Description Song Girl by Keith Hirshland
Detective Marc Allen is ready to leave the Raleigh, North Carolina, Police Department. Two murders that happened on his watch have apparently been solved thanks to a suicide note confession written by a distraught father. But Allen isn’t buying it. He’s convinced that the man’s adopted daughter, Teri Hickox, is the one responsible for the heinous crimes. With his personal life a muddle and his professional career unsettled he decides the best thing for him is a change of scenery. The detective, now in Colorado Springs, is working new cases and making new friends. One of those friends is Hannah Hunt who, after suffering a freak accident, finds herself only able to speak in song titles. Another is a mysterious drifter who lives out of an old Dodge van and goes by “the champ”. But as Allen builds a new future, events unfold showing him that he can’t escape his past. Song Girl is… Part sequel to The Flower Girl Murder Part stand-alone mystery All entertainingPraise for Song Girl by Keith Hirshland
”A well-written mystery”-The Hollywood Digest “Highly enjoyable! Engaging from start to finish.”-The Entrepreneur MagazinePraise for Flower Girl Murder by Keith Hirshland
“I had to dig my teeth in the first pages but once I did, I was on a twisty turning ride. This one turned out to be worth the ride. A fast-paced story with great characters. The plot had some twists making it entertaining. As the bodies begin piling up it’s a race to solve the mystery. I enjoyed reading ‘The Flower Girl Murder’. and look forward to reading more from this author. “-My Reading Journeys The Flower Girl Murder is an exciting police procedural/crime mystery story that has realistic characters; witty dialogue and interactions; rich descriptions of the setting that transports the reader to Raleigh, NC, Reno, NV, and Aspen, CO; a fascinating behind the scenes intertwining of police procedural and investigative techniques and the news station on-air news stories and CTA (call to action) segments; and a multi-layered storyline that draws the reader into the interconnection between the main characters as the pieces of the murder investigations puzzle comes together and is solved. The Flower Girl Murder is the kind of mystery that easily keeps the reader captivated, guessing, on their toes, and wanting more!”-Kathleen, Jersey Girl Book Reviews “This is a great story and one that after I got into it I couldn’t put it down. I like how the deaths were linked. There were lots of twists and turns that kept me guessing along the way. This is one mystery I would recommend checking out”- JBronder Book Reviews “There was a lot of action, intrigue, and suspense to keep me entertained. The who done it kept echoing in my mind…guessing happened a lot. Keith Hirshland is a talented writer. He made it impossible to stop reading his book. The detective is a determined fellow who gives his all into solving his investigations. I really liked this character. Overall, this was a great read. I recommend it to all.”-Urban Book ReviewsAwards and Recognition for Keith Hirshland
Book Talk Radio Club Book of the Year 2020 (Murphy Murphy and the Case of Serious Crisis) Top Shelf Award First Place (mystery) for Murphy Murphy and the Case of Serious Crisis New Apple Awards Solo Medalist True Crime Category (Big Flies) Shelf Abound Award Winner Indie Book Competition (Big Flies)
About Keith Hirshland
Keith Hirshland is an Emmy Award–winning sports television producer with more than three decades of experience producing live and pre-recorded programs that aired on ESPN and ESPN2. Among the first forty people to be hired by the Golf Channel in 1994, Hirshland was in the middle of the action when that network debuted in 1995. He provided his talents for Golf Channel, as its live tournament producer, for two decades.
Cover Me Boys, I'm Going In: Tales of the Tube from a Broadcast Brat is a memoir about his experiences in the television industry. Published by Beacon Publishing Group, Cover Me Boys was recognized as the Book Talk Radio Club Memoir of the Year. Hirshland’s second book, and first work of fiction, Big Flies, was published in 2016 and is the recipient of the New Apple Awards “Solo Medalist” in the True Crime Category. Hirshland followed that success with his third book, The Flower Girl Murder. In 2020 Beacon Publishing Group released Murphy Murphy and the Case of Serious Crisis, Hirshland’s third mystery novel. It was a Top Shelf Magazine First Place award winner and was named the Book Talk Radio Club Book of the Year for 2020.
Song Girl Hirshland’s fifth book is the sequel to The Flower Girl Murder and was released in January of 2022. All five books are available at www.keithhirshland.com, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other bookstores.
Keith Hirshland lives in Colorado with his wife and their Pyredoodle Mac.
Website: https://www.keithhirshland.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/khhauthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KeithHirshlandAuthor/
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Guest Post
Topic: The A, B C’s of writing a good mystery or police procedural
Thank you, Amy, for allowing me the opportunity to engage with your followers. I’d like to take the “A, B, and C’s” in your topic and turn them into C’s, D’s and S’s” if you don’t mind. That would be the Characters, Dialogue, and Story.
It seems to me most mysteries either fall into the “Whodunit?” or the “Can the protagonist figure it out?” categories and that’s where the “S”tory comes in. The writer can reveal the crime and the criminal to the reader and take us into the mind of the crime solver as that person works the case. I would say my books, so far, fall into this category. The story is centered around whether or not the “hero” in my books can figure out the crime. In Song Girl you the reader know who the “bad guy” is pretty early on but can Detective Marc Allen figure it out? Now, that’s not to say the author can’t also add a twist at the end.
The other option is to keep everyone, including the characters and the reader, guessing throughout the entirety of the book until the “big reveal”. Many authors, maybe especially the great Agatha Christie, are exceptional at this.
But the story can’t keep the readers interest without compelling characters. That’s the “C” in my alphabet equation. In my humble opinion some of the best ideas for books have been undone by unlikeable, uninteresting, or ill-thought-out, characters. I think the reader has to want to go along for the ride and you need a captivating character somewhere along the way to get them in the car. At least that’s the way it is for me as a reader.
Finally, the character can only become fully formed through convincing dialogue which is, of course, my “D”. An author can come up with the most descriptive prose or paint an absolutely brilliant portrait with words of his or her characters but if, when they open their mouths, what comes out is unconvincing, flat, or not entertaining the whole thing can come tumbling down. Dialogue is key to storytelling because in addition to having to like or dislike a character the reader has to find that character believable. How that character speaks or what that character says has to hit the right notes or the author risks losing any and all of his or her story’s credibility. It is one of the more difficult aspects of writing but, in my mind, it’s absolutely critical to get it right. For example, in Song Girl Hannah Hunt can only speak in song titles but that quirky aspect to her dialogue has got to make sense. I felt it couldn’t just be a song title for the sake of a song title. That would be gibberish. I think I succeeded there and I hope the reader agrees.
Buy Song Girl by Keith Hirshland
Amazon Barnes&Noble IndieBoundGiveaway Song Girl by Keith Hirshland
This giveaway is for 3 print copies One for each of 3 winners. This giveaway is open to Canada and the U.S. only and ends on June 1, 2022 midnight, pacific time. Entries accepted via Rafflecopter only.Follow Song Girl by Keith Hirshland
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I am so glad you enjoyed 'Song Girl'!
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