Books

Dagger of Doom: Knights of the Silver Dragon (Dungeons and Dragons: Knights of the Silver Dragon)

Average customer rating:

Kept my son spellbound! Great book!

Dagger of Doom: Knights of the Silver Dragon (Dungeons and Dragons: Knights of the Silver Dragon)
Kerry Daniel Roberts
Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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The Hidden Dragon: Knights of the Silver Dragon (Dungeons and Dragons: Knights of the Silver Dragon)
Figure in the Frost: Knights of the Silver Dragon (Dungeons and Dragons: Knights of the Silver Dragon)
The Silver Spell: Knights of the Silver Dragon (Dungeons and Dragons: Knights of the Silver Dragon)
Key to the Griffon's Lair (Dungeons and Dragons: Knights of the Silver Dragon)
Eye of Fortune (Dungeons and Dragons: Knights of the Silver Dragon)

ASIN: 0786936312
Release Date: 2005-04-05

Book Description

The sixth title in an all-new series for young readers.

Dagger of Doom continues a new series of adventures written specifically for readers ages 8 and up. Sized to fit the young reader market, the series follows the adventures of three children who, through their heroic deeds, become members of the Order of the Knights of the Silver Dragon. This opportunity will be extended to readers of the series as well, whereby young readers can become members of the Knights of the Silver Dragon and receive a free promotional figurine of a silver dragon. The series will be given extensive web support through www.knightsofthesilverdragon.com.

Customer Reviews:

Kept my son spellbound! Great book!.......2006-04-12

My son is 9 years old, reading at a 4th grade level. I bought this book for him and he was completely enthralled! It was pretty spooky but not too scary, and he really liked that feeling. Every night at dinner he would tell us what was happening in the book. It was just the right reading level, with some new vocabulary words that he has now mastered. Great job! I will look for other books by this author.

Murder at Markham (Silver Dagger Mysteries)

Average customer rating:

A very pleasant read!

Murder at Markham (Silver Dagger Mysteries)
Patricia Houck Sprinkle
Manufacturer: Silver Dagger Mysteries
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Murder in the Charleston Manner (Sheila Travis Mysteries Series)
Death Of A Dunwoody Matron
When Did We Lose Harriet?
But Why Shoot the Magistrate? (MacLaren Yarbrough Mysteries)
Somebody'S Dead In Snellville

ASIN: 1570721912

Customer Reviews:

A very pleasant read!.......2002-07-25

Hooray for Silver Dagger Press which is reissuing the Sheila Travis mysteries. In this first of the series originaly published in 1988, Travis, a recent 40ish widow, comes to Chicago and the pretigious Markham Graduate School that trains future diplomats. Sheila is well qualified for her job as assistant to the president of Markham because her husband was in the diplomatic service in Japan and she served as his excellent hostess over their married years.
At Markham she is quickly tossed into a murder investigation when the body of a young woman is found in the library stacks at the institute. Suspects include not only the staff but visiting professors and an interesting group of grad students from very different backgrounds.
Sheila vows to keep clear of the investigation but her redoubtable Aunt Mary, a VERY Southern dowager and truly
delightful person, keeps urging her to dig in, despite the fact that Mike Flannagan of the Chicago Police, with an eye for Sheila, keeps reminding her to butt out. Another murder soon occurs for which Sheila feels some responsibility and her investigative skills soon are at full force.
In the end, Sheila gathers the suspects together in a large room (a throwback to the traditional mysteries of the 30's and 40's) and comes up with the solution.
Anyone who enjoys traditional mysteries with a very likable heroine will love the Shelia Travis series. Numer two, MURDER IN THE CHARLESTON MANNER is due for reissue in January.

