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Wednesday, February 15, 2017

The Second Path - Selkie Moon Mystery #2

The Second Path is book #2 in the Selkie Moon Mystery series by Virginia King.

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(Book #1 is The First Lie. I read it last year and wrote about it.)

Here's what The Second Path is about:

"A rock ripped from the soil, a message scrawled in lipstick on the floor, a torn photo, a silver spoon… What do they all mean?

Only her subconscious knows.

When we last left Selkie Moon, she was running towards the source of her deepest primal fear: the sea. Now she finds herself naked on the beach, stunned that she has no memory of the past two weeks.

Recovering at a friend’s house, Selkie wakes up to discover a bizarre collection of items scattered across the floor. Items she apparently gathered in her sleep. Finding the ho'ohihi – the interconnectedness – between them will carry her around the globe, from Honolulu to Sydney to Paris. A dark fairy tale journey filled with fear and despair, laughter and hope, The Second Path has Selkie searching for her place in the world, in her relationships, and in herself."


I am drawn to this series because of the mystique surrounding the mystery. The books mix mythology with real life and Selkie's journey to leave her past behind and start a new life.

We follow Selkie from Honolulu to Paris to Tours, France to continue her journey into her struggle to leave her haunting past and begin anew. With the help (?) of her intuitive, sometimes psychic friends, she searches the beach where she disappeared and caves in France to find answers. Meanwhile Selkie tries to make a living with her seminars, Being Sleek. All while having strange dreams, writing messages in her sleep, and trying her hand at art to help her bring her answers. Then there is Alister, who seems to be the perfect person to be in her new life, but she keeps pushing away. The writing of the story is magical; lots of great descriptions of not only the landscapes, and tangible things, but of the quirky people Selkie continues to meet and her own thoughts and the process of making sense of everything. Surprise ending. At least to me.

I always like a book with a little mystique in it.

Here's a little bit about the author Virginia King and how she came to write about Selkie Moon that is also has some mystique to it.

"When a voice wakes you up in the middle of the night and tells you to write a mystery series, what’s a writer to do? That’s how Virginia King came to create Selkie Moon, after a massage from a strange woman with gifted hands was followed by this nocturnal message. Virginia sat down at the keyboard until Selkie Moon turned up. All she had to do was jump, the first sentence said. Soon Virginia was hooked, exploring far-flung places full of secrets where Selkie delves into psychological clues tangled up in the local mythology.

Before Selkie Moon invaded her life, Virginia had been a teacher, an unemployed ex-teacher, the author of over 50 children’s books, an audio-book producer, a workshop presenter and a prize-winning publisher. These days she lives in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney with her husband, where she disappears each day into Selkie Moon’s latest mystery. Bliss.

You can read about how the series evolved here: here: http://www.selkiemoon.com/behind-the-...), taking on a life of its own through several versions, guided by readers and editors and agents and publishers. The First Lie has won a BRAG Medallion and Book Two in the series, The Second Path, has now been published with Book Three well underway."



Sunday, February 12, 2017

Mystery Thriller Week February 12-22 2017

Just found out about this event on author Barbara Venkataraman's blog A Trip to the Mobius Strip.
She writes the Jamie Quinn series that I mentioned in a post.



Anyhow it starts today so I am quickly posting this so you can get signed up too. I just did.

https://mysterythrillerweek.com/fans-readers-sign-up-here-for-contests-mystery-thriller-week-updates/

Here is some of what it is about.

"You will receive access to all the events scheduled.  You will be invited to meet some of these award-winning and best-selling writers on various digital platforms. Ask them questions, get tips and see what they are up to now. Find your new favorite author.
You will also have free passes to giveaways, Facebook chats, free books, interview links and more. All these treats will be provided to super fans like yourself. "

Have you tried any of these events? I am currently participating in a Murder Mystery Scavenger Hunt hosted by Kathi Daley - author of the Zoe Donovan series.  I have done a couple of these. Lots of fun. You find out about other authors and series they write and you may win a book!
http://cozy-mysteries-unlimited.com/zoe-donovan-mystery-series


I won 5 books in the first one I did about a year and half. That is how I was introduced to Virginia King and her Selkie Moon series. I talked about that in a post also. I am on the second in the series, The Second Path, having read the prequel and the first in the series, The First Lie.

http://www.selkiemoon.com/

Fun fun fun.


Friday, February 3, 2017

Redemption Road by John Hary

Our February Mystery Book Club selection was Redemption Road by John Hart.

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"Imagine:

A boy with a gun waits for the man who killed his mother.

A troubled detective confronts her past in the aftermath of a brutal shooting.

After thirteen years in prison, a good cop walks free. But for how long?

And deep in the forest, on the altar of an abandoned church, the unthinkable has just happened…

This is a town on the brink. This is a road with no mercy."

Have you read any of John Hart's books? This was the first one I have read.
Of note: "Since his debut bestseller, The King of Lies, reviewers across the country have heaped praise on John Hart, comparing his writing to that of Pat Conroy, Cormac McCarthy and Scott Turow. Each novel has taken Hart higher on the New York Times Bestseller list as his masterful writing and assured evocation of place have won readers around the world and earned history's only consecutive Edgar Awards for Best Novel with Down River and The Last Child.'

So the story has some gritty, icky parts. But...his writing is so good, I really got wrapped up in the story and couldn't put it down. It seems like there are several separate stories going on but they are connected. I liked it and would read other books by John Hart. His previous books are stand alones but he is writing a sequel to The Last Child."

What did the book club members think? Most liked it and agreed the writing was really good, but most didn't like the gruesome parts. So be warned but it was really good.

Here's the authors website: http://www.johnhartfiction.com/