Book spotlight on Toxic Diamonds by @Liza0Connor

It's been a rough year for me and The Maze, with the loss of my dad in March and his youngest sister in May, but today I welcome back an author-friend whose novels always lift my spirits. I guarantee they will lift yours too!

Liza O'Connor's Toxic Diamonds blog tour, 7-28 July 2017

A Bullet proof vest made of silk.
In 1881, a faro dealer, Charlie Storms was shot twice by a cranky patron. Tombstone physician George E. Goodfellow discovered that one bullet was stopped by a silk handkerchief in Charlie’s breast pocket. As strange as it sounds, a silk handkerchief prevented that bullet from penetrating.

Now before you cry ‘bullocks’, keep in mind guns were far less powerful than now.

In 1887, Dr. Goodfellow wrote an article titled Impenetrability of Silk to Bullets[1] for the Southern California Practitioner documenting the first known instance of bulletproof fabric. He experimented with silk vests resembling medieval gambesons, which used 18 to 30 layers of silk fabric to protect the wearers from penetration.

A European, Kazimierz Żegleń used Goodfellow's findings to develop a bulletproof vest made of silk fabric at the end of the 19th century, which could stop the relatively slow rounds from black powder handguns. The vests cost $800 USD each and several gentleman of the Parliament bought and wore them.

Synopsis:

Determining whom to trust is getting very hard, indeed. This may be the most trying cases imaginable. Director Stone has gone missing and it appears Ministers of Parliament are involved. Xavier is arrested and placed in a jail meant to kill him, while Vic, disguised as a woman, attempts to locate the Minister of External Affairs and ask for his help.

Everyone is called in to assist: Jacko, his wife Alice, their son Pete, Samson the Crime Lord, David and Claire, Tubs and his wife Sara, the boys: Cannon and Ham, plus the bloodhound Arroo.

The Wasp who escaped punishment for her attempts to murder her bigamist husband’s first wife last year is back. Vic discovers love letters between Ben, their terrible secretary and the Wasp. Worse yet, he shared Xavier’s financial advice with the Wasp, making her and her husband very wealthy.

With Stone missing, and Barns and Meyers stretched to their limits, Vic decides it’s time to train more of the Scotland Yard officers in intuitive and deductive reasoning. While only half the class makes it through her two-day course, everyone is pleased with her results.

Be warned, Vic’s sister, Claire, is becoming more difficult than ever. Gregory thinks she is going mad.

Once Vic, Cannon, Casey, and Fagan left, Xavier rushed upstairs and returned five minutes later as an old man.
 
Tubs waited at the door. “I’ll stay in the shadows, but I’m going.”

“I need to check the place out anyway,” Jacko stated.

“Well, damn it all, I’ll go as well.” Samson declared. “Mason spent so little time in my company, he’s probably forgotten me entirely.”

Xavier studied him a moment. “Don’t count on it. Wait here,” he ordered, then hurried upstairs. When he returned, he handed Samson a thick silk vest.

“I am wearing a vest,” he replied.

“Is it bulletproof?” Xavier challenged.

“No. Are you saying this one is?”

“Yes. There was an incident in which an American doctor reported that a man’s silk vest stopped a bullet. He shared the matter with Connors who shared the matter with me. I, of course, asked David to see if he could create such a vest, and here it is.”

“Has it been tested?” Samson asked, doubtful that silk could stop a bullet.

“It has. In fact, several men in the parliament wear them now.”

Samson smiled. “Thank you for sharing this. I would be most willing to buy my own—”

“David handmakes them, and he is a bit busy at the moment, so just enjoy my vest.”

“That is very kind of you. Does this mean you are starting to like me?”

Xavier chuckled. “Not at all.”

Book 8

TOXIC DIAMONDS

The Queen’s Diamonds have been stolen, Director Stone of Scotland Yard is missing, and there is a toxic gas that may kill hundreds of Londoners.
Free with Amazon Kindle Unlimited

Need to catch up?

Book 1

The Troublesome Apprentice

 The greatest sleuth in Victorian England hires a young man who turns out to be a young woman.

Book 2

The Missing Partner

 Oops! The greatest sleuth in Victorian England goes missing, leaving Vic to rescue him, a suffragette, and about 100 servants. Not to mention an eviscerating cat. Yes, let’s not mention the cat.

Book 2.5

A Right to Love

 A romantic detour for Jacko. Want to see how amply rewarded Jacko was when he & Vic save an old woman from Bedlam?

Book 3

The Mesmerist

 The Mesmerist can control people from afar and make them murder for her. Worse yet, Xavier Thorn has fallen under her spell.

Book 4

Well Kept Secrets

The problems with secrets is that they always come to light, no matter how you wish to silence them.

Book 5

Pack of Trouble

 Changes are a part of life, but these changes almost kill Vic.

Book 6

The Darkest Days

 Muddled cases make Vic very grumpy.

Book 7

The CrimeLords’ War

Vic is almost killed twice as she tries to prevent a CrimeLords’ War, stop a female Russian spy, and locate Xavier.

All Xavier & Vic books are Free with Amazon Unlimited

Liza O’Connor was raised badly by feral cats, left the South/Midwest and wandered off to find nicer people on the east coast. There she worked for the meanest man on Wall Street, while her psychotic husband tried to kill her three times. (So much for finding nicer people.) Then one day she declared enough, got a better job, divorced her husband, and fell in love with her new life where people behaved nicely. But all those bad behaviors has given her lots of fodder for her humorous books. Please buy these books, because otherwise, she’ll become grumpy and write troubled novels instead. They will likely traumatize you.

