Support Groups Needed

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There is nothing quite as wonderful as a good sense of humor. Being able to approach the difficult things in life with an upbeat attitude tends to smooth out the rough spots along life’s pathway. Fellow writer Joyce Scarbrough is not only a good writer; she has the ability to see humor in a way that makes the rest of us envious. Every agent or publisher wants to know a writer’s marketing plan. Joyce wrote a great article a few days ago about one of her ideas that might push her books to the top. It is entitled, Support Groups Needed. Even if you aren’t a writer, you will get a chuckle out of her humorous suggestions. Follow the link by clicking on the title to this article. While you’re on her site, take a look around. You will find some other articles well worth reading.

Another Great Review From Kevin Tipple

Avid readers are always searching for review sites where knowledgeable reviewers can point them toward another great writer. One of my favorite blogs belongs to friend and fellow writer Kevin Tipple. He always does a superb job of discovering writers who know how to craft a great story. I was impressed by Kevin’s review of Dorothy Francis’ new book Killer in Control. Here is the review printed in its entirety with permission of the reviewer. Be sure to visit Kevin’s site for other great reviews.

KILLER IN CONTROL BY KEVIN TIPPLE

Dorothy Francis takes readers back to Key West in Killer in Control and it’s another good very atmospheric cozy style mystery from the author. Full of guilt and heavy with memories, suspended Iowa police officer Kitt Morgan plans on spending time with her sister, Janell and her husband, Rex at their bed and breakfast inn, “The Poinsetta” located at Key West. When she isn’t lecturing one and all about her Prius and how environmentally responsible it is, Kitt’s plan is to relax as much as possible and try not to think about her role in the shooting back home in snowy Iowa. Something that is never far from her thoughts as her police officer father never once shot anyone during his long career.

Sensing something wrong on her arrival, it is not long before Janell and Rex explain to Kitt that they are in real trouble. Fortunately, despite the fact that Rex is bald, it does not mean he is dying of cancer as Kitt quickly suspects on arrival. Instead, one of their guests is dead. Abra Barrie was murdered. Not at the bed and breakfast but elsewhere. They are involved since she was a guest and there is evidence indicating someone at the inn was involved. Both Janell and Rex, as well as their small staff, are suspects in the murder case. Janell and Rex would like Kitt Morgan to quietly investigate, when she is not relaxing and seeing the sites, to clear their names and the business.

How can Kitt tell her sister and her husband no? She can’t. The problem with that, is by sticking her nose in the case when she is not seeing the sites of Key West and the immediate area, she makes herself the target of a killer. While the suspects are many because they are all eccentric in various ways there is only one killer among them. A self-proclaimed “killer in control” who will strike again in this cozy style novel before the case is solved. Despite all Kitt’s reading and experience, and a sister who seems to know much more about police investigative work than she does, it isn’t an easy case to solve when some many characters fit the profile of sociopathic behavior.

Dorothy Francis has penned yet another enjoyable stand alone novel set at Key West. Once again she recounts the sights and sounds along with the unique history of the area while assembling a cast of rather eccentric characters for her latest cozy style mystery tale. A tale of serial murder that fittingly eventually ends on the beach. Killer in Control is another solidly good story from this talented author.

Killer in Control: A Key West Mystery
Dorothy Francis
http://www.dorothyfrancis.com
Five Star
http://www.gale.cengage.com/fivestar/
ISBN# 978-1-43282-502-7
July 2011
Hardback
274 Pages
$25.95

Material in the form of an ARC was provided quite some time ago by the author in exchange for my objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2012, reviews, news and more at: http://kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Killer-Control-Five-Star-Mystery/dp/143282502X

New Book On Amazon

I have a new series available on Amazon. The first book, Wolf Spencer, is FREE. This is a Western series in the tradition of the old west. If you like frontier stories set in the post-Civil War era; this is the book for you.

When John Spencer returns to town after three years of living with the Cheyenne, he does not expect much of a welcome, but it doesn’t matter that much, because he doesn’t intend to stay that long. From the moment of his arrival he is confronted with the problems he ran away from when his parents were killed. There are those who will stop at nothing to make him leave, and others who are willing to pay any price to make him stay. The Indians called him Wolf and he has a reputation to match. There is a price on his head, bounty hunters on his back trail, and the army with a warrant for his arrest. And if that isn’t trouble enough, there is Shannon the one he loves. This is the first book in The Renegade series.

Four Seasons

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I’m glad I live in an area where there are four distinct seasons. Each year as autumn approaches, I wish my camera had the capability of capturing the full riot of colors from the surrounding hillsides and forest. There is always some sadness as the year winds down. You can see it in the meadows and hillsides as summer slowly fades away and geese honk their way southward. Winter brings a special pleasure with the holiday season; warm fires, family gatherings, and events like the Superbowl. There is nothing, however, in any of these things that measures up to the first spring flowers as they emerge from underneath the forest leaves. It excites me in a way that I cannot describe. It is a harbinger of everything the coming year has to offer. 2012 is upon us with its promise of new and better things. There will be some sadness, disappointment, and even tragedy, but as I look at these flowers emerging from the earth, I know that whatever is predestined for the coming year will be good.