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The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

by Alan Bradley

(Delacorte Press 2009)

Have you tried Flavia de Luce? No, not a French cuisine, but the delightfully peculiar eleven-year-old star of the Flavia de Luce Mysteries. Flavia possesses an overly developed scientific mind and a penchant for poisons.

I can’t believe it took me so long to discover her. Imagine a book devoid of sexual innuendo  in this day and age. (The stories are set in a small English town, just after WW II.)

Flavia is virtually raising herself because her father and two obnoxious sisters are totally self-centered. Your heart will ache for her as she confides in her best friend, Gladys, a bike owned by her deceased mom.

Flavia is a busybody, plain and simple. She solves murders because they happen on her door step. But because Flavia is only 11, she struggles to find her way. One minute you’re amazed by her prowess in chemistry, and the next dismayed by her lack of emotional growth. Her opinions are sometimes on the money, and sometimes off the wall.

Once you meet Flavia you will be hooked. Even younger teens would like the series.

The first book, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, won almost every mystery award available, including the Agatha. I’ve devoured the first six in the series and wait anxiously for the next one.

What murder will Flavia solve next? Only her Canadian author, Alan Bradley knows for sure.

Reviewed by Brenda Wood

http://heartfeltdevotionals.com
www.facebook.com/brendawoodspeaker

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After her success writing romance, romantic suspense novels Kathyrn J. Bain is now focused on mysteries.

Welcome Kathryn! It’s a delight to have you join us today. Can you tell us a bit about your new novel Knight & Day?

Knight & Day is a humorous mystery that takes place in Jacksonville, Florida. Trubleh Lawrence has a gift for finding dead bodies, and while out on a job interview, she comes across a dead private investigator. She feels the police suspect her so she tries to find other more viable suspects to give to them.

Trubleh is a name I’ve never heard before.

Actually her name was supposed to be Trúblé but my publisher asked me to change it because the name wouldn’t transfer well into all the ebook mediums.  This was the closest I could get to “trouble”. In the book it’s explained  “… after being four weeks late, twenty-two hours in labor, and only willing to come by caesarian section, my mom named me Trouble with a French twist.”

Will your readers discover a bit of Kathyrn in Trubleh Lawrence?

Someone told me that the humor in the book sounds just like me. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. My kids think I’m corny, so you’ll just have to decide if you think I’m funny.

I like the fact that she can climb up trees without any trouble. If it were me, I’d be stuck on the first branch, two feet from the ground.

What for you is her most surprising shortcoming or weakness?

She has a tendency not to ask for help. She doesn’t go to the police when she starts finding things out so, of course, it puts her in more trouble. With her being a sheriff’s daughter, you would think she’d know better.

Mysteries are inevitably about murder. How did you pick your victim?

If this was going to become series, I wanted Trubleh to be a private investigator. There’s only so many murders a normal person can bump into without readers rolling their eyes. I thought the best way for her to go into the private eye business was to start the book off with a PI and have her meet another soon after.

Your other books are ‘inspirational’. Why did you decide to step back from that classification when writing Knight & Day?

I have a problem with Christian fiction not feeling real to me. The mean people aren’t always particularly nasty. In fact, some are downright sweet. Yet mean people are mean, they’re revengeful, and they hate others, even if they’re Christian. Also the married couples treat each other like brother and sister, there’s no passion at all. In my upcoming release Beautiful Imperfection, while on their honeymoon, I wrote that the husband wanted to spend the day “using the rest of the mattress”. My publisher made me remove it because that intimated they had sex. I don’t know about your church, but people in my church must be having sex. Otherwise, where did all those children come from? Some of the things Christian publishers don’t allow are silly to me.

One last question. You’ve suggested Knight & Day could be the first of a series. Does that mean you have a second mystery underway?

Right now I’ve got another couple things in the works, but I do plan to go back to it.

I can’t wait!

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Killer Librarian

by Mary Lou Kirwin

(Pocket Books 2012)

Cozy Mystery

I guess you could say that I’m a size medium when it comes to murder mysteries. I want the mystery but the body should be already dead, and preferably bloodless. I’m tired of police-defying heroines who nearly get themselves done in. And murder mavens running away from bad jobs, or bad ex-lovers.

That’s why I like Killer Librarian so much. It is so far removed from the current plots.

This librarian, Karen Nash is on her way to London with her dumpy boyfriend. (That’s right, no tall dark and handsome here.) But good old Dave dumps her and takes on a cute blond bombshell instead.

Karen bravely buys another ticket and ends up on the same plane. She unwittingly sets Dave up as a hit man’s target, falls in love with her bed and breakfast owner, and solves another murder without riling any policemen.

What a thoroughly refreshing read. I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish it.

A second book is due out this fall. I’m already standing in line.

Killer Librarian

Review by Brenda Wood, Author, Speaker

http://heartfeltdevotionals.com
www.facebook.com/brendawoodspeaker

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Back on Murder: A Roland March Mystery

by J. Mark Bertrand

(Bethany House 2010)

Police Procedural.

Roland March used to be a good cop–until seven years ago when something happened that derailed his career, his marriage, his life. Investigating this gang shooting may be March’s last chance to redeem himself. Unfortunately, March is convinced a missing teen is somehow involved, and he’ll go to any lengths to prove he’s right. Even if he’s not.

Don’t be fooled into thinking this is a sweet, little story bust because it’s published by Bethany House.

The writing in this book is stellar. March’s secret past is revealed slowly, delicately, skillfully. The characters—even the walk-ons—are fully realized, three-dimensional people. Christians are treated with respect, but not a sermon in sight. Plot twists, turns and unexpected detours never stop. All this is delivered with a gritty, authentic voice, no sex, no gratuitous gore, no profanity.

I ‘purchased’ this book as a free download. (It’s stall available if you hurry.) But I guarantee I will happily—no, eagerly–pay for anything else Mr. Bertrand writes!

Check out J. Mark Bertrand at  www.jmarkbertrand.com/

Back on Murder

Pattern of Wounds

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