22

I am attending in addition to a couple of the MBC members. I can't wait!

See you there.

Falling by T.J. Newman

Oops! I forgot to hit "go" on this post. So here it is.

Our November Mystery Book Club selection was Falling by T.J. Newman.

About: "You just boarded a flight to New York.

There are one hundred and forty-three other passengers onboard.

What you don’t know is that thirty minutes before the flight your pilot’s family was kidnapped.

For his family to live, everyone on your plane must die.

The only way the family will survive is if the pilot follows his orders and crashes the plane.

Enjoy the flight."

It seemed unanimous. This book was a very fast pace and suspenseful read. Most read it in a day or two, not being able to put it down.

More about the plot: The pilot of a plane going from Los Angeles to New York, receives a private message from a man saying the pilot needs to decide between crashing the plane as he instructs, or to loose his family. The man is holding the pilot's family hostage in their home. Tied and gagged are his wife, 10 year old son and his wife is allowed to hold the baby, 10 months old. There is an unidentified person on board that will insure the goal is met. The pilot also will be instructed to throw some cannisters of gas into the cabin at some point. And they have a new destination, Washington D.C. On board is a seasoned flight attendant and family friend, Jo, another seasoned attendant x and a new flight attendant. Should the pilot let them in on what is happening? He has been warned not to or else.

The book takes place over several hours on a flight between L.A. and the East Coast and all that evolves.

The story really is riveting. It gave us all new insight and admiration into pilots and attendants.

T.J. Newman has a contract for another book and I am looking forward to it. It is reported that Universal has bought the rites for a movie. No time line on that.

About the author: 

T.J. Newman, a former bookseller turned flight attendant, worked for Virgin America and Alaska Airlines from 2011 to 2021. She wrote much of Falling on cross-country red-eye flights while her passengers were asleep.

The MBC recommends it!

Because I Could Not Stop For Death by Amanda Flower

 Do you know Amanda Flower and her books? Amanda writes a variety of mysteries. I have read one of her Magical Mystery books entitled Death and Daisies and enjoyed it. 

I follow Amanda on social media and found she had written a historical mystery featuring Emily Dickinson. I love that time period and the idea of a famous writer featured in the book, so I got a copy of the book when it recently came out. 

About: Because I Could Not Stop for Death

 

"Emily Dickinson and her housemaid, Willa Noble, realize there is nothing poetic about murder in this first book in an all-new series from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author Amanda Flower.

January 1855 Willa Noble knew it was bad luck when it was pouring rain on the day of her ever-important job interview at the Dickinson home in Amherst, Massachusetts. When she arrived late, disheveled with her skirts sodden and filthy, she'd lost all hope of being hired for the position. As the housekeeper politely told her they'd be in touch, Willa started toward the door of the stately home only to be called back by the soft but strong voice of Emily Dickinson. What begins as tenuous employment turns to friendship as the reclusive poet takes Willa under her wing.

Tragedy soon strikes and Willa's beloved brother, Henry, is killed in a tragic accident at the town stables. With no other family and nowhere else to turn, Willa tells Emily about her brother's death and why she believes it was no accident. Willa is convinced it was murder. Henry had been very secretive of late, only hinting to Willa that he'd found a way to earn money to take care of them both. Viewing it first as a puzzle to piece together, Emily offers to help, only to realize that she and Willa are caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse that reveals corruption in Amherst that is generations deep. Some very high-powered people will stop at nothing to keep their profitable secrets even if that means forever silencing Willa and her new mistress...."

I really loved this book. The mystery was very good. I liked the relationship between Willa and Emily. Although they are maid and employer (from a very prominent family) Emily encourages and joins Willa to find out what really happened to her brother. The slavery issue of the time plays a big part in the story and it is interesting for find out more about the North vs. the South, the underground railroad (which I was fascinated with as a child) and other politics of the time are touched upon.  The story also shows women being strong and independent, something frowned upon in that time period. Plenty of tension with a few dangerous near misses! All and all I recommend this book if you like historical fiction and strong women characters. 

About Amanda Flower: http://www.amandaflower.com/

Amanda has written five different series: Amish Mysteries, Children's Mysteries, Magical Mystery Series, Contemporary Series and now Historical Mysteries. 

"Amanda Flower is a USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author of over thirty-five mystery novels. Her novels have received starred
reviews from Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Romantic
Times, and she had been featured in USA Today, First for Women, and Woman’s World. She currently writes for Penguin-Random House (Berkley), Kensington, and Sourcebooks. In addition to being a writer, she was a librarian for fifteen years. Today, Flower and her husband own a farm and recording studio, and they live in Northeast Ohio with their five adorable cats, Editors Cheeps and Tummy and Studio Cats Cheddar, Dr. Z, and Fender."

Amanda has a very active, fun Facebook group, not only sharing information about her latest writings and book signings, but sharing pictures of the farm where she and her husband are building a house, her five cats, three of which are rescues from the farm and fun impromptu Live chats about life on the farm. Amanda also has an Etsy shop with jewelry and bookmarks and Amanda's Flower Shop (Zazzle) where she offers t-shirts and cups.  Currently if you order any two items from the Flower Shop, you will receive a free signed novel by Amanda Flower. 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/AmandaFlowerDesigns

https://www.zazzle.com/store/amanda_flower_shop