KN Magazine: Reviews
Murderabilia by Carl Vonderau / Review by Sheila Sobel
Murderabilia
By Carl Vonderau
Midnight Ink
$16.99
ISBN 978-0738761305
Publication Date: July 8, 2019
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Book of the Day
2020 Silver Falchion Nominee
How far will one man go to protect his family? To Hell and back if that’s what it takes.
Since childhood, William McNary worked to erase his past and craft a new future. One without the terror his father—serial killer Harvey Dean Kogan—created when he murdered, dismembered, posed and photographed thirteen innocent women. It wasn’t long before Kogan’s “Preying Hands” photographs of artfully staged severed body parts launched a macabre market for his father’s “Murderabilia.” William had no choice but to reinvent himself.
After overcoming years of challenges, his horrific history is finally behind him. Or so William thinks. He has a new life—a loving wife, two adorable children, and a supportive, also re-invented, sister. He’s happily employed as a private banker and living a peaceful, if not humdrum, life in the burbs. For him, life is perfect. Until he gets the call that shatters his perfect world. From someone claiming to be his brother.
When the dismembered body of his wife’s friend and colleague is found, and with nearly irrefutable evidence against him, William McNary is arrested for her gruesome murder. His once perfect life is unraveling at warp speed. When bail is granted after new evidence is presented, William is released. He leaves jail determined to find Harvey Dean Kogan’s copycat killer. Even if it means reconnecting with the brutal murderer he used to call “Dad.”
Murderabilia is a dark tale that touches a deep-seated fear held by all—the loss of everything we hold dear. Carl Vonderau’s debut novel will keep the reader’s heart racing from page one to the end.
Carl and his wife live in San Diego. When not writing terrifying thrillers, Carl spends his time as a partner at San Diego Social Venture Partners, an organization that mentors other non-profits.
To learn more about Carl Vonderau: http://carlvonderau.com/
Sheila Sobel’s debut novel Color Blind won the 2017 Killer Nashville Reader's Choice Award for Best Fiction YA and Finalist for the 2017 Silver Falchion Award for Best Fiction YA. Sheila is a member of ITW, MWA, SinC, SCBWI, and Women in Film. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two dogs, and a cat.
To learn more about Sheila Sobel: https://www.sheilasobel.com/
The White Heron by Jane H. Bock/Review by Saralyn Richard
The White Heron
By Carl and Jane Bock
Whiz Bang
$14.95
ISBN 978-1733011921
Publication Date: June 2019
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
2020 Silver Falchion Finalist
The White Heron has all the ingredients for a masterful whodunit. There’s tension that starts from Hurricane Irma (well-described) and progresses to man-made conflicts. Having lived on the Gulf Coast for much of my life, and having experienced hurricanes first-hand, I found the book’s depictions to be authentic. The characters are realistic and relatable. The protagonist, Sam, has just the right amount of integrity and macho-ism to keep him immersed in solving three murders, despite obstacles and hardships that threaten his physical well-being and personal life.
Anyone who is interested in botany, biology, and ornithology will delight in reading about the ways they intersect with the deaths and investigations. The plot is also filled with irony, suspense, foreshadowing, and symbolism to keep the reader turning pages. Although the book is part of a series, I read it as a standalone, and I didn’t feel lost from lack of backstory knowledge.
The way that three separate deaths come together may seem contrived, although these things do happen in real life at times, and the authors’ pacing and plot structure helps in making the plot work. I was plunged forward with little time to catch my breath between episodes, and I read the whole book in three sittings.
Award-winning mystery and children’s book author, Saralyn Richard, was a teacher who writes, but now she’s a writer who teaches. Murder in the One Percent has received outstanding reviews and several awards. It was listed as a best suspense/thriller of 2018 by Hungry for Good Books. Her children’s picture book, Naughty Nana, has reached thousands of children worldwide.
Saralyn is an active member of International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America.
Hemlock Needle by Keenan Powell/Review by Joy Gorence
Hemlock Needle
By Keenan Powell
Level Best Books
$16.95
ISBN 978-1947915091
Publication Date: January 2019
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Book of the Day
2020 Silver Falchion Nominee
The cold and isolation of Anchorage, Alaska provides the backdrop for Keenan Powell’s captivating novel, Hemlock Needle. The narrative centers around the disappearance of Esther Fancyboy, the mother of Evan. At a Yup’ik gathering during the Christmas holidays in Anchorage, Esther tells her son, Evan, that she will be right back before she walks out into the cold winter weather. She does not return. Three days later, Cora, her mother, seeks the help of Maeve Mallory to locate her daughter.
Cora and Maeve share a history, and when the police refuse to consider the seriousness of Esther’s disappearance, Cora seeks Maeve’s assistance. Although Maeve is in danger of losing her license to practice law, she agrees to help Cora. The author provides an explanation for the lack of police concern based on a cultural bias that provides an undercurrent for the conflicts in the story. With the help of Tom Sinclair, a friend and investigator, Maeve becomes involved in more than a mere missing person enquiry. Fighting the elements of both a harsh winter and personal demons, Maeve refuses to surrender to defeat.
