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August 23, 2013

The King’s Jar by Susan C. Shea

I was beginning to think this particular treasure was very bad luck. — Dani O’Rourke

Dani O’Rourke, chief fundraiser at San Francisco’s prestigious Devor Museum of Art and Antiquities, knows a thing or two about both treasures and bad luck. In her position at the museum, Dani has the good fortune to be surrounded by some of the greatest paintings, sculptures and relics from the world of art, past and present.

She is also, however, apparently a magnet for bad luck, as evidenced by her misadventures in Murder in the Abstract, the first entry in the series. The follow-up, The King’s Jar, once again finds Dani juggling more than just socialite dinner seating charts and the egos of the über rich.

The newest exhibit at the Devor is mere weeks from opening when its centerpiece, the recently acquired King’s Jar, a legendary African artifact, goes missing. Complicating matters tremendously, the archeological expert who discovered and authenticated the piece is murdered, and there subsequently arises some ambiguity as to who exactly legally owns the piece: the museum, which hadn’t technically taken receipt of the piece yet; the socialite couple who were donating it to the museum; or the government of the country in which it was discovered, which now alleges the piece was removed from their borders illegally.

The police are justifiably more interested in solving the murder than they are locating the missing artifact, but Dani believes the quickest way to find the killer is to find the King’s Jar. And given the massive influx of money the museum stands to lose if the exhibit doesn’t open on time, both from patrons’ donations and revenue from visitors to the exhibit, Dani’s interest in locating the King’s Jar is more than academic…the museum’s very future may depend on it. So, it’s once more unto the breach for Dani and dear friends. →

October 24, 2012

Skating on the Edge by Joelle Charbonneau

This was the second time in my life I’d had a gun pointed at me, and it still sucked. – Rebecca Robbins

Things have been pretty hectic for Rebecca Robbins since she left Chicago and returned to her tiny hometown of Indian Falls, Illinois. She had hoped to make a quick sale of the Toe Stop roller-skating rink she inherited upon her mother’s death, but five months later she’s still stuck in town trying to unload the place. Of course that’s not the only thing that’s been occupying her time.

She’s also dealt with a murder in one of the rink’s bathrooms (Skating Around The Law), had an on-again, off-again romance with the local veterinarian, made friends with a hat-wearing camel named Elwood (yes, you read that correctly), been roped into tracking down a stolen car, seen her deadbeat dad blow back into town, been mortified by her grandfather’s Elvis impersonator act down at the Senior Center, and faced menace from a group of mariachis (trust me, read Skating Over The Line if you’ve not already).

You’d think all that would be hard to top in the excitement department. You’d be wrong.

Skating on the Edge, the third book in the wonderfully wacky Rebecca Robbins mystery series, finds Rebecca dealing with a whole slate of new challenges. Things get off to a fast start when a death occurs at the Indian Falls Native American Summer Days festival. Rebecca was supposed to be the “target” in the Senior Center’s dunk tank, but roped someone else into taking her place at the last minute. When her replacement, Sherlene-n-Mean, a member of the roller-derby team which operates out of the Toe Stop, is electrocuted upon being dunked into the water Rebecca is left to wonder who was actually the intended target. And despite her past run-ins with local law enforcement and admonishment from them to stop playing amateur sleuth, Rebecca has no intention of sitting around waiting for someone else to solve the murder. →

October 22, 2012

Do Hardheaded and Redheaded Go Hand in Hand? by Joelle Charbonneau

Very happy to welcome the multitalented Joelle Charbonneau to the blog today. Though most of you probably know her as the author of the Rebecca Robbins and Glee Club series, Joelle has also performed in a variety of operas, musical theater and children’s theater productions across the Chicagoland area. Today’s she here to talk about being a mutant*, and why she also made her heroine a mutant. (*Ok, ok, a redhead.)

Joelle Charbonneau I am a redhead. Essentially that means I’m a freak. Red hair occurs in approximately 1-2% of the world’s population. Red hair appears when a person has two copies of a recessive gene on chromosome number 16. This causes a mutation in the MC1R protein and voila – red hair.

See…I told you I was a freak. Or perhaps a better way to say it is that I am a mutation. Ha! Now we’re all thinking about Zombies and crazy science fiction movies. Trust me when I say, I’d probably be the last person you want on your zombie apocalypse team unless you want me to fricassee up some brains. I’m a pretty mean cook, so I might come in useful there.

I point out my lack of zombie fighting skills because, for reasons unbeknownst to me, red heads have the reputation of being feisty, with kick ass tempers. One editor I know (who also had red hair), has rolled her eyes more than once at manuscripts that come through the door which describe their redheaded heroines as fiery.

