Showing posts with label #JoAHiestand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #JoAHiestand. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

Blurb Blitz and Giveaway: Haunted Water by Jo A Hiestand

Haunted Water

by Jo A. Hiestand


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GENRE: British mystery

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BLURB:

Cameron Rutter drowned two months ago in a lake on a Cheshire moor. Some say a morgen—a spirit who drags men to a watery grave—was responsible. Others say it was the phantom Grey Lady. The police say Gareth Gynne was the guilty one. Whoever—or whatever—killed Cameron needs to be sorted out. And ex-police detective Michael McLaren is asked to do just that.

 

McLaren’s not keen on delving into the mystery. The accused is the nephew of McLaren’s nemesis, Charlie Harvester. And if there’s one thing McLaren doesn’t want to do is to associate with another Harvester, no matter what generation he is.

 

Suspects and motives are as tangled as the mere grass. Did a villager kill Cameron, opposed to his crusade to keep the moor in its pristine state? Or did someone previously arrested by Cameron kill him in revenge?

 

Or was the morgen really responsible?

 

Can McLaren discover the killer, or will he too become a victim of the haunted water?

 

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NOTE: The book is on sale for $0.99.

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EXCERPT:

“What about a murder weapon? Did the pathologist suggest what it was?” 

“I’ve not heard.”

A rock? McLaren wondered, imagining the shoreline of the mere littered with stones of various sizes. “You mentioned the rough history between you and Cameron.” McLaren rubbed his chin as he thought aloud. The room and the street were deathly quiet, as comes upon places at the end of a workday. Nothing moved on the road; no bird flew or hopped along the grass; no fox or dog barked. McLaren felt as though the village held its collective breath, waiting to hear what Gareth would say. “Surely there are others in the village, or elsewhere in his circle of friends and family, who weren’t particularly enamored of him. What about motives for people other than you?”

“I’ve thought of this. I’ve come up with a list of five people who have differing degrees of motive, in my opinion.” He eyed McLaren’s notebook, hesitating as he watched something being jotted down. “Do you, uh, want my ideas?”

“By all means. Shoot.” 

“Just the sketchiest of info, then. Not enough so it will color your view and opinion of them.”

“I form my own opinions, thanks anyway.” 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Jo A. Hiestand grew up on regular doses of music, books, and Girl Scout camping. She gravitated toward writing in her post-high school years and finally did something sensible about it, graduating from Webster University with a BA degree in English and departmental honors. She writes two British mystery series—of which two books have garnered the prestigious N.N. Light’s Book Heaven ‘Best Mystery Novel’ two years straight. She also writes two Missouri-based mystery series that are grounded in places associated with her camping haunts. The camping is a thing of the past, for the most part, but the music stayed with her in the form of playing guitar and harpsichord, and singing in a folk group. Jo carves jack o’ lanterns badly; sings loudly; and loves barbecue sauce and ice cream (separately, not together), kilts (especially if men wear them), clouds and stormy skies, and the music of G.F. Handel. You can usually find her pulling mystery plots out of scenery—whether from photographs or the real thing.

https://www.johiestand.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Jo-A.-Hiestand/e/B0057SO7VI

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/haunted-water-jo-a-hiestand/1140381857

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GIVEAWAY: 

Jo A. Hiestand will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.


a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Friday, February 21, 2020

Excerpt Tour and Giveaway: Ancestral Whispers by Jo A Hiestand

Ancestral Whispers
by Jo A Hiestand 


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GENRE: Mystery  (British)

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BLURB:

Each year the residents of Nether Haddon celebrate the village’s founding in the time-honored way with games, music, and performances by their sword dancers. But something new is added to the fancy footwork this year: a team member dies ... murdered. Fear, jealousy and suspicion quickly engulf the group, emotions as tightly interlocked as the five swords used in the dance: a series of turns, jumps and clogging steps intricate as Celtic knots. Was the victim the intended target, or should it have been someone else? In the course of the CID investigation, a mysterious 17th century puzzle is discovered. Does it hold a clue to the murder? Detective Brenna Taylor and her colleagues have more than enough to worry about. But unbeknownst to her, career criminal King Roper has escaped from prison where he was serving time for murder. Now free and eager to settle the score for his capture, Roper tracks down Brenna’s whereabouts, ready for revenge...

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EXCERPT

“We’re forgetting that little poem or whatever it is that the lads found at Alastair’s house.”

I nodded. “It read like something out of Shakespeare.”

“What if it came down through Alastair’s and Simon’s family?” Mark began speaking more quickly, but he held his voice low. “What if Alastair and Simon were searching for something?”

Graham put the marker down beside him. “Like what?”

“Look.” Mark held up his left hand and ticked off the items on his fingers as he spoke. “Even though Simon denied it at first, we learned that both cousins were delving into genealogy. Mary confirmed Simon’s interest in the subject when she told us she would ask Simon to help her with her own research.”

“So you told us.”

“That bit of poetry found at Alastair’s house sounds ancient, like 1700s or something. That ties in with ancestral research, if that’s what Alastair and Simon were doing. Why else would he have it?”

“Could that be one of those love poems that Declan sent his girlfriend?”

Margo said the poem on Alastair’s desk didn’t sound at all like a love poem. “Anyway, why would Alastair have it if it was sent to Jessica?”

“Good point, Miss Lynch.” Graham leaned forward, his forearms on his thighs. “What about Alastair’s writing prowess? Do we know if he could write? I ask because I’m thinking back to Cyrano deBergerac. He wrote love letters for his friend. Maybe Simon was trying to counter Declan’s love poems with one of his own, but Simon didn’t have the knack, so he asks Alastair to write one for him.”

