Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Blog Tour and Giveaway: The Last Thing She Said by Lauren Carr




"Too many twists and turns to easily share about this book. Nevertheless, Carr has pulled off another "hit" that kept me reading in one setting until the clues were so well together that the villain fell into our laps...or Chris's, LOL Carr has put a lot into the book beyond the mysteries this time...Characters enjoyed chocotinis, visited book stores...and even blundered into getting engaged (the ring had been purchased 4 months ago)... But, for me, a special thank you for the political spoof at a time when politics at the national level is devastating, gave me a laugh and lightened the load of it all!" - Review by Glenda Bixler, Book Reader's Heaven 







Book Details:

Book Title:  The Last Thing She Said (A Chris Matheson Cold Case Mystery #3) by Lauren Carr
Category:  Adult Fiction (18 +),  386 pages
Genre:  Mystery
Publisher:  Acorn Book Services
Release date:   July 22, 2019
Formats available for purchase:  paperback, ebook, audiobook (audible & itunes)
Tour dates: October 7 to November 15, 2019
Content Rating:  PG-13 (Lauren Carr's books are murder mysteries, so there are murders involved. Occasionally, a murder will happen on stage. There is sexual content, but always behind closed doors. Some mild swearing (a hell or a damn few and far between). No F-bombs!




Book Description:
“I’m working on the greatest mystery ever,” was the last thing noted mystery novelist Mercedes Livingston said to seven-year-old Chris Matheson before walking out of Hill House Hotel never to be seen again.

For decades, the writer’s fate remained a puzzling mystery until an autographed novel and a letter put a grown-up Chris Matheson on the trail of a cunning killer. With the help of a team of fellow retired law enforcement officers, each a specialist in their own field of investigation, Chris puts a flame to this cold case to uncover what had really happened that night Mercedes Livingston walked out of Hill House Hotel. Watch out! The clues are getting hot!


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You may also choose to read and review:




Book Details:

Book Title: Winter Frost  (A Chris Matheson Cold Case Mystery #2) by Lauren Carr

Category:  Adult fiction,  332 pages
Genre:  Mystery
Publisher:  Acorn Book Services
Release date:  January 22, 2019
Formats available for purchase:  paperback, ebook, audiobook (audible & itunes)Tour dates:  October 7 to November 22, 2019
Content Rating:  PG-13 (Lauren Carr's books are murder mysteries, so there are murders involved. Occasionally, a murder will happen on stage. There is sexual content, but always behind closed doors. Some mild swearing (a hell or a damn few and far between). No F-bombs!

"Filled with twists and turns, Winter Frost reads perfectly well as a stand-alone, although it is part of a series. The author creates tension and suspense throughout by keeping the reader guessing; she keeps readers engaged with well fleshed out characters and a dash of humor. Sterling, the retired German Shepherd police dog turned card shark, is a new favorite. As the story flows, the truth unfolds, layer by layer, leading to a satisfying conclusion.

"Winter Frost was an entertaining, at times humorous read with suspense, some surprises, and even cute animals in the mix." Review of Winter Frost by The iRead Review
 
Book Description:
It all started with a chance encounter in the city with Blair, his late wife.


Chris Matheson and the Geezer Squad, working under the guise of a book club, dig into the events surrounding his late wife’s supposed death halfway around the globe. A state department employee shoots himself in the back three times. A CIA operative goes missing. A woman is targeted by an international assassin three years after being declared dead in a terrorist attack overseas. 


Nothing is as it seems. 


In his most personal cold case, Chris fights to uncover why the state department told him that Blair, the mother of his children, had been killed when she was alive. What had she uncovered that has made her a target? Who terrified her so much that she had gone into hiding and why are they now after him?
 



