Book Review: A Question of Fire by Karen McCullough

A Question of Fire
Karen McCullough
Kindle, February 2011
Also available in trade paperback
Re-issue of an out-of-print edition

Cathy Bennett gets stuck with what she considered an assignment from hell when she gets stuck filling in for the society page editor at her paper. A self-described social klutz, and much happier with her usual local government column, attending the party was bad enough; ending up with a dead guy in her lap was way past her job description.

Not only did she witness a murder, the unseen murderer now thinks Cathy knows a lot more than she does. The victim died before giving the full location of evidence he said he had that would clear his brother, Danny, of arson. She feels obligated to Bobby, who died in her arms while trying to give her the information, but doesn’t really know where to start.

Teaming up with Danny’s lawyer, they set out to find the evidence and clear Danny of arson, but find themselves the targets of some genuinely bad dudes.

This story has good plot twists, a little romance, a lot of action, and is a book I enjoyed. I have to admit, I figured out where the evidence was in the first third of the book, but I’m not giving you a clue; buy the book and challenge yourself!

Reviewed by guest reviewer Jinx Schwartz, December 2011.

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January 23, 2012  Tags: , , , , , ,   Posted in: Full Reviews, Guest Reviews  One Comment

Setting As Inspiration

Nancy J. Cohen is an award-winning author who writes romance and mysteries. Her popular Bad Hair Day series features hairdresser Marla Shore, who solves crimes with wit and style under the sultry Florida sun. Several titles in this series have made the IMBA bestseller list, while Nancy’s imaginative sci-fi romances have garnered rave reviews. Her latest book, and tenth in her mystery series, is Shear Murder from Five Star. Active in the writing community and a featured speaker at libraries and conferences, Nancy is listed in “Contemporary Authors, Poets & Writers” and “Who’s Who in U.S. Writers, Editors, & Poets”.

Shear Murder, my tenth Bad Hair Day mystery, was inspired by visits to Harry P. Leu Gardens in Winter Park, Florida. This lovely nature park hosts many weddings, so the sight of a bride being photographed among the trees is a common one. Its fifty acres encompasses a camellia collection, the largest formal rose garden in Florida, a historical house dating from the 1880′s, a tropical rainforest, a vegetable and herb garden, plus palm, bamboo and cycad sections, and more. It’s a beautiful setting and one that I couldn’t pass up for my story. The main building where guests enter contains a gift shop and reception rooms for special events.

After taking copious notes and photos at this Central Florida attraction, I came home and proceeded to transform the gardens into an imaginary nature park relocated in Miami. Welcome to the fictional Orchid Isle, where Marla Shore, my intrepid sleuth and hairdresser, is a bridesmaid in her friend Jill’s wedding.

Here’s an excerpt from Shear Murder that gives you a flavor for the setting:

Reaching an intersection, Marla examined the signposts. Even though she had been here last night, she couldn’t remember which way to go. She aimed to find the Bride’s Cottage, where Jill was getting dressed.

Lugging her bag full of supplies, she swiped at her forehead, beaded with sweat. Her lavender gown swished about her ankles as she swatted an insect, cursing the humidity. She’d left behind the other bridal attendants, still primping in a private room across from the banquet hall. They had the benefit of air-conditioning, while she sweltered in the afternoon heat.

An evergreen scent pervaded the moist air, likely from the pine needles used as mulch.

Colorful orchids mingled among the tropical foliage along with red crotons, pink pentas, and Chinese fringe flowers. Dense growth peppered the area, broken by a trickling stream. Alongside the path, green liriope acted as ground cover while moss-draped live oaks and laurel fig trees provided shade. Ferns, palms, and bromeliads competed for space. The wedding would take place in the gazebo by the Rose Garden. Should she go left or right? She couldn’t remember if the wedding site was by the Floral Clock or the House Museum.

All seems innocent and wonderful at this point. However, the tranquil scene quickly turns deadly as you can see in this passage with Marla and her fiancƩ, Detective Dalton Vail. They are heading through the park toward a rendezvous with a suspect.

