Suspicious Threads by David Ciambrone

I read Suspicious Threads by David Ciambrone for our August Mystery Book Club. The theme was Staycation - read any book set in Texas or by Texas authors, or in this case both!



I came across this book in a small general store in Salado Tx. last fall actually. While there was lots of quirky interesting things to look at, I was of course drawn to the book section. This book is set in Georgetown Tx which is not far from me. The author is also from Georgetown. Very interesting to me. I looked for the first in the series but they were sold out. The manager/owner of the store said they are popular.

I talked about the author last week in Featuring on Friday, so I am just going to tell you more about the book this time.

About: 
"It's hard to imagine anything really bad ever happening in picturesque Georgetown, Texas—until a famous face rolls into town and unthreads some very dark secrets...
Virginia Davies Clark and members of the Bee Hive Quilt Bee and Chisholm Trail Quilt Guild, are all too familiar with the Greenwald estate. The Victorian mansion, known as "Borealis," was owned by nationally famous quilter Ann North Greenwald, and sits now vacant just west of the city limits after the murder of Ann.
Georgetown is abuzz with excitement when Hollywood actress, Natalie North arrives and announces she inherited “Borealis” and selling off its old furnishings and renovate the mansion. A local developer and a local radical church group are shocked and will do anything to prevent Natalie from renovating it instead of selling it. And Virginia is intrigued when Natalie asks her to appraise the estate's sizable collection of quilts and Ann’s notebooks. But the more she examines the quilts, the more they seem to point toward Ann's murder—and the murderer—and it's up to Virginia and her friends to stitch the clues together. "

It was a really good story. So many people are after Ann Greewald's property for what seems to be different reasons. Land developers, crooks, university people, and the owner of a quilt shop wants Ann's quilts. Lots of twists and turns and surprises. The desire for her property for development is true to the area, which makes it even more interesting. We have so much development in Central Texas, not all of it welcome. That part of the story made me cringe. Well, I better not get on my high horse about that. Or maybe just for a second....



I think that is how Natalie and Virginia feel about it too. :)

Good surprise ending. I want to go back and read the other books in the series.

Jeopardy in July by Barbara Venkataraman

Finished listening to Jeopardy in July by Barbara Ventkataraman.
This was my second Audible book. I could get used to it. The narrator did a great job with different character voices. :)

This is the 5th book in the Jamie Quinn Mystery series.



About:

"Old people were dying at an alarming rate at La Vida Boca, a posh assisted living facility in Boca Raton, Florida. With its sterling reputation, dedicated staff, and top-notch medical care, none of the deaths are considered suspicious, but when members of the poker club start to die under strange circumstances, attorney Jamie Quinn finds herself once again embroiled in a mystery. With help from her new friend, Jessie Sandler, and her favorite P.I., Duke Broussard, Jamie uncovers a crime that took place forty years earlier. Can she stop the killer in time? Or is she in danger of becoming the next victim?"

I am so enjoying the Jamie Quinn mysteries. This one takes us to Boca Raton. As I mentioned before, I lived there many years ago. I enjoy the references to familiar places and culture. 

Jamie is still contemplating what the best fit for her as a lawyer may be. She really wants something less stressful. Ha!

Jamie continues to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and get mixed up in more murders. Assisted living facility? Art forgery? FBI? Never a dull moment. And her boyfriend, Kip is staying in Australia longer than planned. She thought things were getting serious and he seems to be finding reasons to stay away. Things are not going Jamie's way. 

This book is fast paced - a page turner if I had been reading it rather than listening to it. lol

There is never a dull moment much to Jamie's dismay. 

Barbara is currently working on Book Six - Villany at Vizcaya. I got a sneak peak and it looks really good. Jumps right into where Jeopardy in July left off at a fast pace. Can't wait to read it.

Featuring on Friday - David Ciambrone

Happy Friday!

I discovered a local author that I wanted to share with you. I bumped into his books in a little General Store in Salado Tx. last fall and picked u[ one of the books  - Suspicious Threads. Just finished it this week. I saved it for our August Mystery Book Club theme which was Staycation - Texas, any mystery set in Texas.