You have been warned.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT LIZA O'CONNOR’S MANY BOOKS

Investigate these sites:

Liza's Blog and Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

***

I'm running a giveaway for an e-copy of Liberty!

To enter, click HERE.

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All this month, you are invited to…

— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Follow Kim on Pinterest
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow

… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books.
Please enter often, and good luck!

Name Your Poison: Wolfbane by @Liza0Connor Victorian #murdermystery and #giveaway

Characters in many of my books are accomplished herbalists, which includes knowing how to prepare and administer poisons. I employ creative ways to keep those details vague, even though I could impart the information, mainly because I'd rather not make it easy on anyone wanting to, say, do away with an annoying spouse.

My author-friend Liza O'Connor, whose latest release is the Sherlock-esque The Darkest Days, is a lot braver than I am. :D

Until the twentieth century, Wolfbane (aka Aconite, Monkshood) was the deadliest poison known. And there is still no antidote even now.

To kill someone in eight minutes you need to drop the crystalized form into alcohol and get the person you clearly do not like to drink it. The trick is to not to let the person throw up, which their body will try to do.

I have an entire blog on what will happen next, and it’s pretty gruesome. http://www.lizaoconnor.com/2014/11/name-your-poison-how-about-aconite.html

Wolfbane, aka Monkshood and Aconite.

Fortunately for Barns, he only got the powder (made from the root and leaves) on his hand, which Xavier quickly washed, thus, while weakened presently, he’ll make a full recovery.

The Darkest Days by Liza O'Connor

Synopsis

When the pot has too many cooks a feast can be ruined, and that’s exactly what happens with Xavier and Vic’s new cases. Each proves more complicated than initially thought with criminals dropping out of the sky, wreaking havoc upon Xavier, Vic, and their excellent employees. By the end, Vic threatens to open a school that teaches criminals how to stay out of each other’s way.

Worse yet, a treasured member of the staff is shot in the heart while attempting to save Vic and the Queen’s cousin.

Once Tubs verified the hall clear of any other problems, he approached the housekeeper. “I got this.” He focused on the woman. “You don’t have to die tonight,” he said softly. “Just face the wall and put your hands behind your back.”

“You stay away from me or I’m calling the police,” she warned.

Tubs stepped forward, causing her to back away from Barn’s body. He reached down and felt Barns’ neck, never taking his eyes off her. “He’s still alive, but his pulse is weak.”

“I didn’t touch the boy,” the housekeeper insisted. “He was like that when I opened the door.”

“Tubs, you secure the housekeeper. I’ll tend to Barns.”

Tubs shifted his position so he stood between Vic and the woman easing towards the front door.

Vic had every confidence Tubs would not let the woman escape, so she focused on Barns. The boy showed no sign of bleeding, but Tubs was right, his heart was weakening. The moment the woman broke for the door, Tubs slammed her against it, wrenching both arms behind her back and securing them with handcuffs, He then searched her for weapons, finding nothing. He pulled a handkerchief from her apron pocket. He smelled it then pressed it to the woman’s nose. “What is this?”

The woman struggled to pull away from the cloth. “I don’t know what that is. I’ve never seen it before. You must have put it in my pocket.”

Vic grabbed her cuffed hands and jabbed a prick underneath a fingernail. The woman fell to her knees as she howled in pain. “What did you give him?” Vic yelled over her howls.

“Wolfbane,” she cried.

Vic withdrew the prick. “If he dies, I’ll torture you for weeks,” she warned.

I don't "monetize" my blog by displaying ads,
but I do include Amazon affiliate links.
Thanks for your patronage! :)

The Darkest Days

Book 6
Free with Amazon Kindle Unlimited

Need to catch up?

Book 1
The Troublesome Apprentice
The greatest sleuth in Victorian England hires a young man
who turns out to be a young woman.

Book 2
The Missing Partner
Opps! The greatest sleuth in Victorian England goes missing,
leaving Vic to rescue him, a suffragette, and about 100 servants.
Not to mention an eviscerating cat.
Yes, let’s not mention the cat.

Book 2.5
A Right to Love
A romantic detour for Jacko.
Want to see how amply rewarded Jacko was when he & Vic
save an old woman from Bedlam?

Book 3
The Mesmerist
The Mesmerist can control people from afar and make them murder for her. Worse yet, Xavier Thorn has fallen under her spell.

Book 4
Well Kept Secrets
The problems with secrets is that they always come to light,
no matter how you wish to silence them.

Book 5
Pack of Trouble
Changes are a part of life, but these changes almost kill Vic.

All Xavier & Vic books are Free with Amazon Kindle Unlimited

Liza O’Connor was raised badly by feral cats, left the South/Midwest and wandered off to find nicer people on the east coast. There she worked for the meanest man on Wall Street, while her psychotic husband tried to kill her three times. (So much for finding nicer people.) Then one day she declared enough, got a better job, divorced her husband, and fell in love with her new life where people behaved nicely. But all those bad behaviors has given her lots of fodder for her humorous books. Please buy these books, because otherwise, she’ll become grumpy and write troubled novels instead. They will likely traumatize you.

You have been warned.

More mostly humorous books by Liza:

Ghost Lover—Two British brothers fall in love with the same young woman. Ancestral ghost is called in to fix the situation. And there’s a ghost cat that roams about the book as well. (Humorous Contemporary Romance)

Saving Casey—Cass wakes up in the body of a troubled teen who has burned every bridge imaginable. Her only choice is to turn this life around, but that’s much harder than she ever imagined.

