Dying to Knowis a paranormal mystery. Police detective Oliver “Tuck” Tucker is dead, killed in his own home. While his body is gone, his spirit remains, but to do what? Solve his murder? Protect his wife? Figure out why his best friend and partner is hiding evidence? So much to do, so little idea how to do it.
Bottom line: Dying to Know is for you if you like mysteries told in a new and unexpected way.
Listen to chapters 1 and 2 here or wherever you find Mysteries to Die For Podcast
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About Tj O’Connor
Tj O’Connor is an award-winning author of mysteries and thrillers. He’s an international security consultant specializing in anti-terrorism, investigations, and threat analysis—life experiences that drive his novels. As a government agent and years as a consultant, he has lived and worked throughout many countries in the European Union and the Americas. In his spare time, he’s a Harley Davidson pilot, a man-about-dogs (and now cats), and a lover of adventure, cooking, and good spirits (both kinds).
Partners In Crime Tours represents a network of 300+ bloggers offering tailor-made virtual book tours and marketing options for crime, mystery and thriller writers from around the world. Founded in 2011, PICT offers services for well-established and best-selling authors, as well as those just starting out with their careers. PICT prides itself on its tailored packages for authors, with a personal touch from the tour coordinators. For more information, check out their website www.partnersincrimetours.com
Early Termination is a suspense crime novel. Parole Officer Casey Carson has her hands full with a stacked case load and a rookie to train. Her workload takes a twist when one of her clients is found dead with her business card stuff in his mouth. Now the cops want her, members of the Diablo gang want her, her ex-husband and her new maybe plaything, they both want her, too.
Bottom line: Early Termination is for you if you like fast-paced crime stories woven with suspense, thrills, and humor.
Listen to chapters one and two here or wherever you get Mysteries to Die For podcast
About Cindy Goyette
Cindy Goyette is a former probation officer who had a front row seat to the criminal justice system. She kept her sanity by finding humor in most situations. A mix of these things helped her create The Probation Case Files Mystery Series. After spending over twenty years in Arizona, Cindy lives in Washington state with her husband and two Cocker Spaniels. Visit her at CCGoyette.com
Partners In Crime Tours represents a network of 300+ bloggers offering tailor-made virtual book tours and marketing options for crime, mystery and thriller writers from around the world. Founded in 2011, PICT offers virtual book tour services for well-established and best-selling authors, as well as those just starting out with their careers. PICT prides itself on its tailored packages for authors, with a personal touch from the tour coordinators. For more information, check out their website partnersincrimetours.com
The Chemical Detectiveis a thriller. Dr. Jaqueline Silver, who answers to Jaq, is a chemical engineer putting her considerable talents to work keeping the alpine slopes avalanche free by detonating controlled explosions. When she notices an anomaly in the explosives delivery, she pulls unwittingly on a house of cards and brings down a whole lot more than snow.
Bottom line: The Chemical Detective is for you if you like heroes chill and your thrills explosive
Listen to the first sections and the full review here, on our new website m2d4podcast.com, or wherever you get Mysteries to Die For podcast
The Chemical Detective was released in the UK in 2019 and released here in the States in August 2024, is promoted by Partners In Crime Tours and is available from AMAZON.
Fiona Erskine is a professional engineer. Based in the north of England and working internationally, she has often been the lone representative of her gender in board meetings, cargo ships and night-time factories. Her fiction offers a fascinating insight into the traditionally male world of heavy industry. Fiona’s stand-alone portrait of a Scottish factory, Phosphate Rocks: A Death In Ten Objects, made the UK Literary Review’s top ten crime novels of 2021. Her latest series introduces DI Cadell in a cyber thriller – Losing Control: Terror in Teesside. Fiona is passionate about music and outdoor swimming, though not generally at the same time.
There will be a ONE WEEK US Kindle Countdown deal on Phosphate Rocks (my best book!). It’ll be $0.99 from Sunday, February 2 to Sunday, February 9th, 2025.
About Partners In Crime Tours
PICT represents a network of 300+ bloggers offering tailor-made virtual book tours and marketing options for crime, mystery and thriller writers from around the world. Founded in 2011, PICT offers virtual book tour services for well-established and best-selling authors, as well as those just starting out with their careers. PICT prides itself on its tailored packages for authors, with a personal touch from the tour coordinators. For more information, check out their website partnersincrimetours.com
Elephant Safariis a political thriller. Documentary film maker Pero Baltazar and elite guide Mbuno are on a walking safari when they come across a herd of elephants being terrorized by poachers. After intervening, they take on the responsibility of protecting the herd and ending the poaching, which draws them into an international conspiracy they could not imagine
Bottom line: Elephant Safari is for you if you like dramatically intense political thrillers and the exotic environs of East Africa.
