The Masque of a Murderer by Susanna Calkins

Publication Date: April 14, 2015

Minotaur Books/St. Martins Press

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Pages: 323



Series: Book Three, Lucy Campion Mysteries

Genre: Historical Mystery







 



In Susanna Calkins’ next richly drawn mystery set in 17th century England, Lucy Campion, formerly a ladies’ maid in the local magistrate’s household, has now found gainful employment as a printer’s apprentice. On a freezing winter afternoon in 1667, she accompanies the magistrate’s daughter, Sarah, to the home of a severely injured Quaker man to record his dying words, a common practice of the time. The man, having been trampled by a horse and cart the night before, only has a few hours left to live. Lucy scribbles down the Quaker man’s last utterances, but she’s unprepared for what he reveals to her—that someone deliberately pushed him into the path of the horse, because of a secret he had recently uncovered.



Fearful that Sarah might be traveling in the company of a murderer, Lucy feels compelled to seek the truth, with the help of the magistrate's son, Adam, and the local constable. But delving into the dead man’s background might prove more dangerous than any of them had imagined.



In The Masque of a Murderer, Susanna Calkins has once again combined finely wrought characters, a richly detailed historical atmosphere, and a tightly-plotted mystery into a compelling read.

My Review

Three Stars

Copy received from Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for an honest review

"The Masque of a Murderer" by Susanna Calkins is the third in the "Lucy Campion Mysteries." I grew up reading Nancy Drew so I enjoyed reading this book because Lucy is a 1600's Nancy Drew.  I really enjoyed the mystery aspect that the author included. I also really liked reading about a printmaker. The printed word is everywhere no a days but it was interesting to read about it when it was fairly still a new concept. The heroine was interesting to read about and I liked how the story unfolded. Anyone that enjoys mysteries will enjoy this book.

Lucy Campion Mystery Series Titles

Book One: A Murder at Rosamund's Gate
Macavity Award Finalist Sue Feder Historical Mystery Award (2014)
Barnes & Noble Bookseller's Selection ("Mystery Pick" and "Featured New Arrival")
Chicago Book Review - Best Books of 2013

Book Two: From the Charred Remains (Paperback release on March 17, 2015)
Short-listed for the Bruce Alexander Historical Mystery Award (2015)

Book Three: The Masque of a Murderer (coming April 2015!)

Praise for the Lucy Campion Mystery Series

"...the high-quality writing augurs well for future outings." -Publisher's Weekly



"Calkins makes Lucy’s efforts to find the real killer entirely plausible, leading to a nail-biter climax with London in flames. This history-mystery delivers a strong heroine making her way through the social labyrinth of Restoration London." -Booklist



"Calkins' debut mystery places her unusual detective in a world rich in carefully researched historical detail." -Kirkus



"A historical mystery with originality and great attention to detail. Readers are transported to 17th century England, a time when social classes were just beginning to change. The characters are multi-dimensional--including the smart, adventurous Lucy Campion--and the mystery will keep readers turning the pages, and they'll eagerly await the next book in the series." RT Book Reviews (4 Stars)



"...an intricate tale of fraud and blackmail, leavened by a touch of romance. Calkins, who holds a doctorate in British history, puts her knowledge to sparkling use in this intriguing mystery, which combines a gripping plot with rich historical detail and one of the most admirable protagonists in the genre." -The Richmond Times-Dispatch



"Calkins is able to seamlessly weave this romance into the story without making it the main plot line, and keeping the mystery the main focus of the story....The puzzles, anagrams, and many secrets combine to make intertwining plot twists that keep the pages turning. FROM THE CHARRED REMAINS is an exciting, secret filled, historical mystery that will keep readers guessing until the very end." --Fresh Fiction (Reviewer's Pick)



“A good yarn and a fascinating look at life in England in a time when things began to change...social classes, positions, servants' rights...all because of plague and fire.” -Book Babe Blog



“For me, this book was more than a mystery. It was an eye-opening look at what London was like in the mid-1660s, including the plague and fire that ravaged London, class struggle, the plight of women, and the laws of the time. The author's engaging writing style made it easy to slip back into the past and experience these things with Lucy.” -Book of Secrets