Book Details:

Book Title: ICE  (A Chris Matheson Cold Case Mystery #1) by Lauren Carr

Category:  Adult fiction,  364 pages
Genre:  Mystery
Publisher:  Acorn Book Services
Release date:  February 26, 2018
Formats available for purchase:  paperback, ebook, audiobook (audible & itunes)Tour dates:  October 7 to November 22, 2019
Content Rating:  PG-13 (Lauren Carr's books are murder mysteries, so there are murders involved. Occasionally, a murder will happen on stage. There is sexual content, but always behind closed doors. Some mild swearing (a hell or a damn few and far between). No F-bombs!

"ICE is a strong start to a new series that will have fans of Lauren Carr thrilled to be introduced to another set of memorable and entertaining characters. Carr's Geezer Squad has brought sexy back to mature men and women, whose kickass attitude and smarts sizzle as they melt the clues to those cold cases!"  Laura Fabiani, Library of Clean Reads

"For the whodunit mystery buff who loves ever-increasing suspense and danger, Lauren Carr's newest series offers up a big dose of both. Murder and mayhem seem to be Chris's new companions after returning home following the loss of both his wife and his father. Juggling the parenting responsibilities of his three daughters with his mother is not something Chris was expecting at this point in his life, but life isn't something that goes as planned." 5-Star Review at Blooming with Books

 
Book Description:
When Sandy Lipton and her unborn child disappeared, the court of public opinion found young Chris Matheson guilty. Decades later, the retired FBI agent returns home to discover that the cloud of suspicion cast over him and his family has never lifted. 


With the help of a team of fellow retired law enforcement officers, each a specialist in their own field of investigation, Chris Matheson starts chipping away at the ice on this cold case to uncover what had happened to Sandy and her baby and the clues are getting hot!

 


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Meet the Author:  


 Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Thorny Rose, Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Chris Matheson Cold Case Mysteries—over twenty titles across four fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns!

Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, crime fiction, police procedurals, romance, and humor.


Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She lives with her husband, and two spoiled rotten German shepherds on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.

Connect with the author:   Website  ~  Twitter  ~  Facebook  ~  Instagram


GUEST POST:

People Like Us
By Lauren Carr

Recently, I received a new shipment of books for an upcoming book event. This was the first shipment of my new title, The Last Thing She Said, my twenty-seventh book.
After tearing into the box like a child on Christmas morning, I took the top copy into my hands and examined the cover, binding, and the pages. Even though I had been working full-time as a novelist for the last decade, many a time I felt as the concept of holding a book that I had written in my hands was like trying to reach for the stars.
It was an impossible dream.
As a young child with my wild imagination, I could see this moment with clarity. When asked, I would blurt out my dreams in a matter-of-fact manner. In my mind, they weren’t just dreams. They were declarations of what was going to be.
Then, something happened. Doubt struck me right between the eyes.
I was riding on the school bus taking us to elementary school. I even remember where the bus was on the routethat memory is so clear to me even today. My friends and I were talking about what we wanted to be when we grew up.
I’d said I was going to be a writer. I was envisioning growing up to be one of those wacky characters in a Neil Simon play with quirky friends. The girl sitting in the seat in front of me said, “Things like that don’t happen to people like us.”
Success. Achieving dreams doesn’t happen to “people like us.” It took me a while to figure out who “people like us” were. West Virginia farm kids don’t grow up to become international best-selling writers. The term used to describe us was West Virginia “hillbillies”.
It’s funny how a single statement from someone who wasn’t even a friend can stick with you.
From that day forward, every word of encouragement from teachers, every bit of praise from my parents, even positive book reviews, failed to heal the bruise to my self-confidence inflicted by that girl’s statement.
During my years of struggling to get published, her words would haunt me—I could hear her voice whispering in my ear when I’d read a publisher’s rejection letter.
“Things like that don’t happen to people like us.”
It was like finding out that I had been born with a curse.
Think about it. I could learn the technicalities of good writing. I could learn what to look for when it came to editing a book. I’ve even learned my way around the publishing business.
But how do you fix being who you are? How do you undo your social class, which was obviously what this girl was referring to?
When that little girl on the bus would begin whispering in my ear, when the curse of her doubt would consume me, I would call on my mother’s words of encouragement.
You see, my mother also made declarations. “You can do whatever you set your mind to do. We are blessed to live in a free country where you have the freedom to be whatever you want to be. All you have to do is work hard. When one door closes, God opens another. Sometimes, He opens a window.”
Nowhere in my mother’s declaration did she say, “except for West Virginia hillbillies.” Like a priest exorcising a demon, I would fight the doubt trying to grip my soul to make me give up on my dreams. Sometimes, the demon of doubt would push me to the ground, but I would always get back up and push onward toward my goal of working as a full-time mystery author.
Today, holding a copy of The Last Thing She Said in my hands, I have to think back to that little girl on the bus and wonder what became of her.
Whereas decades ago, her words filled me with doubt, now they make me sad. I wonder what goals she had casted aside because she believed the lie that “people like us” are unworthy of such dreams.


BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE:
​Oct 7 – Working Mommy Journal – book review of The Last Thing She Said
Oct 7 - JB's Bookworms with Brandy Mulder – book review of Ice / giveaway
Oct 7 – Bookriot – audiobook review of Ice / giveaway
Oct 7 – Just Another Reader – book review of Ice
Oct 7 - Rita's Reading Room – series spotlight / author interview / giveaway
Oct 7 - Viviana MacKade – series spotlight / guest post
Oct 8 - Just Another Reader – book review of Winter Frost
Oct 8 - JB's Bookworms with Brandy Mulder – book review of Winter Frost / giveaway
Oct 8 – Amy’s Booket List – book review of The Last Thing She Said / giveaway
Oct 8 - Rockin' Book Reviews – book review of The Last Thing She Said / guest post /
             giveaway
Oct 9 - Cuzinlogic - series spotlight / giveaway
Oct 9 - JB's Bookworms with Brandy Mulder – book review of The Last Thing She Said /
              giveaway
Oct 9 – Just Another Reader – book review of The Last  Thing She Said
Oct 9 - The Voracious Bibliophile – book review of The Last Thing She Said
Oct 10 – Librorum in Sempiternum – book review of Ice / giveaway
Oct 11 – It's All About the Book – book review of The Last Thing She Said
Oct 14 – b for bookreview – series spotlight / author interview
Oct 15 - Buried Under Books - audiobook review of Ice / giveaway
Oct 15 – Pause for Tales – book review of The Last Thing She Said
Oct 16 – Locks, Hooks and Books – audiobook review of The Last Thing She Said /
                 guest post / giveaway
Oct 17 – Library of Clean Reads – series spotlight / giveaway
Oct 18 - Library of Clean Reads – book review of The Last Thing She Said / giveaway
Oct 19 – Bookriot – audiobook review of Winter Frost / giveaway
Oct 20 – Librorum in Sempiternum – book review of Winter Frost / giveaway
Oct 21 - Hall Ways Blog – audiobook review of The Last Thing She Said / giveaway
Oct 21 - Words And Peace – book spotlight / giveaway
Oct 22 – Kristin’s Novel CafĂ© – audiobook review of The Last Thing She Said
Oct 23 – Mystery Suspense Reviews – audiobook review of The Last Thing She Said /
                 guest post
Oct 24 – Haddie's Haven – audiobook review of Ice / giveaway
Oct 24 – FUONLYKNEW – book review of The Last Thing She Said / giveaway
Oct 24 - My Journey Back - series spotlight / guest post / giveaway
Oct 25 - Blooming with Books – audiobook review of The Last Thing She Said / giveaway
Oct 25 - StoreyBook Reviews - book spotlight / guest post / giveaway
Oct 26 – Bookriot – book review of The Last Thing She Said / giveaway
Oct 28 – Sefina Hawke's Books – audiobook review of The Last Thing She Said
Oct 29 - Buried Under Books - audiobook review of The Last  Thing she Said / giveaway
Oct 29 – My Reading Journeys – book review of Winter Frost / giveaway
Oct 30 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – book spotlight of The Last Thing She Said /
                 giveaway
Oct 31 – Dab of Darkness Book Reviews – audiobook review of The Last Thing She Said
                 / giveaway
Nov 1 – Life as Leels – book review of The Last Thing She Said / giveaway
Nov 4 – Books for Books – audiobook review of Ice / giveaway
Nov 5 – Bound 4 Escape – book review of The Last Thing She Said / giveaway
Nov 6 – fundinmental – book review of Winter Frost / giveaway
Nov 6 - My Reading Journeys – book review of The Last Thing She Said / giveaway
Nov 7 – Haddie's Haven – audiobook review of Winter Frost / giveaway
Nov 8 – Literary Flits – series spotlight / giveaway
