Thursday, October 31, 2019

Spotlight & #Giveaway: Three Widows and A Corps #Halloween #CryptKeeper




Cozy Mystery 3rd in Series Kensington (October 29, 2019)
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages 
ISBN-10: 1496715942 ISBN-13: 978-1496715944 Digital ASIN: B07NCN684X
ABOUT: Food blogger Hope Early finds one item not on her scavenger hunt list—a dead husband . . .

Between developing her food blog, Hope at Home, and choosing low-cal recipes for a feature in Cooking Now! magazine, Hope has a full plate. Still, she’s never too busy to compete in a Jefferson, Connecticut, tradition—the town’s annual scavenger hunt.

But as she races with her team to check off the next item, Hope discovers a grisly surprise—the body of shady real estate developer Lionel Whitcomb, shot in a parking lot. His wife Elaine, who’s also in the hunt, gasps and nearly faints. But two other women on the scene cry out that their husband is dead.

It turns out this louse of a spouse was more than a little lax in legally divorcing his former wives. Did one of them put a bullet in the bigamist? Number one suspect and number three wife Elaine begs Hope to investigate. Now Hope is on a new kind of hunt—for a cold-hearted killer and triple widow-maker . . .
Includes Recipes from Hope’s Kitchen!

Purchase Links – Amazon 

About Debra Sennefelder


Debra Sennefelder, the author of the Food Blogger Mystery series and the Resale Boutique Mystery series, is an avid reader who reads across a range of genres, but mystery fiction is her obsession. Her interest in people and relationships is channeled into her novels against a backdrop of crime and mystery. When she’s not reading, she enjoys cooking and baking and as a former food blogger, she is constantly taking photographs of her food. Yeah, she’s that person.
Born and raised in New York City, she now lives and writes in Connecticut with her family. She’s worked in pre-hospital care, retail and publishing. Her writing companions are her adorable and slightly spoiled Shih-Tzus, Susie and Billy.
She is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, Women’s Fiction Writers Association and Romance Writers of America.
Author Links: WebsiteFacebookGoodreads 

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Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Flesh by Laura Bickle #MonsterDonuts #Spotlight #Halloween #YAHorror #Giveaway



Genre: YA Horror
Date of Publication: September 19, 2017
ISBN: 9781537857992
ASIN: B074XBJ697
Number of pages: 307
Word Count: 76,573
Cover Artist: Danielle Fine

Book Description:
The dead are easy to talk to. Live people, not so much.
Charlie Sulliven thinks she knows all the secrets of the dead. Raised in a funeral home, she’s the reluctant “Ghoul Girl,” her reputation tied to a disastrous Halloween party. But navigating her life as a high school sophomore is an anxiety-inducing puzzle to her. She haunts the funeral home with her parents, emo older brother, Garth, their pistol-packing Gramma, and the glass-eyeball-devouring dachshund, Lothar.
Chewed human bodies are appearing in her parents’ morgue…and disappearing in the middle of the night. The bodies seem tied to a local legend, Catfish Bob, who has resurfaced in the muddy Milburn river near Charlie’s small town. When one of Charlie’s classmates, Amanda, awakens in the cooler as a flesh-eating ghoul, Charlie must protect her newfound friend and step up to unravel the mystery…and try to avoid becoming lunch meat for the dead.
          Amazon     BN     Kobo     iBooks


Glittery Ghoul Donuts
By Laura Bickle

When I saw vampire donuts come across a friend’s Facebook feed, I knew that I had to give them a try. I’ve had my own share of Pinterest disasters, to be certain, but I think this is something I can handle. The worst thing that could possibly happen would be that I’d have a dozen mangled donuts, right? I could eat all the evidence before anyone was the wiser.





1.         I gathered my materials. I picked up a dozen glazed donuts, a bag of plastic vampire fangs, and a package of candy eyes. For fun, I got some edible glitter. I originally thought I might make sparkly vampire donuts with silver glitter, but decided to get green so that the completed creatures would remind me more of ghouls.


