Cecily Wolfe's Blog: The Start of Something New - Posts Tagged "mystery"

If you live in Northeast Ohio like me, you know that we are snowed (and iced!) in for a bit (well, it IS Ohio!) and it occurred to me that I should take some time while stuck indoors to make up a list of my favorite books read in 2017. Note: these are books I read in 2017 but may not have been published in 2017.

I will list them by genre, but some do cross over. I hope you take a look and see if we have any favorites in common - if we do, leave a comment and tell me which ones! I'd love to know what you read and liked last year as well.

Here we go (in no particular order - I don't think I could pick an absolute favorite in each genre, or overall):

Fantasy & Science Fiction
A Girl in Black and White
A Gathering of Shadows
Allerleirauh

Romance
French Restitution, French Retribution, French Restoration (yes, the entire series)
A Daring Arrangement (historical)
Devil in Spring (historical)

Christian/Inspirational/Amish
Abiding Mercy
The Beloved Hope Chest
Upon a Spring Breeze
Written in Love

Nonfiction
Mindfulness: 30 Day Mindfulness Challenge: Step-By-Step Guide to Living a Stress-Free & Happy Life
The Gift of Love: One Woman's Journey to Save a Life

Young Adult
Stalking Jack the Ripper (historical, mystery, horror)
Strange the Dreamer (fantasy)
The Evaporation of Sofi Snow (science fiction)
The Glass Spare (fantasy)
Lord of Shadows (fantasy)
Long Way Home (romance)
K My Name Is Kendra (realistic)
Collide (fantasy)
Chloe (realistic)
Let the Sky Fall (fantasy)

I read about 150 books a year, and if it looks interesting, I will read it regardless of genre - obviously I read a lot of YA (I specialize in working with teens in my 'real life' job, so this makes sense, although I do enjoy YA on a personal level) and I like most other genres as well.

What are your 2017 favorites, and what are you looking forward to reading in 2018? I think I'll leave my 2018 to-read list for another post!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Barnabas Tew and the Case of the Missing Scarab



Barnabas Tew, a detective in Victorian London, is having a hard time making a name for himself, probably because most of his clients end up dead before he can solve their cases. His luck is about to change, though, for better or worse: Anubis, the Egyptian god of the dead, notices him and calls him to the Egyptian underworld. A terrible kidnapping has occurred; one that promises to put an end to the status quo and could perhaps even put an end to the entire world. It is up to Barnabas (along with his trusty assistant, Wilfred) to discover the culprit and set things to right. Can he turn his luck around and solve the most important case of his life?

Purchase Link - mybook.to/Barnabas



Author Bio – Columbkill Noonan lives in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, where she teaches yoga and Anatomy and Physiology. Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines. Her first novel, “Barnabas Tew and the Case of the Missing Scarab” by Crooked Cat Books, was released in 2017, and her latest work, “Barnabas Tew and the Case of the Nine Worlds”, is set to be released in September 2018.

In her spare time, Columbkill enjoys hiking, paddle boarding, aerial yoga, and riding her rescue horse, Mittens. To learn more about Columbkill please feel free to visit her website (www.columbkill.weebly.com), on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ColumbkillNoonan) or on Twitter (@ColumbkillNoon1).

Social Media Links – Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColumbkillNo...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/columbkillnoon1?l...

The Invisible Case

A shocking death turns a homecoming into a nightmare.

It's Easter 1970 in the seaside town of Tamarisk Bay, and for one family the first Easter of a new decade brings a shocking tragedy. Amateur sleuth and professional librarian, Janie Juke, is settling into motherhood and looking forward to spending time with her family. When her Aunt Jessica is due back from Rome after nine years travelling around Europe, she arrives back in town with a new Italian friend, Luigi, and the whole family soon get embroiled in a tangle of mystery and suspicion, with death and passion at the heart of the story.

As time runs out on Luigi as prime suspect for murder, Janie has to use all of her powers of deduction in the footsteps of her hero, Hercule Poirot, to uncover the facts. Why did Luigi come to Tamarisk Bay? What is the truth about his family?
As Luigi's story unfolds, tragedy seems to haunt the past, present and unless Janie acts fast, possibly what is yet to come.
Amazon US - https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Case...
Amazon UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Invisible-Ca...
Author Bio –
Isabella Muir is the author of Janie Juke series of crime mysteries - all set in Sussex.