Dead pine needles crunched underfoot as they headed over a less traveled path. An evergreen stand brought a fresh pine scent to her nose. It mingled with a wet earthy aroma and chased away the stench of something rotting in the shrubbery.

A cracking noise overhead made her leap aside just as a large branch fell to the ground in a gust of wind. The breeze picked up, ruffling her hair. She hastened along, aware of clouds accumulating in the wakening sky. Dalton remained silent, his gaze wary as they covered ground.

Straight ahead was the greenhouse, the cemetery off to their left. Marla paused to peer at a memorial plaque in front of the grassy area.

ā€œDear Lord, it’s a pet cemetery, of sorts. Eww.ā€ Dead animals found on the grounds were buried here in accordance with state regulations. A gruesome tribute, to be sure, but one that respected their natural habitat. With a grimace of distaste, she turned away.

Did you get a creepier feeling from this second excerpt? Words such as dead, stench, rotting, cracking, clouds, cemetery, buried—these should coax you into a watchful mood. Sensory details help bring the scene to life: pine needles crunching underfoot, a cracking noise overhead, a breeze ruffling one’s hair, an earthy aroma.

It’s exciting when we can take a setting we’ve researched and show it through our character’s eyes. With careful planning, our heroine’s sensory impressions will engender an emotional response in the reader, and that’s our goal.

Can you name a place you’ve been that would make a great setting? For what type of story?

<><><>

Shear Murder

Who knew weddings could be murder?Ā  Hairstylist Marla Shore is weeks away from becoming a bride herself when she walks down the aisle as a bridesmaid at her friend Jill’s ceremony. Things take a turn for the worse when the matron of honor ends up dead, the cake knife in her chest. Now what will they use to cut the cake?

BUY NOW!

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Leave a comment during Nancy’s blog tour and enter to

win a set of Paua shell jewelry and a signed copy of Shear Murder.

Nancy will announce the winner on January 31st.

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January 22, 2012   Posted in: Contests/Giveaways, Guest Blogs  24 Comments

Book Reviews: Vanish by Tess Gerritsen and Vanish In Plain Sight by Marta Perry

Vanish
Tess Gerritsen
Ballantine Books, 2006
ISBN 0345476980
Mass Market Paperback

Medical Examiner Dr. Maura Isles receives a big shock when the Jane Doe in her morgue suddenly opens her eyes.Ā  Jane Doe is rushed to the hospital but before her identity can be discovered, she shoots a security guard and seizes hostages.

One of the hostages happens to be homicide detective Jane Rizzoli.Ā  Jane is pregnant and ready to deliver her baby but is in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The police and Jane’s husband FBI Agent Gabriel Dean work frantically to try to get the hostages out but just when they think they have the situation under control a swat team rushes the scene and Jane Doe as well as the man with her is killed.

Jane, her husband and Maura eventually find Jane’s identity and uncover a scheme for bringing young women into this country that reaches into the top levels of the government.

Reviewed by Patricia E. Reid, November 2006.

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Vanish In Plain Sight
Marta Perry
Harlequin Books, May 2011
ISBN 978-0373775767
Mass Market Paperback

Link Morgan has returned to his home and family in Lancaster County.Ā  Link has inherited his uncle’s old farmhouse and is in the process of preparing the property for sale.Ā  Link is planning to sell the farm and move.Ā  Link is knocking down the paneling in a later addition to the farmhouse and discovers an old stained and battered suitcase concealed in the wall.Ā  The suitcase contains women’s clothing, including an Amish woman’s black apron and a white prayer kapp.Ā Ā  The suitcase also included a photograph of a woman and child. The child is about four or five years old.Ā  Link contacts the Spring Township police. The police arrive and take possession of the suitcase.

One of the officers recognizes the woman as Barbara Angelo.Ā  Barbara was an Amish woman who came to town to visit relatives.Ā  Barbara met and fell in love with Russ Angelo.Ā  The couple married and had a daughter, Marisa.Ā  The town gossip spread around that Barbara could no longer live in peace away from her Amish family and had gone home to them leaving her husband and her daughter.

Marisa Angelo had grown into a beautiful woman and is very successful as an illustrator of children’s books.Ā  When Marisa was contacted by the police, she returned to claim her mother’s suitcase and try to find out what had really happened to her mother.Ā  The Amish in the area were not willing to discuss the matter with her.Ā  It is only with the help of Link’s mother and Link’s family that she finally began to piece together what really happened so many years ago when she had lost her mother.

The main flaw that I found in the book was the fact that Barbara found herself in danger when she overheard a meeting that was taking place at Link’s uncle’s home but the purpose of that meeting was never revealed in the book. Overall, the book was an enjoyable read.

Reviewed by Patricia E. Reid, June 2011.

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January 21, 2012  Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,   Posted in: Full Reviews  No Comments

Beginnings and Endings

Lucy Burdette (aka clinical psychologist and mystery author Roberta Isleib) is the author of the Key West food critic mysteries including An Appetite for Murder (NAL.) You can read more at her website www.lucyburdette.com or follow her on Facebook www.facebook.com/lucyburdette and Twitter www.twitter.com/lucyburdette.

The happy pooch with Lucy is Tonka.

My mother’s not around to ask, but I suspect that my entry into this world wasn’t an easy one. I’m the kind of person who’s more comfortable in the middle of something: I like to know where I’m going and have at least a rough idea of how it’s going to turn out. Beginnings are tough. Okay, let’s face it, endings are tricky too–but more about that in a little bit. In the last year and a half, I’ve acquired a new protagonist, Hayley Snow, a new series–the Key West food critic mysteries, a new publisher, a new editor, and even a new name. A lot of beginnings for a woman who’s most comfortable in the middle. I thought you might be interested in a little bit about how I got here…

I scratched out the opening paragraphs of my first mystery in January 1998–it took me three years to get to know my protagonist, professional golfer Cassie Burdette, well enough to write her story. As with most fictional detectives, Cassie wrestled with skeletons in her closet: her father’s desertion, a melancholy, alcoholic mother, a fog of self-doubt. Ambivalence infused her relationships with men and she tended to defer soul-searching in favor of the anesthetic effects of Budweiser.Ā  Notwithstanding these conflicts, I imagined Cassie eventually thriving on the professional golf circuit through a combination of talent, spunk, and the right friends. Cassie and I spent the better part of eight years together. I finally talked her into starting psychotherapy (with the help of a couple of other characters) to address her low self-esteem and self-destructive tendencies. She began to play better golf, choose kinder men, drink less, and reconnect with her dad.

I’d begun plotting the skeleton for the sixth installment, involving a golf reality show, a hunky cop, and murder, of course, when the word came from my editor: ā€œWe’d rather see a new idea—no more golf mysteries.ā€

Surprised or not, I was flooded with sadness and disappointment. No more Cassie Burdette? I cried, I raged, I shook my fist. Like at the end of a romance, I wished I’d been the one to call it quits.

But as with life, in publishing you either pick up and move on or get left behind. So about six months later, I signed a contract for my next writing adventure. The new series featured psychologist and advice columnist, Dr. Rebecca Butterman, a woman who’d made cameo appearances in several of the golf mysteries. I soon became just as attached to Dr. Butterman as I had to Cassie. I loved the way she could be intensely intuitive about other people’s problems and yet still struggle with her own–she felt so real to me. Even though I had lots more adventures in mind, her series too had run its course, this time after three books. And this led to another trip through the stages of grief, in order to let my character go. (I told you, endings are hard too!)

If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past ten years, it’s that I’m quite capable of starting over with a new idea. And I’ve also learned that before long, I fall just as hard for the new characters and story as I did for the previous books.Ā  And that’s how I feel now about my new heroine, aspiring food critic Hayley Snow. She’s had a couple of rough endings of her own and is trying to make a brand new life in funky, foodie Key West, Florida.