2.         I squished some vampire fangs into the donut holes to make mouths.



3.         Then I added the candy eyes. They stick very well into the donut glaze.



4.         Then I dusted the donuts with edible green glitter. I was pretty pleased with my green choice…they seem particularly monstrous.


5.         And ta-da! A horde of flesh-eating ghoul donuts!




I’m counting this as a Halloween craft win. Do you have any Halloween crafts you’re going to make this season? Any raven wreaths, bat cookies, or carved pumpkins on your agenda?




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About the Author:
Laura Bickle grew up in rural Ohio, reading entirely too many comic books out loud to her favorite Wonder Woman doll. After graduating with an MA in Sociology-Criminology from Ohio State University and an MLIS in Library Science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, she patrolled the stacks at the public library and worked with data systems in criminal justice. She now dreams up stories about the monsters under the stairs. Her work has been included in the ALA’s Amelia Bloomer Project 2013 reading list and the State Library of Ohio’s Choose to Read Ohio reading list for 2015-2016.
More information about Laura’s work can be found at:
Newsletter Sign Up: https://goo.gl/TNgIjL

Friday, October 25, 2019

Vampire Detective Agency by JC Andrijeski #Spotlight #Halloween #Vampires #giveaway



Vampire Detective Midnight
Book One
JC Andrijeski

Genre: Paranormal Mystery / Science Fiction
Publisher: White Sun Press
Date of Publication: June 25th, 2019
ISBN: 9781074675288
ASIN: B07TJ2T9DG
Number of pages: 386
Word Count: 101,821
Cover Artist: Damonza

Tagline: It’s hard being a cop in the future. It’s even harder when you’re a vampire.

Book Description:

Nick frowned, staring around at the alley floor.
It hit him again.
There was something wrong with this blood.
It smelled too good.

It smelled way, way too good…

Vampire with a past and homicide detective, Naoko “Nick” Tanaka just got transferred to the NYPD, where he works as a “Midnight,” or vampire in the employ of the human police. Like all state-reg’d vamps, he gets his food delivered to his door, lives in government housing, and basically can’t sneeze without the U.S. government knowing about it.

More than anything, he just wants to be left alone, to endure his immortality in peace, but he’s barely in New York two weeks when things start to go sideways.

It all starts with his new case––a case involving dead hybrids, graffiti that tells the future, a kid who shouldn’t exist at all, and a possible conspiracy involving the richest humans in New York.

That doesn’t even get into the school principal, a woman with secrets of her own, who has a deeply unsettling effect on him.

Nick finds he can’t get personally uninvolved with any of it. Instead, he gets sucked in even deeper, until he’s pretty sure he’ll end up forcibly reprogrammed by his human owners––assuming they don’t just rip his heart out of his chest and be done with it.



About the Author:


JC Andrijeski is a USA TODAY and WALL STREET JOURNAL bestselling author who writes paranormal mysteries and apocalyptic fiction, often with a sexy, romantic and metaphysical bent. JC has a background in journalism, history and politics, and loves martial arts, yoga, meditation, hiking, swimming, horseback riding, painting… and of course reading and writing. She grew up in the Bay Area of California, but travels extensively and has lived abroad in Europe, Australia and Asia, and from coast to coast in the continental United States. She currently lives and writes full-time in Bangkok, Thailand.

Current series include: Vampire Detective Midnight, the Bridge & Sword series, the Quentin Black Mystery series, The Morph series, and the Alien Apocalypse series. She’s also written a number of standalone novels, novellas and short stories, as well as nonfiction articles and essays.

To learn more about JC and her writing, please visit






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Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Haunted Flint From the Haunted America Series by Roxanne Rhoads & Joe Schipani #Giveaway #Halloween #Historical




Publisher: The History Press

Release Date: September 2, 2019

ISBN-10: 1467143049
ISBN-13: 978-1467143042

Book Description:

Sinister Secrets in Flint’s History

Home to ancient burial grounds, unsolved murders, economic depression, and a water crisis, Flint emits an unholy energy rife with ghostly encounters.

