Category: Book Brief

Book Brief: Moon Signs

Moon Signs
by Helen Haught Fanick
Genre of this Book: Cozy Mystery
Word count: 60,000

Retirement is a time for knitting, gardening, and an occasional quiet lunch with friends, according to Kathleen Williamson. Her sister Andrea has an altogether different point of view. When the sisters go to the Canaan Valley to search for paintings mentioned in a document found in an old hotel once owned by their grandparents—paintings that might be Monets—Andrea immediately becomes involved in tracking down a murderer. Kathleen would much rather be looking for the paintings, but she goes along with Andrea, since the victim was their hotel-keeper, murdered just down the hall from their room. The question is: Does the murder have something to do with the elusive paintings?

There are many clues and many suspects, including hotel staff, valley residents, and the mysterious foreigners who come from the Eastern Seaboard for skiing. There are also many types of danger—icy roads, sub-zero temperatures, and a killer who doesn’t care how many people die in the attempt to make sure the right ones do.

This book is available from Amazon and Amazon UK. Continue reading “Book Brief: Moon Signs”

Book Brief: 500 Miles to Go

500 Miles to Go500 Miles to Go
by J. Conrad Guest
Genre of this Book: Romance
Word count: 77,000

Gail had been Alex Krol’s girl since high school. She fell for him before she learned that he risked his life on dirt tracks during the summer months to the delight of the fans who paid to see cars crash—the more spectacular the wreck, the taller they stood on their toes and craned their necks to see the carnage.

When Alex makes his dream to drive in the Indy 500 come true and he witnesses the death of two drivers in his first start, he must ask himself if his quest to win the world’s greatest race is worth not only the physical risk, but also losing the woman he loves.

This book is available from Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble.  Continue reading “Book Brief: 500 Miles to Go”

Book Brief: Return to Crutcher Mountain

Return to Crutcher Mountain- Melinda ClaytonReturn to Crutcher Mountain
by Melinda Clayton
Genre of this Book: Southern fiction, general fiction Word count: 71,000

As recounted in Appalachian Justice, Jessie is an adult survivor of horrendous childhood abuse. At the age of thirteen, she was rescued by reclusive mountain woman Billy May Platte.

Now forty-seven, Jessie is outwardly successful but inwardly struggles to reconcile the broken pieces of her past. In honor of Billy May, Jessie has offered Crutcher Mountain as a location to build the Platte Lodge for Children, a wilderness retreat and respite program designed for children with disabilities. Everything comes together beautifully until a series of strange events threatens to shut down the retreat.

To save the lodge, Jessie must open her heart to the truths she discovers and place her trust in a lonely little boy.

This book is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. Continue reading “Book Brief: Return to Crutcher Mountain”

Book Brief: Fissured

FissuredFissured: Book Two of the Pipe Woman Chronicles
by Lynne Cantwell
Genre of this Book: urban fantasy/paranormal romance
Word count: 58,364

If anything can go wrong…

It’s not bad enough that Naomi Witherspoon is second-guessing her relationship with her new boyfriend, Ute shapeshifter Joseph Curtis. Now she’s been attacked by a jaguar in downtown Denver. And somebody has built a hydraulic fracturing operation down the road from their friend Charlie’s ranch. An independent filmmaker named Jack Rivers has conveniently appeared, and is documenting Charlie’s problems with the fracking operation. Naomi thinks Jack might be the Investigator – the fourth member of the team a Lakota Indian goddess set up to help Naomi broker peace between Jehovah and the pagan pantheons – but Jack seems more interested in causing trouble among Naomi, Joseph, and her best friend Shannon, than in helping out their team.

When the operator of the fracking facility turns out to be an old acquaintance, Naomi begins to wonder how many Tricksters it takes to make a divine deal….

This book is available from Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble. Continue reading “Book Brief: Fissured”