“A Murder at Rosamund's Gate is Susanna Calkins' absorbing debut novel. Just a warning that time WILL easily slip away as you become engrossed in this historical fiction mystery.” -1776 Books: A Philadelphian's Literary Journey

Pre-Order the Book

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

iTunes

About the Author

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Susanna Calkins lives in Highland Park, Illinois with her husband and two sons, where she is an educator at Northwestern University. With a PhD in history, her historical mysteries feature Lucy Campion, a 17th century chambermaid-turned-printer’s apprentice. Her first novel, A Murder at Rosamund's Gate, was a finalist for the Sue Feder Historical Mystery Award (Macavity). The second in this series, From the Charred Remains, is currently a finalist for the Bruce Alexander Historical Mystery Award. Her third, The Masque of a Murderer, will be released in April 2015.



For more information and to subscribe to Susanna Calkins' newsletter please visit her website. You can also follow her blog, and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

The Masque of a Murderer Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, March 16

Review at Bibliophilia, Please



Tuesday, March 17

Review at Flashlight Commentary

Guest Post at Bibliophilia, Please



Wednesday, March 18

Interview at Flashlight Commentary



Friday, March 20

Spotlight at Historical Readings & Reviews



Monday, March 23

Review & Interview at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!



Wednesday, March 25

Review & Interview at The Emerald City Book Review



Tuesday, March 31

Review at With Her Nose Stuck in a Book



Wednesday, April 1

Character Interview at Boom Baby Reviews



Thursday, April 2

Review at Just One More Chapter



Monday, April 6

Review at Ageless Pages Reviews



Tuesday, April 7

Spotlight at The Genre Queen



Thursday, April 9

Review at The Lit Bitch

Guest Post at A Literary Vacation



Friday, April 10

Review at Book Nerd



Monday, April 13

Review at CelticLady's Reviews



Tuesday, April 14

Review at Book Babe



Thursday, April 16

Review at Jorie Loves a Story

Spotlight at Layered Pages



Friday, April 17

Spotlight & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

The Rocheforts by Christian Laborie

Author Christian Laborie

on Tour

April 6-15, 2015

with

The Rocheforts

(fiction / saga)

Release date: May 5, 2015 at Open Road Integrated Media

484 pages

ISBN: 978-1-4804-6120-8

Goodreads

***

SYNOPSIS

Two very different families are bonded by scandal in this sweeping story of love, greed, and betrayal.
Anselme Rochefort has built an empire manufacturing serge de Nîmes, or denim. His biggest client? Levi Strauss. As the craze for blue jeans begins to sweep the globe, Rochefort Industries seems poised for untold success. But Anselme can be as cruel and ruthless with his family as he is in business.
The Rocheforts’ neighbor Donatien Rouvière has one of the region’s most prosperous farms and is desperate for a son to carry on his legacy. After the births of three daughters, the Rouvières adopt an orphan from the Sisters of Charity convent and raise him as their own.
When Anselme suggests uniting the two families by arranging for their children to marry, it seems like the perfect match. But as the lives of the two clans grow increasingly intertwined, dark secrets come to light, including the mysterious circumstances of the death of Anselme’s eldest daughter.
With The Rocheforts, Christian Laborie weaves a captivating tale of deceit, intrigue, and the dynamic tension between industrialization and a way of life rooted in the land.

 My Review

Four Stars

Copy received from France Book Tours for an honest review.

When I heard of  "The Rocheforts" I thought I knew who they were but I wasn't sure why.  Once I started reading the book synopsis everything started to come back.  I thought that the author was able to balance the history of the Rocheforts, who are a capitalist family.  With the marriage of Louise Rouviere and Jean-Christophe Rochefort a family saga unfolds.   A couple of aspects of the time period that I found interesting but already knew about was the elevation of social status. For the Rochefort and the Rouvier's the union between their families is a perfect example of this.  I was fascinated by the deep secrets that the families had and how the author brought them to light. I thought that the author kept the secrets as a suspense aspect.  I also liked how he introduced a mystery bundle at the beginning and then it was identified.  