Untamed & Unabashed—The youngest of the Bennet sisters, Lydia, tells her story. A faithful spinoff from Pride & Prejudice.

A Long Road to Love Series: (Humorous Contemporary odd Romance)

Worst Week Ever — Laugh out loud week of disasters of Epic proportions.

Oh Stupid Heart — The heart wants what it wants, even if it’s impossible.

Coming to Reason — There is a breaking point when even a saint comes to reason.

Climbing out of Hell — The reconstruction of a terrible man into a great one.

The Hardest Love — Is to love oneself. Sam’s story.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT

LIZA O'CONNOR

Investigate these sites:

Liza's Blog and Website | Facebook | Twitter |

***
Enter for chances to win a prize in this massive multi-author giveaway!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

***

All this month, you are invited to...
— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Follow Kim on Pinterest
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow
... and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books. Please enter often, and good luck!

Blog Tour: Pack of Trouble by @Liza0Connor humorous Victorian mystery #BookPlugs #BYNR #IARTG

Vic is certain that if Claire has a baby, she’ll turn herself around. But try as she might, Claire cannot get pregnant.

Today, I’m sharing some possible reasons why Claire can’t seem to have babies.

At sixteen, Claire decided to give herself to her beloved, the butler in training. However, she didn’t dare have children, so like her Aunt Maddy, she took droughts.

While most Victorian women knew very little about how to prevent pregnancies, the women in Aunt Maddy’s line had successfully passed down a ‘recipe’ book from the fourteenth-century book that contained various recipes to prevent and stop pregnancies.

Her aunt made the acid-based drought exactly as the original book instructed and she never had a child. So she naturally shared this with Claire. However, Claire wished to improve upon the concoction based on all that she had read from the various erudite pamphlets to which she subscribed under Victor’s name.

It is possible the constant and daily use of these acid draughts scarred her ovaries, especially if her changes were to ‘strengthen’ the potency.

The second possible reason Claire cannot have children is her interest and work using uranium dust. Vic has warned her not to handle it, knowing people who use it often begin to lose their health. However, neither realized the full extent of the danger. Thus, it is possible her exposure was enough to make her sterile.

A final possibility is that David’s use of an x-ray machine in his dental office has made him sterile and the problem is not Claire’s at all.

We will never know for sure why Claire could not have children, but even when she gave up her butler in training and married her gentle, obliging, highly intelligent David, no matter how often they tried, no seed would set in her womb.

The lack of a child, left her without purpose, and to be frank, was making her a bit crazy.

Vic knew her baby sister needed a baby, so when she rescued little Maddy from certain death, she brought the child to Claire, only to be left waiting at the front door like unwanted vermin.

While Xavier’s plan to take a holiday in Europe for Vic to have her baby incognito works well enough, complications during the birth almost takes both mother and child. Dr. Connors performs his first cesarean ever. While successful, it Vic takes months to recover. A prisoner to the bed, she spends her time encouraging marriage between two of their employees. Unfortunately, Xavier’s original negotiations with Tubs prevents the giant from acting upon his heart. While Xavier chases ladies enjoying the sun, Vic convinces Tubs to resign his service.

When Xavier and Vic return to England, the head of Scotland Yard awaits them at the dock. A great change in Parliament has occurred due to the fallout of their last investigation. England is crumbling beneath an outbreak of crimes and their help is desperately needed before lives are ruined and jobs are lost.

When they arrived at Vic’s prior estate, no one answered the door for fifteen minutes, although someone was home because curtains kept moving. While Vic had a wheelchair to sit in and Tubs was used to standing for long periods of time, Sally was left standing, with the baby in her arms. “You might want to take Maddy back to the carriage.

“A little sun is good for her. But if no one answers in five minutes, I’ll find shade. However, if no one answers then maybe this isn’t meant to be.”

“She has a point,” Tubs muttered.


“Hit the door again,” Vic said.

Tubs slammed the side of his fist against the door once, creating a loud explosion, rather like a small bomb.

Finally, the door opened to one very angry sister.

“How dare you come here and terrify my servants!”

For the first time in her life, Vic stared up at her petite sister. “If I had a fern, I would lay it down now in a declaration of peace, but I don’t. So just listen to what I have to say. Our fight has been going on for long enough. It’s time for each of us to forgive and move on.”

Claire’s eyes rimmed with tears. “I don’t see how that’s possible.”

Vic stared up at her. “We survived a shipwreck, surely we can survive this as well.”

Her pretty forehead crinkled. “Why are you in a wheelchair?”

About to reply ‘it’s nothing’, Vic decided the truth might actually move matters along faster. “I almost died recently.”

Claire’s face paled. “Oh…I’m sorry.”

“Well, I wasn’t too happy about it either, but it saved a life and got me to thinking about what’s important.”

Her sister’s eyes grew watery and her head shook. “No, I mean I’m really sorry, Vic. I shouldn’t have done it.”

Vic had no clue which horrible thing she thought she shouldn’t have done. Was it claiming Jacko abused L’il Pete, firing Gregory when he wouldn’t lie to help her steal Pete, or demanding sweet Sara be fired? Maybe it was telling Alice that ridiculous story about Pete dangling a baby off the carriage.

“Could we come inside? Maddy’s turning pink,” Vic said.

