I’m happy to be hosting Erika Chase today to review her new book in the Ashton Corners Book Club series, Read and Buried. Her first book, A Killer Read, was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel last year.
A Killer Read, is the first in the Ashton Corners Book Club mysteries from Berkley Prime Crime.
Reading specialist and mystery book lover Lizzie Turner was excited for the first meeting of the Ashton Corners Mystery Readers and Cheese Straws Society hosted in Molly Mathew’s old Southern mansion. But she didn’t expect the gathering to become the scene of an actual murder. A stranger has been shot–and nobody knows who the victim is, or how Molly’s antique gun came to be used as the murder weapon.
As the plot becomes all too real, the police chief–Lizzie’s former high school crush–steps in to investigate. Then Lizzie begins finding mysterious manuscript chapters in her mailbox, and Molly surfaces as the next name on the killer’s list.
About the Author:
Erika writes the Ashton Corners Book Club mysteries for Penguin/Berkley Prime Crime. In a parallel life Erika Chase is also known as Linda Wiken. A former mystery bookstore owner (Prime Crime Books in Ottawa, ON, Canada), Linda is also a short story writer. She is a member of those dangerous dames, The Ladies’ Killing Circle.
Her short stories have appeared in the seven Ladies’ Killing Circle anthologies (three of which she co-edited), and in the magazines Mysterious Intent and Over My Dead Body. She has been short-listed for an Arthur Ellis Award, Best Short Story, from Crime Writers of Canada.
Before life in the world of mystery, she worked as an advertising copywriter, radio producer, journalist and community education worker. Besides writing and reading mysteries, her other passion is choral singing and she is a member of two choirs.
She shares her house with Keesha and Mojo, her two Siamese cats. Actually, they allow her to live there.
Connect with Erika Chase: Website | Facebook | Twitter
Jennifer’s Review of Read and Buried
TITLE: Read and Buried
SERIES #: Ashton Corners Book Club #2
CHARACTERS: Lizzie Turner, Molly Mathews
AUTHOR: Erika Chase
PUBLICATION DATE: 12/4/12
BOOK SYNOPSIS: Hosting an award-winning novelist is quite a Christmas coup for the Ashton Corners Mystery Readers and Cheese Straws Society. But when he’s murdered in Lizzie Turner’s house, she’s got a holiday homicide on her hands.
For their very first guest author event, most of the book club members can’t wait to pull out all the stops in Southern hospitality. But for Lizzie, Derek Alton is nothing but trouble–from his massive ego to his smarmy moves. When he’s found murdered in her living room, it seems someone decided that this womanizing writer would be better off dead than read.
After suspicion falls on Lizzie’s friend, she and her fellow book club members discover that Derek wasn’t who he pretended to be. Cracking this case means going up against Lizzie’s boyfriend, police chief Mark Dreyfus, and unearthing a novel’s worth of nasty secrets. And as they get closer to uncovering Derek’s scandalous final manuscript, someone hiding in plain sight is out to write finis to Lizzie’s sleuthing for good….
REVIEW PROVIDED BY: Jennifer NUMBER OF STARS: Four Stars
REVIEW: I was very impressed with Erika’s first book, A Killer Read, and I’m glad to say that her new novel is more entertaining than her first. The book starts out with Lizzie going to the local bookstore and meeting author, Derek Alton, whom she invites to speak at the next book club meeting. Derek is a very charming guy at first but that quickly changes as he becomes an egotistical jerk who makes one too many romantic passes at Lizzie. The next day, he turns up at Lizzie’s house unannounced and ends up being shot in the middle of her living room. Lizzie and the other members of her book club start investigating Derek’s death and find that things aren’t what they seem while there is a killer still out on the loose, looking to stop anyone from finding out the truth about Derek Alton.
One of the things that I love about this book is the characters, especially Lizzie Turner. She is a very sweet character with a good heart and a love of mystery books. I felt that I really connected with her in this book and I loved how she was always helping others as a reading specialist. The mystery was well-written and I had trouble figuring out the killer until the very end. There is also a list of mystery books that each character recommends at the end of the book that has me wanting to make a run to my local bookstore. Read and Buried is a charming mystery that will keep you entertained and wanting to read more from this fabulous author.
Another new author (to me) that I will want to read. This book, Read and Buried, seems like it could be a fun read.
Thanks for the spotlight and review of this book – both the series and the author are new to me. I’m a huge fan of the “cozy” mystery books and this is getting added to my list