Cruel As The Grave (A Silver Dagger Mystery)

Average customer rating:

Lacks substance
A British country house mystery set in the American South ==
An absorbing debut mystery
A Taste of Deadly Southern Hospitality
intriguing regional amateur sleuth tale

Cruel As The Grave (A Silver Dagger Mystery)
Dean James
Manufacturer: Overmountain Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Closer Than the Bones
Death By Dissertation
Faked To Death (Simon Kirby-Jones Mysteries)
Decorated To Death (Simon Kirby-Jones Mysteries)

ASIN: 1570721270

Book Description

Maggie McLendon should be at home in Houston, studying for her Ph.D. qualifying exams, but a letter from her great aunt arrives, bearing bad news. Maggie's grandfather, Henry McLendon, whom she has never met, is seriously ill in Jackson, Mississippi.

Maggie's father, English professor Gerard McLendon, has been estranged from his family since Maggie was an infant, but now there is perhaps one last chance for the McLendons to be reunited. The family welcomes Maggie and Gerard to Jackson, and Gerard has a chance to reconcile with his father.

But a murderer strikes, savagely, and Gerard McLendon looks like the chief suspect. Maggie must sort out decades of family secrets, including the puzzle of her grandmother's death twenty-five years before and its relationship to the present crime, to arrive at the truth. But not before the killer strikes a second time. Could Maggie or her father be next on the list?

Customer Reviews:

Lacks substance.......2001-03-14

I was disappointed in this book. The characters are so flat that I couldn't keep the heroine's relatives straight. The gothic Southern atmosphere vaunted on the book cover isn't there.

A British country house mystery set in the American South ==.......2000-09-15

Suppose that Dame Agatha Christie had allowed her wonderful creation,
Miss Jane Marple, to have married when that lady was young, and the
happy couple had a child. (Certainly Miss Marple would NEVER have had
a child without having first been married!) Had this happened, it
would not then be too much of a stretch to also imagine that Miss
Magnolia Amelia McLendon could be the grand-daughter or perhaps great
grand-daughter of said Miss Marple. Intelligent, a keen observer of
both her surroundings and the people who inhabit those surroundings,
Maggie is yet a modern young miss, working on her pre-Ph.d exams,
when her life is turned upside down. A letter from the only aunt
she's ever known, her father's Aunt Helena--pleads with them to
return to the family home in Jackson, Mississippi, for two reasons.
One is the illness of the family patriarch, Maggie's grandfather, who
is, after all 80 years old, but the bigger news is that the 27
year-long breach in the family is ready to be mended.

For a variety
of reasons, all of this family history is news to Maggie, and she
urges her father, Gerard, to accept the invitation, and to include
both of them in the visit. He grudgingly accepts, inadvertently
setting off modern-day reactions to events of long ago, including a
previously unsuspected murder.

From the very first person she
meets--Adrian Worthington--driver/butler/whatever, but all too
intriguing, through aunts, uncle, cousins--the ambiance of the South
is never far from the surface, although the family secrets are
anything but that. Using the legacy of Miss Marple, (for whom both the
author and his characters freely profess a fondness) Maggie patiently
sorts through all the events, both current and past, to find the
solution.

It is rare indeed, for an author to begin with
award-winning non-fiction, proceed to highly-praised short fiction,
then graduate to a full-length mystery story, but what a pleasure this
journey by Dean James provides for us all. If you, too, share a
fondness for the works of Dame Agatha, or any of the other past
classical mistresses of mystery, you should also enjoy this
wonderfully civil, witty and well-written recreation of the classical
British country house mystery novel. It's just been transported to
the American South, that's all!

An absorbing debut mystery.......2000-08-26

Cruel As The Grave by Dean James

Maggie McLendon is surprised when a letter from her father's Aunt Helen bearing bad news of the health of her Grandfather Henry McLendon, gains little reaction from her father Gerard. Although, Maggie had met her Aunt Helen on two occasions, she had learned as a child that the rest of the family was a taboo subject. However, she reasoned, if her Grandfather was seriously ill, this could be her only chance to meet him and on this point she takes a firm stance.

Arriving with her father at the McLendon family home, Maggie is stunned and disconcerted at how wealthy the family must be, a fact concealed by her father. Welcomed eagerly by her Aunt Helen and with varying degrees of interest, disinterest and hostility by the other members of the family, Maggie starts to get to know her new family.