“Maddy?” her confusion turned to rapture as she spied the tiny baby. “Maddy…oh she’s beautiful!” Claire rushed to the baby, pulling her out of Sally’s arms. She then hurried inside without actually inviting the rest of them to enter.

Book 5
Pack of Trouble
AMAZON
Free with Amazon Kindle Unlimited

Need to catch up?
Book 1
The Troublesome Apprentice

The greatest sleuth in Victorian England hires a young man

who turns out to be a young woman.

Book 2
The Missing Partner

Opps! The greatest sleuth in Victorian England goes missing, leaving Vic to rescue him, a suffragette, and about 100 servants. Not to mention an eviscerating cat. Yes, let’s not mention the cat.

Book 2.5
A Right to Love

A romantic detour for Jacko. Want to see how amply rewarded Jacko was when he & Vic save an old woman from Bedlam?

Book 3
The Mesmerist

 The Mesmerist can control people from afar and make them murder for her. Worse yet, Xavier Thorn has fallen under her spell.

Book 4
Well Kept Secrets

L’il Pete’s mum is murdered,

and discovering who & why reveals a great deal of secrets.

All Xavier books Free with Amazon Unlimited

Liza O’Connor was raised badly by feral cats, left the South/Midwest and wandered off to find nicer people on the east coast. There she worked for the meanest man on Wall Street, while her psychotic husband tried to kill her three times. (So much for finding nicer people.) Then one day she declared enough, got a better job, divorced her husband, and fell in love with her new life where people behaved normally. But all those bad behaviors have given her lots of fodder for her humorous romances. Please buy these books, because otherwise, she’ll become grumpy and write troubled novels instead. They will likely traumatize you.

You have been warned.

Mostly humorous books by Liza:

Ghost Lover— Two British brothers fall in love with the same young woman. Ancestral ghost is called in to fix the situation. And there’s a ghost cat that roams about the book as well. (Humorous Contemporary Romance)

Untamed & Unabashed—The youngest of the Bennet sisters, Lydia, tells her story. A faithful spinoff from Pride & Prejudice.

A Long Road to Love Series: (Humorous Contemporary odd Romance)
Worst Week Ever — Laugh out loud week of disasters of Epic proportions.

Oh Stupid Heart — The heart wants what it wants, even if it’s impossible.

Coming to Reason — There is a breaking point when even a saint comes to reason.

Climbing out of Hell — The reconstruction of a terrible man into a great one.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT

LIZA O'CONNOR

Investigate these sites:

Liza's Blog and Website   Facebook   Twitter

***

All this month, you are invited to...
— Add Kim as a favorite author on Amazon.com
— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Add Kim to Google+
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Amazon, Twitter, and/or YouTube follow
...and each action this month is good for one chance to win an e-book copy of Morning's Journey. Please enter often, and good luck!

Character interview: Alice Collins from the Adventures of Xavier & Vic series by @Liza0Connor

Today, we have Alice Collins from the Adventures of Xavier & Vic series to talk about poison.

Kim: Welcome Alice. I’m curious as to why you are discussing the matter of poison instead of Vic.

Alice: Honestly, I don’t know the answer to that. All I know is that I received a most peculiar letter that I wished Vic to investigate. However, when I arrived at Thorn’s Private Inquiries, Vic was not there and Xavier was barely there.

Kim: What do you mean ‘barely there’?

Alice: He was behaving in a confused and angry manner. When I offered him coffee to help him wake, he slapped it away and accused me of trying to poison him…again.

Kim: Have you tried to poison him before?

Alice: Of course not! I do not go around poisoning people. I realize my social standing in society is persona non grata, but that doesn’t mean I’ve resorted to poisoning people, and even if I had, I assure you I would never harm Vic or Xavier. Vic discovered where my step-father had hidden my mother so Jacko could rescue her.  Thus, she—I meant to say he—helped to return my mother and also sent me the love of my life. I had never expected to marry, and now I’m having my second child with the most wonderful, loving man in the world.

Kim: Sounds lovely. But why did Xavier think you had poisoned him?

Alice: Evidently, the butler of one the Ministers of Parliament poured a half cup of arsenic into his coffee. As you may be aware, poisoning people with arsenic has become a Victorian pastime. It has been said that more people die from arsenic than rats do. The Parliament has attempted to stop the improper use of poisons by requiring the pharmacist to know the person he is selling the poison to. But at most, that can only delay matters a short time as you purchase a few items in advance of asking for arsenic to kill the rats.

Kim: A poor solution indeed.

Alice: Next they passed a law that arsenic must be mixed with charcoal or indigo ink. Fortunately, for Xavier, the butler possessed arsenic with charcoal, which caused Xavier to spit the coffee back into the cup upon first taste. He said it was like licking the inside of a chimney.

Kim: That seems like a much better deterrent.  I believe pure arsenic is considered to be almost tasteless and odorless.

Alice: That is correct, which makes soot an effective warning substance.

Kim: What about the other option of mixing indigo ink with the poison? What does that taste like?

Alice: Indigo ink comes from the leaves of Indigofera Tinctatoria. It’s a tropical legume and is used to improve soils between plantings. Depending on the base used to stabilize the coloring, its taste might not have been detected in a strong coffee. If lye was used, it would have been, but there are other options.

Kim: For someone who claims not to be poisoning people, you sure do know a great deal about poisons.

