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Camilla Randall Mystery #6
The Queen of Staves
The Camilla Randall Mysteries are a laugh-out-loud mashup of romantic comedy, crime fiction, and satire: Dorothy Parker meets Dorothy L. Sayers. Downwardly mobile bookstore owner and etiquette expert Camilla Randall is a magnet for murder, mayhem and Mr. Wrong. But she always solves the mystery in her quirky, but oh-so-polite way. Usually with more than a little help from her gay best friend, Plantagenet Smith.
This sixth episode in the series brings back some of our favorite characters. Camilla is, as usual, on the brink of financial disaster when a trio of wacky women enter her life and the questions (and bodies) start piling up.
Why does everyone think Camilla has the lost Portuguese crown jewels? Will homicidal Mack Rattlebag discover Camilla's boyfriend Ronzo only faked his own death? And what has turned polite little Buckingham into an attack cat?
It's one surprise after another in this warp-speed comedy-mystery. Ronzo helps Camilla keep her struggling Morro Bay bookstore afloat with his unexpected tarot reading skills…until the lover of one of his tarot clients turns up dead on the beach. It's up to Camilla and Ronzo—and the tarot cards—to solve the mystery.
Meanwhile, Camilla's ex-husband Jonathan Kahn resurfaces, sparking old feelings, and Ronzo has a new rival: a too-perfect doctor who may or may not be in cahoots with a gang of murderous New-Agers.
***
"There is a depth and freshness about Anne Allen's work that makes for a pleasing surprise!" Poet Janice Konstantinidis
Tremendous fun, wittily satiric and highly recommended." Nigel J. Robinson
"A perfect blend of wild and wacky characters spouting hilarious dialogue while finding themselves in unpredictable and unexpected situations." Paul Alan Fahey, Rainbow award-winning author of The Mother I Imagined, The Mom I Knew.
"Lots of fun! Anne R. Allen is a hugely talented writer, and her Camilla Randall series never fails to entertain." Claude Forthomme, senior editor, Impakter magazine.
"Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys romance, and crime suspense, with a lethally satiric edge." Dr. John Yeoman, author of How Did the Author Do That?
This sixth episode in the series brings back some of our favorite characters. Camilla is, as usual, on the brink of financial disaster when a trio of wacky women enter her life and the questions (and bodies) start piling up.
Why does everyone think Camilla has the lost Portuguese crown jewels? Will homicidal Mack Rattlebag discover Camilla's boyfriend Ronzo only faked his own death? And what has turned polite little Buckingham into an attack cat?
It's one surprise after another in this warp-speed comedy-mystery. Ronzo helps Camilla keep her struggling Morro Bay bookstore afloat with his unexpected tarot reading skills…until the lover of one of his tarot clients turns up dead on the beach. It's up to Camilla and Ronzo—and the tarot cards—to solve the mystery.
Meanwhile, Camilla's ex-husband Jonathan Kahn resurfaces, sparking old feelings, and Ronzo has a new rival: a too-perfect doctor who may or may not be in cahoots with a gang of murderous New-Agers.
***
"There is a depth and freshness about Anne Allen's work that makes for a pleasing surprise!" Poet Janice Konstantinidis
Tremendous fun, wittily satiric and highly recommended." Nigel J. Robinson
"A perfect blend of wild and wacky characters spouting hilarious dialogue while finding themselves in unpredictable and unexpected situations." Paul Alan Fahey, Rainbow award-winning author of The Mother I Imagined, The Mom I Knew.
"Lots of fun! Anne R. Allen is a hugely talented writer, and her Camilla Randall series never fails to entertain." Claude Forthomme, senior editor, Impakter magazine.
"Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys romance, and crime suspense, with a lethally satiric edge." Dr. John Yeoman, author of How Did the Author Do That?
354 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 16, 2017
2 people are currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
Anne R. Allen
19 books79 followersAnne R. Allen is the author of 10 rom-com mysteries published by MWiDP, Kotu Beach Press, and Thalia Press: FOOD OF LOVE, THE LADY OF THE LAKEWOOD DINER, and THE GATSBY GAME (now available in a boxed set BOOMER WOMEN: THREE COMEDIES ABOUT A GENERATION THAT CHANGED THE WORLD), plus the Camilla Randall Mysteries: THE BEST REVENGE, GHOSTWRITERS IN THE SKY, SHERWOOD, LTD, NO PLACE LIKE HOME, SO MUCH FOR BUCKINGHAM, THE QUEEN OF STAVES, GOOGLING OLD BOYFRIENDS, and CATFISHING IN AMERICA.
She co-authored HOW TO BE A WRITER IN THE E-AGE: A SELF-HELP GUIDE with PAY IT FORWARD author Catherine Ryan Hyde. And Catherine wrote the foreword of her latest guide: THE AUTHOR BLOG: EASY BLOGGING FOR BUSY AUTHORS.
Anne R. Allen's Blog (which she shares with New York Times bestselling author Ruth Harris) was named one of the Best 101 Websites for Writers by Writers Digest.
She co-authored HOW TO BE A WRITER IN THE E-AGE: A SELF-HELP GUIDE with PAY IT FORWARD author Catherine Ryan Hyde. And Catherine wrote the foreword of her latest guide: THE AUTHOR BLOG: EASY BLOGGING FOR BUSY AUTHORS.