At her first meal with the family, Maggie becomes quickly aware of the tensions and hostility harboured by the various members. When murder strikes within a short time of their arrival, and with her father under suspicion, Maggie starts to investigate. She uncovers in this beautiful Southern home, secrets, bitterness, and maybe someone hides a need for revenge.

Dean has woven an absorbing debut mystery. The characterisation was brilliant, and as Maggie discovers more and more about the family members I kept changing my mind as to the murderers identity. I did think at one point that I worked it out, but as I read on I began to have doubts, so I had to start again.

Highly recommended. Lizzie Hayes

A Taste of Deadly Southern Hospitality.......2000-07-20

Cruel as the Grave, is a healing, homecoming, which turns into a catalytic invitation to murder.

Dean James' first novel is a rich blend of Old World elegance gingerly mixed with the more casual aspects of the modern day world. It is a veritable, literate feast of terminal pride, prejudice and old family foibles.

Maggie McLendon, whose father becomes the major suspect in a passion-filled murder, must sift through the genealogical ingredients of secrets, lies and hatred that are lavishly iced with thick smooth, geniality. As with most families, the dining room table is an area for more than just sating one's appetite.

If you like the flavor of the slow paced South, savory characterization, a hint of spice, essence of Gothic, laced with twists and turns and a cozy Agatha Christiean drawing room conclusion, then settle in with a hefty helping of fetid family values on a Silver Dagger platter.

It is my understanding that the use of the wrong Hepburn name in "The Lion in Winter" was not from the mind or hand of the author.

I look forward to reading more of Dean James' work and I give this book an extra cheer for the old tortoise lawyer and the name that was given him!

intriguing regional amateur sleuth tale.......2000-07-08

As she prepares for her Ph.D. exams in Houston, Maggie McLendon learns that her fraternal grandfather Henry lies dying in Jackson, Mississippi. Her father Gerald plans to travel alone to visit his estranged family to pay his last respects to Henry. However, Maggie, who has not seen her father's side of the family since she was a baby, persuades Gerald to take her with him.

In Jackson, the McLendon brood welcome Gerald and Maggie. Before Gerald and Henry have a last chance to reconcile and Maggie spend some quality time with her grandfather, someone kills Henry. The local police suspect Gerald murdered his father as a final act of revenge. Maggie knows her English professor dad could not have committed the crime. She begins her own inquiries into what caused the family schism and who murdered Henry.

CRUEL AS THE GRAVE is an intriguing regional amateur sleuth tale that fans of both sub-genes will enjoy. The story line centers on Maggie's need to learn the truth even though it amplifies not so positive family relationships. The main charcaters are fully developed and the estrangement completely understandable by the audience. Though a scorecard would have helped identify who's who, the audience will quickly work through that due to the terrific plot that showcases the talent of Dean James.

Cut-Through Valley (A Silver Dagger Mystery)

Average customer rating:

a warm regional mystery

Cut-Through Valley (A Silver Dagger Mystery)
Dean Feldmeyer
Manufacturer: Overmountain Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Crimson Creek

ASIN: 1570721378

Book Description

Reverend Dan Thompson, on his way back from a career ending affair, has been pastor of the Methodist Church in the sleepy little coal mining town of Baird, Kentucky, for only eight months when he gets the most unusual request of his entire ministry. Calvin Haines wants him to officiate over a funeral for his dog. Normally, Dan would throw anyone making such a request out of his office, only this church has no office. Besides, Calvin's a sweet old man and his dog was not just any dog.

Erasmus Wishbone Haines was the most famous, prize winning-est, rabbit hunting-est beagle in the entire state of Kentucky, and he was the handsomest to boot. And he didn't just die, he was murdered--kicked and beaten to death. As Calvin says, "Whoever done this, hates with cruel hatred."