Alice: Well, I run an estate of some of the finest farmland in England. Rodent control is critical to a successful farm. Some farmers use arsenic as a pesticide since it attacks the internal organs of a bug just as easily as it does a human. However, arsenic remains in the soil a very long time, and some vegetables will mistake it for nutrients and absorb it. So while we do use it on rats and other small pests, we are very careful to keep it away from our plants, livestock, and most importantly, the children.

Kim: What are the symptoms of arsenic poisoning?

Alice: If you swallow the poison, first you will feel a burning in your throat, followed by difficulty in swallowing. Next you incur violent stomach pains, which will cause continuous vomiting as the body attempts to purge the poison. Diarrhea, fainting, cramps in the calves, and vertigo would follow, ending in a loss of consciousness and death.  It is most fortunate Xavier spit out the first sip at once. In this case, the use of too much poison saved his life.

Kim: Most fortunate indeed. Thank you, Alice. Let’s check out a bit more about this story.

The great Victorian sleuth Xavier Thorn and his partner Vic Hamilton take a case close to home. Their youngest staff member, L’il Pete, discovers his mother murdered in the alley. Jacko is called up from the country to assist in solving the crime. The good woman’s murder proves to be tangled up with a much larger and shocking list of crimes perpetrated by a powerful man who may truly be above the law. Making matters more complex: Vic discovers her recent weight gain may be the result of a condition that could destroy her life and everything she loves.


When Davy dragged his boss through Dr. Connors’ waiting room, which contained the elite of London, they gasped in horror at ‘the poor’ polluting their space. They were baffled when the nurse led the two men straight in to see the doctor.

One gentleman rose to object, but whatever the nurse whispered silenced him at once. Once seated, he leaned to the woman beside him and shared what he had been told. Upon taking in the information, she told the woman beside her.

By the time Davy hurried out to his carriage, the entire lobby of very fine people smiled and nodded as he rushed by.

***
Davy didn’t notice the people in the lobby, not when he carried Xavier into the doctor or when Connors told him to bring Inspector Stone at once.

All he knew was someone had poisoned his boss.

Davy ignored the people scrambling to get out of the way of his speeding carriage. Upon arriving at New Scotland Yard, he ignored the policeman yelling at him that he couldn’t leave his carriage in front of the building.

He ran past the officer at the front desk demanding he stop and state his business and up what seemed to be a thousand flights of steps to Inspector Stone’s corner office. Just before he reached the door, he was tackled from behind.

Fortunately, the noise of his fall and his shouts for Inspector Stone brought the head of Scotland Yard to him.

Upon seeing it was Davy, the Inspector demanded his men to release him.

Davy scrambled to his feet. “Xavier’s been poisoned. Dr. Connors says to come at once!”

Book 4
Well Kept Secrets
AMAZON
Free with Amazon Kindle Unlimited

L’il Pete’s mum is murdered,

and discovering who & why reveals a great deal of secrets.

Need to catch up?
Book 1
The Troublesome Apprentice

The greatest sleuth in Victorian England hires a young man

who turns out to be a young woman.

Book 2
The Missing Partner

Opps! The greatest sleuth in Victorian England goes missing, leaving Vic to rescue him, a suffragette, and about 100 servants. Not to mention an eviscerating cat. Yes, let’s not mention the cat.

Book 2.5
A Right to Love

A romantic detour for Jacko. Want to see how amply rewarded Jacko was when he & Vic save an old woman from Bedlam?

Book 3
The Mesmerist

 The Mesmerist can control people from afar and make them murder for her. Worse yet, Xavier Thorn has fallen under her spell.

 
All Xavier books Free with Amazon Unlimited

Liza O’Connor was raised badly by feral cats, left the South/Midwest and wandered off to find nicer people on the east coast. There she worked for the meanest man on Wall Street, while her psychotic husband tried to kill her three times. (So much for finding nicer people.) Then one day she declared enough, got a better job, divorced her husband, and fell in love with her new life where people behaved normally. But all those bad behaviors have given her lots of fodder for her humorous romances. Please buy these books, because otherwise, she’ll become grumpy and write troubled novels instead. They will likely traumatize you.

You have been warned.

Mostly humorous books by Liza:

Ghost Lover— Two British brothers fall in love with the same young woman. Ancestral ghost is called in to fix the situation. And there’s a ghost cat that roams about the book as well. (Humorous Contemporary Romance)

Untamed & Unabashed—The youngest of the Bennet sisters, Lydia, tells her story. A faithful spinoff from Pride & Prejudice.

A Long Road to Love Series: (Humorous Contemporary odd Romance)
Worst Week Ever — Laugh out loud week of disasters of Epic proportions.

Oh Stupid Heart — The heart wants what it wants, even if it’s impossible.

Coming to Reason — There is a breaking point when even a saint comes to reason.

Climbing out of Hell — The reconstruction of a terrible man into a great one.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT

LIZA O'CONNOR

Investigate these sites:

Liza's Blog and Website   Facebook   Twitter

Enter this great giveaway for e-books, note cards, 

and an autographed print copy of Dawnflight!
a Rafflecopter giveaway


All this month, you are invited to...
— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Add Kim to Google+
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on this blog, especially if you have done the Twitter and/or YouTube follow
...and each action this month is good for one chance to win an e-book copy of Dawnflight. Please enter often, and good luck!

Finding the Muse and spotlight on Who Killed Blanche DuBois? by @C_E_Lawrence #cozymystery #BYNR

Today on The Maze, please join me in welcoming mystery author Carole Buggé, who shares her thoughts about muses!

