Today we some great book recommendations from Author Ritter Ames.
Ritter Ames is the USA Today bestselling author who writes the fast-paced suspense Bodies of Art mystery series and the cozy Organized Mysteries series. She focuses most of her time and writing energies on globe-trotting the world via her keyboard to create memorable characters and fascinating fiction novels for readers.
“You enter a new world every time you open a book.” – Kiersten Fay
One of the biggest drawbacks of getting a writing contract—and I’m not the only author who’ll tell you this—is that it really cuts back on your reading time. I mean, I started writing to help justify and pay for the cost of my reading habit, and while I love writing, I really miss all the extra reading time I used to have, sitting in my comfy reading chair. Each evening, however, I make sure I allocate time to read, no matter how busy I am or how many deadlines I’m working under—because, truly, no one wants to be around me if I have to go too long without reading a good book. There are some books and authors I simply have no willpower when there’s a new book in the offing. Here are a few I can never wait to read…
I’m an eclectic reader, but since I write mysteries, I tend to read more of that genre than anything else. Right now, I have the ARC of the newest Larissa Reinhart series calling out to me, THE CUPID CAPER, and I’ve already read the first scene and cannot wait to read more. I also have to read the latest Bryant and May title by Christopher Fowler as soon as it’s released—while the next isn’t due out until December, I may have to reread a few of the older titles while I’m waiting. And speaking of new titles waiting, I reread a favorite series each summer and this year was already scheduled for the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters (I have all but the first three in hardcover), but when THE PAINTED QUEEN by Joan Hess was release last year I almost caved and reread the series early to prepare for it. However, I was already committed to rereading the Jackson Brodie series by Kate Atkinson—the series starts with the book CASE HISTORIES—and my best-laid plans won out, so now I have my summer plans set and THE PAINTED QUEEN waiting to finally be read about a year after purchase. But before I start my summer reading binge, I’ll be cracking open CHARMED BONES, the spring release by Carolyn Haines in her Sarah Booth Delaney series—one of my absolute favorites.
Available April 24, 2018 Pre-order now
Sassy, Sexy, Southern Suspense
She uses her criminal past to catch crooks. He wants her back. In the grift. And in his life. Can Finley Goodhart convince Lex that doing good is the greatest hustle of all?
Ex-grifter Finley Goodhart may try to stay on the straight and narrow, but walking that thin line becomes wobbly when she believes her friend Penny was murdered. The last thing she wants is to work with her ex-partner (and ex-boyfriend), the brilliant (brilliantly frustrating) British con artist, Lex Leopold. However, when it appears Penny’s demise might be related to an exclusive matchmaking service for millionaires, Fin needs Lex’s help to pull a long con to get the goods on Penny.
Romance is in the air for hustlers, gangsters, and their marks. Unfortunately for Fin and Lex, infiltrating the racket doesn’t make for a match made in heaven. This Valentine swindle could stop their hearts for good.
Related subjects include: crime capers, soft-boiled mysteries, organized crime, amateur sleuths, mystery caper, Atlanta-based mystery, light noir, cozy mysteries, women sleuths, murder mystery series, whodunit mysteries (whodunnit), humorous murder mysteries, book club recommendations, amateur sleuth books, small town humor, Southern humor, comic (humorous) crime and mystery, con artist, small town and rural.
Available Dec. 4, 2018 Pre-order now
The year is 1969 and ten guests are about to enjoy a country house weekend at Tavistock Hall. But one amongst them is harbouring thoughts of murder. . .
The guests also include the young detectives Arthur Bryant and John May – undercover, in disguise and tasked with protecting Monty Hatton-Jones, a whistle-blower turning Queen’s evidence in a massive bribery trial. Luckily, they’ve got a decent chap on the inside who can help them – the one-armed Brigadier, Nigel ‘Fruity’ Metcalf.
