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December 17, 2010

A Death at the North Pole by Joel M. Andre

“If this is some weird ass reality show, I want no part of it.” – Detective Lauren Bruni

Detective Lauren Bruni can be forgiven for thinking someone is playing a sick joke on her. After all, how often does one get called out to a remote North Pole village to investigate the murder of Kris Kringle? Yeah, that Kringle.

Bruni’s first clue that this isn’t going to be a typical day at the office is the hundred or so “little people” she finds clustered around the victim’s body upon her arrival at the scene. Not one given to belief in fantasy or the supernatural Bruni is skeptical, to say the least, when the little people inform her that they are actually elves and that the deceased is none other than Santa himself.

But when Bruni’s questioning of the witnesses, including a distraught Mrs. Kringle, finds them all telling similar stories she has no choice but to accept that either they are suffering from a mass delusion, or there really is more going on than her mind can readily comprehend.

In fact, when Bruni accidentally discovers a member of her investigative team is actually a flesh eating ghoul masquerading as human, the possibility that the deceased really was Jolly old Saint Nicholas and the little people are elves starts to seem decidedly sane in comparison. And when another prominent member of the community is murdered and she herself comes under attack, Bruni finally understands that something seriously evil is happening at the North Pole.

Author Joel M. Andre has taken a traditional murder investigation, mixed in the legend of Santa Claus, added a dash of horror, and topped it all off with a generous splash of fantasy. The result of this mad concoction is a world where security concerns over trade secrets and prototype designs requires swipe card access to the Top Secret Toys lab (an area which Head Elf Pepper refuses to allow Bruni to enter without a search warrant), and where Satan has hatched a sinister plot designed to destroy Santa and the spirit of Christmas, raise an army of the undead, and usher in Armageddon.

A Death at the North Pole is a delightfully entertaining, seriously demented, dripping with dark humor Christmas tale not unlike something I’d expect from the likes of Jeff Strand or Christopher Moore. If you’re ready for a change of pace from the traditional Santa story, and have a strong stomach (the medical examiner’s postmortem on Santa is quite graphic), give A Death at the North Pole a try.

Joel M. Andre is an American writer from Cottonwood, AZ. In addition to A Death at the North Pole, he is also the author of Pray the Rain Never Ends, a collection of dark poetry, Kill 4 Me, The Pentacle of Light, and The Return. Andre’s latest book

December 16, 2010

The Twinning Murders by Shelly Frome

The Twinning Murders by Shelly Frome All Emily knew was that she had to get back on the field. Start over, start somewhere…retrace where it had all gone wrong.

There’s an awful lot going wrong in The Twinning Murders, the latest book from author Shelly Frome, not the least of which are two suspicious deaths which span the Atlantic.

Emily Ryder is a tour guide based in Lydfield, Connecticut who specializes in taking clients on international jaunts to England. At the start of The Twinning Murders Emily is preparing to take one of the town’s elder statesman, Harriet Curtis, and her siblings Silas and Pru to Lydfield-in-the-moor in Dartmoor, England for the annual Twinning ceremony (an event to celebrate the across-the-pond connection of the two “twin towns”).

A bit of a shakeup is occurring on the U.S. side of the pond, however, as the Gordon Development Company (GDC) has purchased a huge tract of land to pursue the development of a condominium community, an occurrence that would disrupt the idyllic town’s laid back way of life.

When Chris Cooper, retired roofer, conservationist, and head of the town’s Planning Committee, is killed in an accident shortly before the final vote to grant approval to CDG’s project Emily has concerns his death was more than an accident. The hasty, and premature, departure of Harriet to England ahead of the group’s scheduled plans only heightens Emily’s suspicions.

Things don’t get any more clear upon the arrival of Emily, Silas and Pru in tow, in England, where Harriet’s bizarre behavior continues. When Harriet herself winds up dead, also under suspicious circumstances, Emily knows it has to be more than a coincidence and sets herself to getting to the bottom of things.

Technically The Twinning Murders can be called a cozy as the profanity and violence are extremely minimal, the latter taking place primarily off-stage, and Emily is most definitely an amateur sleuth. Author Shelly Frome has also populated The Twinning Murders, on both sides of the Atlantic, with a wonderfully eccentric cast of characters. Unlike the cozies many readers are probably familiar with, however, The Twinning Murders has a genuine old fashioned, Agatha Christie-Miss Marple, British mystery feel to it, even though the bulk of the action takes place in Connecticut.

That British feel extends to the dialog and diction in the book. The characters use many British words and expressions, and the prose is a bit more formal than some readers may be used to encountering. For those not overly familiar with such a presentation this may be a little bit of a hurdle to jump initially, but if you like cozies, especially those with a British flair, you should definitely consider booking a trip to visit the two Lydfields with Emily and see how well you fare figuring out The Twinning Murders.