Coming off reading about Chanel I thought it was interesting to learn about denim and how revolutionary it was. Overall, I really enjoyed the many different issues covered in the story. The author discussed the two families : Rochefort and Rouvier's, the economic struggles and the pre- WW I. The writing was engaging and the pacing well done.  The book is a little lengthy so it takes its time.  

***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Christian Laborie
was born in the North of France
but has lived in the southern region of Cévennes
for more than twenty years.
The Rocheforts is his first novel to be published in English.

***

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Subscribe to Open Road’s Newsletter

Buy the book: Amazon

***

You can enter the global giveaway here
or on any other book blogs participating in this tour.
Be sure to follow each participant on Twitter/Facebook,
they are listed in the entry form below.

Entry-Form

Visit each blogger on the tour:
tweeting about the giveaway everyday
of the Tour will give you 5 extra entries each time!
[just follow the directions on the entry-form]

Global giveaway open internationally:
5 winners will receive 1 digital copy of The Rocheforts

***

CLICK ON THE BANNER
TO READ OTHER REVIEWS AND AN EXCERPT

Chasing the Other Tisdale by Jessica Jefferson

Chasing the Other Tisdale

by Jessica Jefferson

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

She’s the other sister…

Overshadowed by the beauty of her older sister, Lillian is better known as the other Tisdale; unremarkable and unsure how she will ever deliver on the promise of her family's name.

He’s a rake in need of reforming…

Will Colton leads a frivolous existence, embracing notoriety instead of managing his family’s fortune. Determined to forget his financial burden and his father’s growing resentment, he maintains a lifestyle dedicated to pleasure and self-indulgence. When Will is invited to the Tisdale estate for an extended holiday, he never expects to become friends with the forgettable Lillian. But when a family secret comes to light, he must choose between leaving London and protecting the honor of one woman or staying and risking the reputation of another.

Upon his return, Will finds the girl he left behind has come out of the shadows and into her own. Lillian’s finally the center of attention, and not all of it good. With his own reputation in tatters, can a reformed rake lure her out of the hands of London's bachelors and back into his own arms? Can he escape his past and reclaim her heart, or has he lost her forever?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excerpt One:

He didn’t try and crawl out of the hole he’d so easily dug for himself. Rather, instead of making an already awkward situation worse, he smiled. It was a cavalier sort of smile—one that she just knew he’d used hundreds of times before to get him out of this sort of trouble. Women were undoubtedly willing to forgive him most transgressions just by a flash of this winning grin.

Lord knew she was.

She’d never before met anyone so handsome, so charming, so…

A bolt of pain shot up her arm, as if God himself was punishing her for having such immoral thoughts.

“Enough,” he said. “We need to get you in front of a doctor. The sooner, the better.”

“Good idea,” she agreed. “How do you suggest we go about doing that?”

“First, we’ll need to secure your arm.”

She nodded. “You mean fashion a sling? I’m sure there’s something around here that we could use as rope. Perhaps ivy? There’s a great deal of it about the estate.”

His hand flew up to his chest. “What do you take me for, some sort of bushman? For heaven’s sake, I’m from Grosvenor Square, not some jungle. I wouldn’t have the slightest idea of how to go about accomplishing something like that.”

Lilly bit her lip. She’d never make it being jostled about without something to steady her arm. “Did you have something else in mind, then?”

Mr. Colton started removing his jacket. “I thought I’d use my shirt. I’ll rip some strips off of it and make the sling out of that.”

“Your shirt,” she repeated, suddenly questioning if she’d indeed suffered a head injury along with her broken arm.

He tossed the jacket to the ground behind him. “Yes.”

She was confused. “But then what will you wear?”

He was unfastening his waistcoat. “Nothing, I suppose .”

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 Chasing the Other Tisdale

by Jessica Jefferson

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

She’s the other sister…

Overshadowed by the beauty of her older sister, Lillian is better known as the other Tisdale; unremarkable and unsure how she will ever deliver on the promise of her family's name.