When Dan and Constable Ray Hall arrive at the Haines farm for the funeral they discover that Calvin has been murdered too, hanged from a rafter in his barn, and the scene arranged to look like a suicide. Now its up to them to discover what hatreds and secrets are running silently below the surface of beautiful, picturesque Cut-Through Valley.

Their search will lead them to the dark corners of Durel County, where hill people raise dogs to fight for the amusement of their owners, and a backwoods Mountain Mafia controls all criminal activity and the money that can be made from it. It will take them to the second largest junk yard in Kentucky, an eerie maze of smashed and mangled vehicles. A crazy man who lives there and is rumored to live off the rats he catches with his bare hands. And it will bring them face to face with three mysterious men--newcomers to Baird--who inflict pain because they like to and can do it without leaving a mark.

And, finally, their search will lead them back to Cut-Through Valley and the daughters of Calvin Haines: beautiful, vivacious Blessing, who hates the mountains and the coal mines that took her husband from her in a freak accident; and stunning, aloof Treasure, who left Appalachia and fled to the city as soon as she was old enough to buy a bus ticket only to find a harsher, more severe wilderness amid the brick and asphalt.

Who killed Calvin and Erasmus Wishbone Haines? And why does the killer hate with such cruel hatred?

Find the "who", as Ray says. And the who will tell you why, if you can survive long enough to hear it.

Customer Reviews:

a warm regional mystery.......2001-08-08

In Three Mountain Township, Kentucky, Methodist Minister Dan Thompson and Constable Ray Hall attend the funeral of Geraldine Shrewbridge. Although the senior citizen peacefully died in her sleep, funeral director LeRoy Whiteker asks the two men to take a close look at the corpse of Jonah Haycatcher, who died when he fell off his tractor and was run over by the disk. LeRoy shows his two visitors a bullet hole in the back of Jonahýs head.

Ray changes Jonahýs death from accident to homicide and begins an investigation into the manýs background. He quickly learns that Jonah has had a previous alias and had a belief that he was a reincarnation of the Prophet with Nineveh being DC. Because Jonah moved here not that long ago with his flock, the Children of the Lamb of God, Ray enlists Dan to help on the investigation in case religious questions surface. This case alone is difficult enough, but the duo also has to contend with a DEA agent who is busting half the county for growing weed.

CRIMSON CREEK is a warm regional mystery that focuses on life in Appalachia Kentucky. The story line stars a warm protagonist who has fallen from grace and is exiled to Three Mountain Township where he regains some of his lost esteem. The who-done-it is entertaining, but the tale belongs to the various characters living in this hilly county as they make the constable and the minister seem like real people involved in a murder mystery.

Harriet Klausner

Death's Favorite Child (Silver Dagger Mysteries)

Average customer rating:

A really good discovery
Mediocre at best ...
WOW!!
New Crime Solving Woman of Color!
fast-paced and well-done

Death's Favorite Child (Silver Dagger Mysteries)
Frankie Y. Bailey
Manufacturer: Overmountain Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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A Dead Man's Honor (Silver Dagger Mysteries)
Old Murders
You Should Have Died on Monday (A Lizzie Stuart Mystery series)
My Angel
The Object of Love

ASIN: 1570721459

Book Description

African-American, 38, a crime historian, Lizzie Stuart has spent most of her life in Drucilla, Kentucky. When her grandmother dies, Lizzie decides it is time for a vacation. She joins her best friend, Tess, a travel writer, for a week in Cornwall, England, in the resort town of St. Regis. Lizzie finds her vacation anything but restful when she becomes an eyewitness to murder and the probable next victim.

Customer Reviews:

A really good discovery.......2004-11-13

Lizzie Stuart goes to Cornwall on a vacation with her best friend and ends up the witness to a murder. A young woman is cleverly murdered, obviously by someone who is staying at the charming little inn run by her aunts. Since Lizzie is also a guest at the inn, she is somewhat disturbed by the fact that she not only witnessed a murder but is sharing living space with the possible murderer. Meanwhile her best friend's ne'er do well ex-husband has also arrived and is trying to patch things up. Lizzie dislikes him and wonders if it is wishful thinking that he may be involved. And then there is the attractive American detective that Lizzie keeps running into. John Quinn is determined that Lizzie keep her nose out of a bona fide murder mystery before she gets herself killed.

This was a lovely story. It had the true feel of one of those nice cozy little mysteries. The book is excellently written and I like the idea of the budding romance between Lizzie and John. I do wish that the author was a bit more descriptive of Lizzie. I can't get a picture of her in my head. And I thought the connections between all the people were a little too neat. Also I found the way the murder was solved somewhat implausible, but I give that a pass.

Overall, this was a good story. I can't wait to read the next ones.

Mediocre at best ..........2002-04-05

Although I'm hardly seeking stark realism, this plot was hopelessly contrived, with everyone visiting an English B&B somehow involved in each other's bedrooms/murders. Since the main character is black, I was looking forward to a mystery along the lines of John Ball, Eleanor Bland, Chassie West, MK Wren, etc., where the African-American heritage greatly enhanced the plot and setting. Alas, this character could have been a purple dinosaur for all the references. The main character is Lizabeth(Lizzie) Stuart, the illegitimate daughter of a black woman who abandoned her after giving birth, and who was raised by her grandparents in Drucilla, Kentucky -- but that's all we ever learn about her background. Since Lizzie has a PhD, it could have been a great mystery involving a successful black role model -- but no such luck. The book takes place in England, involving a far-fetched, hopelessly contrived mystery and unfathomable number of "coincidences" at the B&B. Moreover, most of the book involves conversations, which I found very annoying and distracting. In short, this was a huge disappointment.

WOW!!.......2002-01-29

What a wonderful mystery. This one had me guessing to the very end. Not only does Frankie Bailey keep you guessing in "Death's Favorite Child," she also makes you beg for more at the end of the novel with three of her main characters at pivotal points in their lives.

African-American crime professor, Lisabeth (Lizzie)Stuart is beginning a week-long vacation at a small bed and breakfast hotel in St. Regis on the Cornish Coast of England with her former college roommate, Tess, now a travel writer. Of course, our Lizzie, the ceribral spinster doesn't expect to witness the murder of a young woman and then put herself in danger or become attracted to a white Philadelphia homicide detective, John Quinn. Nevertheless,

New Crime Solving Woman of Color!.......2001-01-19

Frankie Bailey is an academic who has managed to incorporate her love of crime fiction and films into her work as a criminologist. Death's Favorite Child, her debut novel, introduces us to a new crime-solving woman of color. Lizzie Stuart's quick wit and zest for seeking the truth immediately draws the reader to her personality.

"A loud eruption of a sneeze, followed by another, and then a third...

Not that I could expect any good to come of sneezing on Sunday. "You gonna spend the whole week trying to keep one step ahead of the devil ..." ... Excerpt from Chapter 1

Lizzie remembers her grandmother's words when she witnesses a murder during her vacation in St. Regis, England. She spends the rest of her vacation putting together the pieces of a puzzle that don't quite fit. Disturbingly the pieces include her best friend and other guests in the hotel. In the midst of her puzzle-solving quest, Lizzie's life becomes a game to someone else.

Bailey does a magnificent job of developing the character, Lizzie Stuart. Even a romance is subtly introduced between the "prudish" Lizzie and a fellow American who seems to serve as a "guardian" angel with perfect timing. After reading this book, readers will definitely want future installments featuring Lizzie Stuart's crime-solving ventures.

fast-paced and well-done.......2000-11-16

Bailey has provided us with a unique and likable heroine in Lizzie. I particularly liked the setting (wonderfully drawn) and the complications provided by Lizzie's best friend -- and the friend's ex-husband. The relationship between Lizzie and the American policeman will surely be of interest in future books. This is a well woven and suspenseful story which had me eagerly turning pages, guessing up until the end who had done it.

Death by Dissertation (Silver Dagger Mysteries)

Average customer rating:

fine gay academic mystery

Death by Dissertation (Silver Dagger Mysteries)
Dean James
Manufacturer: Overmountain Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Decorated To Death (Simon Kirby-Jones Mysteries)
Faked To Death (Simon Kirby-Jones Mysteries)
Baked To Death (Simon Kirby-Jones Mystery)
Posted To Death: A Simon Kirby-Jones Mystery
Closer Than the Bones

ASIN: 1570722676

Customer Reviews:

fine gay academic mystery.......2004-06-30

Texas student Andy Carpenter believes that graduate school has to be the "lowest circle of Hell in the Inferno". Attending this hell is tough enough, but two months ago Rob Hayward became a history PHD candidate too. Andy has had a mixed relationship with Rob since they met in childhood and though he tries to ignore the handsome allure of this hunk, he fears his hormones disagree as the attraction remains strong.

Andy finds the corpse of Rob's roommate Charlie Harper in the university library. The police suspect Rob killed his fellow grad student out of a gay lover dispute. Andy knows that Rob is a slick charmer, but he would never commit murder. Deciding to help him, Andy recruits his best friend at school, Maggie McLendon (return engagement from CRUEL AS THE GRAVE) to investigate what happened to Charlie. A second homicide also points towards Rob with Andy realizing he could be on the short list of potential victims.

Though there is a slight adjustment needed to accept amateur sleuth Andy investigating the homicide, fans of gay or academic mysteries will appreciate this delightful who-done-it. The story line is action-packed, but uses the foibles of the intelligent, over-worked modern day indentured servant classified as a graduate student to provide comic relief. Readers will enjoy the exploits of Andy as he narrates his struggles with his mixed feelings towards the prime suspect, not realizing what he has fallen into with his inquiries. Dean James (apt name for an academic mystery writer) furbishes a fabulous tale due to Andy and his detective sidekick Maggie.

Harriet Klausner

All The Hungry Mothers (A Silver Dagger Mystery)

Average customer rating:

Adams Handles Heavy Issue With Taste
Heavy societal issue doesn't fit into fun, light mystery.

All The Hungry Mothers (A Silver Dagger Mystery)
Deborah Adams
Manufacturer: Overmountain Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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All the Dark Disguises
All the Deadly Beloved
All the Great Pretenders
All the Crazy Winters
All the Blood Relations (Jesus Creek Mystery)

ASIN: 157072122X

Book Description

"This gentle, funny, suspenseful mystery series deserves a huge audience of devoted fans."
Nancy Pickard
Arriving in Jesus Creek, Tennessee, fledgling nanny Janet Ayres is amazed at the hectic atmostphere surrounding her employer's antebellum mansion, which also serves as a secret shelter for victims of domestic violence. The family next door is the kind Janet would like to have one day. But Janet isn't so sure about that, when the happy home seems to have been invaded by demons and the family is scared to death....
Earlier adventures in Deborah Adams' Jesus Creek series include ALL THE GREAT PRETENDERS (an Agatha Award nominee for best first novel), ALL THE CRAZY WINTERS, and ALL THE DARK DISGUISES.

Customer Reviews:

Adams Handles Heavy Issue With Taste.......2000-02-09

It isn't often that an author can handle a heavy issue like domestic violence with taste, much less with humor. However Deborah Adams has done just that in "All The Hungry Mothers". This is a fast-paced, funny, yet tragic, story that I could barely put down. Excellent read.

Heavy societal issue doesn't fit into fun, light mystery........1999-08-26

I read mysteries for fun. I don't read them to hear about heavy societal issues, i.e., domestic violence. I've read all of the other Jesus Creek books except for one and have enjoyed them; except for this one. Ms. Adams handles the domestic violence issue well, but in my opinion, it just doesn't belong in light, amusing stories of Jesus Creek.

Magnolias and Mayhem (A Silver Dagger Mystery)

Average customer rating:

Southern Mystery at its Best
Journey to the south for magnolias, mint julips...& murder
A wonderful anthology of mysterious Southern "doings"
Interesting and Twisted
The Wonderful world of Short Stories!

