From a post by Ramona DeFelice Long, author and editor. I just couldn’t pass up spreading this about Sally Ride. “Last week, the United States Postal Service unveiled a Forever stamp honoring astronaut Sally Ride. Sally Ride was a physicist and astronaut. When she was a student at Stanford University, she and 8000 other people responded to a NASA ad in the student newspaper. The ad was an open call seeking applicants for the US space program. Sally answered the call, and the rest is history.” Read the rest of this wonderful testimonial at Sally Ride Gets a Stamp Thank you, Ramona for this reminder of a wonderful woman. And go buy some of these stamps! 0 0
A blogging buddy, Christoph Fischer, gave me the first comment on my book. Couldn’t be happier! “Death in a Mudflat is a hugely enjoyable, fast-paced mystery with excellent attention to forensic and scientific detail.” –Christoph Fischer, author of The Body in the Snow, Black Eagle Inn, and Time to Let Go 0 0
Yes, my faithful followers, friends, and colleagues, Death in a Mudflat comes out tomorrow. Here is a teaser for you: the first chapter! Hope you enjoy it! The beach wedding of our good friends, Marsh and Bella, couldn’t have been on a more perfect morning – bright sunshine sparkling on the water, a soft breeze lifting skirts and curls, and the gentle lapping sound of small waves on the shore. We had gathered at Pequod’s Oceanside Pavilion for the ceremony and were now having a blast at the reception, laughing, drinking good wine and occasionally dancing to the music of a local band. It was a gala affair, following the whirlwind courtship of two people who were dear to me but who most resembled Mutt and Jeff. Marsh Adams was Mutt, a weight-lifting, doughnut-addicted fireplug of a man who happened to be an assistant medical examiner for the state of Maine and a pathologist at Sturdevant Hospital, where we both worked. Bella Zdundic was Jeff, a Maine Major Crimes agent and a strong-willed woman who towered over Marsh and had the bulk to go with her height. Currently working the crowd of attendees, they both looked deliriously happy, holding hands and with permanent smiles on their faces as they greeted their guests. I didn’t think I’d ever seen them more resplendent – Bella in an A-line, lace and tulle ivory gown and Marsh in a black tuxedo with a peacock blue vest. Sam Brewster, the Chief of the Pequod Police Department accompanied me to the wedding. We were not only friends of the bride and groom, but, improbably, a couple. Always good friends, Sam and I had become even closer after the death of my husband Will, Sam’s brother. That closeness had led to love. Holding hands, we had moved with some of the other guests onto the pavilion’s deck. The broad wooden deck overlooked the beach and a considerable stretch of mudflat revealed by the outgoing tide. We found many of the guests already on the deck watching, mesmerized, as the owner of a Jeep Wrangler tried to get his vehicle out of the mud. “What an idiot,” Sam said, handing me a fresh glass of Chardonnay from a waiter passing by with a tray. “Must be illiterate.” There was a warning sign at the end of the pavilion drive saying ‘Dangerous mudflats. Beach off limits to all four wheeled vehicles.’ “That’s Ethan Pettigrew, Mom. You know him, he’s in our class,” Jack told me. We watched as Mr. Pettigrew, unable to get traction, unhitched the trailer and pulled it up onto the beach. He then made another try at reversing the Jeep, spinning the tires and spraying mud, which doused the boy. More hoots from Jack and Tyler. “I always knew you sucked, Ethan,” shouted Jack. “Mud man!” “Hey, you’re a sucker,” yelled Tyler. “If you boys don’t stop that,” I warned, “you two will be the suckers when Sam takes you home.” They stopped. “At the very least, you’d think he’d have backed in. This is a fubar waiting to happen.” Sam continued his deprecating commentary. After an animated conversation with his son, Mr. Pettigrew unloaded all the unnecessary weight from the Jeep. Then he took out a shovel and dug dry sand from the beach, dumping it behind and in front of each wheel. He got in the Jeep, started it up, and rocked the Jeep a few yards back, spinning the tires and hurling muck everywhere. The boy, standing to one side and now plastered with mud, suddenly screamed, “Stop, Dad! Stop!” As his father turned off the Jeep and got out, everyone watching pressed forward, trying to see what had happened. Sam took my hand and pulled me