Listen to an excerpt here or wherever you get Mysteries to Die For
Peter Riva has traveled extensively throughout Africa, Asia, and Europe, spending many months spanning thirty years with legendary guides for East African adventurers. He created the Wild Things television series in 1995 and has worked for more than forty years as a literary agent. Riva writes science fiction and African adventure books, including the Mbuno & Pero thrillers. He lives in Gila, New Mexico.
On the Horns of Deathis historical mystery. Sixteen-year-old Martis volunteers as a bull dancer in Knossos on the isle of Crete. An ordinary day of practice turns dark when she discovers the body of another dancer inside a bullpen. But why would he climb into the pen? Answer: murder.
Bottom line: On the Horns of Death is for you if you like amateur sleuths and the rich sights, scents, and sounds of Ancient Greece.
Listen to the first chapter and full review here or wherever you get Mysteries to Die For podcasts
The On the Horns of Death was released from Severn House and is promoted by Partners In Crime Tours and is available from AMAZON and other book retailers.
Eleanor Kuhns is a previous winner of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel competition for A Simple Murder. The author of eleven Will Rees mysteries, she is now a full-time writer after a successful career as the Assistant Director at the Goshen Public Library in Orange County, New York.
Partners In Crime Tours represents a network of 300+ bloggers offering tailor-made virtual book tours and marketing options for crime, mystery and thriller writers from around the world. Founded in 2011, PICT offers services for well-established and best-selling authors, as well as those just starting out with their careers. PICT prides itself on its tailored packages for authors, with a personal touch from the tour coordinators. For more information, check out their website partnersincrimetours.com
Rogues & Patriotsis an PI thriller. Los Angeles PI Nick Crane does a friend a favor by taking on the two-headed case of investigating the murder of a Confidential Informant and saving his young daughters from the horrors of the juvenile immigration. But his time isn’t his own as an underground group of vigilantes are after him and something they think he possesses.
Bottom line: Rogues & Patriots is for you if you like ballsy private investigators, conspiracy thrillers, and blurred lines between the good guys and the bad.
Listen to Chapters 1 & 2 with our full review here or wherever you get Mysteries to Die For Podcast
About Patrick H. Moore
Patrick H. Moore is a Los Angeles based investigator, sentencing mitigation specialist, and crime writer. In the field since 2003, he has worked in virtually all areas including drug trafficking, sex crimes, crimes of violence, and white-collar fraud. Mastering this job, which combines art, science, and intuition, has given Patrick the tools to write realistic crime fiction that depicts the unpredictable and violent world of cops, convicts, prosecutors and defense attorneys. Rogues & Patriots was the second in a three-part series in which veteran Los Angeles private investigator Nick Crane battles a group of aristocratic domestic terrorists known as the “principals.”
The Guest Houseis psychological thriller. Allie Dawson is on the ride of a lifetime. Her brainchild for a voice-to-caption product has received preliminary funding. But moving from Milwaukee to Silicon Valley has brought more than the expected challenges of getting a new product to market. She’s moved into a guest house where the rent was too good to be true. That should have been the first clue.
Bottom line: The Guest House is for you if you like female-centric stories where thrill and mystery are mechanisms for character growth.
Listen to the first chapter and the review here or wherever you get Mysteries to Die For podcasts
About Bonnie Traymore
Bonnie Traymore is the award-winning, Amazon bestselling author of page-turner mystery/thrillers that hit close to home. Her books feature strong but relatable female protagonists. The plots explore difficult topics such as jealousy, infidelity, murder, and the impact of psychological disorders, but she also includes bits of romance and humor to lighten the mood from time to time. She has active status member of International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America.
It’s 1976 and Sheriff Ty Dawson has his hands full with Meridian County’s newest resident. Music producer Len Kaanan brought in rock star Ian Swann and with him came a troubled brother, an ornery producer, shady stagehands, property damage, assault, and someone with a more deadly intent. Plus, Ty’s daughter is sweet on the music man.
Bottom line: Knife River is for you if you like stories where you know something bad is going to happen but have no idea which direction it’s coming from.
Listen to the prologue and first chapter here or wherever you get Mysteries to Die For podcasts
TG Wolff Review
This review is careful not to reveal details of Knife River that will take away from the reader’s own discovery and enjoyment.
There are so many strengths of this story that it is hard to know where to start. The one that sticks out most to me is the storytelling style. This one unfolds thoughtfully, deliberately, and with such terrifying elegance that I was tempted to read through my fingers. Chapter by chapter, the feeling grows that something very bad has happened, was going to happen but where it would come from and who would be the target wasn’t clear.
The language used elevates Knife River to the top of mystery literature. Consider from chapter twenty, “By the time morning arrived, it came so softly that it felt like a eulogy, the underlayment of the clouds glowing like coal embers for only the briefest of moments, soon swallowed by a still and steely sky that stole all but the ambient glow of sunrise.”