In Carole's words:

Sheila English (don’t you love her name?) suggested to me that I write a blog about “finding my muse.”  Good idea, I thought – so I did what I always do when I set out to write:  I google.  An internet search of the word “Muse” brought 41,400,000 results in 0.18 seconds.  They included a rock band, a software company, a magazine, and a modeling agency (who knew?).  The definition given by Wickipedia is “in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature . . . the goddesses, spirits, or real persons who inspire the creation of literature and the arts.”

Not to belabor the point, I was pleased to note that all three Muses (later on there were nine or even ten, depending on which version you ascribe to) are female.  So a big shout out to the Greeks for giving women some credit – we got wisdom, beauty and poetry, and the men got war, drunkenness, and the underworld.  Sorry, guys.  To be fair, the muses were as capricious and cruel as any other Greek god – they blinded Thamyris for his hubris in challenging them to a contest.  Ouch.  Nice work, ladies.

Among other cool things, the muses were responsible for giving artists creative inspiration.  The other common meaning of that word, of course, is breath.  In ancient Greece people mostly wrote poetry and plays – but according to the Wickipedia article, “They have served as aids to an author of prose, too, sometimes represented as the true speaker, for whom an author is merely a mouthpiece.”

I like that. It takes some of the responsibility of creativity off my shoulders; after all, if I’m just a mouthpiece, then what the heck?  That explanation also comes very close to describing the feeling every writer has experienced from time to time when “in the zone” – the odd, disembodied sense of writing down what seems to originate elsewhere.  Now, I’m sure my ego is as big as any other author’s, so this isn’t fake humility.  Writing a novel isn’t exactly a walk through the park – it’s a dirty, messy business, full of trips and traps and dark nights of despair.  But on the good days – and sometimes even on the bad ones – there is something that happens, something I can’t fully explain.  It’s spooky and weird and maybe even otherworldly, but I’ve learned to trust it.  It is, exactly as the Wickipedia article describes it:  a feeling of being simply the channel, or mouthpiece, for something much larger.  It happens most often when I’m writing poetry (it’s true – I don’t just write about serial killers), but it also happens when I’m working on my thrillers.

It is as thought the ideas and stories are out there somewhere, and I’m just plucking them out of the air, as it were, to write them down.  Maybe this is what Jung was talking about when he came up with his notion of archetypes, and it might be what my New Age friends means when they speak of “channeling” spirits or past lives, or whatever.   Of course, I don’t buy into that stuff.  I believe in the scientific method, so until someone can prove Seth exists, I’ll continue to regard Shirley McLaine as a brilliant actress, but a bit of a wacko.  No offense, Shirley – you were amazing in Being There.  Best masturbation scene ever – you totally rock.

So I am stuck in the uncomfortable position of trying to describe something I can’t fully explain and don’t completely understand.  Well, there is the nature of the creative process right there, it seems to me.  As writers we are trying to use the most unreliable, earthbound and limited of tools – words – to create the ineffable, immortal and timeless – stories.

Because stories are forever. The Greeks knew that, and so did the Romans, and so did every culture who came after.  People seem to have a need to tell each other stories; it’s one of the things I love most about our species.  So we dance our tales, or sing them, or, god forbid, write them.  We’re forever in search of our Muse, but I have the feeling that she’s out there looking for us, too.  After, she needs a mouthpiece.  She may be eternal, ethereal, timeless, and all that good stuff, but we’re the ones stuck here on good old terra firma, so if she’s got something to say, she’d better look us up.  She can find me in the East Village, listening to public radio, drinking coffee from Porto Rico Imports, and trying to think of devious new ways a serial killer might operate.  So ladies, all nine or ten of you are welcome to drop on by anytime – I’ll keep the light on for you.

Thanks for sharing your musings about muses, Carole!

Carole is the author of, among many other works, Who Killed Blanche DuBois?, a cozy mystery that I'm pleased to spotlight on The Maze today.

Synopsis:
Editor Claire Rawlings is determined to learn who wrote her star author out of the Big Apple storyline--permanently, and she enlists the aid of her young friend Meredith in finding the culprit.

Buy the book: Kindle | Paperback

Author bio:
CAROLE BUGGÉ (C. E. LAWRENCE) has nine published novels, six novellas and a dozen or so short stories and poems.  Many of her works appear in translation internationally.  Winner of both the Euphoria Poetry Competition and the Eve of St. Agnes Poetry Award, she is a two time Pushcart Poetry Prize nominee and First Prize winner of the Maxim Mazumdar Playwriting Competition, the Chronogram Literary Fiction Prize, Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Award, and the Jean Paiva Memorial Fiction Award.  She was a finalist in the McClaren, MSU and Henrico Playwriting Competitions, and was nominated for a New York Innovative Theatre Award.

Her plays and musicals have been presented in New York City at The Players Club, Manhattan Punchline, Pulse Theatre, The Van Dam Street Playhouse, Love Creek, Playwrights Horizons, HERE, the Episcopal Actors’ Guild, the Jan Hus Theatre, Lakota Theatre, The Open Book, The 78th Street Theatre, Genesius Guild, the 14th Street Y, and Shotgun Productions, as well as internationally, including the Alleyway Theatre, the Fairfield Theatre, The Bay Street Theatre, Actors and Writers, and the Byrdcliffe Theatre.  She was sponsored by The Paper Mill Playhouse for a TCG Playwriting Award two years in a row, and was a Playwriting Fellowship finalist at Manhattan Theatre Club.