through the crowd and down the stairs from the deck to the beach. From there we could clearly see what the tires had unearthed – a decaying human arm, purple-green, dripping mud and sloughing tissue. It was still connected to something below the surface. I grabbed Sam’s arm and without thinking, pulled back. A few horrified onlookers cried out, which brought still more wedding guests out to the deck, the noise of their conversation now sounding like a maddened bee hive. Sam looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “You wanna call it in, Rhe, or shall I?” I looked up at him. “You might be a little tough to get a hold of, because you’re away at a wedding.” Don’t forget about reviews – as you know they are the life blood of us all! 0 0
After much angsting and gnashing of teeth (good thing I drink milk!), I am please to announce my fourth book in the Rhe Brewster series is available for download on Kindle June 1. Also available in paperback. Hat in hand, I would love some reviews of this book, if any of my followers are so inclined. And I’m available to talk about the book! Here is the press release from Smith Publicity, who is doing a push for me! NEW COZY MYSTERY FOLLOWS POPULAR DETECTIVE ON ANOTHER PAGE-TURNING ADVENTURE SET IN GORGEOUS SMALL-TOWN MAINE For forty years N.A. Granger taught human anatomy to medical students, paramedics, and first responders. She also spent time as an EMT. Her medical knowledge is vast, and she has woven that deeply into her new career as an author, churning out realistic and page-turning cozy mysteries that keep readers on the edge of their seats. She is at it again with the release of her latest novel, Death in a Mudflat: A Rhe Brewster Mystery, the next installment in the popular series that takes readers on a suspenseful ride through the picturesque small town of Pequod, Maine. Death in a Mudflat follows fearless detective, ER Nurse and devoted mother Rhe Brewster as she is thrown into a new case – and this one gets a bit muddy. When an idyllic seaside wedding is suddenly interrupted by the grotesque sight of a decaying human arm poking out of the tidal mud, Rhe finds herself trying to solve a mystery full of duplicity, drugs, and of course, murder. With her best friend Paulette and her main man Sam, the Chief of Police, Rhe seeks to solve the puzzle of the body found in the muck while also working with the FBI to identify the source of shipments of tainted heroin flooding the local campus and community. Maine’s opioid crisis has hit the town hard, with an escalating number of overdoses. More murders are uncovered, testing Rhe’s detective skills and steely resolve. While she follows the clues, Rhe encounters some sinister inhabitants of Pequod’s underbelly, including a practitioner of the Dark Arts, a hydra-headed crime gang, and an embittered, unhinged lobsterman with an axe to grind and nothing to lose. In her relentless drive to solve the crimes, Rhe narrowly escapes a watery grave, trades blows with Russian goons, and unknowingly prompts Paulette to put her life on the line in an attempt to catch a murderer in the act. “I enjoy having readers fall in love with my book’s setting and characters, and then be so invested they feel devastated when something happens to them. Or, they simply look forward to spending more time with the characters again in the next book,” Granger says. “That is what makes a good story, and it continues to be thrilling to give that to my audience.” 0 0
My two legged goes away for a couple of days at time occasionally. She and Hubs (she calls him that) left me alone again this weekend. I do pretty well on my own but I’ve noticed that someone comes to give me wet food on the middle day. This time it was Ellen. I like Ellen. She told me she has five (wow!) cats and that it was my two legged that introduced her to cats. She knows just where to scratch me! In any event, she told me I’m a big boy now because the last time she saw me was just after I was brought home. Here’s some photos of me (I love to pose for photos) then and now! I do love my cat tree but I’ve heard some talk of my needing a bigger one. We Maine coons tend to be rather large and fluffy! I wonder if I’ll get this big? Courtesy of pleatedjeans.com 0 0