Keenan Powell masterfully combines the atmosphere of the times with the elements of a true suspenseful novel. Although she does not provide the warmth of a fireside tale, she does dig into the injustices of society and reveals the dark side of humanity alongside the resilience of the human spirit.
Joy Gorence is new to Killer Nashville. She is an author, world-traveler, English professor (ret.), and avid reader. Originally from Long Island, NY she now lives in South Florida with her husband, Bill and their two pampered kitties.
A Perfectly Natural Murder by William Griggs/Review by Sharon Marchisello
A Perfectly Natural Murder
By William Griggs
Independently Published
$12.95
ISBN 978-1081552299
Publication Date: July 2019
Book of the Day
A Perfectly Natural Murder, William Grigg's first published novel, has been nominated for a Silver Falchion award.
The story opens with an insurance company office party where several guests are sickened and hospitalized after eating a homemade bouillabaisse. One doesn't make it. Toxicology experts, including the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, determine the cause of the woman's demise to be paralytic shellfish poisoning, sometimes associated with red tides. A natural death. Or was it?
Three characters alternate narration, and the timeline jumps around a bit to cover events and relationships pre- and post- party. The first narrator is Buck Grand, a disabled veteran suffering from PTSD, who works in the employee services division. Among his duties are oversight of the company's food service and safety, as well as ghostwriting outgoing Vice President Jeffrey Spencer's book on management. Another viewpoint character is Adrianna Canter, young claims lawyer and budding love-interest for Buck. She succumbs to the poisoning at the party, but recovers. The third narrator is the victim, Evelyn Robbins, Jeffrey's administrative assistant (and rumored former lover) who was universally disliked.
Once it has been determined that Evelyn's death was not a homicide, the police don't get involved, so most of the employees resume their normal lives. Buck is most concerned with proving that he could not have known the shellfish was contaminated, and no amount of cooking or care in storage could have prevented the poisoning. Thus, there was no negligence, and the employees of the insurance company can feel confident that the food served in their cafeteria is safe. Adrianna's main focus is an investigation into leaks about active claims from an insider to personal injury lawyers who end up winning huge settlements against the company.
Something about the toxin doesn't add up. Is Evelyn's death related to Adrianna's investigation? And someone thinks Buck and Adrianna might be venturing too close to the truth…
William Grigg served as a spokesperson for the Food and Drug Administration during the Tylenol poisoning crisis and for the US Public Health Service, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences at other major turning points. He has worked as a reporter and contributed to several nonfiction books. His wife, Martha Livdahl Grigg, is also an author.
Sharon Marchisello (sharonmarchisello.com) is the author of Going Home, (Sunbury Press, 2014) a murder mystery inspired by her mother's battle with Alzheimer's disease, and a nonfiction book about personal finance, Live Well, Grow Wealth. Her psychological suspense novel, Secrets of the Galapagos, will be released by Sunbury Press next month. One of her short stories was published in an anthology, Shhhh… Murder! (Darkhouse Books, 2018). She earned a Masters in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California and is a member of the Atlanta chapter of Sisters in Crime. Residing in Peachtree City, GA, Sharon does volunteer work for the Fayette Humane Society and the Fayette County Master Gardeners, and she also writes a blog about personal finance, Countdown to Financial Fitness https://sharonmarchisello.blogspot.com/.
Murder at First Pitch by Nicole Asselin/Review by Joy Gorence
Murder at First Pitch
By Nicole Asselin
Pandamoon Publishing
$13.99
ISBN 978-1950627219
Publication Date: August 31, 2019
2020 Silver Falchion Candidate
Book of the Day
Nicole Asselin opens the door to baseball fans in Murder at First Pitch, the first in the series of her Ball Park Mysteries. The protagonist, Madeline Boucher, in her thirties, learns her job will no longer exist after her technical writing contract is complete. Her Boston employer informs her she has one month to find new work in a shrinking job market. Apprehensively, she turns to her family. Luckily for her, she has the family business for support, and she rediscovers her love for the Abington Armadillos Ballpark and team. Her grandfather had bought the team years ago and turned it into a “lucrative business.”
When she reveals to her mother that she needs to find a job within a month’s time, her mother is elated to offer her a position as their social media consultant. It is a warm homecoming for her because she grew up at the park with her parents and brother. Madeline easily fits into her new position.
As the opening day of the games approaches, Madeline realizes that her easy pace in her new employment is about to take a turn for the worse. On the day of the opening games, Madeline uncovers a man’s body in the dugout. When the local news coverage points a finger at her brother for the murder and he is arrested, she becomes entangled in learning the truth behind the murder. With the support of Davis, the head of security at the park, she stumbles upon a web of intrigue.
Joy Gorence is new to Killer Nashville. She is an author, world-traveler, English professor (ret.), and avid reader. Originally from Long Island, NY she now lives in South Florida with her husband, Bill and their two pampered kitties.
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