Shelly Frome is a Professor Emeritus of dramatic arts at the University of Connecticut.

December 14, 2010

Blood of My Brother by James LePore

“I waited too long, Dan. I’m sorry. If I was the one killed like that, you’d have started the next day. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I’m starting now.” – Jay Cassio

What Jay Casio is starting in James LePore’s Blood of My Brother is an investigation into to the murder of his best friend since childhood, Dan Del Colliano. And start with a vengeance he does.

Jay’s and Dan’s friendship was forged under fire during the turbulent race riots of 1967 in Newark, New Jersey when, barely school age, they were caught up in the violence that erupted in their formerly peaceful neighborhood.

As they grew so did their bond, strengthening ever deeper as they weathered through tragedies such as the death of Jay’s parents in a plane crash. By the time they are adults, Jay a successful attorney and Dan a not so successful private investigator, the two have come to think of each other as brothers, through their common bond if not blood.

When a woman Jay is representing in a divorce is killed, beheaded, her high-powered soon to be ex-husband is the number one suspect… until he too is found dead. The discovery of Dan’s brutally tortured and murdered body in Miami a short time later initially seems like a case of coincidental bad timing. But when the FBI shows up and indicates Jay should stop asking questions it becomes clear to him that something more sinister is going on, something he’s determined to get to the bottom of. →

December 13, 2010

‘Back to the Basics’ by James LePore

Tomorrow I’ll be reviewing James LePore’s most recent novel, Blood of My Brother. Today, however, I am pleased to welcome James for a guest post and a peek behind the curtain at his writing process.

When my publisher asked me to write this post, I was in the middle of writing a love scene in the novel I am currently working on. When I say love scene, I do not mean a scene in which two people make love, although that may be part of it. I mean a scene in which the spark is lit, the click occurs, that moves two people into the mysterious state we call romantic love.

Since Musings had given me carte blanche, and since the difficulty of writing such scenes——for me at least——was much on my mind (I had already spent about five hours on an interaction that would take up no more than two or three pages in the new novel) it occurred to me that I would write about writing a love scene.

The first thing I did was to look at what I believe is the pivotal click moment in Blood of My Brother, to see how, and what, I did. This is it: →

December 10, 2010

The Remains by Vincent Zandri

For a quick moment I thought about looking into the rear view. But I resisted the urge. Better not to see what was behind me; what might have been stalking me. – Rebecca Underhill

Painter and art instructor Rebecca Underhill is not sure who or what is stalking her, but for six months she’s been receiving odd and disconcerting text messages. Initially they simply said her name, but most recently have consisted of a single word: Remember.

She may have been able to dismiss the messages as just a prank, except that she has been remembering. She’s been having nightmares about a horrific event she and her twin sister, Molly, experienced thirty years prior.

The two sisters were abducted for a harrowing afternoon by a man who lived in a remote cabin in the woods surrounding their family’s farm. The girls escaped and, having been playing somewhere they weren’t supposed to be, made a pact not to tell their parents about what had happened.

Any doubt they had about their decision was removed when the man was arrested for another crime shortly after their ordeal and sentenced to thirty years in prison. Thirty years seemed like an eternity to the young girls; surely the monster would die in prison and they’d be safe. And they were, for awhile. But ten years ago Molly passed away from cancer and the girls’ parents died not too long after. Now Rebecca is alone with her nightmares. Or is she?

As with his previous release, the wonderful Moonlight Falls, author Vincent Zandri demonstrates that he’s most comfortable blazing his own trail and writing in areas that aren’t easily categorized. One would be hard pressed exactly how to describe The Remains. It’s part mystery, part thriller, part suspense, and even has a little touch of the supernatural. What there’s no mistake that it is, however, is gripping.

The cast of characters is tight, with Rebecca and one of her fellow artists, autistic savant and childhood friend Franny, taking center stage. Zandri skillfully interweaves the events currently vexing Rebecca with the events from the past that are haunting her, slowly building tension and revealing the depths of her nightmares and torment bit by tantalizing bit as the book unfolds.

Moonlight Falls was the first Zandri book I read, and I enjoyed it immensely. I went into the The Remains hoping for another experience that would be just as engaging, and Zandri did not disappoint. The Remains is an intense page turner that will keep you reading late into the night.

Vincent Zandri is an award-winning, bestselling novelist, essayist and freelance photojournalist. He holds an M.F.A. in Writing from Vermont College and is a 2010 International Thriller Writer’s Awards panel judge. Zandri currently divides his time between New York and Europe. He is the drummer for the Albany-based punk band to

December 08, 2010

Secrets to the Grave by Tami Hoag

“People are funny about their secrets. It doesn’t matter if anyone else cares or not. People will guard their secrets like junkyard dogs, and take them to the grave if they can.” – Vince Leone

There are a lot of secrets being kept in Oak Knoll, California in Secrets to the Grave, author Tami Hoag’s sequel to last year’s Deeper than the Dead.