He’s a rake in need of reforming…

Will Colton leads a frivolous existence, embracing notoriety instead of managing his family’s fortune. Determined to forget his financial burden and his father’s growing resentment, he maintains a lifestyle dedicated to pleasure and self-indulgence. When Will is invited to the Tisdale estate for an extended holiday, he never expects to become friends with the forgettable Lillian. But when a family secret comes to light, he must choose between leaving London and protecting the honor of one woman or staying and risking the reputation of another.

Upon his return, Will finds the girl he left behind has come out of the shadows and into her own. Lillian’s finally the center of attention, and not all of it good. With his own reputation in tatters, can a reformed rake lure her out of the hands of London's bachelors and back into his own arms? Can he escape his past and reclaim her heart, or has he lost her forever?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excerpt One:

He didn’t try and crawl out of the hole he’d so easily dug for himself. Rather, instead of making an already awkward situation worse, he smiled. It was a cavalier sort of smile—one that she just knew he’d used hundreds of times before to get him out of this sort of trouble. Women were undoubtedly willing to forgive him most transgressions just by a flash of this winning grin.

Lord knew she was.

She’d never before met anyone so handsome, so charming, so…

A bolt of pain shot up her arm, as if God himself was punishing her for having such immoral thoughts.

“Enough,” he said. “We need to get you in front of a doctor. The sooner, the better.”

“Good idea,” she agreed. “How do you suggest we go about doing that?”

“First, we’ll need to secure your arm.”

She nodded. “You mean fashion a sling? I’m sure there’s something around here that we could use as rope. Perhaps ivy? There’s a great deal of it about the estate.”

His hand flew up to his chest. “What do you take me for, some sort of bushman? For heaven’s sake, I’m from Grosvenor Square, not some jungle. I wouldn’t have the slightest idea of how to go about accomplishing something like that.”

Lilly bit her lip. She’d never make it being jostled about without something to steady her arm. “Did you have something else in mind, then?”

Mr. Colton started removing his jacket. “I thought I’d use my shirt. I’ll rip some strips off of it and make the sling out of that.”

“Your shirt,” she repeated, suddenly questioning if she’d indeed suffered a head injury along with her broken arm.

He tossed the jacket to the ground behind him. “Yes.”

She was confused. “But then what will you wear?”

He was unfastening his waistcoat. “Nothing, I suppose .”

 My Review

Four Stars 

Copy received for an honest review
I just loved historical romance and Jessica Jefferson's "Chasing the Other Tisdale" wrote the type of story I love! First, her heroine is the average sister. She is the younger sister and not the most beautiful.  When Colton and Lillian meet chemistry flies.  I loved their  wit and their funny commentaries back and forth.  I really enjoyed the story and thought that it flowed.  I have not read anything by Jefferson before but I plan to read more.  I really plan to and recommend this story to anyone that enjoys fun characters.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Jessica Jefferson makes her home in northern Indiana, or as she likes to think of it—almost Chicago.  She is heavily inspired by classic sweeping, historical romance novels, but aims to take those key emotional elements and inject a fresh blend of quick dialogue and comedy.  She invites you to visit her at jessicajefferson.com and read more of her random romance musings.

Links and social media:

http://www.JessicaJefferson.comand http://www.embracingromance.com

Like me at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jessica-Jefferson/545243542195152

Follow me at https://twitter.com/authorJessicaJ/

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7376474.Jessica_Jefferson

Amazon Author Page- http://www.amazon.com/Jessica-Jefferson/e/B00GI20W2K

Chasing the Other Tisdale, Compromising Miss Tisdale and Taming Miss Tisdale from Soul Mate Publishing, available now on Amazon!

Immigrant Soldier By K. Lang-Slattery

Publication Date: February 9, 2015
Pacific Bookworks
Formats: eBook & Paperback

Genre: Historical Fiction



Immigrant Soldier, The Story of a Ritchie Boy, based on the true experiences of a refugee from Nazi Germany, combines a coming-of-age story with an immigrant tale and a World War II adventure. On a cold November morning in 1938, Herman watches in horror as his cousin is arrested. As a Jew, he realizes it is past time to flee Germany, a decision that catapults him from one adventure to another, his life changed forever by the gathering storm of world events. Gradually, Herman evolves from a frustrated teenager, looking for a place to belong, into a confident US Army intelligence officer who struggles with hate and forgiveness.

