The New Girl Who Found A Dead Body by Milda Harris

Blurb: Chloe is excited about spending her senior year of high school in California with her friend Jake's family. Even the usual dread of being the new girl can't bring her down. That is, until she stumbles across the dead body of the most popular girl in school, Lora Kelly. Now she's receiving threatening notes...will she be next? Suddenly, Chloe's dream life, has turned into a nightmare! 

Welcome to the next installment in my roundup of the best writers of the year revisited. Last week we looked at Jamie Sedgwick's fantasy masterpiece The Tinkerers Daughter a magical fantasy story. This week something completely different. We revisit Milda Harris a talented mystery writer.

Review by Dale:

Harris seems to be onto a winning formulae in the murder mystery genre. Delivering another chilling mystery for us to devour in one frantic session. I'd certainly hate to be one of Harris's imaginary characters, as they seem to have a habit of dying in gruesome ways.

Here is an odd fact for you, this is the third story I have reviewed where the main guys name is Jake....

The last book I reviewed by Harris (Adventures in Funeral Crashing) had an outcome that you might have guessed. But this time around you are weaving and bobbing all over the place.

I think one of the best parts of Harris's writing are the characters. So realistic that you easily relate to them and their lives as she lays it out on the page for us.

It is difficult to review a mystery story without dropping spoilers and I don't want to ruin anyones enjoyment of this story.

It's packed with those, "no don't go in there!" moments from good horror movies. A roller coaster ride of white knuckle tension! A great trick for this type of story is putting the hero, or heroine as Chloe is, in mortal peril. In an impossible situation, one with absolutely no hope of getting out of. Then stewing the reader whilst the murderer(s) recounts their horrific details.  So how on earth does Chloe survive? Well I could tell you, but then I'd have to murder you too.


Age 14+
Format: eBook
Available from Smashwords, Amazon etc
Link to Download: Here
Price: $0.99c (at time of review)
Wordcount: 58,000 (appx)
Goodreads

Adventures In Funeral Crashing by Milda Harris

Blurb: Sixteen year old Kait Lenox has a reputation as the weird girl in her high school and maybe it has a little to do with the fact that Kait has a hobby crashing funerals. At one of these, Kait is outted by the most popular guy in school, Ethan Ripley. Yet, instead of humiliating her, Ethan asks for her help, and Kait finds herself in full on crush, as well as entangled in a murder mystery. 


Reviewed by Dale


I seem to be on a run of chic lit at present. This little gem I picked up yesterday. Its one of those frustrating books that you should never take to bed with you. For two good reasons. One being that Harris has a habit of leaving chapters as cliff hangers, forcing you to stay up till way past the candles best hours. And two, even though you begrudgingly put the ebook reader down and turn out the light your brain still can't resist thinking about 'who dunnit'.


I had my suspicions early on and I was kind of right, but none the less the plot does a great job of rolling you around from suspect to suspect. I think this is a difficult genre to write in and its very evident that Harris has planned this story out well. It has a crisp, fresh momentum that reads well and entertains easily. 


One of my favorite parts of well written stories are what I call the eddies. If a story is a large river, with the main plot the major flow, then its the tiny eddies and back flows that fascinate and add so much depth to a great story. The drama between Kait and Ariel, not overly relevant to the main plot but such a treat to read. I found myself greatly enjoying the asides as the flowed through the book. Kyle and Suzie another great little sub story that has me thinking about my own school days. Sigh.


The characters were full bodied, aged well and believable. There were even a few 'ah ha' moments for me that might have made my school dating shambles a bit more tenable had i only known. (Or read this!)  


It is funny that the last two books I've read have both had men that go beyond perfect as the leading men in the stories. This one has silky hair, the last story had chocolate hair. I guess I'll never be a chic lit writer, I never think of hair. 


So conclusions, this is an easy one. Its good, in fact its very good. Its easy to read, hard to put down and has very likable characters. The story is compelling and although nothing new, it has so much happening around it you certainly won't get bored!. 5 stars, click on the link below and go get it!






Format: eBook
Available from Smashwords
Link to Download: Here
Price: $0.99c (at time of review)
Wordcount: 67,000 (appx)
Author:Milda Harris

Summons from a Stranger by Debra Diaz

Blurb: Lindsey Sims is staying with her older sister's best friend, Rachel, while her parents are away on a trip to the Bahamas. Rachel Evans has received a mysterious letter from a man she's never met, but who is - in a way - part of her family. Lindsey accompanies Rachel as she reluctantly answers the summons, and is caught in a grown-up world of greed, jealousy, and attempted murder. It's more than she bargained for, but Lindsey is up to the challenge...and to discovering who is responsible for all the mischief. 




Reviewed by Dale


I'm back from a nasty cold and with some time to enjoy and share another great book. 


This time I wanted something very different. So delving through the shelves of freebies on offer I found this little gem. Summons from a Stranger by Debra Diaz.  A mystery in a classic Agatha Christie style setting. 


A large manor house, a butler (he didn't do it, but I did suspect him) the maid, and the vulgar rich. All bundled together in a claustrophobic house with a dying, bitter, patriarch.  A washed out bridge, electric storms and a pea soup fog all combine to build tension in the scene.