Just when I was feeling fine, healthy and getting stronger from the swimming, I did something stupid. And the end result was this: With Hubs down and out for lifting and dragging, I was trying to drag a couple of old, ratty and moth eaten umbrellas down the stone stairs from the pool deck. Didn’t watch where I placed my foot and fell, landed on my right side and unluckily fractured a bone in my foot. For those of you in the know, a ones fracture of the base of the 5th metatarsal. Normally it gets casted and you walk on crutches for six weeks, but with the household situation, no can do So the boot and a which I really don’t use. We had to cancel two trips in the hopes I can be well enough to go on our trip to Iceland. There’s a 25% chance it won’t heal – probably more because I’m walking on the break – but what can an active woman do? Anyway, there has been an epidemic of falls with people I know, so watch your step out there, people! PS I’m still swimming, just using a one leg flutter kick! And no, I’m not swimming in circles. 0 0
As the mother of a serviceman, Memorial Day hits home. I am particularly affected by the upcoming anniversary of D-Day, when so many of our young men died on the beaches of Normandy. In many respects the French do a better job of honoring their sacrifice, with roadside memorials and plaques, but of course World War II was in part on their soil. This weekend, please send up a prayer of thanks for all those who have chosen to serve and defend their country, past and present. 0 0
A quick question for everyone: How in the world can I get around not being able to post my book reviews on Amazon UK? (Courtesy of Robin Higgins at Pixabay) Many of the authors of books I review are in the UK, but of course now I need to have purchased something like 50 Euros of ‘stuff’ from Amazon UK to post my reviews there. I tried purchasing from Amazon UK, but I was immediately redirected to Amazon US, so that’s not a solution. Basically, Amazon has stuck it to every UK author I review, and I am mad, mad, mad…and angry, too. We need to put our heads together to figure this out! I know there’s a ton of creative gray cells amongst my readers, so let’s do it! (Courtesy of Pixabay) 0 0
This is the third mystery in the Porter Girl series set in, as the author describes it, “the ancient and esoteric Old College.” The first-person voice is that of the Assistant Head Porter (a position the author once held) and the story is a fun-filled adventure with wildly colorful characters (almost neon) and lots McGuffins. My kind of mystery. This time out, Porter Girl – I’ll call her PG – faces two terrible events: the discovery of the bodies of two young men, one of them an Old College student, at the bottom of Old College’s garden and a complete lack of biscuits in the Porter’s Hall, with only three tea bags left. Of the two, PG is taking the latter most seriously. A new Bursar, Dexter Sinistrov, has been hired by Old College, and he is a riveting personage. His first priority was to cut the catering budget, although judiciously so that the cuts affect the Porters’ food heavily. The author knows how to create a slimy character. Sporting a bizarre haircut (shorn at the back but sweep of black hair over his forehead), he sneaks around old college in shiny, pointed shoes and he clearly has it in for PG. The Dean, whom we’ve met before and an excitable personage with a gigantic imagination, thinks the Bursar is a Russian Spy. Coming to investigate the deaths in this cloistered academic enclave is the formidable DCI Thompson, who is constantly at odds with the Dean. Things escalate when a young woman student dies under similar circumstance to those in the College, but on the other side of Old College’s garden wall. PG is faced with confronting the Bursar about the lack of biscuits and tea, dealing with the Dean and his proposed investigation, assisting DCI Thompson in his work, and recruiting some students she knows to discover more about the victims. The Head Porter is mysteriously absent for most of the duration, so PG is faced with running the College from the Poster’s Hall as well. What I enjoy so much of this series (I’ve read them all) is PG’s character and voice. She is snarky, smart, observant, and never averse to adventure. Her voice is wonderful and fun, much like the author herself. The plot is tightly imagined, the characters pop, and the dialog crisp and academic. I am smitten with these mysteries and you will be, too! About the author Adapted from Amazon: Adventurer. Puzzle-solver. Expert tea-maker. Lucy Brazier started writing to entertain herself during childhood as the internet did not yet exist. Later on, she had a punt at writing to entertain other