Eleanor Anders reviews A Catered St. Patrick's Day

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My guest this week is Eleanor Anders, book reviewer. Today she's reviewing Isis Crawford's A CATERED ST. PATRICK'S DAY.

Book Blurb (courtesy of Kensington Publishing's website):

Gastronomical dream team Bernie and Libby Simmons wade into a Celtic knot of malice and mayhem when a St. Patrick’s celebration goes terribly wrong… 

To most of the people of little Longely, New York, St. Paddy’s Day means good food, great music, and plenty of Guinness. But when the lifeless body of Mike Sweeney floats to the top of a vat of green beer, it looks like the luck o’ the Irish has just run out.

Unfortunately for the Simmons sisters, the number one suspect is related to one of their very best catering customers, the pampered and powerful Bree Nottingham. When Bree visits A Little Taste of Heaven to beseech them to clear her nephew’s name, they just can’t say no.

But the more information Bernie and Libby stir up, the more Duncan Nottingham looks like a killer. Known for his hot temper and love of the drink, Duncan and the deceased were both part of the Corned Beef and Cabbage Club, a group with more buried history than the Emerald Isle. And each member—especially Duncan—had a motive to sing Sweeney his last Irish lullaby. A motive they don’t want anyone revealing.

For Bernie and Libby, the situation is deadly and in danger of boiling over. And they can’t count on good old Saint Pat to drive out the snake in their midst…they’ll have to do it themselves, before a murderer strikes again.

Includes Original Recipes for You to Try!  

*Courtesy of Kensington Publishing's website.

         Eleanor's review of . . .

A CATERED ST. PATRICK'S DAY

by: Isis Crawford

Publisher: Kensington 

Published: January 31, 2012       

Format: Hardback (304 pages)     

ISBN: 9780758247407           

Series: A Mystery with Recipes             

Origin: Publisher

***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

Four leaf-clover shaped cookies, green beer, St. Patrick's day festivities, and murder.

Bernie and Libby Simmons are tossing dough and bantering around the worth of silly superstitions, when a telephone call interrupts them.  Bernie's boyfriend, Brandon, insists the sisters meet him, but he doesn't say why.

It's not until they arrive at the bar that these sisters become his witnesses of sorts; Brandon needs them to witness a death scene, just in case he's arrested.  However, odd as that may sound, it isn't.

The sisters along with their father, Sean, are famous around town for their sleuthing and interesting ways of finding out the whodunit, much to the Police Chief's chagrin.  He feels this crime solving family makes him the "Barney Fife" of Longely, New York and he would love to find them guilty of something.

Although the bar owner insists that this "accident" should not ruin business for his expected holiday crowd, Chief Lucas Broadbent makes an arrest.

Now, Bernie, Libby and Sean are on the case, to help.

However, when Sean discovers a second body, this sleuthing family gives the police chief even more charges to hang on the man they were supposed to help.  Have they just met a case they couldn't crack?  Or is there something they are missing?

My Take:

I recommend Iris Crawford's A CATERED ST. PATRICK'S DAY.

These two sisters are just like any set of siblings, they cajole, push each other's buttons, banter, and support each other through it all.  Their father, Sean, is a grounding force to the pair, and he's always bringing another avenue of investigation to the hunt.

Iris Crawford's characters are funny and a bit quirky, but her plots are engaging and deadly. Moreover, her recipes are to die for!

A CATERED ST. PATRICK'S DAY is a stand-alone title. Nonetheless, you'll want to catch up on the other books in the series, such as A CATERED THANKSGIVING (Kensington November 2011), A CATERED HALLOWEEN (reprint Kensington September 2011), A CATERED BIRTHDAY (reprint Kensington September 2009) just to name a few.

Mysterious Eleanor

About Eleanor Anders:

A book reviewer, Sisters in Crime member, writer, mum, dog mom, cat mom, wife, and lover of good food who is always on a diet!

Reviewing great reads direct from publishers including: Kensington Books, Forever Romance (imprint of Grand Central Publishing), B&H Publishers, Barbour Publishing, WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group(through Blogging for Books), Bell Bridge Books, Tyndale (through Tyndale Blog Network), and others.

Come visit me on Google+, Pinterest Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, LibraryThing, Shelfari, Wordpress, and Publishers Marketplace.

Redemption: atonement for guilt, deliverance, salvation

J.R. Turner, author of  Redemption, due out this month, and many other novels, is my guest. I'm looking forward to her new release.

When I began writing my first urban fantasy novel, the title was a no-brainer. Redemption is such a powerful driving force in the human experience. From the need to prove we have what it takes to ourselves or others, to seeking out a way to atone for a perceived or actual sin, there are few motivators stronger than our darkest secrets.

I could think of no better way to explore the human struggle between dark and light, wrong and right than through the contrast of angel and demon. We each have aspects of both in our human make-up. There is an old Native American tale about this:

The grandfather said, "There are two wolves fighting in my heart. One wolf is angry, vengeful, and hateful. The other wolf is understanding, compassionate, and loving."

The grandson asked him, "Which wolf will win?"

The grandfather replied, "The one I feed."

Throughout Redemption I return again and again to the idea of how good intentions often lead us to feed our darker selves, despite our vigilance . Savannah, a half-angel, is focused on killing sinners to earn her redemption, but when she falls in love with a half-demon, Nico, her focus turns to finding his redemption. In giving up her need to see heaven to save someone she loves, she ultimately makes a heart-wrenching sacrifice. Sometimes our conscience demands a painful course of action.

Love, hate, life, and death–these are the human experiences we seek to understand the most and in writing Redemption I came to understand my own beliefs far better and I hope when reading about these universal struggles, they leave the reader with some meaty food for thought.

Note from Ellis. This review of Redemption from Nancy Holzner is too good to leave out:

"In a bleak, post-apocalyptic world, what happens when a half-angel searching for her redemption meets a half-demon hellbent on revenge? If it's J.R. Turner's world, major sparks fly. Redemption is a heady mix of action, thrills, and sizzling romance. Half-angel Savannah Mantas is both a kick-ass heroine and a complex character. Immortal yet deeply wounded, she searches for the redemption that will allow her to ascend and leave behind the blasted, dying Earth. But she never expects to find that redemption in the arms of half-demon Nico Montenegro, a man who should be her mortal enemy. Turner's urban fantasy is a fast-paced thrill ride that wrestles seriously with questions of good and evil, guilt and innocence, to deliver a satisfying, multilayered read."

J.R. Turner is an award-winning author and editor for Quake, the young adult imprint of Echelon Press. She edits the Wisconsin Regional Writers' Association newsletter and will soon become their Executive Director. First contracted in book-length fiction in 2005, she has gone on to have eight more novels released, four e-book shorts, and a host of flash fiction, poetry, and articles published. She owns the Roto-Writer Critique Service and has enjoyed watching many of her clients win awards and find success. She lives in central Wisconsin with her husband, three children, and a healthy assortment of chocolate. To find out more, visit: jennifer-turner.com