Anne R. Allen's Blog (which she shares with New York Times bestselling author Ruth Harris) was named one of the Best 101 Websites for Writers by Writers Digest.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 24, 2017
Another triumphant mystery-comedy-thriller starring Anne R. Allen's doggedly polite heroine Camilla Randall. Queen of Staves continues all the well-how-about-that twists and irony of the series to date: it's "Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People- Steroids Edition" because the energy level and heights of confusion and danger just keep rising in an addictive way. Also, steroids.
What I really like about these books is how Allen manages to keep you in maximum uncertainty about so many characters for so long. That is life itself in a nutshell, people go from heroes to villains in a heartbeat and the world refuses to align neatly. Or another way to put it- the tales are incredible yet the characters fully believable. And this kind of action requires tremendous attention to detail: where someone parks a car, who happens to have a phone (or gun) with them, which acquaintance actually met another before. It all matters, which means the reader gets a tremendous reward from all attention paid. Highest recommendation for this series: the only thing to do before reading Queen of Staves is to sample the earlier books in this series!
What I really like about these books is how Allen manages to keep you in maximum uncertainty about so many characters for so long. That is life itself in a nutshell, people go from heroes to villains in a heartbeat and the world refuses to align neatly. Or another way to put it- the tales are incredible yet the characters fully believable. And this kind of action requires tremendous attention to detail: where someone parks a car, who happens to have a phone (or gun) with them, which acquaintance actually met another before. It all matters, which means the reader gets a tremendous reward from all attention paid. Highest recommendation for this series: the only thing to do before reading Queen of Staves is to sample the earlier books in this series!
March 28, 2018
The Queen of Staves, Book Six in the Camilla Randall Mystery series by Anne R. Allen, is a pure delight to read.
Chock full of interesting characters, mystery, and humor that just won't stop ("Never ask a favor of a Capricorn. They have spreadsheets where their heart should be…”), this page-turning stand-alone novel offers readers eccentric characters (under the Ten of Swords that headlines Chapter 15, main character Camilla Randall ponders, “Why was I such a magnetic for lunatics?”), surprising twists and turns, and a tarot-infused story that moves effortlessly through 66 chapters, each chapter opening with a picture from the Rider-Waite-Smith deck.
Themes from the famous deck resonate throughout the story, weaving its way into dialogue, storyline, and character (including a handyman-turned-tarot-reader), even setting as evidenced in the description of a home of a tarot client that resembles the fortress on the Tower card (complete with a rocky cliff and the dangers it brings). I found the Wheel of Fortune to be the perfect card to bring closure to the novel.
With a boyfriend in hiding and a bookstore in Morro Bay that’s about to go under, Camilla Randall finds herself once more at the center of an unsolved murder. Romantic comedy, mystery, murder, intrigue, jewels and the tarot … this book is pure delight. I loved it. Highly recommended. So much fun!
Chock full of interesting characters, mystery, and humor that just won't stop ("Never ask a favor of a Capricorn. They have spreadsheets where their heart should be…”), this page-turning stand-alone novel offers readers eccentric characters (under the Ten of Swords that headlines Chapter 15, main character Camilla Randall ponders, “Why was I such a magnetic for lunatics?”), surprising twists and turns, and a tarot-infused story that moves effortlessly through 66 chapters, each chapter opening with a picture from the Rider-Waite-Smith deck.
Themes from the famous deck resonate throughout the story, weaving its way into dialogue, storyline, and character (including a handyman-turned-tarot-reader), even setting as evidenced in the description of a home of a tarot client that resembles the fortress on the Tower card (complete with a rocky cliff and the dangers it brings). I found the Wheel of Fortune to be the perfect card to bring closure to the novel.
With a boyfriend in hiding and a bookstore in Morro Bay that’s about to go under, Camilla Randall finds herself once more at the center of an unsolved murder. Romantic comedy, mystery, murder, intrigue, jewels and the tarot … this book is pure delight. I loved it. Highly recommended. So much fun!
October 25, 2017
Anne R. Allen certainly inherited the funny gene. Many kinds of humour in this book, from the sophisticated to the downright hilarious (I’m thinking the police station ‘juicing’ scene which had me laughing out loud.) That said, it’s not a simple book. There are layers to the plot and it moves at a brisk pace. The eccentric characters all come together at the end for a wild finale that reminded me of madcap comedies of the 50s and 60s. My kind of book.
January 28, 2018
I really like a good mystery and Anne R. Allen provides one with a lot of complexity that will really reward you for paying attention to all the little details. Add to that a large cast of amusingly quirky characters and this book gets to double as a comedy as well. How the author keeps it all straight is another mystery, but she does, and you will too as she builds to a fully satisfying conclusion.
April 18, 2020
Another excellent Camilla Randall novel, if you've never read one, you must! In these times of coronavirus panic and boredom, the Camilla Randall series is a wonderful escape from what we are all living through. It's fast-paced, full of twists and turns and the main character, Camilla, is a delight, humorous, good-hearted - exactly like you wish your best friend to be!
November 10, 2017
A delightful romp through a deck of tarot cards, leading Camilla once again teetering between mortal danger and hilarity. Anne R, Allen's books are always a treat.
October 9, 2017
A mystery comedy with heroes and villains on the California Coast. Twists and laughs to keep me turning the pages.
Camilla finds herself in more situations to get herself out of than I thought possible for one person, she has no money and plenty of men.
I voluntarily reviewed a copy I received.
Camilla finds herself in more situations to get herself out of than I thought possible for one person, she has no money and plenty of men.
I voluntarily reviewed a copy I received.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews