Mary Miley's Book Launch

I had the pleasure of attending Mary Miley's book launch for Silent Murders this week at the Library of Virginia in Richmond. Her theme was the Roaring 20s, and the Art Deco Society of Richmond came in costume.

Mary talked about some of the myths of silent films. And the library featured Don Q, Son of Zorro, the movie that is featured prominently in Mary's latest mystery.

Mary's mystery series that features amateur sleuth, Jessie Carr, assistant script girl at Pickfair, is set in the heart of Hollywood's heyday.  

Check out Mary's mysteries, The Impersonator and Silent Murders.

Mary Miley's SILENT MURDERS

I finished Mary Miley's Silent Murders this morning. It is the second in her Roaring 20s series. I love how Miley intertwines real characters and 1920s Hollywood with her murder mystery. In her novels, the reader is right in the middle of cinema's heyday. 

Her amateur sleuth, Jessie, is an assistant script girl for Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Because of her connections, she's invited to a director's shindig filled with all kinds of debauchery. There are a string of murders, and Jessie investigates. She is able to pull the random facts together to solve the crimes that center in and around the Hollywood studios. Miley does a great job of recreating a world of the past.

I love that the "Hollywood" sign features prominently in this novel. Miley's novel caused me to do some research on the landmark. The pictures on the website, Hollywood Sign, were fun to peruse.

Local Authors' Showcase - Henrico Public Libraries

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

What Books Are on Your Nightstand?

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?

David Baldacci's KING AND MAXWELL

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.

My Winchester Adventure...

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

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.

Janet Evanovich's TOP SECRET TWENTY-ONE

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.