Magnolias and Mayhem (A Silver Dagger Mystery)
Jeffrey Alan Marks , and Jeffrey A. Marks
Manufacturer: Overmountain Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1570721122

Book Description

A collection of 14 short stories from some of the best mystery authors writing about the South today. The collection includes Margaret Maron, Carolyn G. Hart, Dean James, Deborah Adams, Elaine Fowler Palencia, and Toni LP Kelner.

Customer Reviews:

Southern Mystery at its Best.......2002-09-22

A great collection of short stories. Southern mysteries by some of the best mystery short story writers around. Each story is charming and entertaining. A wonderful American take on the English-type mystery. Enjoy!

Journey to the south for magnolias, mint julips...& murder.......2000-11-14

The southern mystery sub-genre is known for its "gentle" belles that solve crimes by being polite "steel magnolias" who "delicately" find the clues that identify the criminal. This collection pays homage to the regional mystery of the south as each tale provides that genteel background disguising a rock solid individual or two.

The fourteen tales are all well written as expected from some of the sub-genre's leading authors. Each story provides a full picture of the area to include powerful characterizations and many amusing scenarios. None of the stories are weak though some are incredibly excellent like those of Carolyn Hart and Elizabeth Daniel Squires. Fans of the Southern crime story will fully enjoy this anthology intended for leisure reading over several cold nights.

Harriet Klausner

A wonderful anthology of mysterious Southern "doings".......2000-09-01

Jeffrey Marks' anthology "Magnolias and Mayhem" from Silver Dagger Press is another winner from that small publishing house. Some great short stories including authors such as Jeff Marks, Margaret Maron, Deborah Adams, Dean James and Elizabeth Daniels Squires. There are also separate stories by the self-styled "evil twins", [Barbara]Taylor McCafferty and Beverly Taylor Herald as well as Carolyn Hart, Jeff Abbot, Toni Kelner, etc. Fine stories for those who like their mysteries with a Southern touch, but with a healthy diversity in style and content.

Interesting and Twisted.......2000-06-25

I like these tales of mystery and murder set in the always mysterious south. Some are better than others - loved Marti's Secrets, by Grant Devereaux, totally took me by surprise - but all of them are good! An enjoyable read all around.

The Wonderful world of Short Stories!.......2000-06-21

I recently purchased MAGNOLIAS AND MAYHEM at a book signing. I judge a book by its cover. Let me be the first to tell you that looks can be deceiving. As you know there are some short stories that are better than others, but that is not the case with this collection. I was very impressed. HAPPY READING!

In The Spirt of Murder (A Silver Dagger Mystery)

Average customer rating:

Fast-paced fun in Florida!
A good read
Action-packed!
suspenseful read!
Tantalizing to the last page!

In The Spirt of Murder (A Silver Dagger Mystery)
Laura Belgrave
Manufacturer: Silver Dagger Mysteries
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Quietly Dead

ASIN: 1570721246

Book Description

"A dead psychic on Halloween night. Heroin filtering into the town's schools. A sullen ex-con with a beef of his own. A legislator with secrets to protect, and cops who bristle with resentment. That's not what Claudia Hershey expected when she moved from Cleveland to Indian Run, a tiny smudge on Florida's map. But there's no turning back for the veteran homicide detective when the killer makes things personal.

Customer Reviews:

Fast-paced fun in Florida!.......2000-09-10

Laura Belgrave has introduced a character who will more for Florida than the 'Seminoles','Gators' and 'Caines'and without all the head butting. Claudia Hershey is a compelling character whose sense of justice reaches far beyond the streets of Cleveland and into a small Florida town, supposedly free of all those big city troubles. Laura Belgrave spins the kind of story that mystery enthusiasts crave while sitting up and reading by a nightlight, listening to the quiet calm of night and hoping the story doesn't end. It is a smashing debut of both author and character! More Claudia Hershey mysteries have to be on the immediate horizon and I can hardly wait!