You remember those early, rosy days of a relationship where everything about your new love interest seems fascinating and you want to tell all about it to your pals? That’s where I am now with Hayley. I can’t wait for you all to read about her life on a houseboat, and meet her new friends (and enemies), and walk the streets of Key West sampling the food she’s describing. I’m thrilled with the cover the folks at NAL designed–and I’ve had a sneak peak at the next one–show-stopping gorgeous! When culinary mystery maven Diane Mott Davidson wrote a blurb for this cover, I was sure I’d died and gone to mystery heaven…

“What fun! ….Key West and food — a winning combination. I can’t wait for the next entry in this charming series.ā€ New York Times bestselling author Diane Mott Davidson

So sure, after ten years I realize that all good things will come to an end. But I also know enough to enjoy every moment with Hayley Snow–and I thank Lelia for letting me share!

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January 20, 2012   Posted in: Guest Blogs  7 Comments

Book Reviews: The Cypress House by Michael Koryta, The Attenbury Emeralds by Jill Paton Walsh, and On Borrowed Time by David Rosenfelt

The Cypress House
Michael Koryta
Little, Brown and Company, February 2011
ISBN: 978-0-316-05372-3
Hardcover

Death and corruption haunt this tale about a World War I veteran during the Depression who has a unique ability to see whether a person faces an imminent demise because of a trace of smoke in his/her eyes. Arlen Wagner in the late 30’s was a supervisor at a Civilian Conservation Corps (ā€œCCCā€) camp and was transferred to another in the Florida Keys along with several others from his detachment. Ā On the train he saw the sign of death in his fellow passengers and tried to warn them of impending danger, but only 19-year-old Paul Brickhill listened to him.

The two abandoned the train and found themselves at an isolated inn on the Gulf Coast, The Cypress House (a euphemism for a casket). Ā There they discovered a different kind of danger: a corrupt judge and a sheriff who ruled the area by sheer terror, allowing drugs to be imported from Cuba at a boat landing located near the inn.

The eerie but fascinating tale follows the efforts of the two men, along with Rebecca Cady, who runs the inn, to survive not only the massive 1935 hurricane which caused severe death and destruction, but the human forces that ruled the area. Ā Written with an excellent eye for describing life during the Great Depression, the novel also exhibits a deep view of human emotions, as Arlen, while wishing to depart as fast as he can, refuses to abandon Rebecca or Paul.

Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Ted Feit, April 2011.

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The Attenbury Emeralds
Jill Paton Walsh
Minotaur Books, January 2011
ISBN: 978-0-312-67454-0
Hardcover

I have a confession to make: Ā I never read any of the Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane mysteries. Ā As a result, I suppose, I can approach this novel without any prejudice about the originals written by a legendary author, the redoubtable Dorothy L. Sayers. Ā And I can firmly state that I have been remiss and must hasten to correct my past negligence.

The author undoubtedly undertook a dream assignment: Ā to bring closure to the series with this concluding work, bringing Lord Peter full circle to recount his first ā€œdetectiveā€ assignment and finally bringing the ultimate mystery successfully to a conclusion. Initially, Lord Peter undertook to find the missing Attenbury Emeralds which seemed to disappear during an engagement party. Ā This novel, however, traces further mysteries surrounding the gems through several decades before, during and after World War II.

I have, of course, no way of knowing how authentic the tone of the book or development of the characters is compared to the originals, but I suspect they are completely compatible. Ā The dialogue, deliberately stilted to simulate upper crust English society, is really touching, and, of course, the interaction between Peter and Harriet poignant.

Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Ted Feit, May 2011.

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On Borrowed Time
David Rosenfelt
Minotaur Books, February 2011
ISBN: 978-0-312-59836-5
Hardcover

This is a potboiler of a novel, the author’s third standalone. Ā He is remembered most fondly for his Andy Carpenter series and admired for his home for sick and injured dogs. Ā He has now turned his creative self to a sort of sci-fi mystery in which journalist Richard Kilmer lives in both a real and a fantasy world.

Without giving the plot away, it is safe to say the story relies on the reader to suspend disbelief in some ways. Ā Richard is set up to believe what someone wants him to in order to prove the success of an experiment in mind manipulation. Ā On the other hand, it becomes quite obvious that the more he is channeled in a specific manner, the more he acts contrary to direction, somewhat opposite to what one would expect.