people and pulled it off rather well. From an interview with the author Dan Alatorre: Her books derive from the fact that on a whim, she applied for the role of Deputy Head Porter at one of the most prestigious Colleges of Cambridge University. She didn’t expect to get the job, but when it was offered, she thought it churlish to refuse and became the first female Deputy Head Porter in the College’s 600 year history. She believes she was absolutely the worst Deputy Head Porter the College had ever seen, and she hung up her bowler hat after a year. But her experiences inspired her blog and the Porter Girl series of fictional adventures (Porter Girl: Keeper of the Keys, Porter Girl: The Dark Lord). You can find Lucy Brazier On twitter: @portergirl100 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lucy.suzuki.3?fref=ts Blog: https://portergirl.com/ 0 0
This is the second in the Bebe Bollinger series by Christoph Fischer. The is sleuth is once again the charming, talented and a bit snarky Bebe Bollinger, an early 60s chanteuse with a remarkable career behind her but fighting to be back in the spotlight. It is quite a change up from the first book, the author having chosen the setting to be Eurovision, the longest-running annual international TV song competition, held in a different country each year. I have to admit I didn’t even know Eurovision existed until I started to read this book, but I learned a lot. Bebe is colorful, intelligent and one of my favorite characters. When her friend Bonnie Tyler (think Holding Out for a Hero and Angel of the Morning) is chosen to represent the UK at Eurovision, Bebe jealously watches the pre-publicity trail for Eurovision in Malmö and discovers a string of odd accidents happening to several participants in the competition. This triggers her detective antennae and she decides to attend the event. Going there also allows her to assess the suitability of a Eurovision appearance for her own career. The author does an incredible job describing Eurovision, with its countries’ representatives, both new and seasoned, the outrageous costumes, lighting, and most of all the crowds and the carnival atmosphere. I know he’s been to one or two! We again meet Beth, now a former police detective with a drinking problem who does legwork for Bebe when she is otherwise occupied, and Bebe’s grasping and selfish daughter Helen, who shows up at the festival and promises to ruin Bebe’s renewed and growing reputation. Bebe somehow gets herself into the middle of the action, singing a version of one of Bonnie’s songs on stage with another vocalist and being asked to judge the competition, as well as be a presenter on the day of the event. While her status grows, contestants continue to fall until it becomes clear that what Bebe suspected all along: these are no accidents. Bebe deals patiently and with aplomb with nasty TV reporters and career climbing presenters, but ultimately begins to think she may be the next target. I honestly did not know who dunnit or why until the very end. For fans of Bebe Bollinger, mysteries with a colorful and detailed setting, followers of Eurovision, or women of a certain age (like me), this is the book for you! I anxiously await the next book to find out what happens with Bebe’s career. About the author Christoph Fischer was born in Germany, near the Austrian border, but moved to Hamburg in pursuit of his studies and to lead a life of literary indulgence. After a few years he moved on to the UK where he now lives in a small town in West Wales. He and his partner have three Labradoodles to complete their family. Christoph worked for the British Film Institute, in Libraries, Museums and for an airline. He is a prolific writer: The Luck of The Weissensteiners was published in 2012; Sebastia‘ in 2013 and The Black Eagle Inn also 2013 completing his Three Nations Trilogy. He then published two contemporary novels Time to Let Go and Conditions in 2014. The sequel Conditioned was published in 2015, along with a medical thriller The Healer. Two more historical novels, In Search of a Revolution and Ludwika came out in December 2015. You can find Christoph in many places: Website: http://www.christophfischerbooks.com/ Blog: http://writerchristophfischer.wordpress.com/ Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6590171.Christoph_Fischer Twitter: @CFFBooks, @WriterCFischer Twitter: https:/twitter.com/CFFBooks Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/christophffisch/ 0 1