Colonel Thomas Stockton’s ever vigilant ghost keeps a watchful eye over his family home at Spring Grove, where guests occasionally hear the thump of his heavy boots.

Restless spirits long separated from their graves lurk among the ancient stones in Avondale Cemetery.

Carriage maker W.A. Paterson’s spirit continuously wanders the halls of the Dryden Building, and something sinister and unnamed resides in a Knob Hill mansion waiting to prey on impressionable young men.

Join authors Roxanne Rhoads and Joe Schipani on a chilling tour of Flint’s most haunted locations.





Downtown Flint’s Five Most Haunted Locations

Home to ancient Native American battle sites and burial grounds, the Sit Down Strike of 1936-37, unsolved murders, economic depression, social injustice, and a water crisis - Flint’s unholy brew of energy has led to macabre tales of ghostly encounters and stories of demonic possession.
           
Is there something sinister lurking in Flint’s history to blame for all the hauntings? Do the souls of Flint’s murdered linger, craving justice by haunting the land until they get their vengeance? Whatever the reason, Flint is filled with frightful sites and terrifying tales.

From ghostly graveyard apparitions in Glenwood and Sunset Hills to spooky specters spotted in downtown Flint’s Capital Theatre and The Whiting, Flint is filled with ghosts.

Here are downtown Flint’s Five Most Haunted Locations.

Stockton Center at Spring Grove
The Stockton Center at Spring Grove, 720 Ann Arbor Street, is a haunting example of Italianate architecture.  The house first belonged to Colonel Thomas Baylis Whitmarsh Stockton and his family before becoming a hospital and then a nursing home. Considered to be Flint's most haunted location countless ghostly encounters have occurred in this building. Some believe the Stockton Family still reside in the home, Colonel Stockton himself watching over it for eternity.
The Masonic Temple
Officially dedicated in 1911, the Flint Masonic Temple is located in the heart of downtown. Shadowy figures, strange noises and the distant haunting sound of organ music fill this old building. Many who have worked in the building have experienced strange encounters and ghostly apparitions.
Whaley House
The Whaley House started life in 1859 as an Italianate but Robert Whaley hired an architect to transform it into a Victorian. In 1885 the Whaley family moved into the newly remodeled home. Levitating tarps, moving toys, ringing bells, curtains blowing with no wind, and shadowy figures fill this haunted mansion. In the basement, you may feel an unearthly chill and a sense of being watched.
The Capitol Theatre
The Capitol first opened its doors at 140 E 2nd St on January 19, 1928. Rumors of hauntings have swirled about The Capitol Theatre for decades. Strange knocking sounds, disembodied singing, shadowy figures…The Capitol’s recent renovations returned the building to its original glory. Did this calm the restless spirits or make them more active?
The Cornwall Building
Construction began on the house in the early 1870s by Royal Ripley who lived on premised from 1874 to 1881. In 1881 Er Milner purchased the home and completed construction on it in 1883. The ghost of Jennie Milner Cornwall is said to haunt the premises. Sometimes you can see her looking out the w

About the Authors

Roxanne Rhoads is an author, book publicist, mixed media crafter, and lover of all things spooky.

Roxanne is the owner of Bewitching Book Tours, a virtual book tour and social media marketing company, she operates Fang-tastic Books, a book blog dedicated to paranormal and urban fantasy books, and she runs the blog, A Bewitching Guide to All Things Halloween, which is dedicated to everything Halloween related. Roxanne’s sells handcrafted jewelry, art, and home decor through The Bewitching Cauldron.
When not reading or writing, Roxanne loves to craft, plan Halloween adventures, and search for unique vintage finds.

Joe Schipani is an integral part of Flint’s Art Community with ties to local artists, galleries, book stores, and the Flint Cultural Center. He is the Executive Director of the Flint Public Art Project and the FFAR Project Assistant at the Community Foundation of Greater Flint.

He has a weekly column on All Things Halloween titled Freaky Flint History showcasing true crime and weird but true tales of Flint deaths.