In any event, the novel progresses to almost a soap opera type of conclusion, detracting, in my view, from an otherwise over-all pretty high standard. Ā That is not to say that I have a better idea, or that the ending is not warranted, at least on the level of what went before. Ā That said, the book is, for the most part, good fun, and recommended.

Reviewed by Ted Feit, May 2011.

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January 19, 2012  Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,   Posted in: Full Reviews  No Comments

Book Review: The Hollow House by Janis Patterson

The Hollow House
Janis Patterson
Carina Press/Harlequin, November 2011
ISBN 978-1-4268-9261-5
Ebook

In 1919 Denver, a young woman from the East is in financial straits and must find a way to support herself. Choices are limited for women at that time so Geraldine Brunton takes a position as companion to an elderly widow whose wealth comes from silver mining. Geraldine is also fleeing from her past, hoping that this employment will be the answer to her need to stay hidden from society.

The Stubbs household is not a cordial one, though, and the widow’s son-in-law and daughter would like to take control of her fortune. The strain in the family is carried over to the servants and Geraldine, who is immediately disliked by the daughter, finds herself becoming very protective of Emmaline Stubbs. In turn, Emmaline findsĀ  much more than she bargained for in Geraldine and begins to appreciate her as more than an employee. When Emmaline has a sudden peculiar illness and then a servant is found murdered, several truths about Emmaline and her family as well as Geraldine come to light with devastating effect.

The Hollow House is a cozy, an historical and a police procedural all rolled into one . I was very interested to get a glimpse into the Denver of 1919 which had some of the modern trappings of post-World War I but also was still somewhat in wild west mode. Patterson also has done a nice job of showing the reader how the views of society, and men in particular, towards women were in a state of flux at the time. That in itself lends much uncertainty to the mystery of who the killer is and what will happen to Geraldine who is threatened by a terrible secret from her former life.

Patterson‘s setting is a bit unusual because nearly all the action takes place in the house. Her characters come to life on the page and I’d love to hear more about them. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find any indication that there will be a sequel but one can hope.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, January 2012.

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January 18, 2012  Tags: , , , , ,   Posted in: Full Reviews, My Reviews  2 Comments

Why I Love Working With Words

Sheila Dalton is the author of several books for children, teens, and adults, including two literary novels, Tales of the Ex Fire-Eater, and The Girl in the Box. Her YA mystery, Trial by Fire, was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis, Canada’s major crime writers award, and all her children’s books bear the Canadian Children’s Book Centre Seal of Approval.

You can learn more about Sheila and her work at her website:

http://sheila-anne-dalton.com

The Girl in the Box can be purchased on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Box-Sheila-Dalton/dp/1926607260/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319402246&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.ca/Girl-Box-Sheila-Dalton/dp/1926607260/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319402279&sr=1-1

I chose the above title rather than Why I Love Writing, because the two seem almost separate topics. When you talk aboutĀ  ā€œwritingā€ you’re talking about a whole lot of things besides getting words on the page, not all of which I enjoy. That word comes trailing all kinds of baggage along with it.

For instance – finding a publisher or agent, working with an editor, promotion and marketing, thinking about your book all the time.

Even some of these can be rewarding, though. I’ve had good and bad editors, and working with a good one is sheer delight. They love your book, and they improve it through careful criticism, friendly prompting, and intelligent suggestions. They can see the book as a whole better than you can, and they also notice your blind spots, and are able to assess your book asĀ  something people might want to read or buy. This is invaluable after you’ve had your head so far buried in it, you blink in the daylight.

Promo means meeting people, either online or in person, and it’s fun and rewarding. You just have to find a balance, or it can get overwhelming.

I can’t think of anything good about looking for an agent or publisher, and thinking about your book all the time is an occupational hazard that can be dealt with only by making a conscious decision not to think about it, to remember all the other things in life that interest you, and really matter. I personally take refuge in meditation, where I try to clear my mind of everything, including an obsession with my latest release, in this case, a novel, The Girl in the Box.