I frowned and Graham asked me what was the matter. “I’d believe it, sir, if Alastair’s poem was sugary, but that thing is so cryptic. I don’t think Jessica and Simon were together long enough to warrant such an obscure message. Anyway, a man wouldn’t write his love like that these days, would he? Why not just say ‘I love you forever’ and put it with a dozen roses? I think that’s a non starter, if you’ll forgive me.”

“Don’t apologize for thinking, Taylor.”




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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

A month-long trip to England during her college years introduced Jo to the joys of Things British.  Since then, she has been lured back nearly a dozen times and lived there during her professional folksinging stint. 

Jo’s insistence for accuracy--from police methods and location layout to the general “feel” of the area--has driven her innumerable times to Derbyshire for research.  These explorations and conferences with police friends provide the details filling both her Peak District mysteries and the McLaren mystery series.

In 1999 Jo returned to Webster University to major in English.  She graduated in 2001 with a BA degree and departmental honors.

Her McLaren mystery, BLACK MOON, received the ‘N.N. Light Best Mystery Book’ award for 2019.

Jo lives with her cat, Tennyson, and way too many kilts in the St. Louis-area.

WEBSITE: www.johiestand.com

Social Media Links

BOOK BUY LINKS
Trade Paper:

E-Book edition:

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GIVEAWAY
Jo A Hiestand will be awarding a $30 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway



DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW THE TOUR AND COMMENT
ON EACH STOP TO EARN MORE ENTRIES TO WIN!
February 18: The Avid Reader
February 19: All the Ups and Downs
February 20: Andi's Book Reviews
February 21: Locks, Hooks and Books
February 24: Our Town Book Reviews - review
February 25: Christine Young
February 25: michellemengsbookblog -review
February 26: Fabulous and Brunette
February 27: Travel the Ages
February 27: Danita Minnis
February 28: Viviana MacKade








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Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Review Tour and Giveaway: Empty Handed by Jo A Hiestand

Empty Handed
by Jo A Hiestand

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GENRE:   British mystery

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BLURB:

One dark night artist Craig Saxton went missing from his village.  His body was found thirty-two hours later in the river, floating like a bobber on a fishing line. Rumors swell like tidal waves: did his ex-wife or his fiancée’s father kill this likeable young man? Or was it simply a case of jealousy by the village’s other artist? Now, two years later, Craig’s fiancée hopes ex-police detective Michael McLaren can find out. From speaking to villagers, McLaren quickly realizes that what appears to be a straightforward investigation is fast becoming as tangled as fishing lines. Are the fish poaching incidents, the reappearance of the local ghost, and assaults on him merely to muddy the investigative waters, or are they connected to Craig’s death? McLaren has his hands full. They become even fuller when a nemesis from his past appears one night, bent on revenge. And the inevitable struggle opens a new future for one man…and leaves the other empty handed.


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EXCERPT

They settled at a table they considered theirs. It was in a corner, diagonal to the pub’s front door. Sitting with the wall behind them and their faces to the door was a habit McLaren kept from his days as a working detective. And it was one habit he was in no rush to break.

Jamie set his glass mug on a cardboard beer mat and leaned forward slightly. The reddish streaks in his otherwise brown hair shone under the overhead light. “Congrats on solving the murder of your uncle’s first fiancée, by the way. Do you like his new bride? What’s her name?”

“Karen. And yes, I like her. I wasn’t too sure when I first met her, but she has a lot of inner strength. She’s good for him.”

“And where are you off to now?”

“Linnden.”

“That’s not far. Near Hartington, isn’t it? On the River Dove?”

“Yeah. Small place. And it sounds like an odd case. The woman, Victoria Childs, doesn’t know who else to turn to for help.”

“So, she turns to you.” Jamie smiled, his eyebrow raised. “She’s made a brilliant choice.”

McLaren let the comment pass unanswered. “She wants me to find the killer of her fiancé. His name’s Craig Saxton. He was an artist, quite prominent in the local area, though you couldn’t swear it by me.”

“You frequent art galleries only when your sister has something to exhibit.”

McLaren nodded, his fingers sliding down the sides of his glass. “Anyway, this Craig Saxton had been missing for one and a half days. His body was found against the sluice gate in the river.”

“Not good.”

McLaren snorted at the understatement. “He was also missing his right hand.”


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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

A month-long trip to England during her college years introduced Jo to the joys of Things British.  Since then, she has been lured back nearly a dozen times, and lived there during her professional folk singing stint.  This intimate knowledge of Britain forms the backbone of both the Peak District mysteries and the McLaren cold case mystery series.

Jo’s insistence for accuracy, from police methods and location layout to the general feel of the area, has driven her innumerable times to Derbyshire for research.  These explorations and conferences with police friends provide the detail filling the books.

In 1999 Jo returned to Webster University to major in English.  She graduated in 2001 with a BA degree and departmental honors.

Her cat Tennyson shares her St. Louis home.

Amazon buy link:

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GIVEAWAY

Jo A Hiestand will be awarding a $50 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway



DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW THE TOUR AND COMMENT
ON EACH STOP TO EARN MORE ENTRIES TO WIN!
June 5: A Lucky Grace










My Review
Empty Handed is the tenth installment from Jo A Hiestand's series, The McLaren Mysteries. i have only read one other book of this series and feel each one can be read as a stand alone. Though, I would love to catch up and see what had happened in the other books. 
Empty Handed is a pretty good and enjoyable read. It was a quick story that I had read in nor time. There were twists and turns I did not expect. 

 I give Empty Handed four and a half stars. I recommend it. I am looking forward to more by this author in the future. 
I received this book from the publisher. This review is 100% my own honest opinion. 




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