Shot in the Dark, March 2019

A SHOT IN THE DARK by Lynne Truss

March 14, 2019

PERSONAL INFORMATION:

Born May 31, 1955, in Kingston-upon-Thames, England. Education:

University College London, B.A. (with honors), 1977. Addresses:

Home: Sussex, England; Bloomsbury, England.

E-mail:info@lynnetruss.com.

CAREER:

Journalist and novelist…. Daily Mail, London, critic; Sunday Times,

London, book reviewer. Host of British Broadcasting Corporation

(BBC) Radio-4 series Cutting a Dash. Member of judging panel,

Asham Awards, 2005-06.

NOVELS

With One Lousy Free Packet of Seed, 1994.

Tennyson's Gift, 1996.

Going Loco, 1999.

Cat Out of Hell, 2015.

Lunar Cats, 2016

OTHER

Making the Cat Laugh: One Woman's Journal of Single Life on the

Margins, 1995.

Tennyson and His Circle, 1999.

Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to

Punctuation, 2004.

Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today; or,

Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door, 2005,

The Lynne Truss Treasury: Columns and Three Comic Novels, 2005.

A Certain Age (radio drama), Profile 2007.

A Certain Age Volume 2: The Men's Monologues (audiobook), BBC

Audiobooks 2007.

Also Children’s editions of the grammar guides.

A Shot in the Dark

On the verge of revealing the criminal mastermind behind a 1945

unsolved mystery, a famed theater critic is shot dead, leaving
Sergeant Jim Brunswick and Constable Twitten to solve both the
decades-old crime and the more recent murder.

Lynne Truss Home Page, http://www.lynnetruss.com/

Read-alikes:

Death in Paris  by Emilia Bernhard

Reason:  These debut mysteries provide engaging, witty characters

attempting to solve murders in a comedy of manners. Shot is more

of a historical cozy starring a quirky rookie in London, while the

contemporary Death introduces two American amateur sleuths in

Paris. -- Shannon Haddock

Mystery writer's mysteries (Most Recent: Apr 2019) by Becky Clark

(First book in series) A mystery author becomes the prime suspect

after her agent is discovered murdered exactly as described in her

new, unpublished manuscript and must work to clear her name in

the first novel of a new mystery series.

Cat DeLuca mysteries (Most Recent: Nov 2016) by K. J. Larsen

Set in Chicago, this upbeat mystery series features a sassy, newly

independent heroine who opens the Pants on Fire Detective Agency.

The ensuing fast-paced murder investigations are told in a

conversational style laced with wit and laugh-aloud humor, spiked

with a touch of romance and lightly coated with charm.

Dahlia Moss mysteries (Most Recent: Jan 2018) by Max Wirestone

Unemployed geek Dahlia Moss may not be the world's most likely

detective, but she's here to get the job done in her own well-

intentioned (if misguided) way. Dahlia sometimes makes dubious

decisions, but she always finds a way to solve the case in this witty

and intricately plotted series of mysteries.

Daughter of Sherlock Holmes, February 2019

DAUGHTER OF SHERLOCK HOLMES by Leonard S. Goldberg

February 14, 2019

PERSONAL INFORMATION:

Born March 19, 1936, in Charleston, SC. Education: Attended the Citadel,

1953-54, and College of Charleston, 1954-56; Medical College of South

Carolina, M.D., 1959. Military/Wartime Service:U.S. Air Force, physician,

1961-63; served in Japan; became captain.

Author’s website:   http://www.leonardgoldberg.com/

Leonard S. Goldberg is one of the leading forensic doctors in the United

States. In addition to acting as a consultant and an expert witness in medical

malpractice trials, he uses his specialized knowledge in his medical thriller

novels. The lead character in most of his books is Dr. Joanna Blalock, a

beautiful, brilliant Los Angeles forensic pathologist. Working with her lover,

police detective Jake Sinclair, Blalock investigates suspicious hospital deaths,

black-market organ transplants, and the like.

Goldberg comes back to his "Joanna Blalock" series with the 2017 novel The

Daughter of Sherlock Holmes. In this volume, he tells the story of an ancestor

of Joanna's, also named Joanna Blalock. Set in 1910, it finds this older

Joanna Blalock living with her son and her dead husband's family.

.... A highly skilled nurse with unique mental talents is recruited into the

investigative team of the elderly Dr. John Watson and his handsome son

before being swept up in a Holmesian mystery with ties to the Second Afghan

War, a hidden treasure and a murder at the highest levels of British society.

DAUGHTER OF SHERLOCK HOLMES MYSTERIES

• Daughter of Sherlock Holmes (2018)
• Study in Treason (June 2019)

"JOANNA BLALOCK" MEDICAL SUSPENSE SERIES

• Deadly Medicine, (1992.)
• A Deadly Practice, (1994.)
• Deadly Care, (1996.)
• Deadly Harvest,( 1997.)
• Deadly Exposure, (1998.)
• Lethal Measures, (2000.)
• Fatal Care, Signet (2001.)
• Brainwaves, (2002.)
• Fever Cell, (2003.)
• 
  
• OTHER MEDICAL THRILLERS  
• Transplant, (1980.)
• Patient One, (2012)
• Plague Ship, (2013.)