Although this is the only book by David Ciambrone I have read, and enjoyed it. I think he has a pretty interesting bio and want to read some more of his books.

About:

Dr. David Ciambrone is a retired scientist, professor, and a forensics consultant and is now a best selling, award winning author living in Georgetown, Texas, with his wife Kathy. He has published 20 books, four (4) non-fiction and fourteen fiction, and has a new mystery in work. He has also published two (2) textbooks for a California university. Dave has been a speaker at writers groups, schools, colleges and conferences and business conferences internationally.

He has been past vice president of Sisters-in-Crime; Orange County, CA, and past President of the Austin chapter of Sisters-in Crime, a member of Mystery Writers of America, past Member of the Board of Directors of the Writer’s league of Texas, and is Past President of the San Gabriel’s Writer’s League in Georgetown, Texas and is a member of the Williamson County Coroners and the International Thriller Writers. Dave was also on the Georgetown Library Advisory Board and the board of a local theater. He was Chairman on the Williamson County Appraisal Review Board and was on the board of directors of a Texas special utility district. He is Chairman of the Williamson County, TX Historical Commission.

Dr. Ciambrone wrote three newspaper columns and wrote a column for a business journal. He was a judge of a Writer’s League of Texas, San Gabriel Writer’s League and the Abilene, TX Writer’s Guild writing contests.

He is a fellow of the International Oceanographic Foundation and has a Bronze Trowel Award from the Archaeological Institute of America. He is also a member of the Order of Merlin of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

Writing Awards:

• 2008 Sage Award
• TEXAS Mystery Book of the Summer award 2009–San Gabriel’s Secret–Dallas Book Guild



• American Academy of Environmental Engineers 1998 listed Waste Minimization as a Strategic Weapon a best seller (nonfiction)
• 
  
• 2013, 2014 Nominated for the Lovey Award– Love is Murder Conference
• 
  

Dr. Ciambrone writes three mystery series.

The Virginia Davies series follows Virginia over her career. Starting out as a graduate student in the first book to working for the Smithsonian Central Security Service. There are 11 books in the series.

The last four are quilting mysteries. They all sound really good and I don't want to skimp on the descriptions, but will show you the first and last to date in this series. 

Laguna Treasure: Book One

"Virginia Davies, a graduate student in history is embroiled in an unclassic adventure involving a hoard of gold, thieves and a ring of smugglers in a plot that almost costs Virginia and her friends their lives. Laguna Treasure begins in 1933 in a watery cave in the coastal mountains of Southern California. Sixty plus years later, an antique dealer friend of Virginia’s, Abbey McQueen, provides a clue that launches Virginia on a perilous adventure. Virginia finds her life is placed in jeopardy by a group of thieves interested in gaining her treasure at any cost. People she contacts keep turning up dead. She and Dr. Andy Clark, her boyfriend and Professor of Engineering, plunge headlong into a vicious, no-holds-bared, seemingly non-ending struggle to what could be a one way journey to survive."

Whispering Threads - Book 11 and Book 4 of the quilting mysteries. This book just came out 7/31/18.

"Virginia ventures to Palm Springs, California for a quilt show and conference. It's also a reunion and respite for her and her long-time friend, Donna Bolette. A few days of fun, sun, and quilting can't hurt. They visit Virginia's old teacher and friend, Ms. Carol Jean Putman when they arrive in the desert. After a nice friendly visit, Carol is discovered murdered on her ranch. Virginia's shock doubles when she learns that Carol Jean Putman made Virginia the executor of her estate and the new owner of a whole lot of desert. Virginia learns the murder involves a special quilt that partially glows in the dark, a painting from the seventeen hundreds, a legend about old Spanish galleons lost in the desert sands, and a vast treasure hidden centuries ago. Virginia's mastered the art of piecing together blocks to create intricate quilts, but piecing together her friend's murder will prove far more challenging."