While I have red hair and can get as pissed off as the next person, I’m pretty sure my mutated MC1R protein hasn’t caused me to be more violent or angry than a normal human being. (Or maybe those holes in my backyard aren’t caused by squirrels, but by my alter ego burying the remains of those who have ticked me off!) I will admit that I am stubborn and often think I can do more than I can possibly hope to accomplish in any given set of hours. However, that being said, I am less inclined to blame that on my mutated chromosomes and more on my determination to succeed. →

November 15, 2011

Skating Over The Line by Joelle Charbonneau

I should have learned by this point that being impulsive always got me into trouble. – Rebecca Robbins

Considering the misadventure Rebecca found herself caught up in upon her return to Indian Falls in series debut Skating Around The Law, you really would think the concept that impulsive = bad would have sunk in a little deeper. Fortunately for readers it did not, as Rebecca returns for another rollicking adventure in author Joelle Charbonneau’s second Rebecca Robbins mystery, Skating Over the Line.

Still stuck in tiny Indian Falls trying to unload the roller rink she inherited from her mother, things seem to be looking up for Rebecca when her realtor informs her a buyer has finally been located. Rebecca’s escape back to Chicago is interrupted, however, when her grandfather, Pop, and the folks down at the Senior Center implore Rebecca to help locate a car which has been stolen.

Despite having run afoul of Deputy Sean Holmes for her unwanted “assistance” investigating the town’s last crime wave, Rebecca just can’t say no to Pop, the man who helped raise Rebecca after her father walked out when she was twelve. Unfortunately, things get complicated quickly when the missing car turns up ablaze in a cornfield, Rebecca’s deadbeat father blows back into town – and promptly goes missing, along with his car – and a group of menacing men start lurking around the roller rink leaving poorly penned threatening notes… in Spanish.

Throw in a sexually frustrated best friend who’s trying to snag the local Lutheran Pastor, a new rink manager who’s more obsessed with directing his film than doing his job, Rebecca’s gorgeous but slightly patronizing boyfriend, Pop’s wildly popular at the Senior Center Elvis impersonator act, and Rebecca is in for another off-the-wall adventure. →

October 26, 2010

Skating Around the Law by Joelle Charbonneau

As far as I could tell, Sheriff Jackson was a gardener and Deputy Sean Holmes was annoying, which meant if I waited for them to do their jobs I’d have a lovely garden and a bad disposition to show for it. – Rebecca Robbins

When Rebecca Robbins returns home to tiny Indian Falls, Illinois she initially thinks she has one problem to deal with – selling the roller rink she inherited from her mother – but ends up with something decidedly more ominous on her hands… a dead body in one of the roller rink’s bathrooms.

Though at first it looks like an accident or suicide given the bottle of prescription pills found nearby, the town’s doctor / coroner soon rules it a homicide making Rebecca’s task of selling the roller rink even more difficult. (Who wants to buy a murder scene?)

And if a dead body throwing a monkey wrench into her plans to make a quick sale and hightail it back to Chicago wasn’t bad enough, the glacial pace – and incompetence – of local law enforcement’s investigation makes the prospect of Rebecca ever getting out of Dodge look downright grim.

What’s a girl to do? Take matters into her own hands, of course. So, with the “help” of her grandfather, Pop, Rebecca becomes a reluctant detective… and finds more than she expected.

Author Joelle Charbonneau has obviously drawn upon her extensive experience in the performing arts to give each of her characters a strong, and unique, voice. From Rebecca (who has a wonderful mix of whimsy and level-headedness), to Pop (who’s both well connected and disturbingly “active” in the town’s retired community), to Neil (Rebecca’s seriously misguided boss and would-be suitor), to Lionel (the veterinarian Rebecca loves to hate… or is it hates to love?), to Elwood the camel, every character has an incredibly rich, fully realized personality (yes, a camel can have a personality… trust me on this.)

A few of the situations Rebecca finds herself in are reminiscent of the early Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich (when they were still fresh and funny), though Charbonneau wisely never veers into the all-out slapstick territory that Plum frequently ends up in. Rather, Charbonneau has managed to deftly balance a healthy dose of comedy with a serious and engaging mystery. Add to that pitch perfect descriptions of the ins and outs of small town living and Skating Around the Law hits so many right notes it’s like reading an exquisitely conducted symphony.

Joelle Charbonneau is a storyteller at heart. She has performed in a variety of operas, musical theatre and children’s theatre productions across the Chicagoland area. In addition to her stage work, Joelle has also performed with several bands and worked as a solo performer. While Joelle is happy to perform for an audience, she is equally delighted to teach private voice lessons and use her experience from the