So what do I like about working with words? Putting words on a page is fun, and a challenge, like a good puzzle. I suppose it’s a lot like building something functional, that needs to work a certain way when done. There are those ā€œaha, I got it!ā€ moments that make the struggle worth it. But there is also the fact that language, and words, fascinate me in and of themselves. They are our chief means of communication, and yet they can be misused, misunderstood and misinterpreted, and frequently are, in conversation. Why this is so is interesting to me, though I don’t have the answer; the flaws in verbal communication are obvious and many.

Writing something down is my only chance to use words as effectively and correctly as possible – I can take the time to try to find exactly the right ones, not only to describe or show, but to convey the meaning, the atmosphere, the intention behind them. In aiming for this almost impossible goal, I learn a lot. It’s as simple as that. Even in learning the limitations of words, I increase my understanding. Wanting to understand is one of the chief reasons I took up writing in the first place. When I see that non-verbal communication is sometimes superior, I know it is only through working so intensively with words that I have discovered this.

To catch up with Sheila on her next blog tour stop,

drop byĀ  Tolstoy is my Cat on Thursday, the 19th.

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January 17, 2012   Posted in: Guest Blogs  5 Comments

Book Review: Open Season by Maryann Miller

Open Season
Maryann Miller
Five Star, December 2010
ISBN 9781594149153o
Hardcover

One white cop struggling to get back on the job after a drug operation gone bad. One black cop, new to homicide, struggling with a racist family and her own prejudice. A city in panic and the police force’s hierarchy bearing down on an unlikely pair of detectives as a killer seeks revenge for injustices. There’s high tension and mystery in this police procedural from Maryann Miller.

Dallas Detective Sarah Kingsley is up against a review board and protesters after she shoots and kills a black child during a case in which her partner also ends up dead. Coming back to the job after some leave time, she’s paired with Angel Johnson, a new detective to the department. Neither is happy with the situation. First up for the pair is the murder of a mall employee. However, one murder turns into two as a security guard at another mall is found dead, followed days later by a window display worker. Both detectives have to deal with almost nonexistent clues, pressure from above to catch the killer, changes in their personal lives, and constant racial issues driving a wedge between them.

This is a good introductory novel for this series. It touches on a topic that never seems to disappear. Both characters are given a fair shake for background and personal information and the reader is drawn to find out if they can work with each other. Add in a little romance, a gung-ho reporter, and some interesting coworkers, this should be an interesting series to follow. Look forward to more from this pair of Dallas cops because there are many areas in their relationship and lives to explore.

Reviewed by Stephen L. Brayton, December 2011.

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January 16, 2012  Tags: , , , ,   Posted in: Full Reviews  No Comments

A Canadian Town Full Of Books

In an era when people are traveling less and are buying fewer books, the small seaside community of Sidney has managed to buck both trends by making itself a destination for book lovers.

This small town of 11,000, about 2 hours by ferry from Bellingham in Washington State, used to be known mainly as a retirement community (“where your grandparents go to visit their parents”) and for its boatbuilding. However, nowadays for visitors, Sidney’s chief attraction is its bookstores. Sidney is aĀ book town, one of only a handful in the entire world, and the only one in Canada. A book town isĀ a town or village with a large number of second-hand or antiquarian book shops, and in this regard Sidney does not disappoint.

With its population of 11,000, and its location at the tip of the rural Saanich Peninsula, Sidney boasts at least 8 bookstores, all within walking distance of each other along the main street of Beacon Avenue.Ā Each of these eightĀ bookshops has a very unique identity in order to service a specific clientele. There are bookstores devoted to antique books, while others specialize in military history or sailing, including nautical maps for boaters who moor at Sidney before exploring the San Juan Islands close by. The heart of Sidney’s book community is Tanner’s Books, which, Ā after 24 years, has grown into a large full-service bookstore with new releases, bestsellers, and new books in over 50 fiction and non-fiction categories, plus over 2000 magazines and 40 newspapers from Canada.

Tanner’s has been owned and operated byĀ Cliff McNeil-Smith since 2001. A former corporate executive, McNeil-Smith has used his knowledge of the bookselling industry and his business acumen to play a key role in branding Sidney as a booktown. This rebranding occurred at the same time as the local municipality sunk significant resources into revitalizing the downtown area, including implementing traffic-calming measures to encourage visitors to walk around town more, building new sidewalks, and generally making downtown Sidney a pleasant place to spend an afternoon.