I read Book Three of the quilting series, Suspicious Threads. It was a good mystery, and fun to read about local businesses and current issues in our area. 

Adam Thomas series: There are two books in this series.

San Gabriel's Secret - Book One.



"Nestled on the San Gabriel River in Central Texas’s Hill Country, Georgetown is a small town where things are normally pretty quiet. That is, until Adam Thomas, a retired scientist and now writer of a newspaper column for women under the name Aunt Kay, inherits a Confederate solder’s journal and a new murder.
Adam and his girlfriend Kathy find themselves the center of dark doings and strange people as they race headlong into a fast-paced, high-stakes adventure to untangle a murderous puzzle, a series of macabre organizations and locate the centuries-old San Gabriel Secret."

The Trashy Gourmet - Book Two



"Adam Thomas has a knack for finding dead bodies. He also has a knack for tracking down cold-blooded killers. During his month-long sojourn in chef's school in Georgetown, Texas, retired scientist and newspaper columnist Adam Thomas, now known as the Trashy Gourmet, once again finds himself embroiled in the middle of a murder mystery. He's there when someone stabs Chef Elacroix with one of his customized carving knives. Adam becomes a consultant to his friend Captain Roland Waits of the Georgetown Police Department. Hopefully he'll carve out clues the police can't. Together with his girlfriend Kathy Rossi, Adam sifts through facts, questions fellow students, and narrowly avoids becoming one of the increasing number of corpses."

Jack Turner series: There are two books in this series.

Chimera - Book One



"Someone broke into the high-level security section of USAMRIID (US Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases) at Fort Detrick, Maryland and steals vials of weaponized smallpox. Later, the individual is found at the Washington, DC train station.
Jack Turner, Ph.D., is a chemist and the Coroner of San Sebastian County California. He is also a reserve officer (Lt. Colonel) in the Army Medical Service Corp and has a background in chemical and biological warfare from working for defense contractors and a stint at USAMRIID.
When one of his Medical Examiners hits the HOT ZONE lock down button, while performing an autopsy, Jack is called to the morgue. The body the M.E. was examining died of smallpox. Not regular smallpox, but an unusual and highly reactive strain of the disease. Upon examination Jack realizes the strain is a man made chimera. The smallpox virus was released from inside the cells of an E-coli bacteria as the cells were killed by antibiotics and the dead man’s immune system.
Who made it? Where did it come from? E-coli is common. But, smallpox was eradicated decades ago.
Dr. Turner receives orders from the U.S. Army Adjutant General activating his reserve commission and authorizes him to serve as a law enforcement special agent of the army.
Will Jack and a health department officer, Nancy Cartwright, be able to find the Chimeras and the perpetrators before these terrorist trigger a pandemic.
Somehow, Jack and Nancy must stop the attack that could be worse than an atom bomb."

Red Tide Murders - Book Two



"Jack Turner, Ph.D., is a chemist and the Coroner of San Sebastian County California. Looking forward to a nice evening with his girlfriend Nancy Cartwright, Jack’s plans get interrupted by the Sheriff. Someone has murdered a wealthy town playboy and financial donor to area politicians. Because of his background, the Sheriff wants Jack, as Coroner, to investigate the murder with the sheriff’s office. Jack is also a reserve officer (Colonel) in the Army Medical Service Corp and has a background in chemical and biological warfare from working for defense contractors and a stint at USAMRIID (US ARMY MEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES). Jack discovers there is a serious problem with the dead man. He has died of a toxic cocktail that is made from natural sources. One of the sources is a deadly form of algae. When more bodies turn up murdered by the same toxins, they suspect terrorist, and the hunt is on. Who made it? Where did it come from? Jack is called to active duty by the Army and with his girlfriend, a health department officer, Nancy Cartwright, must find the source of the toxic cocktail, find the perpetrators, stop anyone from using it as a terrorist weapon and causing a pandemic."

Each of the series sound very different. Dr. Ciambrone has also written a stand alone.
Poisons: The Handbook for Writers and three business books.