Read-alikes (search NoveList “Sherlock Holmes pastiche’ for more)

1. A bitter truth by Charles Todd, Reason: Stalwart and smart women nurses

turned sleuths must use all their formidable skills to solve murders steeped in

family secrets, revenge, and war in these atmospheric and compelling

mysteries set in 1910's England. -- Melissa Gray

2. Dracula by Dacre Stoker, Reason: Revisit the London of much-loved

fictional universes re-imagined with a twist in these compelling and

outrageously entertaining pastiches of the horror of Dracula (Dracula: The

Undead) and the mysteries of Holmes and Watson (The Daughter of Sherlock

Holmes). -- Melissa Gray

3. A study in scarlet women  by Sherry M. Thomas, Reason: These complex,

suspenseful mysteries revisit the atmospheric world of Sherlock Holmes, but

with a twist -- a distinctly female twist. Both absorbing stories star determined

and outrageously intelligent women whose identities are inextricably bound to

the Great Detective's. -- Melissa Gray

Whitstable Pearl Mystery, January 10, 2019

Whitstable Pearl Mystery by Julie Wassmer

January 10, 2019

Julie Wassmer was born in the East End of London, studied at

Kingston University and had a variety of different jobs before she

finally settled down to become a professional television drama writer.

She worked on several TV series, including ITV’s London’s Burning,

C5’s Family Affairs and the popular BBC soap, Eastenders, which she

wrote for almost 20 years.

In 2015, Julie’s debut crime novel, The Whitstable Pearl Mystery,

was published ….. and the television rights to the series have been
optioned by the TV production company, Buccaneer.

The Whitstable pearl mystery (2018)

Pearl Nolan always wanted to be a detective but life, and a teenage pregnancy, got in the way of a police career and instead shebuilt up a successful seafood restaurant in her coastal hometown of Whitstable. … she discovers the drowned body of local oyster fisherman. Is it a tragic accident, suicide - or murder?

Series: Whitstable Pearl mysteries, 1

Murder-on-sea  (2015)

Pearl's busy planning her family Christmas and providing mulled wine for a charity church fundraiser when Christmas cards begin arriving all over town - filled with spiteful messages from an anonymous writer. Series: Whitstable Pearl mysteries, 2

May Day murder (2018)

While neither the restaurant nor detective agency is too busy, Pearl resolves to spend some time at the family allotment. But her best friend, Nathan, has persuaded one of his favorite actresses to open the May Day festivities at Whitstable Castle and involves Pearl in his plans. …. It's left to Pearl and DCI Mike McGuire to unravel the mystery of the May Day murder.

Series: Whitstable Pearl mysteries, 3

Murder on the Pilgrims Way (2017)

Pearl receives a surprise present from her mother: an early
summer break at a riverside manor house that has been
recently transformed into an exclusive hotel. …. She's
started to enjoy Caruso's attentions -- and his cookery --
when one of the guests goes missing and it becomes clear
that murder is on the menu.

Series: Whitstable Pearl mysteries, 4

Disappearance at Oare (2018)

Christina Scott confides that seven years ago she had the
perfect life with a seaside home, a confirmed pregnancy and
Steven, a loving husband, until one morning she woke to find herself alone. Her husband had vanished…. Series: Whitstable Pearl mysteries, 5

READ A-LIKES:

Death at the Seaside by Frances Brody (2017)

Love, Lies, and Liquor; An Agatha Raisin Mystery by M. C. Beaton,

(2006)

Fall of A Philanderer by Carola Dunn (2005)

No Corners for the Devil; murder and Mystery in A Cornish  Seaside

Village by Olive Etchells  (2005)

Author’s website: https://www.juliewassmer.com

She rides again Dec 2018

SHE RIDES AGAIN   by Jordan Harper

December 13, 2018

PERSONAL INFORMATION: Born in MO; married;. Addresses: Home: Los Angeles, CA.

CAREER: Author; television writer and producer for The Mentalist, 2013-15,

and Gotham, 2015; has worked as a music journalist and film critic.

AWARDS: Best First Novel by an American Author Prize, Edgar Awards, 2018,

for She Rides Shotgun.

WRITINGS: American Death Songs (stories),

Beautiful Trash, 2013. (Contributor)

Trouble in the Heartland: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Bruce

Springsteen, edited by Joe Clifford, Gutter Books, 2014.

Love and Other Wounds (stories), Ecco Press (New York, NY), 2015.

She Rides Shotgun, Ecco Press (New York, NY), 2017.

She rides shotgun By: Harper, Jordan   Fresh out of jail, Nate thrusts his 11-

year-old daughter into a world of robbery and violence in an effort to keep her

safe from the prison gang that has put a bounty on his head and murdered her

mother.