The scene is set for what could be the perfect country house murder mystery, except that this particular get-together is nothing like a Golden Age classic. For the good times are, it seems, coming to an end. The house’s owner – a penniless, dope-smoking aristocrat – is intent on selling the estate (complete with its own hippy encampment) to a secretive millionaire but the weekend has only just started when the millionaire goes missing and murder is on the cards. But army manoeuvres have closed the only access road and without a forensic examiner, Bryant and May can’t solve the case. It’s when a falling gargoyle fells another guest that the two incognito detectives decide to place their future reputations on the line. And in the process discover that in Swinging Britain nothing is quite what it seems…
So gentle reader, you are cordially invited to a weekend in the country. Expect murder, madness and mayhem in the mansion!
Egypt, 1912—Amelia Peabody and her dashing archeologist husband, Radcliffe Emerson, are once again in danger as they search for a priceless, stolen bust of legendary Queen Nefertiti and Amelia finds herself the target of assassins in this long-awaited, eagerly anticipated final installment of Elizabeth Peters’ bestselling, beloved mystery series.
Arriving in Cairo for another thrilling excavation season, Amelia is relaxing in a well-earned bubble bath in her elegant hotel suite in Cairo, when a man with knife protruding from his back staggers into the bath chamber and utters a single word—”Murder”—before collapsing on the tiled floor, dead. Among the few possessions he carried was a sheet of paper with Amelia’s name and room number, and a curious piece of pasteboard the size of a calling card bearing one word: “Judas.” Most peculiarly, the stranger was wearing a gold-rimmed monocle in his left eye.
It quickly becomes apparent that someone saved Amelia from a would-be assassin—someone who is keeping a careful eye on the intrepid Englishwoman. Discovering a terse note clearly meant for Emerson—Where were you?”—pushed under their door, there can be only one answer: the brilliant master of disguise, Sethos.
But neither assassins nor the Genius of Crime will deter Amelia as she and Emerson head to the excavation site at Amarna, where they will witness the discovery of one of the most precious Egyptian artifacts: the iconic Nefertiti bust. In 1345 B.C. the sculptor Thutmose crafted the piece in tribute to the great beauty of this queen who was also the chief consort of Pharaoh Akhenaten and stepmother to King Tutankhamun.
For Amelia, this excavation season will prove to be unforgettable. Throughout her journey, a parade of men in monocles will die under suspicious circumstances, fascinating new relics will be unearthed, a diabolical mystery will be solved, and a brilliant criminal will offer his final challenge… and perhaps be unmasked at last.
Tracy Waterhouse leads a quiet, ordered life as a retired police detective-a life that takes a surprising turn when she encounters Kelly Cross, a habitual offender, dragging a young child through town. Both appear miserable and better off without each other-or so decides Tracy, in a snap decision that surprises herself as much as Kelly. Suddenly burdened with a small child, Tracy soon learns her parental inexperience is actually the least of her problems, as much larger ones loom for her and her young charge.
Meanwhile, Jackson Brodie, the beloved detective of novels such as Case Histories, is embarking on a different sort of rescue-that of an abused dog. Dog in tow, Jackson is about to learn, along with Tracy, that no good deed goes unpunished.
Available May 15, 2018 Pre-order now
USA Today bestselling author Carolyn Haines will once again delight readers with Charmed Bones, the next sparkling Sarah Booth Delaney mystery.
Zinnia, Mississippi is rife with quirky characters, but the arrival of three sister witches—and their intention to open a Wiccan boarding school—sets the small town on its ear. And bodies begin to accumulate as a result. Faith, Hope, and Charity Harrington are sexy and smart. They’re setting up their boarding school in an old dairy—a piece of property with tremendous development potential. And they’re standing in the way of “progress,” according to some in the town.
When young Corey Fontana goes missing, Delaney Detective Agency is hired to find the youth—who’s well known as a local hooligan. His mother, Kitten Fontana, who is married to the kind of land development, believes the witches have abducted her son and makes no bones about it. She’s willing to pay hard cash to find her son, especially if she can implicate the witches in his disappearance.
When Sarah Booth Delaney and her partner, Tinkie Richmond, find Corey, unharmed, it is only the beginning of a series of events that include midnight dances under a full moon, love potions, and murder. Are the sister witches criminals… or victims? Do they truly have magical powers, as they claim? Sarah Booth and Tinkie must find the answer before more people are harmed.