TheĀ bookstore owners are all experts in their respective fields, and have put together special collections of thousands of titles and categories to choose from, and also benefit from online marketing channels such as Abebooks.com (founded and operated in nearby Victoria, British Columbia). As a result, Sidney’s booktown has thrived over the past decade, and provides Sidney with a unique identity that allows the seaside community to differentiate itself from Victoria, its larger neighbour to the south, itself a tourist destination that is home to Russell’s, the largest used-bookstore in Canada, and Munro’s, one of Canada’s oldest and most successful independent bookstores.

Here’s a sample of the bookstores that make up Sidney Booktown:

Tanner’s Books
The beating heart of Sidney Book Town, Tanner’s has been a fixture in Sidney for nearly 25 years. Besides offering a huge (and we mean huge) selection of contemporary books, magazines and even international newspapers, Tanner’s is famous for its maps and nautical charts, due mainly to the fact that Sidney is a major sailing and cruising destination.

Tanner’s Bargain Books
Just across the street, this bargain bookstore is really a giant ā€œremainder tableā€ with once again a huge selection of hardcovers, contemporary fiction and calendars.

Children’s Bookstore
One of the only children’s bookstores remaining on Vancouver Island, the Sidney Children’s Bookstore has often been the scene of Harry Potter and Twilight book launches, and there are plenty of interesting books

Beacon Books
Beacon books is a used and antiquarian books paradise, and features many rare, collectible and hard-to-find books, plus a huge section on gardening.

Military Bookshop
This bookstore, located beneath the old post office and next to the Sidney Museum,Ā specializes in second-hand military history and biography and ancient and modern war. It also stocks books on aviation, railroads & railways, naval history, transport, heraldry and genealogy, American politics and royalty.

Galleon Books and Antiques
This eclectic shopĀ is a beautifully set-up store with second-hand books, collectibles and antiques. This shop specializes in non-fiction subjects, including BC history, Canadiana, First Nations, military, and art. Antiquarian and collectible books can also be found. Galleon also offers a myriad of period antiques and collectibles.

Haunted Bookshop
If you have been searching for a particular book with no success, chances are you might just find here at this special shop.

Dragon Horse Books
Devoted to a all things spiritual, this bookstore is a mecca for readers hoping to become more enlightened during their soujourn in Sidney.

- Nevin Thompson, a Sidney resident, frequently blogs on behalf of the Cedarwood Inn and Suites, a Sidney BC hotel.

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January 15, 2012   Posted in: Guest Blogs  No Comments

Book Review: The Heirloom Murders by Kathleen Ernst

The HeirloomĀ  Murders
Kathleen Ernst
Midnight Ink,Ā  September 2011
ISBN 978-0-7387-2758-5
Trade Paperback

A collections curator for an open air museum in Wisconsin, Chloe Ellefson is back in the states after breaking up with her Swiss boyfriend. When he contacts her saying he’s on sabbatical only an hour’s drive away, Chloe’s life gets complicated, especially since she’s involved now with part-time policeman Roelke McKenna. When a suicide brings these characters, along with the victim’s sister, husband, and various others onto a collision course,there’s a fine mystery to figure out. Roelke can’t let go of thinking ā€œsomethingā€ is off with the suicide. Did the victim shoot herself or did someone else do it for her?

The setting for this book, an Old World Wisconsin museum, is an unusual and interesting aspect. The characters, except for conflicted cop, Roelke, did not capture my imagination as much as I would’ve liked, and I’m still trying to figure out why the book was set in the 1980s. It’s not really a historical, as such. Not that there’s anything wrong with the ā€˜80s. It’s just a little odd. But it was fun reading about driving old beater Ford Pintos, having to find pay phones, and do research by rummaging through drawer files instead of computers. As a bonus, heritage garden seeds play an important role in the mystery, which helps lift this cozy out of the ordinary and make it relevant today.

Reviewed by Carol Crigger, December 2011.

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January 14, 2012  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: Full Reviews  No Comments