READ-ALIKES

1. The twelve lives of Samuel Hawley  by Hannah Tinti, Reason: Compelling,

suspenseful novels presenting flawed, sympathetic criminal fathers on the run

with their young daughters. She Rides Shotgun is grittier and faster-paced,

while The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley is more of a coming-of-age version,

developing over a longer time. -- Karen Brissette

2. Blackbird by Michael L. Fiegel,  Reason: These compelling, gritty works of

crime fiction feature criminal fathers (or father figures) with unusually honest

and forthright relationships with their preteen daughters, taking them on the

lam and teaching them lessons in self-defense, strategy, and weaponry along

the way. -- Karen Brissette

3. The good wife by Stewart O'Nan, - Reason: The fathers' crimes have dire

consequences for their children in these bleak novels. In one, the daughter

joins the criminal world with her father. In The Good Wife, a wife and child try

to survive while he's incarcerated. -- Lauren Havens

4. Presidio by Randy  Kennedy, Reason: Gritty, atmospheric debut crime

novels feature well-developed characters on the hunt (Presidio) and on the run

(She Rides Shotgun). Presidio vividly portrays the violent Texas Panhandle of

the 1970s; She Rides Shotgun takes place in the contemporary southern

California underworld. -- Kaitlin Conner

5. Pyres by Derek Nikitas,  Reason: Strong, underage females are central to

these bleak novels. Inadvertently drawn into the crime world that killed a

parent, the heroines reveal how tough they are. While both plots are

compelling, She Rides Shotgun may be more disturbing. -- Lauren Havens

6. Tijuana Straits by Kem Nunn  Reason: These gritty noir novels feature

familarly hard-bitten, reformed ex-cons who wind up on the run while trying to

prorotect innocents: his own young precocious daughter in She Rides; in

Tijuana Straits, a female activist who runs afoul of drug gangs. -- Kim Burton

https://crimefictionlover.com/2017/06/interview-jordan-harper/

Interview with Jordan Harper

Strawberry Yellow Nov 2018

STRAWBERRY YELLOW by Naomi Hirahara

November 8, 2018

PERSONAL INFORMATION:
Born May 12, 1962, in Pasadena, CA; daughter of Isamu (a gardener) and Mayumi

Hirahara; married Wes Fukuchi. Education: Stanford University, B.A.,

1983; studied at the Inter-University Center for Advanced Japanese

Language Studies, Tokyo, Japan. Memberships: Mystery Writers of

America. Addresses: Home: Pasadena, CA. E-mail:

bachi@naomihirahara.com.

CAREER:
Writer. Rafu Shimpo, reporter and editor, until 1996; Newman University,

Wichita, KS, Milton Center Fellow in creative writing, 1996-97; freelance

writer, 1997--. Member of advisory boards, Asian Pacific American Book

Festival, Los Angeles, CA, 2007, and Orange County Agricultural and

Nikkei Heritage Museum, Fullerton Arboretum; teaches writing workshops

and a bilingual writing class at the Japanese Retirement Home, Los

Angeles.

AWARDS:
"Ten Best Mysteries and Thrillers of 2004" citation, Chicago Tribune, and

"Best Books of 2004" pick, Publishers Weekly, both for Summer of the

Big Bachi; Edgar Allan Poe award for best paperback original, 2007, for

Snakeskin Shamisen; grant, National Endowment for the Arts; T.

Jefferson Parker Award, Southern California Independent Booksellers

Association, 2014, for best mystery, for Murder on Bamboo Lane.

WRITINGS:
"MAS ARAI" MYSTERY SERIES. (Most Recent: Mar 2018)

(First book in series) Set in modern L.A., this novel of moral and spiritual

reckoning finds a Japanese American who survived the horrors of

Hiroshima forced to relive the nightmare when a stranger show up looking

for him. Original.

    Summer of the Big Bachi, 2004.
    Gasa-Gasa Girl, Delta2005.
    Snakeskin Shamisen, 2006.
    Blood Hina, 2010.
    Strawberry Yellow, 2013.

    Sayonara Slam, 2016

    Hiroshima Boy, 2018

ELLIE RUSH MYSTERIES.  (Most Recent: Apr 2015)
    Murder on Bamboo Lane (Apr 2014)

    (First book in series) During the L.A.'s Chinese New Year Parade,

rookie bike cop        Ellie Rush's day turns dangerous when a murder

investigation falls into her lap.

   

       Grave on Grand Avenue (Apr 2015)

Author. Read-alikes
1.   Massey, Sujata  Reason: Massey and Hirahara write amateur

detective mysteries that feature Japanese American sleuths. Their

sleuths are likeble characters who are sensitively dealing with their

multicultural heritage. The stories feature sharp dialogue, ingenious plots,

and sharp characterization. The books bring in interesting information

about Japanese heritage while giving a keen sense of place. -- Merle Jacob
2.   Friedman, Daniel, Reason:  Daniel Friedman and Naomi Hirahara

write mysteries featuring senior citizens as their amateur sleuths. The

gruff elderly Jewish ex-cop and Japanese American gardener use their

cultural and worldly knowledge of people to solve crimes. The books are

filled with ethnic details, funny dialogue, and intricately detailed plots. --

Merle Jacob