Follow Carole Buggé/C.E. Lawrence:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Google+ |

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#EggcerptExchange: Sink or Swim by @stacyjuba

You'll need your deerstalker cap and water wings for today's Eggcerpt Exchange offering, Sink or Swim by Stacy Juba!

Blurb: How do you change the channel when reality TV turns to murder? Personal trainer Cassidy Novak has gained fame for starring on a hit reality show. Not only does she lose and have to walk the plank, but upon returning home, Cassidy discovers she is being stalked. As her former competitors get killed off, Cassidy refuses to play by the stalker’s bizarre rules. She’s also being shadowed by photographer Zach Gallagher, who has been assigned to capture her personal moments for the local newspaper. She wants to trust Zach, but fears he may not be as nice as he seems. When the stalker forces a showdown, Cassidy must walk the plank again – this time for her life. Sink or Swim was a Nook Top 20 Bestseller and was a Nook Mystery Bestseller, and was also a #1 Amazon Kindle Bestseller in the Women Sleuths and Romantic Suspense categories.
 
Eggcerpt:
Cassidy sat poised in her chair as former contestants filed onto the soundstage at WBC in New York. Together, the studio audience and television viewers had watched the recorded footage of her walking the plank. Gabriel would now interview the competitors from the inaugural season one final time. More importantly, he would announce her prize. If it erased most of her debts, then it would at least make this whole embarrassing experience worthwhile.

Cassidy’s heart kicked in her chest and sweat moistened her brow. As one of her old teammates entered, her heart rate skyrocketed for a different reason. Josh Sanchioni slid into a bucket seat, carrying himself stiffer than normal in his sharp gray suit. Studio lights caught his sunbleached strawberry blonde waves, brightening the reddish gold tints.

Cassidy slipped her gaze to his leather shoes. If Josh hadn’t been engaged, they could have been an item. Instead, they’d been good friends until that one evening when the cameras were off and they almost kissed. They’d both realized their mistake and backed away. Things were strained until Josh walked the plank a week later. Tonight, not only did Cassidy have to face Josh, she would probably meet his fiancée.

Her cheeks heating, Cassidy focused on the competitor beside Josh as a distraction. Adam Horton sat erect, hands folded in the lap of his olive green khakis. He wasn’t military, but he dressed like an Army wannabe. His reptilian eyes drilled into Cassidy, his angular face revealing the shape of bones underneath. A blond goatee darkened his pointy chin. Cassidy shuddered involuntarily. Adam never said much, but he made her uncomfortable just the same. She’d sense someone watching her on the ship and Adam would be lurking in the hatches. Luckily, he only lasted on the show two weeks.

“Before we catch up with our former contestants, I’d like to congratulate Cassidy on a job well done,” Gabriel said in the middle of the circle.

Applause thundered from the audience and a wave of excitement crested over her. Cassidy offered a smile for the cameras as Gabriel finished, “I’m proud to present you with your prize – a luxury vacation for two to the Bahamas on a real cruise ship with $3,000 spending money!”

Dumbfounded, Cassidy watched as a video depicted a majestic ocean liner on the large TV screen. “Set sail with us to the Bahamas, where you can swim with dolphins in turquoise waters, relax on sugar white beaches and explore the island’s history as a haven for pirates,” said the female announcer in a voice-over. “On your voyage, you can enjoy our ten lounges, two outdoor pools, luxury spa, casino, cinema, dynamite shows, and glass walls and elevators that get you up close to the ocean views.”

Another boat? More ocean views? Were they friggin’ serious? A frozen smile hovered on Cassidy’s lips. Too bad she’d already seen the counselor that afternoon and he’d attested that all her screws were still in place. This travesty might be enough to unhinge her.

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Author Stacy Juba's Links:
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BOOK REVIEW: The Unexpected Guest by Agatha Christie

The Mistress of Mystery has done it again! Raise your hand if you're surprised.
 
I thought not.

On a deserted, foggy stretch of road one night in southern Wales, a man runs his car into a ditch. Fortunately, a nearby manor house offers the prospect of assistance. The driver traverses the grounds to the French doors of a ground-floor study. After knocking fails to rouse a response from within, he tries the doors. Finding them unlocked, he cautiously lets himself in -- and comes face-to-face with an invalid man slumped in his wheelchair, sporting a bullet hole in his head. The corpse's attractive young widow stands in a corner holding a revolver and readily confesses to the deed.

End of story? Not by a long shot (pun intended). The unexpected guest, moved by the woman's tale of emotional abuse at her husband's hands, decides to manufacture evidence to point the police to a different suspect. But even that doesn't play out in an expected manner as other members of the household take the stage. Several harbor their own reasons to see their cruel master dead.

Who is this unexpected guest and how did he happen to strand himself near that particular house shortly after the murder? Why did he knock at the study rather than the front door? And why, against all logic, did he choose to help the widow, risking implication as an accessory after the fact?

The answers to those questions and many more, dear reader, I leave for you to discover.

The Unexpected Guest began life as an original play at the Duchess Theatre in London, where it opened in August 1958 and enjoyed a respectable 18-month run. This novelization, the second by world-renowned theatre and opera critic Charles Osborne, continues the series he began in 1998 with Black Coffee. With 19 original plays to Christie's credit, ample opportunity exists for extending the series beyond Osborne's third installment (Spider's Web).