A good read.......2000-04-26

Indian Run is a minuscule South Central Florida town where violence is rare. The last major incident occurred four years ago when a barroom brawl erupted. There is no need for a high profile big city detective but the Chief of Police still hires Claudia Hershey because he believes her presence on the force will stop the town council from merging his department with the county sheriff. Claudia, a victim of burnout, signs a one-year contract, not realizing the isolated townsfolk will not accept strangers in their midst. Thus Claudia and her daughter are ignored whenever possible.

That situation changes when someone kills spiritualist and medium Donna Overton. The victim's face was battered into a bloody pulp. The night before she was brutally killed, Donna attended a Halloween Party hosted by a junior high school teacher. She conducted a séance that was so good (just see the tapes the police possess) that Claudia believes she spooked someone into thinking the medium had incriminating evidence. Claudia's inquiries begin immersing her deep into her new community, but she knows a killer is still free.

IN THE SPIRIT OF MURDER is a colorful, down home and atmospheric mystery. Readers who enjoy a police procedural cozy will find Silver Dagger's second offering to be a delightful read that is filled with action under every bush but almost totally void of gore. Laura Belgrave creates a cerebral story line that provides clues along the way so that the fan can put the puzzle pieces together to try to solve this pleasing who-done-it.

Harriet Klausner

Action-packed!.......2000-04-21

This book was so good I read it in one sitting. A fast-paced story and one heckuva lady cop. Claudia Hershey gets my vote for best new character on the mystery scene. I liked seeing Florida through her eyes and watching her nail the bad guy. A brave, smart, and very real character. Highly recommended.

suspenseful read!.......2000-03-03

Claudia Hershey is a top new character for me. I enjoyed every minute of this cannot put down police proceedural set in the dark side of Florida. Forget Mickey Mouse, he doesn't live in this part of town.

Tantalizing to the last page!.......2000-02-11

Offers a superb weaving of a superior plot line with an intriguing cast of characters. The authenticity of the suspects leaves you guessing to the last minute about whodunit! The characters are well developed and you truly get to know the inner workings of the main character, Claudia Hershey. She's the kind of person you want to follow through additional ingenious plots in what will hopefully be a series of sequels. Write on!

A Dead Man's Honor (Silver Dagger Mysteries)

Average customer rating:

The second in in what I hope to be a long series of books!
Dear Man's Honor

A Dead Man's Honor (Silver Dagger Mysteries)
Frankie Y. Bailey
Manufacturer: Overmountain Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Old Murders
Death's Favorite Child (Silver Dagger Mysteries)
You Should Have Died on Monday (A Lizzie Stuart Mystery series)
My Angel
The Politics of Love (Noire Fever)

ASIN: 157072170X

Book Description

Crime historian Lizzie Stuart goes to Gallagher, Virginia for a year as a visiting professor at Piedmont State University. She is there to do research for a book about the 1921 lynching that her grandmother Hester Rose witnessed when she was a 12 year old child.

Lizzie's research is complicated by her own unresolved feelings about her secretive grandmother and by the disturbing presence of John Quinn, the police officer she met while on vacation in England. Add to that the murder of an arrogant and brilliant faculty member on Halloween night and Lizzie has about all she can handle.

Customer Reviews:

The second in in what I hope to be a long series of books!.......2002-03-25

I enjoyed this book tremendously. Ms. Bailey does such a wonderful job describing, not only the global atmosphere but also the little nuances. Her characters are drawn with broad strokes and they truly grow on you. It's fascinating how slowly she's developing the relationship between the Chief and Lizzie. I'm such an impatient person, but I find myself savoring the build-up of two people getting to know each other. I hope they've covered much more ground, however, if and when the next installment is published. I truly hope there is another book, because it is original and fresh - truly entertaining.

Dear Man's Honor.......2002-02-02

Ms Bailey has written an outstanding, well paced mystery. I look forward to her next installment of Lizzie Stuart.

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