Hoag wastes no time plunging the reader into the story, opening the book with a horrific crime scene depicting the aftermath of the brutal knife murder of single mother Marissa Fordham. Her four-year-old daughter, Haley, was also attacked and left for dead, languishing for two days with her mother’s corpse before being discovered.

Detective Tony Mendez is tapped to head up the investigation, and knows from recent experience to make use of a tremendous resource located in town, former FBI Agent Vince Leone, one of the pioneers in the field of behavioral profiling.

Mendez also seeks assistance from child advocate Anne Navarre Leone, herself nearly a victim the previous year of the so-called “See No Evil” killer that plagued Oak Knoll (the case which initially brought her then FBI Agent, now husband Vince Leone to town). Together they must try to help a traumatized child recover and, if possible, provide them with information to help catch her mother’s killer. →

December 06, 2010

‘The real thrill is writing’ by Leigh Russell

Today I’m pleased to welcome to Musings of an All Purpose Monkey Leigh Russell, author of the DI Geraldine Steel series. Leigh’s had quite a rocket ride of success in a very short time, but as she notes, “The real thrill is writing.”

Perhaps I’m unusual, but the thought of publication never crossed my mind when I started writing, which is paradoxical because just two months after writing the first draft of my debut thriller I was offered a three book deal by a leading independent publisher of crime fiction.

Just over two years ago I had an idea, started writing it down and found I couldn’t stop. Since then I haven’t managed to go a single day without writing. I’m absolutely hooked! It still amazes me that I didn’t discover my passion for writing earlier. Within six weeks I finished writing my first story and only at that point did it occur to me that I’d written a book.

With nothing to lose I submitted my manuscript to a publisher and thought that was the end of it. I never expected to hear from them, so you can imagine my excitement when the publisher called me two weeks later to invite me to a meeting and two months after that I found myself signing a three book deal. →

November 26, 2010

The Mad and The Macabre’s Twisty Route To Publication by Jeff Strand

I certainly hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday, and that you’ve also enjoyed Jeff Strand Week. Personally, I’m very thankful that Jeff found a balance to his meds that lasted long enough for him to write this guest blog. Enjoy!

So one day Michael McBride, Brian Knight, and I decided to write a book.

I’ve known both of them for several years, though the only time all three of us crossed paths in real life was the 2007 World Horror Convention, where most of our conversation consisted of variations on “Ha ha! You don’t have a book deal with a major New York publisher! You must suck!”

(The reason we could say this and have it be delightfully amusing was that none of us had a book deal with a major New York publisher. It’s the same principle that allows me to say “Ha ha! You didn’t win the Bram Stoker Award! You must suuuuck!”)

(Of course, I later published Pressure and Dweller with Leisure Books, forcing me to retire the joke. But then Leisure canceled its mass market paperback line shortly before Wolf Hunt could be published–actually, it was scheduled for THIS VERY WEEK if you’re reading this the day Elizabeth posts it, so the pain is still piping hot–and I pulled the book. So I’m not quite sure if I can make fun of people who don’t have New York publishing deals or not. Maybe I’m only allowed to make fun of other Leisure authors. I’ll have to research this.) →

November 25, 2010

The Sinister Mr. Corpse by Jeff Strand

There were plenty of “bad boy” celebrities, but they had some leeway from audiences in that they were usually physically attractive and had never been dead.

Stanley Dabernath was not exactly what one would call a success in life: thirty-five years old, sixty thousand dollars in debt (his Demented Whackos Video business having never really taken off), recently evicted from his apartment, subsisting on a diet of Ramen noodles (stolen, at that), and reduced to swiping alcohol from his parents to use at meetings with his few remaining potential business partners.

And so a cynic might argue that Stanley’s death (more spectacular than anything he ever accomplished in life – drowning in milk in a freak accident) was not really much of a loss to the world. Ah, but his death ironically gave him a second chance at life. Literally. Project Second Chance “rescued” Stanley from the morgue and, well, brought him back to life. On live TV (to record ratings).

Suddenly an international phenomenon dubbed “The Amazing Mr. Corpse” by the press, Stanley finally has the fortune and fame he always craved. Except, you know, he’s a semi-rotted, kinda smelly zombie. Nevertheless, determined to make the most of it Stanley rides the wave of talk show appearances, rap video cameos, beer commercials, product endorsements (t-shirts, candy, action figures), and personal appearances that come rocketing his way. A zombie living the high life. →

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