You can take a closer look at all of his books here.

http://davidciambrone.com/

Featuring on Friday - Susan Wittig Albert

Let's talk about a couple of Texas authors in the next two weeks.

First: Susan Wittig Albert.



I discovered Susan's China Bayles series about 20 years ago? I was a few years new to Texas. My kids were old enough that I was getting back to reading books for adults. I liked mysteries. A coworker recommended the China Bayles Series. Then one day I think I was renewing my library card and the librarian helping me was (tada!) the leader of the Mystery Book Club, Kay. She told me about the book club (I was so excited). I don't know if it was that same visit, but I found out Susan was going to be their guest speaker. (How could I be so lucky). A lot happened in that visit to renew my library card. I am only going to show 1 book cover from each series or a stand alone. You will see why.

About: 
"Susan has been a fulltime novelist since she left her career as a university English professor and administrator in 1985. A New York Times bestselling author, her books include biographical fiction (A Wilder Rose) and mystery and historical fiction: the bestselling China Bayles mysteries; The Darling Dahlias; the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter; and the Robin Paige Victorian/Edwardian mysteries written with her husband, Bill Albert. Working together, the Alberts have also written over 60 young adult novels.

Susan's earlier nonfiction work includes Work of Her Own, a study of women who left their careers, and Writing From Life: Telling Your Soul's Story, a guidebook for women memoirists. That book led to the founding of the Story Circle Network in 1997. She has edited two anthologies for the Story Circle Network: With Courage and Common Sense (2004) and What Wildness Is This: Women Write about the Southwest (2007).

Susan's most recent nonfiction work includes two memoirs: An Extraordinary Year of Ordinary Days and Together, Alone: A Memoir of Marriage and Place. She serves as a co-editor of StoryCircleBookReviews. 

Susan says that she "grew up rural" and is proud to claim farming in her family heritage. She continues to live the rural life with Bill in the Texas Hill Country, where she writes, gardens, and raises a varying assortment of barnyard creatures. She has three children, eight grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren."

Her books:

1.The China Bayles Herbal Mysteries: 26 books (I have read all but the most recent 2)

About the series: 

"China Bayles is the central character in this series of cozy mystery novels. China is an ex-lawyer who now works as a herbalist based out of Pecan Springs, Texas. There, she prefers to live a quieter existence with close friends and family." Each book features a specific herb. There are lots of references to local places which makes it fun to read, if you are familiar with the area.

2. The Darling Dahlias: I have read 6 of the 7 books. There are recipes in each book. Always fun. I tried a few.



About the series:
"New York Times bestselling author Susan Wittig Albert takes readers back to a small Southern town in the 1930s, where the ladies of the Darling Dahlias garden club double as Depression-era amateur sleuths." 

3. The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter: There are 8 books in this series. I have not read any of these books. I love the covers though.

About: "The series is based on the life of author/illustrator Beatrix Potter. In 1905, she bought a farm in the Lake District of England and it follows her as she moves away from the big city life to a new life in the country. The series is written for readers of all ages."

4. A Wilder Rose: a stand alone. I did read this. I liked it. I of course, read the Laura Ingalls Wilder books when I was a child. Rose was Laura's mother and actually wrote the books.

About: "Laura’s stories were publishable only with Rose’s expert rewriting. Based on Rose’s unpublished diaries and Laura’s letters, A Wilder Rose tells the true story of the decade-long, intensive, and often troubled collaboration that produced the Little House books—the collaboration that Rose and Laura deliberately hid from their agent, editors, reviewers, and readers." 

The notes have been woven into this story. Very interesting.

5. Loving Eleanor: I have not read this book.

About: 
"When AP political reporter Lorena Hickok—Hick—is assigned to cover Eleanor Roosevelt in the 1932 campaign, the two women become deeply involved. Their relationship begins with mutual romantic passion, matures through stormy periods of enforced separation and competing interests, and warms into an enduring, encompassing friendship documented by 3300 letters.

