Mysteries with a Southern Accent
Crazy for Words is mystery author, Heather Weidner's blog on writing, reading, and anything that catches her interest.
Virginia is for Mysteries authors, Vivian Lawry, Rosemary Shomaker, Maggie King, Fiona Quinn, and I, had the pleasure of hosting a "Making Mysteries" panel recently at the Tuckahoe Library. It is always a lot of fun to talk with readers and other writers about their love of mysteries. Thanks to everyone who came out for the Authors' Showcase.
L-R: Fiona Quinn, Rosemary Shomaker, Heather Weidner, Vivian Lawry, and Maggie King
I was asked recently what books are on my nightstand as part of the #SinC-up and #SincBlogHop. Right now, this is what's queued up.
I'm really excited to read Mary Miley's Silent Murders and Mary Ellen Taylor's Sweet Expectations. I'm also working on Writes of Passage, edited by Hank Phillippi Ryan. I also have three or four ebooks on my iPad that I need to get to. There's never enough time for reading.
What's on your nightstand?
I took a break from writing to read David Baldacci's King and Maxwell. I like his series about the former Secret Service agents.
This one begins during a storm on a dark road. King and Maxwell find a young man running in the rain with a gun. This rescue leads to a new case where everything is not as it first seems. The boy's father and a lot of money have disappeared during a secret mission in Afghanistan. The private eyes learn that the scandal goes all the way to the White House.
King and Maxwell battle a paramilitary group and multiple government agencies with all kinds of letters in their acronyms to solve the crime and find out what happened to the missing man and the money.
This is my favorite of Baldacci's series. I love that parts are set in Virginia. Baldacci is a good storyteller with strong male characters. His female characters are often caricatures. It reminds me a lot of how Hemingway portrayed females in his work.
King and Maxwell is well worth the read. There are enough plot twists to keep the reader guessing all the way to the end.
Last weekend, we visited Winchester, Virginia, and we toured the most beautiful library that I've ever seen. The Handley Regional Library is in the downtown district. The dome, stained glass, spiral staircases, statues, and books, books, books are incredible! What a great place to spend an afternoon!
We found Patsy Cline's grave at the Shenandoah Memorial Park and visited her home on Kent Street.
Virginia is such a scenic state. To a girl from the flat part of the state, the mountains are majestic, and I can't wait to get back to see them when the leaves start to change.
Steve Berry's THE COLUMBUS AFFAIR doesn't feature his usual sleuth, Cotton Malone. The novel explores the question that Christopher Columbus may have used a manufactured name and background to hide the fact that he was Jewish. And he left a treasure behind in the New World.
The story bounces around Europe, US, and Jamaica. And it pits a disgraced journalist against his estranged daughter in a quest to find Columbus' hidden treasure.
The mystery and the action are good, but I think I like Berry's Cotton Malone stories better.
One of my guilty pleasures is reading Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum mysteries. I don't have to think. I just get to be entertained. It's great for weekend reading.
In Top Secret Twenty-one, all the old favorites are back. I love Grandma Mazur. She and Lula are the comic relief .
This one has a pack of wild Chihuahuas and a little person who's running from the mob. That just makes more sticky situations for our heroine.
My only hope is that Stephanie one day makes a decision about her two love interests. That story line is getting a little old. And I would really like her to learn to shoot her gun.
I love that Steve Berry mixes history in with his Cotton Malone thriller series. In The Jefferson Key, he explores the idea that the four American presidential assassinations and the other attempts were related. This one has a lot of car chases, gun fights, intrigue, and pirates.
A lot of the action takes place in and around Virginia and Washington, DC. His protagonists drive a motorcycle down the beautiful staircase at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond. They shoot out the window and make their escape. They also have a battle at Monticello in Charlottesville over one of Mr. Jefferson's inventions that holds the key to a cipher.
The pirate stories take place in and around Bath, North Carolina and Ocracoke Island (Blackbeard Territory), and the characters even end up near Oak Island near Nova Scotia.
The book is fast-paced with great page-turning action. And Berry does a nice job with explaining fact from fiction at the end. Add this one to your beach bag for a fun, summer read.
I found thriller author, Steve Berry, through his short story in Faceoff.
I started near the end of Berry's series with The King's Deception, so now I have novels on either side of it to catch up on the story. But, I don't think you lose anything. Berry does a good job with building his characters and providing enough backstory, so you can read his works out of sequence.
The King's Deception is action-packed. It starts with retired state department investigator (and current bookstore owner), Cotton Malone doing a favor for a former boss. He's supposed to escort a youth back to London on a trip that he is taking with his son. The one good deed gets him involved with a 400-year-old hoax that could have major implications for the United States and Great Britain.
I love how Berry weaves history throughout his novel. His research is detailed. I had my iPad out while reading to look at the art and European locations that he described. I had to see the "rainbow" portrait.
And Berry has a knack for dropping bombshells throughout the work. All the roller coaster plot twists kept me turning pages. It was definitely hard to put down.
The King's Deception is a worthwhile read. And I'm hooked on Steve Berry. The Lincoln Myth is next.
Originally from Virginia Beach, Heather Weidner has been a mystery fan since Scooby Doo and Nancy Drew. She currently lives in Central Virginia with her husband and a pair of Jack Russell terriers.
Heather writes the Delanie Fitzgerald mystery series for readers who like humorous mysteries with a strong, female sleuth.
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