Nov 11 – The Avid Inspri – book review of Ice / giveaway
Nov 11 - Books for Books – audiobook review of Winter Frost / giveaway
Nov 12 – Librorum in Sempiternum – book review of The Last Thing She Said / giveaway
Nov 13 – Celticlady's Reviews – book spotlight / giveaway
​Nov 13 - A Fountain of Books - book review of The Last Thing She Said / guest post / giveaway
Nov 14 - T's Stuff – audiobook review of The Last Thing She Said / author interview /
                 giveaway
Nov 15 - The Avid Inspri – book review of Winter Frost / giveaway
Nov 15 – Nighttime Reading Center – book review of The Last Thing She Said / giveaway
Nov 18 – Laura's Interests – audiobook review of The Last Thing She Said / guest post /
                 giveaway
Nov 18 - Books for Books – audiobook review of The Last Thing She Said / giveaway
Nov 19 – JBronder Book Reviews – audiobook review of The Last Thing She Said
Nov 19 - Shalini's Books & Reviews – book review of The Last Thing She Said
Nov 20 - fundinmental – book review of The Last Thing She Said / giveaway
Nov 20 – Haddie's Haven – audiobook review of The Last Thing She Said / guest post /
                 giveaway
Nov 20 - I'm All About Books – book review of The Last Thing She Said / guest post /
                giveaway
Nov 20 - Svetlana's reads and views – book review of The Last Thing She Said /
                giveaway
Nov 21 – Books Are Love – book review of The Last Thing She Said / author interview /
                 giveaway
Nov 21 - The Avid Inspri – book review of The Last Thing She Said / guest post /
​                 giveaway
Nov 22 - Adventurous Jessy – book review of The Last Thing She Said / giveaway
Nov 22 – SammieReadsBook – book review of The Last Thing She Said / author
                 interview / giveaway
Nov 22 -  Jypsylynn – book review of The Last Thing She Said




ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!

​Ends November 30th, 2019


MY REVIEW

Lauren Carr once does not disappoint in her newest release, The Last Thing She Said. This third installment from her Chris Matheson Cold Case series, is yet another entertaining mystery. Even though it is part of a series, I believe this can be read as a stand alone. But a reader would not want to miss the first two. 

The Last Thing She Said catches readers up with Chris Matheson and his sidekicks. Since he was a child, he wondered about the disappearance of the mystery writer, Mercedes Livingston. He is now determined to find out what happened to her. I loved the twists and turns the kept me on the edge of my seat. I was hooked right from the beginning and was intrigued with the plot all of the way through. It is full of mystery, suspense, humor, adventure, action, and entertainment. My favorite characters of the book are no doubt the cunning and mischievous canines. 

I have had the pleasure of listening to several of Lauren Carr’s audible version of her books. I love that Mike Alger is the narrator to majority of those. Once again, he does not disappoint performing The Last Thing She Said. He truly makes the story so much fun to listen to. 

I would give The Last Thing She Said one hundred stars if I could. It is one book that should not be missed. 

Highly recommended for readers who enjoy a well written mystery! Well done, Lauren, well done!

Five stars. 

I received the audio version of this book from the publisher. This review is 100% my own honest opinion. 

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