My Review

Four Stars

Copy received from Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for an honest review

No matter how many books I read about WW II I always learn something new.  I had never heard of the Ritchie Boys so I was intrigued to learn about them.  I also really liked Herman.  I thought that he was a great hero, very personable and his emotions always palpable.  Since this was my first book by K. Lang- Slattery I was not sure what to expect but I was pleasantly introduced to her. I thought her writing was very engaging. I was instantly interested in the story. I wanted to know in what direction she would take our hero.  Like many stories during this time period, it is impossible not to ache for the hardships and injustices that were suffered. 

Overall, I can't recommend this book enough. I thought that the story was very interesting. I really enjoyed reading about the Ritchie Boys. I imagine many people have not heard of them before.  Also, I know that people will feel for the characters in this book and appreciate the time period.

Advance Praise

“In this debut historical novel, a young German Jew flees his homeland before World War II and is later drafted into the US Army, serving closely under the legendary Gen. George S. Patton. Lang-Slattery effectively mines family history to create a solid work of historical fiction from her uncle’s real-life derring-do. . . . In the sunny glamour of the book’s California passages, she effectively evokes the young immigrant’s overflowing hope. . . . Overall, her uncle’s fictionalized adventures never fail to interest, whether he’s slipping behind the lines for Patton or simply attempting to romance the local girls. An often engaging tale of one man’s involvement in the world’s most horrific war.” - Kirkus Reviews

“A captivating book, extremely well written. Thanks to the army’s Camp Ritchie Military Intelligence Training Center for molding soldiers like Herman Lang and to the author for sharing his story with us.” - Ralph M. Hockley, Colonel, US Army (Ret); Career Army Intelligence Officer, 1952-1980; and a Ritchie Boy

“K. Lang-Slattery has uncovered small but significant details that not only add to the fascination of her novel but also bring material before the public never hitherto disclosed. Beyond that, her brief character sketches bring us, in miniature, samples of the “Greatest Generation.” And her style keeps the reader glued to the page!” - Guy Stern, Distinguished Professor Emeritus; Director, International Institute of the Righteous, and Ritchie Boy

“Written by Herman's niece, Immigrant Soldier, The Story of a Ritchie Boy, has an appealing personal touch. Interwoven through the story is a wealth of well-researched and often little-known information about World War II. Time reading this book is time well-spent, and anyone—from teens to adults, history buffs or not—will enjoy it.” - Marion Coste – Editor and award-winning children’s book author of Kolea.

Buy the Book

Amazon

About the Author

Kathryn Lang-Slattery, a published author of fiction and nonfiction for youth, became fascinated with her uncle’s World War II stories and began taping his conversations in 1996. Soon she knew she had found a fascinating untold story of Jewish refugees who became silent heroes. More than a decade spent researching, interviewing Ritchie Boys, and turning the true story of her uncle into fiction became an odyssey of discovery that resulted in the novel, Immigrant Soldier, The Story of a Ritchie Boy.

For more information please visit at K. Lang-Slatter's website and blog. You can also find her on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Immigrant Soldier Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, April 6
Review at Flashlight Commentary
Spotlight at Unshelfish

Tuesday, April 7
Review at Book Nerd
Spotlight & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Thursday, April 9
Review at Dianne Ascroft
Guest Post at Just One More Chapter

Friday, April 10
Spotlight at CelticLady's Reviews

Sunday, April 12
Review at Carole's Ramblings

Monday, April 13
Spotlight at A Literary Vacation

Tuesday, April 14
Guest Post at Books and Benches

Wednesday, April 15
Spotlight, Excerpt, & Giveaway at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time

Thursday, April 16
Review at Bookramblings

Friday, April 17
Blog Tour Wrap-Up at Passages to the Past

Not Without My Father by Andra Watkins

Not Without My Father Blog Tour

About the Author

Andra Watkins lives in Charleston, South Carolina. A non-practicing CPA, she has a degree in accounting from Francis Marion University. She’s still mad at her mother for refusing to let her major in musical theater, because her mom was convinced she’d end up starring in porn films. In addition to her writing talent, Andra is an accomplished public speaker. Her acclaimed debut novel To Live Forever: An Afterlife Journey of Meriwether Lewis was published by Word Hermit Press in 2014.
Her latest book is the memoir, Not Without My Father: One Woman’s 444 Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace.

