| FRESH-BAKED MYSTERIES | |||||||||||||
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A PEACH OF A MURDER introduces Phyllis Newsom and her friends, a group of retired teachers, as they become involved in a series of murders centered around the annual Peach Festival in the Texas town where they live. Rich in the colorful and sometimes deadly details of small-town life, this book and the ones that will follow it feature not only intriguing mystery plots and likable characters but also delicious recipes for a variety of baked goods. A PEACH OF A MURDER is a delightful
cozy with a senior amateur sleuth who wins your interest and holds it. And she shares her
peach cobbler recipe along with several others. RECOMMENDED.
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Obsidian 10/07 |
At this year's school carnival fund-raiser, the obnoxious president of the Parent Teacher Organization is found stabbed through the heart with Phyllis Newsom's own knife, with traces of incriminating frosting. Clearing her name will be no piece of cake... I love
the cast of characters in Livia J. Washburn’s “fresh-baked” mysteries. They’re
non-stereotypical senior sleuths – with Phyllis and Sam in the lead – who are
easy to cheer on. The writing and plotting in this series’ second book is even better
than the first, A Peach of a Murder. -- Mystery News
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Christmas comes to
Weatherford, Texas, in this delicious new entry in the national bestselling series.
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| DELILAH DICKINSON LITERARY MYSTERIES | |||||||||||||
FRANKLY MY DEAR, I'M DEAD
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No one is surprised when feisty Delilah Dickinson opens her own literary travel agency in Atlanta after her divorce. But during her first group's tour of an old plantation modeled after Tara from Gone With the Wind, she finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery-and everyone knows death is not so good for business. So, with God as her witness, Delilah vows to find the killer. Things start quietly enough: a visit to the quaint apartment where Margaret Mitchell wrote her great opus, then a stop at the Gone with the Wind Movie Museum, and a hearty Southern luncheon at Mary Mac's Tea Room that will surely guarantee her new clients will never be hungry again. What could possibly go wrong? Quite a lot, it turns out. During an overnight stay at a lovely recreation of Tara-complete with a full cast of actors-things start to really go south. The actor playing Clark Gable playing Rhett Butler is found dead, apparently the victim of a fatal dose of Southern in-hospitality. Before anyone can even think "Where shall I go? What shall I do?" the police have the place under lockdown, insisting everyone remain at the mansion while they investigate. Delilah finds herself taking over the investigation when their #1 suspect is her son-in-law Luke-the not-so-bright husband of her daughter, Melissa. But life starts imitating art when the actors begin taking their roles a little too seriously-believing they actually are Ashley Wilkes, Scarlett O'Hara, and Melanie. Next stop: Sunset Boulevard. With all the drama of Margaret Mitchell's epic story suddenly coming to alarming life, Delilah's only chance to head off a not-so-Civil War is to track down and confront the deranged murderer. But shemust move quickly and very quietly, or risk becoming the next victim of a killer-who frankly doesn't give a damn..
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| LUCAS HALLAM 20'S MYSTERIES | |||||||||||||
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WILD
NIGHT Winner of The American Mystery Award and The Private Eye Writers Of America's Best Original Paperback Award. Hollywood in the twenties was a fantastic place to be . . . if you were successful. Lucas Hallam worked two jobs, movie cowboy and private detective. As a former Pinkerton man and a Texas Ranger, Hallam thought he'd worked on just about every kind of case there was. Then he ran into Elton Forbes, founder of the Holiness Temple of Faith, a cult with far more enemies than followers . . . Here's the real Hollywood of the studio days . . . glamour, glitz, and an underside of dark and dangerous secrets. Reprinted in hardback
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DEAD-STICK Set in the 1920s, this intriguing mystery marks the return of likable Lucas Hallam ( Wild Night ). A stuntman and former Texas Ranger, Hallam is hired by Hollywood producer Carl McGinley to find out who is trying to sabotage his current film, set during World War I. The prime suspects are Ku Klux Klansmen who have threatened Carl for hiring "foreign" flying ace Count von Ottenhausen. But Lucas also finds that the Count's sister, Lorraine, who was a spy during the war, has been seeing mobster Jocko Burke. Lucas redoubles his investigation after a young stunt pilot, Hank Schiller, is murdered, and he unknots an improbable tangle of motives as the players parade into Burke's hideaway, and the secret of the movie set is revealed. With the exception of the KKK smokescreen, Dead-Stick is on target. True-to-life characters with a dash of 1920s seasoning contribute to a satisfying read. -- Publishers Weekly |
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DOG HEAVIES Summary : A novel set in the glory days of the Hollywood western. One actor is an ex-gunslinger, a former Texas Ranger, and tough private detective. He is hired by a film studio to take a spoiled New York actor to a ranch in Texas and turn him into a credible cowboy star. Once at the ranch in Texas, the situation is complicated when a ranch hand turns up dead. The local sheriff suspects a Native American actor and so the tough-guy detective takes on the case. |
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| "True-to-life
characters with a dash of 1920's seasoning . . . a satisfying read." --Publishers
Weekly "There
is more tension than in a barbed-wire fence."
"A striking original
detective set against a lush, fascinating narrative backdrop." |
Tie A Black Ribbon By James Reasoner and Livia J. Washburn |
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Five Star
Mystery |
Skeeter Barlow spends her
nights as head of security for the Horsehead Bar and Grill . . . in other words, she
bounces rowdy cowboys before they cause serious problems. Skeeter developed early, her
mama said, and didn't stop for quite a while. A shade under six feet and a shade over a
hundred and fifty pounds, she's big and well proportioned in her snug jeans, Western
shirt, and comfortable boots. But, during the day, Skeeter is
a private investigator. The two jobs intertwine when she's hired to locate a missing dog.
What should have been an easy investigation turns into mayhem, and Skeeter has to dance
pretty fast to stay ahead of dogfighters, crooked cops, mobsters, and a few other bad ol'
boys in this fast-paced tale of bad guys and the gals who hunt them down.
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| "James
Reasoner is a pro's pro." --Mystery
Scene "Livia Washburn's Hallam mysteries are among the best thrillers of the '90's. --Mystery News |
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| L.J. Washburn's first story appeared in Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine. After Selling WILD NIGHT which had a strong western influence, Washburn decided to try writing a western. EPITAPH, published by M. Evans in 1988 & reprinted in 1990 by Pocket Books, was a result of researching her own family. But this was just the beginning. GHOST RIVER, published by M. Evans in 1988, was written while she was pregnant and definitely had mystic elements. BANDERA PASS, published by M. Evans in 1989 continues where EPITAPH leaves off with an older Hank Littleton in the beautiful hill country of Texas. RIDERS OF THE MONTE, published by M. Evans in 1990 and reprinted by Jove in 1998, is also a continuation of EPITAPH but with Buffalo Newcomb. The last M. Evans novel was RED RIVER RUSE published in 1991. If you read very many of the Reasoner/Washburn novels or short stories you'll find many instances of characters crossing over or relatives of characters. For instance, Lucas Hallam (WILD NIGHT) is the grandson of Esau (THE EMERALD LAND) and his daughter Beth Hallam (short story in Feline & Famous: Cat Crimes Goes Hollywood) owns the agency where Skeeter Barlow works (TIE A BLACK RIBBON). Skeeter is related to the Barlows of James' ABILENE series. And of course Elizabeth Hallam is the pen-name for Livia's romances. It would be interesting to see how many of these stories are tied together in James' and Livia's tales. |