Set during the chaotic years of the Great Depression, the New Deal, and the Second World War, Loving Eleanor reveals Eleanor Roosevelt as a complex, contradictory, and entirely human woman who is pulled in many directions by her obligations to her husband and family and her role as the nation's First Lady. Hick is revealed as an accomplished journalist, who, at the pinnacle of her career, gives it all up for the woman she loves. Then, as Eleanor is transformed into Eleanor Everywhere, First Lady of the World, Hick must create her own independent, productive life. Loving Eleanor is a profoundly moving novel that illuminates a relationship we are seldom privileged to see, celebrating the depth and durability of women's love."

6. The General's Women: I have not read this book, but it looks interesting to me. 



About: 
"Set during the chaotic years of World War II, The General's Women tells the story of the conflicted relationship between General Dwight Eisenhower and Kay Summersby, his Irish driver/aide, and the impact of that relationship on Mamie Eisenhower and her life in Washington during the war. Told from three alternating points of view (Kay's, Ike's, and Mamie's), the novel charts the deepening of the relationship as Ike and Kay move from England (1942) to North Africa (1942-43) to England, France, and Germany before and after the Normandy landing (1944-45). At the end of the war, Ike is faced with the heart-wrenching choice between marrying Kay and a political future." 

7. Non fiction: Susan has written several non fiction books also as mentioned above:

Work of Her Own, a study of women who left their careers, and Writing From Life: Telling Your Soul's Story, a guidebook for women memoirists. That book led to the founding of the Story Circle Network in 1997. She has edited two anthologies for the Story Circle Network: With Courage and Common Sense (2004) and What Wildness Is This: Women Write about the Southwest (2007).

Susan's most recent nonfiction work includes two memoirs: An Extraordinary Year of Ordinary Days and Together, Alone: A Memoir of Marriage and Place. 

As I recall, when Susan spoke to the Mystery Book Club, she also wrote for the Nancy Drew stories many, many years ago and for magazines when they had weekly serial installments. 

I have like all of the books I have read by Susan Wittig Albert. There is a lot to choose from.

Featuring on Friday - Barbara Venkataraman

Happy Friday! Boy is it hot here. Good weekend to stay in and read. :)

I shared the book Engaged in Danger by Barbara Venkataraman this week, so thought I would tell you more about her and all of the books she writes.



About Barbara: 

"Award-winning author Barbara Venkataraman is an attorney and mediator specializing in family law. Her works include: "The Fight for Magicallus", a children's fantasy; "If you'd Just Listened to Me in the First Place", a humorous short story; and three books of humorous essays: "I'm Not Talking about You, Of Course," "A Trip to the Hardware Store & Other Calamities," and "A Smidge of Crazy", from her series, "Quirky Essays for Quirky People. Two of her books of humorous essays won the "Indie Book of the Day" award. "Engaged in Danger" was chosen as Book of the Day by www.bookoftheday.org and won first place in the Amateur Detective category of the Chanticleer Murder & Mayhem Mystery Writing Competition. Her popular Jamie Quinn Cozy Mystery Series includes: "Death by Didgeridoo," "The Case of the Killer Divorce," "Peril in the Park," "Engaged in Danger" and "Jeopardy in July", the fifth Jamie Quinn mystery! "

Jamie Quinn series: As the blurb says, there are five books in the series. It is a cozy mystery series set in Hollywood Florida. Jamie is a "reluctant attorney" specializing in divorce. She is often trying to decide exactly what she wants to do. I like how the books follow Jamie in a regular day to day routine, interacting with peers, family and friends. Something always happens though and she gets involved in two different situations, that may or may not cross paths. There is also humor sprinkled throughout the books.

Books 1-3: Death by Didgeridoo, Death by Divorce and Peril in the Park are available as a "box" set in paperback, Kindle and Audible.
Book 4: Engaged in Danger
Book 5: Jeopardy in July - (currently listening)



Barbara has also written several non mystery, humorous books.



Quirky Essays for Quirky People includes two book; "A Trip to the Hardware Story and Other Calamities" and "I'm Not Talking About You, Of Course". 