Sheriff Ty Dawson is an engaging hero who is easy to root for. A lawman, cattle rancher, and Korean vet, he is a complicated and damaged man who takes life one day at a time. He is grounded by his wife, Jesse, his college age daughter, Cricket, as well as his foreman and the deputies. The cast is close knit, a group who are positive and supportive of each other.
The 1970s and rural Oregon setting of the Ty Dawson Mysteries makes it stand out from the pack. Birtcher displays his prowess by writing with historical accuracy while making it feel as though we were reading a modern telling. In his hands, we are eternally far away from reading a textbook description of the life and times in post-Vietnam. He similarly brings us into the world of cattle ranges and cowboys by taking us along, at the crack of dawn, to ride down strays.
The plot of this story is wonderfully winding when read from the start, as noted. Standing at the end and looking back to page one, it is both twisted and straightforward. Thinking about the story in the days since I finished it, each detail checks back to earlier chapters, making the logic sound.
When considering whether Sheriff Ty Dawson drives the story, the book divides into two parts: pre-murder and post-murder. Prior to the murder, the action of the main plot is driven by the rock star and music producer. Ty inserts himself into those plans to set up a prevent defense ahead of the invasion of ten thousand fans, but he is in a reactive position. After the murder, he shifts to a proactive role, driving the investigation. His tenacity on details is the reason why this murder is solved.
As to where this story fell short of ideal, there isn’t much to pick on. The logic, the pacing, the storytelling are topnotch.
Knife River is the fourth book in the Ty Dawson Mystery series. I read the third, but not the first two. Knife River can be read as a stand alone. The mystery is independent from prior books. Readers who can’t start a series anywhere but at book 1, definitely start there and stay with Ty through Knife River.
About Baron Birtcher
Baron Birtcher is the LA TIMES and IMBA BESTSELLING author of the award-winning Ty Dawson series, the hardboiled Mike Travis series, as well as the stand-alone, RAIN DOGS. He is a winner of the Silver Falchion Award, Killer Nashville Readers Choice Award, and Best Book of the Year Award. Baron’s writing has been hailed as “The real deal” by Publishers Weekly; “Fast Paced and Engaging” by Booklist; and “Solid, Fluent and Thrilling” by Kirkus. Before becoming a full-time writer, Baron Birtcher spent a number of years as a professional musician and founded an independent record label and management company.
Fast Times, Big Cityis an amateur sleuth adventure. It’s the late 1950s and Bud Palmer is living his best life as a sports reporter for the Miami Herald. Then his Uncle Rick, a self-proclaimed PI, gets in hot water up to his eyeballs and clutches onto Bud as his life preserver. Now Bud has to go to cold NYC to find a girl he’s never met and recover a briefcase she stole before the Chicago mob gets impatient.
Bottom line: Fast Times, Big City is for you if you like reluctant heroes, plot driven quests, and immersion in eras gone by.
Listen to the first chapter here or wherever you get Mysteries to Die For
The star of this story is the premise. A clean-cut Miami sports reporter with a perpetual tan travels to a wintery NYC on a quest for a girl with stars in her eyes and the briefcase she stole. The why is a deadbeat uncle who tried to grift the wrong guys – Chicago mob – and was the reason the girl got big ideas of acting in NY. It’s a classic fish-out-of-water story, with Bud Palmer arriving in NYC with his warmest clothing being a tennis sweater.
In our modern world, franchises and uniform laws can make one city blend into another. Frome does an amazing job of showing us Miami, with its lush foliage and mangoes, and then NYC, with it’s art, music, neighborhoods as well as noise, neon, crowds. The language is different between the two cities as are the customs and Bud has to figure it all out on the fly.
Bud is an easy hero to cheer for. He is a reluctant hero but doesn’t get melancholy about it. He is a stand-up guy who doesn’t compromise his character as he navigates the mess. The lead character for the mob is named Ed. He’s a middleman who is getting pinched, and in turn pinching Bud. I didn’t have feelings one way or the other for Ed in the beginning but became sympathetic as I saw just how powerless he was in this escapade.
The pacing is methodical. This is a plot driven story, not action. Every chapter had a purpose and progressed the plot. The story was primarily from Bud’s POV but injected enough from Ed that the reader realizes just how big of a mess the setup is.
The logic of the quest – Bud finding the girl and the briefcase – is straightforward and holds up. I had some trouble with the motivation of the inevitable side quests. I believe we were intentionally somewhat outrageous as a caricature of the NY art scene, at least that was the way I took them.
Characters driving their own story is a big thing for me. Bud didn’t ask for this quest, but once he took it on, he moved forward. He wasn’t given much to work with – a picture and a name – so he had to create something out of nothing.