For More Information

• Visit Andra Watkins’ website.
• Connect with Andra on Facebook and Twitter.
• Find out more about Andra at Goodreads.
• More books by Andra Watkins.
• Contact Andra.
•  

About the Book:

Can an epic adventure succeed without a hero?
Andra Watkins needed a wingman to help her become the first living person to walk the historic 444-mile Natchez Trace as the pioneers did. She planned to walk fifteen miles a day. For thirty-four days.
After striking out with everyone in her life, she was left with her disinterested eighty-year-old father. And his gas. The sleep apnea machine and self-scratching. Sharing a bathroom with a man whose gut obliterated his aim.
As Watkins trudged America’s forgotten highway, she lost herself in despair and pain. Nothing happened according to plan, and her tenuous connection to her father started to unravel. Through arguments and laughter, tears and fried chicken, they fought to rebuild their relationship before it was too late. In Not Without My Father: One Woman’s 444-Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace, Watkins invites readers to join her dysfunctional family adventure in a humorous and heartbreaking memoir that asks if one can really turn I wish I had into I’m glad I did.

My Review

Four Stars

Copy received for an honest review

I wanted to read "Not Without My Father" by Andra Watkins because I read "To Live Forever."  I was interested in the Natchez Trace and learned a lot of interesting details that I did not know about before.  Because I enjoyed " To Live Forever" I was interested in the journey that brought the author to the book and her experience in the trail.  I was even more interest to see how she would accomplish this with her sidekick-her daughter.

I have to say I realy enjoyed the story/ adventure that Watkins shared. I appreciated the honesty that she shared and also the raw emotions and the discoveries they had throughout.  This was a great companion to her novel and helped me appreciate it more.

For More Information

• Not Without My Father: One Woman’s 444 Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace is available at Amazon.
• Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.

Title: Not Without My Father: One Woman’s 444 Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace
Author: Andra Watkins
Publisher: Word Hermit Press
Pages: 240
Genre: Memoir
Format: Paperback/Kindle