The writing is good, very evidently written by a women and not a man as the attention to details in some of the narrative parts are clearly more a women's taste than a mans. I know I need to know someone sat on a sofa, not how deep the stitching was or the upholstery clashed with someones french polish. None of this detracts from the book of course and if anything I would compare Ms Diaz's style to some of the Sidney Sheldon novels I have read. Much of this narrative does a great job in making you feel as though you were some silent observer standing in the shadows, watching, and listening to the events as they unfold.


The plot is well crafted, it takes a while to boil up but once the 'scream' starts of the adventure the pace is dramatic enough. Lots of red herrings and false clues make it difficult to piece together the best suspect. Always a sign of a well thought out structure. Again I take my hat of to mystery writers, its a challenging genre.


I kept thinking as I read that this story would sit equally well outside the Young Adult section if the main character were eighteen instead of fifteen perhaps. There is certainly no pandering to a younger reader here. So for all you boys and girls reading above your age go download a copy. For the eight to twelves of you out there, it might be a challenge managing all those characters and motives in your head. I found it difficult keeping them all straight in mine. So dont delay, its FREE so go add it to your library today!


Format: eBook
Available from Smashwords
Link to Download: Here
Price: FREE (at time of review)
Wordcount: 38,000 (appx)
Author: Debra Diaz

Brooks Berry In The Case of The Haunted Cabin by Michael James

Blurb: Boy detective Brooks Berry is at it again in this second installment in the series. This time he travels with his sister, Ally, to visit his Grandparents in Arizona. While on their visit, their Grandfather takes them to stay at a friend's cabin with the ulterior motive of having Brooks solve the mystery of who is haunting it. 




Reviewed by Dale


I have read the first Brooks mystery (Reviewed here), so when the opportunity came along to try the second one I couldn't resist another look at this amiable character.

The same great compact style by author Michael James remains as he lays down red herring after false clue and then leads you about the cold snow covered hillsides of Arizona chasing ghosts.

The sidekick has changed to Brooks' sister Alley though she doesn't play a large role in this story. It's a shame really as I think a great sidekick always helps to add depth to any story. It can also help add dialogue to an otherwise narrative driven scene. Sidekicks can also be used as barometers of the main characters feelings and thoughts.

The pace is reasonable, a couple of times I hurriedly turned the page to find out what was in store for our hero as he put together the pieces of the story. The underground tunnel when Brooks discovers he is not alone was well written and deliciously suspenseful. 

Sadly the characterizations still seem a little bland. I was hoping to see more of Brooks' personality as this is the second story following this character. I should have a well developed sense of who he is but there still seems to be little follow through here. After his sister was locked in his room by an intruder I might have expected some kind of emotional outburst. Maybe Brooks is stone cold? A Gollum of clay that's Holmes-like detached from his surroundings in pursuit of the answers? Not much reflection or reaction by the protagonist as he meets the challenges and struggles to overcome them.

The plot is great, a well constructed mystery, with plenty of suspense and probably enough clues fro the average smart reader to solve, I'm not saying if I did...I always wonder how authors go about constructing mysteries, leaving the bread crumbs for their readers and sleuths to follow. Do they write backwards perhaps from resolution to revelation? 

So I still don't have any reservations in recommending this series as a good read. It would be great if Brooks' true self was fleshed out more in the next book maybe. All the great detectives I can remember had some weird trait, Holmes had a violin, Kojak had a lolipop, Colombo had his rain coat and 'just one last question', even Scooby had scrappy snacks.


Dont wait go read it for yourself today!

Format: eBook
Available from Smashwords
Link to Download: Here
Price: US$1.99c
Wordcount: 27,000 (appx)
Author: Michael James

BROOKS BERRY IN The Case of The Stolen Season by Michael James

Blurb:


Brooks Berry is your normal 12 year old boy. Obsessed with sports, best friends with his dog Ripken and a very curious mind. He also is one of Wauwatosa's leading detectives. Join this boy sleuth and his friends on his mystery solving adventures packed with unexpected twists and turns. Written in the spirit of the Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew mysteries. First edition of a new series. 

Reviewed by Dale

I enjoy a good mystery as much as any one does and I was quite eager to start this story. Te setting is an American high school and the action or mystery unfolds around american football games. I don't follow grid iron and it's not played in my country so I couldn't really understand the in depth narratation of the plays. I guess it would be the same for Americans reading rugby or cricket plays.

The story has a few through away laughs, the Trojan computer company, where I'm sure the author is laying on a Trojan virus the word is also the brand name for a popular brand of condon in my country so it constantly made me snicker. Hehe

Also the references to cigarette buts and the hero's intimate knowledge of them is a no brainer homage to the great Sherlock Holmes no doubt that anyone who has read a Conan Doyle story could miss that.

Although I found the story and the writing up to a good standard. Was dissapointed that the author used narrative to drive the story forward. In fact probably 70% of this story is authors voice. A great scene, and sadly a great example of this was when Brooks, the young sleuth was black boarding his suspects and motives. Now Conan Doyle would have done this with Holmes plucking away all melancolie on his violin, half doped with opium and dr Watson buried in the Sunday cross word. It would have been dialogue driven with Watson struggling to keep up with Holme's wild posturing and great leaps of intuition. Instead we had the author explaining what Brad was thinking.


The ending was good, though. The author managed to twist the tale around and around to keep you guessing as to who the culprit was. Lots of red herrings and excitement.


Three and a half out of Five for me.


Format: eBook
Price: Free
27,000 words
Download link Here
Author Michael James