The fabric of the storytelling was woven with historical events, like the Castro led rebellion in Cuba, and cultural events, like the publishing of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. This gave the story fresh a literary / arts texture.
The year the story was set is never stated (even though Bud reads a newspaper like everyday.) Events referenced included an imminent end to the Cuban revolution (Jan 1959), a pre-lease review of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (published July 1960), Marilyn Monroe’s marriage to Arthur Miller (married 1957, divorced 1961), and WEST SIDE STORY on broadway (debut Sept 1957, closed June 1959).
It is a fun read, watching Bud get deeper into the trouble he didn’t cause, and then figuring out how to dig his way out of it.
The Fast Times, Big City was released from BQB Publishing and is promoted by Partners In Crime Tours and is available from AMAZON LINK and other book retailers.
About Shelly Frome Shelly Frome is a member of Mystery Writers of America, a professor of dramatic arts emeritus at UConn, a former professional actor, and a writer of crime novels and books on theater and film. He also is a features writer for Gannett Publications. Fast Times, Big City is his latest foray into the world of crime and the amateur sleuth. He lives in Black Mountain, North Carolina. http://www.shellyfrome.com/
Partners In Crime Tours represents a network of 300+ bloggers offering tailor-made virtual book tours and marketing options for crime, mystery and thriller writers from around the world. Founded in 2011, PICT offers services for well-established and best-selling authors, as well as those just starting out with their careers. PICT prides itself on its tailored packages with a personal touch from the tour coordinators. For more information, check out their website partnersincrimetours.com
The Big Lieis PI mystery. PI Shane Cleary is a popular guy. Everyone wants a favor from him. An MIA standard poodle, Latin tutoring for a mafioso’s niece, pro bono work for a grand larceny defense, and a background check as SOP for getting serious. It’s going to take the help of friends and enemies to keep all these balls in the air.
Bottom line: The Big Lie is for you if you like stories where the pacing keeps up with the PI’s fast talking.
Listen to the first chapter here or wherever you get Mysteries to Die For podcast
Shane Cleary is juggling four jobs plus keeping off his girlfriend’s shit list. It’s a lot for anyone. One of the strengths of THE BIG LIE is the skill with which author Gabriel Valjan lets us know exactly where we are at all times. He distinctly draws the characters making it easy for readers to differentiate between the cases.
Shane as a character is well developed both with a full back history in Vietnam and with the Boston PD and a more recent history such as with this girlfriend, friends, cat, and answering service. He is a character readers can get behind, working from the moral high ground that lets him make hard and sometimes painful decisions.
The story is set in a colorful Boston. It is not set in modern time, but I could not find reference to a year. Based on Shane having (and hating) a beeper, his having been in Viet Nam and worked for Boston PD, and a reference to punter Ray Guy, it seems to be set late 1970s to early 1980s. Shane navigating Boston’s segregated Irish, Italian, Black, and Jewish communities adds a layer of complexity to his tasks that ups the stakes and heightens the entertainment. You can add the Boston PD hating Shane to the complications.
This is the 5th book in the Shane Cleary Mystery series. I have not read the previous four. This can be read as a stand-alone as the mysteries Shane signs up for do not seem to be carried over from previous books. Character carryover is managed well with backstory snippets that get us what we need to know without dragging down in synopsis.
When looking at the logic of the story lines and the role Shane has in resolving them, we have to look individually. Shane outsources the Latin tutoring and the background check, making his role more of a facilitator. The missing dog story had a strong, simple logic. Shane uses his talents with the missing dog case to get people beyond the fear of the dog’s owner to be helpful. There was one spot that had me raising an eyebrow but the resolution is good without being predictable.
The grand larceny case showed excellent detective skills and definitely would have died without Shane pushing at apparent dead ends. The logic of the criminal action is more complicated here. I ended up with a few questions about the setup, which happened before Shane was involved. The logic of Shane’s actions is strong. He does his job, providing the defense with what it needs to combat a lazy if not corrupt PD, then wipes his hands, leaving it to the lawyers to pick up the work of charging the guilty party.
Overall, The Big Lie, the 5th in the Shane Cleary Mysteries, was a highly enjoyable, entertaining read. Readers who prefer the fast pacing that comes with getting four stories in one book will keep the pages turning on this one.
About Gabriel Valjan
Gabriel Valjan is the Agatha, Anthony, Derringer, Silver Falchion and Shamus nominated author of the Shane Cleary mystery series with Level Best Books. He received the 2021 Macavity Award for Best Short Story. Gabriel is a member of ITW, MWA, and Sisters in Crime. He is a regular contributor to the Criminal Minds blog. He lives in Boston’s South End and answers to a tuxedo cat named Munchkin.
TG Wolff 