mystery - No Apology Book Reviews

Interview with Linda Castillo (Shamed)

September 28, 2019

Article and Interview by Elise Cooper Shamed by Linda Castillo brings to life the Amish community in this suspenseful murder mystery. The author explores the secrets and lies within this group, but also shows how the community is very open-minded to those with handicaps. The story opens with a brutal murder of an Amish grandmother. Her granddaughter, a special needs little girl, has been kidnapped with the younger sister a witness to everything. Police Chief Kate Burkholder is called in …

Interview with William I. Grubman (The Storm Over Paris)

September 21, 2019

Article and Interview by Elise Cooper The Storm Over Paris by William I. Grubman takes place in Nazi occupied France during 1942. It paints a vivid picture of Jewish life under Nazi rule. The story centers around the stealing of art from Jewish collectors. Maurice, known as Mori Rothstein is an art dealer, who Hermann Goering, head of the Gestapo, commands to evaluate a huge selection of paintings in the Nazi-occupied Jeu de Paume Museum. Given the choice of appraising …

Interview with Lynn H. Blackburn (One Final Breath)

September 14, 2019

Article and Interview by Elise Cooper One Final Breath by Lynn H. Blackburn is the last in the Carrington County, North Carolina Sheriff’s Department Dive Team series. Fans of these books will enjoy this action-packed, suspenseful, romantic read, but will also feel a bit melancholy since these characters will be put out to sea as this nail-biting series ends. The plot begins with a gunshot. A teenager has been discovered murdered as he and his friend are swimming near a …

Interview with Reece Hirsch (Black Nowhere)

September 9, 2019

Article and Interview by Elise Cooper Black Nowhere by Reece Hirsch is a fast-paced read that will have readers question the benefits of social media. The story explores the price of success, how far is someone willing to go to achieve that success, and how can female FBI agents succeed in a male dominated world? Scarily realistic it is based on the true story of Ross Ulbricht, the young man who founded the Dark Web market place Silk Road, and …

Death Comes to Dartmoor by Vivian Conroy

November 4, 2019August 18, 2019

Title: Death Comes to Dartmoor Author: Vivian Conroy Series: Merriweather and Royston Mystery #2 rather convoluted and written blandly I would like to thank Vivian Conroy, Crooked Lane Books, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review. Lord Raven Royston and Miss Merula Merriweather journey to Dartmoor in an effort to escape the scandal they’ve recently been involved in in London. Expecting to relax with some peace and quiet, they are dismayed …

Interview with Joshilyn Jackson (Never Have I Ever)

August 17, 2019

Article and Interview by Elise Cooper Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson is an entertaining tale of betrayal, deception, temptation, and love. Although the story starts out a bit slowly, after the third chapter it takes off and soars, never descending. With secrets, lies, betrayals, and the sins of someone’s youth, Jackson pits two women against each other. It begins when a new neighbor, Angelica Roux, invites herself to a book club. She takes over the book club and …

Elise’s Review – Smokescreen by Iris Johansen

August 10, 2019

Book Review by Elise Cooper Smokescreen by Iris Johansen brings to life a realistic page-turner. Readers will be reminded of the genocide in Rwanda through some of the descriptions in this plot. Women empowerment are always a part of the stories that Johansen writes. “I like writing strong women. In this one I had a bunch of them. They showed the world what they could do. One quality they all had in common was independence. They are talented and bad …

Gothic Ghost Stories, Historical Mysteries, Scottish and Vampire Romance – Review Roundup Spring and Summer 2019

November 4, 2019July 29, 2019

There may be tiny spoilers for some of the books I mention, so here’s your warning. This spring I was craving Simone St. James. She put out one book a year from 2012 to 2016, but then it was two years between Lost Among the Living and The Broken Girls and will now be two years between The Broken Girls and The Sun Down Motel. I don’t know why there has been longer waits between books, if St. James has …

Interview with Laura Griffin (Her Deadly Secrets)

July 27, 2019

Article and Interview by Elise Cooper Her Deadly Secrets by Laura Griffin has plenty of action and suspense with a touch of romance. Readers are easily drawn into the investigation of this murder mystery that involves the mob and a surprise villain. The plot starts out with a bang, literally. The heroine, Kira Vance, a private investigator, arrives to a meeting with her boss/mentor, Ollie Kovack, and the lead defense attorney Brock Logan. Unfortunately, she finds herself in the wrong …

Interview with Alison Gaylin (Never Look Back)

July 14, 2019

Article and Interview by Elise Cooper Never Look Back by Alison Gaylin is a suspenseful psychological thriller. Her readers will not be disappointed with this latest novel based on a true murder crime spree. The plot delves into how, in 1976, teenage murderers April Cooper and Gabriel LeRoy terrorized Southern California’s Inland Empire, killing a dozen victims before perishing in a fire. More than forty years later, a True Crime podcast gets an unexpected tip that April did not die …