At first the book's artless prose, curious dearth of descriptive passages and detached viewpoint annoyed me. However, I came to realize this is the best approach for adapting a stage play. It allows a reader who saw a live dramatization to relive the experience. For those like myself who missed the show, it allows us to cast our own actors and mentally supply the props. Most importantly, the style allows Ms. Christie's brilliance -- especially with respect to dialogue -- to shine through.

I knock off half a point because, in spite of a couple of twists as unexpected as the guest himself, the plot unfolds in a simplistic manner. The book's 258 pages of relatively large type hardly provide a meaty read. Unless I were a collector, I wouldn't bother purchasing the hardcover edition.

However, if you seek a quick diversion into Christie's fascinating world of murder and mayhem, where appearances are guaranteed to deceive, this paperback well rewards the investment of your pence.

(Originally published in Crescent Blues. Reprinted with permission.)

BOOK REVIEW: Last Seen in Massilia by Steven Saylor

Hemmed inside the walls of ancient, Greek-controlled Marseilles, Pompey's sympathizers besieging your loyalties even as Julius Caesar's legions blockade all access by land or sea, what would you expect to find? Starvation and hysteria, certainly, as well as suspicion and political intrigue in abundance. But if you happen to be Gordianus the Finder, renowned sleuth of the Roman Empire, murder finds you.
 
In 49 B.C., civil war embroiled Rome's vast empire. Caesar crossed the Rubicon to assert his regal claim upon Rome only to find himself bitterly opposed by his former ally, Magnus Pompey. No one in the Mediterranean world could remain neutral in the face of the ensuing conflict. The merchant Greeks of the fiercely independent city-state of Massillia unwisely chose to side with Pompey, prompting Caesar to lay siege to this strategic port.

Gordianus, upon receiving anonymous word of his son Meto's ignominious death as a spy and traitor to Caesar, travels to Meto's last-known location, Massillia, to seek the truth. As a father and a Finder, Gordianus refuses to believe the charges. One of Caesar's closest officers, Meto would seem the last person to double-cross the great warlord. Gordianus braves capture by both sides, a flooded siege tunnel, insane city residents and other perils in his quest. But his investigation soon takes a sinister turn when from afar he witnesses a woman plunge to her death from atop Massillia's Sacrifice Rock.

I found several engaging features in Last Seen in Massillia, beginning with the vividly accurate historical and military details. Some of the military descriptions wax technical, particularly those cropping up before the plot hits full stride. But if you're into that aspect of ancient history, you'll find those sections as fascinating as I did.

I seldom read a murder mystery wherein the investigator witnesses the crime. An even more refreshing twist occurs at the development of a dispute about whether the woman jumped or was pushed by a man. This dispute flourishes chiefly between Gordianus's companion and their colorful Massillian host, and quickly turns into a macabre running gag providing welcome comic relief.

Then there's Gordianus himself, a 61-year-old hero who possesses intelligence, pragmatism and fatherly devotion in generous measures. I enjoyed riding his emotional ups and downs in his pursuit of the truth behind what happened to the woman and his son. Near the end, however, Gordianus makes a decision that, as a parent, I could neither relate to nor agree with. And as a reader, I felt deliberately strung along by this plot element's stark lack of closure. Hence, I knocked a point off the score.

But, considering everything Gordianus endured up to that point in this otherwise superbly detailed novel, I do look forward to seeing how the consequences play out in Saylor's next installment of the Roma Sub Rosa series.

BOOK REVIEW: Ransom at the Opera by Fred Hunter

I love being proven right as much as the next person. While reading a murder mystery, however, much of the fun for me lies in harboring doubts about my guesses as to the killer's method, motive and opportunity. I simply couldn't believe how quickly I nailed two of the elements in Fred Hunter's latest Jeremy Ransom mystery -- before the murder occurred. Hoping I guessed wrong became my only impetus to finish Ransom at the Opera, thus leeching the pleasure from my reading experience.
 
Elderly Emily Charters attends the opening night of a highly hyped production of Carmen at Chicago's new performing arts center only to watch the actor playing Don José die onstage. When Detective Jeremy Ransom takes over the case, he quickly surmises Riccardo Nuevo was murdered. Ransom must ferret out the murderer from the dozens of suspects in the cast, crew and other offices involved in the production.

Detective Ransom follows a tortured path to unravel the internal relationships of the fledgling opera company to determine whether Nuevo was even the intended victim. Nuevo's colleagues' over-the-top off-stage "performances" make Ransom's job that much harder. The clunky prose, inundation of sight and sound details to the exclusion of all other senses, and lack of character identification sap the reader's enjoyment.

Successful series mysteries devote as much attention to the sleuth and his or her partner as to the murder plot itself. Who can recall a Sherlock Holmes plot without fondly bringing to mind his legendary banter with Dr. Watson? And yet, memorable character interaction seems curiously absent from Ransom at the Opera. Miss Emily appears in only three or four scenes, hardly enough for a reader unfamiliar with the series to become properly acquainted with her. And of Ransom's badgered partner, Detective Gerald White, only his copious note-taking made a lasting impression upon me. Even Ransom himself, who doesn't come upon the scene until halfway into the book, eludes reader identification.

"I was a fool," Ransom laments to Miss Emily at the end of the novel. He feels personally responsible for what happened in the aftermath of the denouement. The motive "was right in front of me." Yes, it was. And since Detective Ransom's performance scarcely brought the house down, I won't be sleuthing out any more of his adventures.

(Originally published in Crescent Blues. Reprinted with permission.)