Monday, October 6, 2014

Favorite Authors Going to Bouchercon




In November I will be attending Bouchercon 2014 in Long Beach, California. The list of authors that have registered for the conference is mind boggling, and I mean that in a very good way. There are quite a few authors on the list that I enjoy reading, and many more that I have been meaning to try. I would like to highlight five great books I’ve read by five Bouchercon authors. Some of these books might be the author’s most recent, and some might not. When I discover a new author, I tend to go back and start from the beginning.

1. The Fate of Mercy Alban by Wendy Webb
Grace Alban returns to her childhood home after the death of her mother. As she is going through some papers she discovers a pile of old love letters and an unpublished manuscript. She starts to look into events that took place when her mother was young, and realizes she is unraveling secrets that have been buried for decades. These secrets surround the suicide of a famous author and the disappearance of her aunt, events that took place at the very home where she is currently living. This is the second Wendy Webb book I’ve read (loved The Tale of Halcyon Crane) and won’t be the last. 









2. One Man’s Paradise by Douglas Corleone
This is the 1st in the Kevin Corvelli series (which contains 3 so far). Corvelli is a criminal defense attorney who was a bigshot in New York, until one of his clients got convicted and sent to prison. This client ended up being innocent, but instead of being released, was killed in prison. Corvelli slinks off to Hawaii to avoid the media storm surrounding this case. He manages to find himself involved in yet another murder case, but is determined this time to prove his client innocent, no matter what the cost. Corleone has another series that is on book 2 and features former U.S. Marshall Simon Fiske. I can’t wait to read the first in the series, Good As Gone. It’s on my TBR pile.
 



3. Wouldn’t It Be Deadly by D.E. Ireland
This book, which is hopefully the first in a long series, picks up where George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion left off (think the movie My Fair Lady). Henry Higgins has transformed Eliza Doolittle and won the bet. He has passed her off as a Duchess at the ball. Afterwards, Eliza decides to take a job teaching phonetics lessons with Higgins’ rival Emil Nepommuck. Higgins argues with Nepommuck and is so furious he leaks some nasty information about Nepommuck’s past to the press. When the man is found murdered, the police immediately turn to Higgins as the culprit. Since he has no concrete alibi, Eliza makes it her mission to prove his innocence, even if he’s too ornery to appreciate it. This is a wonderful new series. 






4. His Majesty’s Hope by Susan Elia MacNeal
WWII is underway and Maggie Hope, formerly a typist at No. 10 Downing Street and secretary to Winston Churchill, is now fully trained as a spy for the British government and a master code breaker. In this book, the 3rd in the series, Maggie attempts her most dangerous mission yet, as she parachutes behind enemy lines into Berlin on a fact finding mission. I have read and enjoyed every book in this series except the most recent, The Prime Minister’s Secret Agent, which just came out in July.





4 comments:

  1. Boy, do these books look like fun. Hey, I'll be at Bouchercon, too. Wanna connect?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Anne Louise - We absolutely do. We're figuring out the details and will get back to you soon.

      Delete
  2. Thanks for the recommendations! I'm looking forward to meeting the authors in Long Beach too. Can't believe it's only a month away! See you there.

    ReplyDelete