Purchase at AMAZON
Can an epic adventure succeed without a hero?
Andra Watkins needed a wingman to help her become the first living person to walk the historic 444-mile Natchez Trace as the pioneers did. She planned to walk fifteen miles a day. For thirty-four days.
After striking out with everyone in her life, she was left with her disinterested eighty-year-old father. And his gas. The sleep apnea machine and self-scratching. Sharing a bathroom with a man whose gut obliterated his aim.
As Watkins trudged America’s forgotten highway, she lost herself in despair and pain. Nothing happened according to plan, and her tenuous connection to her father started to unravel. Through arguments and laughter, tears and fried chicken, they fought to rebuild their relationship before it was too late. In Not Without My Father: One Woman’s 444-Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace, Watkins invites readers to join her dysfunctional family adventure in a humorous and heartbreaking memoir that asks if one can really turn I wish I had into I’m glad I did.
Book Excerpt #1:
ROAD TO NOWHERE
Talking Heads
The journey is a long slog with an unpredictable number of mileposts.
One can make the trip alone, but why not share it?
As I traversed familiar mile markers and pulled up in front of my fa- ther’s house, I could predict where I’d find him.
In his recliner, his belly a shelf for a vat of popcorn. At eighty, he whiled away days feeding his face and shouting at the television. Whenever his throne was vacant, I eschewed all temptation to occupy it.
Because I imagined how many times he farted into the velvet uphol- stery.
Sometimes while naked.
I could hear the television when I stepped from the car. “Why am I do- ing this again?” I whispered as I slipped through the back door.
“Andra!” There he was, sprawled in his recliner. A jagged scar played peek-a-boo through his open pajama top. “What’re you doing here?”
I opened my mouth and clamped it shut. Once I uttered my request, I couldn’t take it back.
I needed a wingman while I walked the 444-mile Natchez Trace from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee. I planned to launch my debut novel and be- come the first living person to walk the 10,000-year-old road as our ancestors did. Nobody could convince me that an unathletic woman and her mid-life paunch were incapable of walk- ing more than a half-marathon every day for a month.
Even though my aversion to exercise was as spectacular as my father’s. I wanted my walk to redeem my novel’s hero, American explorer Meri- wether Lewis, one-half of the Lewis and Clark duo. He died of two gun-shot wounds on the Natchez Trace, seventy miles south of Nashville.
He was only thirty-five.
Was it suicide? Or murder? His death is one of America’s great un- solved mysteries.
To walk a forgotten highway for five weeks, I needed a wingman who could shuttle me to my first daily milepost and pick me up fifteen miles later. Someone who wasn’t busy. Someone available. Maybe this person even craved an adventure.
I scrolled through a list of prospects. My husband Michael couldn’t be absent from work for five weeks, especially since his job paid for my predilection to write. My friends all had children. Husbands. Gainful em- ployment. I discarded people for an hour, my list a scribbled mess that highlighted one harrowing name.
Dad.
My father wasn’t doing anything. He was available to go on a five-week jaunt through Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee.
His stomach pooled over his thighs and his triple-chin jiggled as he leaned into his response. “Go on a five-week trip? Just you and me? I don’t want to do that, Andra.”
“Why not?” I shouted even louder to penetrate his VA-issued, cir- ca-1980 hearing aids.
“Well.” He chewed a handful of popcorn. “Because…….I got furni- ture to refinish.”
“It’ll be here when you get back.”
Dad dug his fingernails into the arms of his chair. “I cain’t be away from my Sunday school class for that long.”
“God won’t care if you miss church to spend time with your only daughter, Dad.”
“Well, uh…….I……..Linda might need me here.”
Mom preened into the room with his bowl of ice cream. I never understood why she didn’t just hand him the carton. She placed the spoon between his fingers and smiled. “I don’t need you here, Roy.” Her flawless makeup matched her leotard. “I’m going to the gym. Be home in four hours.”
She flounced out the door, leaving me with my jiggly arms and red hair I forgot to brush.
I sighed and turned back to Dad. “Why don’t you want to do this, Dad? I mean, you haven’t been anywhere since your appendix ruptured two years ago. You’re just sitting here in this recliner, waiting to die.”
Dad picked at his ice cream and avoided my gaze. “Spending five weeks with you don’t sound like much fun, Andra.”
Dad and I shouted down my teens, harangued through my twenties and seethed away my thirties. For most of my life, our every interaction disintegrated into hurtful words and pregnant silences. Yet, I was willing to cast our history aside and endure his company for more than a month, while he rejected me?
Wrong answer, Old Man.
I gnawed my tongue to regroup. Dad was my last hope to take readers into my book’s world. To help my scribblings make me somebody. In a uni- verse of words with little meaning and even less point, I believed I created something valuable, a story that could make a difference, a tale that would leave readers fundamentally altered and pining for the next installment.
All writers are convinced whatever they write qualifies, be it dreck or brilliance. Our words are sperm and egg on the page. Merge them together, and one can hold a physical chunk of the writer. It’s a shame a book can’t arrive covered in blood and filth from the birth canal, screaming and howling to breathe.
But to get anyone to care about a story, the writer must make it about the reader.
My breathing even, I flashed my most fetching smile.
“All right, Dad. Look at it this way. We’ll be riding near hundreds of tiny towns with lots of strangers who’ve never heard your stories. Think of all the junk shops and dive diners where you can enchant people. Don’t they deserve to meet you before you’re gone?”
Dad’s eyes took on a dreamy tinge. His yarns were Southern gothic legends, tales he rolled out for every stranger he encountered. I imagined myself spending the entire trip with a view of his broad back, regaling ev- eryone but me. He must’ve conjured the same scene. “I’ll do it, Andra. If the Lord lets me live ’til March, I’ll go with you.”
Dad would be my wingman on the Natchez Trace. Visions of literary stardom floated in front of my faraway eyes. Because my secret dream was The New York Times headline:
- Debut Novelist Walks Her Way to Blockbuster Best Seller! -
I basked in the mirage of that proclamation, in the glory of staggering to my Nashville finish line with crowds of people. News crews. Fans wav- ing my book and clamoring for an autograph.
My swelling imagination burst when Dad heaved himself from the chair, scratched his crotch and farted. “Yeah, Andra. This is gonna be real fun.”
What had I done? Besides self-scratching and legendary gas, his sleep apnea machine didn’t stifle his explosive snoring.
And the bathroom. I would have to share a bathroom with my father, whose hulking belly obscured all ability to aim. A sodden fact that seeped into my legs when I locked myself in Dad’s bathroom and plopped down on the toilet.
I didn’t want to spend five weeks with my father.
As I winced through a sink bath, I studied my face in the mirror. The beginnings of forehead wrinkles and crows feet. A hint of Dad’s bulldog jowl. I stuck my tongue out at my green-eyed self. “Welcome to Hell, you idiot.”