Visit them online at:





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Monday, October 21, 2019

Vlad the Rad by Bridgette Barager #Halloween #vampires #review




Synopsis:

Vlad is always getting in trouble at Miss Fussbucket's School for Aspiring Spooks. Unlike the other little vampires, witches, mummies, and ghosts, Vlad isn't very interested in learning spookiness. That's because...Vlad loves to skateboard! How can he possibly think about being a good spook when all he wants to do is practice his latest gnarly trick? Maybe Vlad can find a way to do both!

My review:

Vlad, being a vampire takes the reader on a wild spin through the halls of his school. He drives the principle crazy and  upsets his fellow students. What is a skateboarder to do? After all, he has no interest in doing school work or scaring people. Skatebook tricks is his motivation.

This book gives the reader a twist on what a vampire is supposed to do. The book's illustration are done with muted greens, black, and red colors to give the effect of spookiness but not be too spooky. The student characters are cute monsters, ghosts, and goblins in school uniforms. Vlad wears huge glasses and has fangs but looks nothing like the vamp he is supposed to be.

The ending is totally unexpected but stays true to Vlad's character. I liked the author did that because it shows kids that you can be who you want to be, but still live in the guidelines of society without losing yourself.

What a fun book! This is terrific for any little skateboarder in your life. 
It gets 4 pumpkins from me.

Disclosure: I got this book from the local library. The views expressed here are 100% my own and may differ from yours. ~Michelle

Where to find the author:
Amazon

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Day 19: In the Footsteps of Frankenstein by Steve Parker #Halloween #middlegrade #monsters #CryptKeeper




My review:

When I first picked up this book, I thought it might be just a retelling of the classic book from Mary Shelley. In fact, it is and isn't.

The author of this particular book broke apart the story into 37 pages by first posting about Mary Shelley and how the story got told. *spoiler* It was a "ghost" story she told to friends on a boring night and eventually wrote.

Mary Shelley

The book then goes on to tell the story on one side of the pages and compares it to what was happening at the time (and now) and to subsequent movies in later years. The compare and contrast is awesome!

I love on pages 16-17 where the author details how the monster looked. *spoiler* Did you know that Mary Shelley barely described the monster? Most details are from movies.

I cannot say enough about this book and glad I own it. I would recommend this for 8+
The book gets 5 pumpkins from me.

Disclosure: I purchased a copy of this book for my own collections. The opinions expressed here are 100% my own and may differ from yours.

~Your CryptKeeper,
Michelle

Friday, October 18, 2019

#Review & #Giveaway: Read and Buried: A Lighthouse Library Mystery by Eva Gates #cosymystery #library #Halloween


Read and Buried: A Lighthouse Library Mystery by Eva Gates

  Cozy Mystery 6th in Series Crooked Lane Books (October 15, 2019) 
 Hardcover: 325 Pages ISBN-10: 1643852337 ISBN-13: 978-1643852331
 Digital ASIN: B07P9MQV3F

About Read and Buried

Librarian Lucy Richardson unearths a mysterious map dating back to the Civil War. But if she can't crack its code, she may end up read and buried.
The Bodie Island Lighthouse Library Classic Novel Book Club is reading Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne while workers dig into the earth to repair the Lighthouse Library's foundations. The digging halts when Lucy pulls a battered tin box containing a Civil War-era diary from the pit. Tucked inside is a hand-drawn map of the Outer Banks accompanied by a page written in an indecipherable code.
The library is overrun by people clamoring to see the artifact. Later that night, Lucy and Connor McNeil find the body of historical society member Jeremy Hughes inside the library. Clearly Jeremy was not the only one who broke into the library--the map and the coded page are missing.
Lucy's nemesis, Louise Jane McKaughnan, confesses to entering the library after closing to sneak a peek but denies seeing Jeremy--or his killer. When Lucy discovers that fellow-librarian Charlene had a past with Jeremy, she's forced to do what she vowed not to do--get involved in the case. Meanwhile, the entire library staff and community become obsessed with trying to decode the page. But when the library has a second break in, it becomes clear that someone is determined to solve that code.
My review: 