About: A Trip to the Hardware Store"
"These humorous essays explore such quirky topics as: disastrous home repairs, ("A Trip to the Hardware Store"), an unfortunate dinner party ("Dinner is Served"), the truth about lazy people ("Lazy Bones"), the weird life of a debt collector ("Your Account is Past Due") and obsessions with gadgets ("Gadget Girl"). Other essays examine how surreal the aging process is ("Where Did the Time Go?"), why you shouldn't judge a person by their job ("Beyond Belief"), and how to complicate simple transactions ("High Finance").
"I'm Not Talking About You, Of Course"
A collection of humorous insights into important topics ranging from annoying pet people ("I'm Not Talking About You, Of Course"), to analyzing your inner child ("Irrational Fears"), to living like the Amish in the aftermath of a hurricane ("A Jolt of Electricity"). Other essays examine just how much damage can be caused by a sneeze ("It All Started with a Loud Sneeze"), why it is so complicated to buy a tube of toothpaste ("Ask Me No Questions"), how a parent's obsessive hobbies can become an inescapable vortex ("Crazy Hobbies"), and why spending the night in a sleep clinic is like being abducted by probing aliens ("Nightmare at the Sleep Clinic"). "


Teatime with Mrs. Grammar Person
About:  "Fear not, Gentle Writer, Mrs. Grammar Person is here and she has the answers to all of the questions you never thought to ask. As a dedicated and serious grammarian, she will do what it takes to be entertaining and enlightening, but never vulgar or coarse. Heavens, no! Where are her smelling salts? Warm and witty, Mrs. G.P. makes grammar interesting with rhyming, wishful thinking, story-telling and a champagne toast. You are cordially invited to join her for a spot of tea."
I read and reviewed this in April 2017. I really enjoyed it.




If You'd Just Listened to Me in the First Place...
About: "Meet Ella Boudreaux, a self-confessed nag. By no means -- as Ella herself insisted -- is she a negative person. Persistent might be a better word; she is the kind of person you'd ask
for directions if you were lost, or provides you with a long chat while waiting
in line at the grocery store.

"Nobody, and I mean nobody, can nag like I can." Written from a first person point of view, protagonist Ella Boudreaux immediately establishes her unique skill set.

And where has it gotten her? Nowhere, that's where.

She can't hold onto a job and she can't find her true calling, but she knows it's out there. Could a handsome stranger help her find her destiny? Or maybe he was her destiny."
I read and reviewed this also in April and enjoyed it also. It is a short story.

Barbara's most recent set of humorous insights is A Smidge of Crazy.



About: A collection of humorous insights into important topics ranging from being targeted by annoying ads ("Nowhere to Hide"), to resorting to symbols when you've forgotten your words ("At a Loss for Words"), to figuring out what door that extra key opens ("My Extra Key"). Other essays examine how sitting is the new smoking (whatever that means), and why it is just so hard to focus when you have the attention span of a gnat." 
This is queued up in my TBR list.

Last but not least is a children's fantasy: The Fight for Magicallus.



About: "While experimenting with a magic wand, two young brothers are pulled into a computer game called: The Fight for Magicallus. In the land of Magicallus, they encounter goblins and knights who are on the brink of war because their ruler has mysteriously disappeared, and the knights blame the goblins! The boys learn of a frightening prophecy that foretells the end of Magicallus. They must find an ancient book hidden in a dragon’s lair before the prophecy comes to pass and they are all destroyed...

Can the boys find their way home? Will the knights and goblins go to war? Or will the dragon destroy them all? With both humor and suspense, this story pulls you in and doesn't let go."

Quite versatile! I haven't read all of Barbara's books but I have read several and really liked them all.
If you want a new cozy series, I recommend Jamie Quinn. If you need a laugh, check out her humorous books. Like fantasy or have children who like fantasy - The Fight for Magicullus looks good and has great reviews.

I hope you will check out Barbara's books. They can be found on Amazon and Goodreads. Her blog is A Trip to the Mobius Strip found at  barbaravenkataraman.blogspot.com/.

Enjoy!