The Kill List and the Kill Shot by Nichole Christoff

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Ebook Copies of THE KILL LIST & THE KILL SHOT

The Kill List: Jamie Sinclair # 1

Released: December 2, 2014

In this taut debut thriller, Nichole Christoff introduces a savvy private investigator with nerves of steel—and a shattered heart.

As a top private eye turned security specialist, Jamie Sinclair has worked hard to put her broken marriage behind her. But when her lying, cheating ex-husband, army colonel Tim Thorp, calls with the news that his three-year-old daughter has been kidnapped, he begs Jamie to come find her. For the sake of the child, Jamie knows she can’t refuse. Now, despite the past, she’ll do everything in her power to bring little Brooke Thorp home alive.

Soon Jamie is back at Fort Leeds—the army base in New Jersey’s Pine Barrens where she grew up, the only child of a two-star general—chasing down leads and forging an uneasy alliance with the stern military police commander and the exacting FBI agent working Brooke’s case. But because Jamie’s father is now a U.S. senator, her recent run-in with a disturbed stalker is all over the news, and when she starts receiving gruesome threats echoing the stalker’s last words, she can’t shake the feeling that her investigation may be about more than a missing girl—and that someone very powerful is hiding something very significant . . . and very sinister.

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The Kill Shot: Jamie Sinclair # 2

Released: March 17th, 2015

In an explosive thriller for readers of Lee Child, Alex Berenson, and Brad Taylor, P.I. and security specialist Jamie Sinclair finds herself caught in a dangerous game of international cat-and-mouse.

Jamie Sinclair’s father has never asked her for a favor in her life. The former two-star general turned senator is more in the habit of giving his only child orders. So when he requests Jamie’s expertise as a security specialist, she can’t refuse—even though it means slamming the brakes on her burgeoning relationship with military police officer Adam Barrett. Just like that, Jamie hops aboard a flight to London with a U.S. State Department courier carrying a diplomatic pouch in an iron grip.

Jamie doesn’t have to wait long to put her unique skills to good use. When she and the courier are jumped by goons outside the Heathrow terminal, Jamie fights them off—but the incident puts her on high alert. Someone’s willing to kill for the contents of the bag. Then a would-be assassin opens fire in crowded Covent Garden, and Jamie is stunned to spot a familiar face: Adam Barrett, who saves her life with a single shot and calmly slips away. Jamie’s head—and her heart—tell her that something is very wrong. But she’s come way too far to turn back now.

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Nichole Christoff is a writer, broadcaster, and military spouse who has worked on air and behind the scenes producing and promoting content for radio, television news, and the public relations industry across the United States and Canada. Christoff is a lifetime member of Sisters in Crime and the Jane Austen Society of North America. She also belongs to Private Eye Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, and three of RWA’s local chapters where she’s served as an officer and a member of the board. 

In Christoff’s first year as a member of RWA, her first manuscript won the Golden Heart for Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements. Her second manuscript won a Helen McCloy Scholarship from Mystery Writers of America. Her last manuscript was a finalist for the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. Her latest novel, The Kill Shot, is a 2014 Killer Nashville Claymore Dagger finalist.

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