'The Tapestry Bag' is the first in the series, followed by ‘Lost Property’. Now - 'The Invisible Case' - the latest in the series is available for pre-order from Amazon.

The 'Janie Juke mysteries' are set in Sussex in the sixties and seventies and feature a young librarian with a passion for Agatha Christie. All that Janie has learned from her hero, Hercule Poirot, she is able to put into action as she sets off to solve a series of crimes and mysteries.

Isabella has also published 'Ivory Vellum' - a collection of short stories.



She has been surrounded by books her whole life and – after working for twenty years as a technical editor and having successfully completed her MA in Professional Writing - she was inspired to focus on fiction writing.
Aside from books, Isabella has a love of all things caravan-like. She has spent many winters caravanning in Europe and now, together with her husband, she runs a small caravan site in Sussex. They are ably assisted by their much-loved Scottie, Hamish.

Social Media Links –
TWITTER @SussexMysteries
FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/isabel.muir.96
WEBSITE: www.isabellamuir.com
 
Giveaway – Win a signed copy of The Invisible Case (Open Internationally)
*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
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I have tapped into my Italian roots for Janie Juke’s newest mystery and have enjoyed immersing myself in happy memories of Italy, as well as benefiting from first-hand research, courtesy of my Italian relations.

Having an Italian mother, as well as cousins who live in Rome, I’ve been lucky to have the chance for loads of trips to that beautiful country. I think I was about four years old when I first visited and since then not many years pass when I don’t make at least a flying visit.

In the first chapter of The Invisible Case we find Janie’s Aunt Jessica travelling from Rome to return to her home town of Tamarisk Bay after nine years exploring Europe. As I wrote the opening scenes I was there with Jessica on that long train journey from Rome. When my brothers and sisters first did the journey as little ones we sat in an ordinary seated compartment. It was only later that we moved upmarket to couchettes and were able to stretch out.

In The Invisible Case Jessica and her travelling companion, Luigi, enjoy their breakfast in the dining car. But as children we had all the excitement of a picnic breakfast on our laps! It makes me smile now to think about how we downed our cornflakes with evaporated milk, as though it was a meal fit for royalty! Fortunately, most of our trips were made as a family, which meant we filled a compartment, so no danger of annoying other passengers with our endless games of I-spy.
On our return journeys we spent hours munching our way through the abundance of fruit that kind aunts and uncles donated to us for our travels. On one occasion I remember an uncle arriving at Rome station to say goodbye and handing over a suitcase full of grapes!

During our holidays my dad took us on long walks around Rome and, even though my aunt lived quite a way from the station, dad insisted we had to start all our walks from Roma Termini, which is the setting for the opening chapter of The Invisible Case…
‘Each of the thirty-two platforms at Roma Termini buzzed with comings and goings. Friends laughing as they ran along the platform, arm in arm. A husband hugging his wife before waving her off with a loud ‘Ti amo’. It was an orchestra of sound; trolley wheels that needed oiling, loud conversation, even music, all combining to make it difficult to pick out the tannoy announcement that the Paris train was preparing to leave.’

One of my favourite places in Italy is the pretty port of Anzio. Anzio lies just about an hour away from Rome and is a favoured resort for Italian holidaymakers. There is a gentle buzz about the place, with wonderful fish restaurants all along the port and bars on every street corner. In The Invisible Case we learn about Anzio, not only as the present-day home town of Luigi, but also as the location for a key part of the plot, when the story looks back at the war-torn Anzio of 1944.

This third book in the Sussex Crime series isn’t the only one where Italians feature. In Lost Property we meet Rosetta Summer, who runs the Summer Guest House on the seafront in Tamarisk Bay. In The Invisible Case we meet her again when Luigi goes to stay with her. She is a charismatic Italian, with a talent for putting on the most wonderful Italian feasts.

Writing about those feasts reminded me of all the wonderful Italian meals I have had, courtesy of aunts and uncles. You know you are in Italy when you reach the end of a four-hour feast and you think you will burst if you even look at one more thing, and a kindly aunt says: ‘You must have some fruit, after all, it’s only water’!

Janie’s Aunt Jessica has had a wonderful time during those nine years travelling around Europe, she loved every minute – especially her time in Italy. Do you get the sense I may just bit a touch envious?!

Only time will tell how and when my beloved Italy will pop again in my stories – if you want to keep tabs, then visit my website at: www.isabellamuir.com or follow me on Twitter @SussexMysteries or visit my Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/IsabellaMuir...