About Eva Gates


Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than thirty books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy. She is currently writing four cozy mystery series: the Tea By The Sea mysteries for Kensington, the Year Round Christmas mysteries for Penguin Random House, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series and, as Eva Gates, the Lighthouse Library books for Crooked Lane.
Vicki is a past president of the Crime Writers of Canada and co-founder and organizer of the Women Killing It crime writing festival. She lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.
Author Links
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Thursday, October 17, 2019

Amber Ruin Book Eight by Suzanne M. Sabol #Giveaway #Halloween #UrbanFantasy #Spotlight







Genre: Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing

Date of Publication: October 9, 2019

Number of pages:
Word Count: 106,733

Cover Artist: Rae Monet

Tagline: Racing to survive the traps set by Baba Yaga and the magic of the Outer Realm to rescue two of her wolves, Dahlia Sabin enters the Outer Realm understanding she may never come out again.

Book Description:

Dahlia, Dean, and Patrick are attempting a political coup of the supernatural world. Gathering allies to upset the balance and throw off the shackles of the ancients won’t be easy. But to live alongside humans instead of in their shadow, they’ll have to overcome enemies at every turn; vampires, shifters, the fae, and humans.

Baba Yaga, the queen of the dark fae, has her own designs for Dahlia. Moving her chess pieces on the board, the ancient witch has set a trap to draw The Blushing Death back into her clutches. To possess Dahlia and the power of Fertiri magic for her own purposes, Baba Yaga will do almost anything -sacrifice anyone – to rise to power once more. 

Racing to survive Baba Yaga’s traps and rescue two of her wolves, Dahlia enters Baba Yaga’s mountain understanding that she may never come out again.



About the Author:

Suzanne M Sabol is the author of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance. She is a graduate of The Ohio State University and has two Bachelor of Arts degrees with majors in Criminology, International Studies, Russian, and Political Science. She has a Master’s degree from The Ohio State University’s John Glenn School of Public Affairs. She is married with one child and lives in Columbus Ohio.
                                                                 
Suzanne M Sabol is a member of several professional organizations; Romance Writers of America, Central Ohio Fiction Writers, North East Ohio Romance Writers Chapter, and the Fantasy, Futuristic, and Paranormal Chapter of RWA.

The Blushing Death Series and the Blood and Bone Legacy are published through Soul Mate Publishing. Editor, Debby Gilbert, can be contacted through their website at www.soulmatepublishing.com.

Web: www.suzannemsabol.com        



Amazon: https://amzn.to/2lJC4px      


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1 prize pack of goodies including the following:
1 wine glass
1 journal
1 relaxation gift packet
1 book in the Blushing Death Series


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Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Zen Ghosts by John J. Muth #Halloween #duality #ghosts #ScholasticBooks

Summary:
It's Halloween. The trees are ablaze in fiery reds. Excited children don colorful costumes. And there's mystery and fun around every corner!

When Addy, Michael, and Karl finish trick-or-treating, their bags are brimming with treats. But the fun isn't over yet. Their good friend Stillwater the panda has one more special surprise in store for them. A mysterious visitor is about to tell them a spine-tingling story --- one that will fill each and every reader with wonder.

My review:
This is a beautifully illustrated book with all the colors you would expect to see in the Fall and at Halloween. It started out fun with the characters deciding what they wanted to be for Halloween. The story carried on right through the sorting and trading of candy. After that, the panda friend was to tell the children a ghost story.

At this point a ghost story is told by a seemingly look-alike panda. It is a real Chinese story ages old. This is where the book turns deep and thought provoking. It was a good story but the problem I had with it was the story was not meant for young children. In fact, if anything, the story was meant to be for adults who are studying Zen practices. 

If you want a book that is for Halloween type illustrations (to a point), then by all means, get this book but be aware of what I mentioned above. I think you might even need to have a bit of pre-talk before reading.

Overall, I still give this book 4 pumpkins.

Disclosure: I borrowed this book from the library. The views here are 100% my own and may differ from yours. ~Michelle

Where to find the author:

Amazon