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To Hell in a Handbasket - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat
What will a wife do to protect her husband? In A Real Basket Case Claire sets out to prove that she didn't sleep with her physical trainer and her husband didn'...
Dispel The Mist - Tempe Crabtree Mystery Series - Marilyn Meredith, Author
Dispel The Mist - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat
'Her next dream was a nightmare. Tempe knew she was on the reservation, but it was different ...
Profile Information
- Are you an Author, Reader, Publisher, Editor, Agent or Other?
- I'm a cookbook Author - Stir, Laugh, Repeat and am also a reader. I especially enjoy murder mysteries but will read just about anything.
- Do You Have A Website?
- I have several sites. Stir, Laugh, Repeat is my mother site for my book by the same name. Martha's Kitchen Korner and Martha's Recipes are 2 sites that carry my newest recipes and also act as a storage site for my next book. A Book and A Dish is my review site. Here I post my reviews for the books I've read as well as the Author's favorite dish. The books that are reviewed all come from members of sites like this.
- About Me:
- I'm originally from GA now in NC and have 2 things that I truly love to do. #1 is cook and #2 is read
- Do you have a blog site?
- http://stirlaughrepeat.blogspot.com
- Favorite Books:
- If you visit my site http://marthaskitchenkorner.blogspot.com you will see a list of my favorite books and authors
- Favorite Bookstores on land or cyberspace
- Park Road Books - Charlotte, NC
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MORGAN'S OWN BLOGSPOT
Slides, Anyone?
I added a few slides of my books to my blogspot. I'm not sure yet if they should stay on or not.Do you have more trouble loading my blogspot with the slides up? Do you like them or are they too distracting?
A Christmas Tree Already
On the way home from work yesterday, I passed a house that already had a lighted and decorated Christmas tree up and showing by the window.Is it not too soon for that? In my mind, the day after Thanksgiving is when the Christmas Season starts. That's when it's fair game to put up a tree and decorations and start shopping. The way things are going this year, I'll be lucky if I get organized enough to decorate a few days before Christmas.
With our dog, Rascal, who lives up to her name, we'll probably go with a fiber optic small tree on top of an end table. One of these days I may pull put the larger tree from the box in the basement and set it up, but not until our doggy is a little more sedate. I don't feel like chasing her to get ornaments out of her mouth. I will be putting up knick knacks, lights inside and decorations on the walls, so it will still look Christmasy. No lights outside because for some reason we have no outlets outside.
While we're on the subject of Christmas trees and such, be sure to add holidays in your books. You can mention decorations and lights or Easter eggs and baskets, or even mattress sales in your descriptions to ground the reader as to the season.
Now, back to that tree I saw. What about you? When do you decorate for Christmas? What do you put up?
Winners and Losers at the CMAs and Life
I love country music and almost every country performer. While watching the CMAs, I enjoyed seeing the winners accept their awards. On the other hand, it was hard for me to see the losers do their best to appear gracious and for the most part succeeding.For every winner, there's a loser. In life and in books, it's the same way. How people react to their good and bad fortune shows what their characters are made of. You don't have to tell a reader who the good guy or bad guy is. Let their actions speak for themselves. The readers are smart enough to figure it out.
PS Can't finish this blog without saying - You Rock, Taylor Swift! You are one smart, talented teenager! Congrats on all your awards, especially, Entertainer of the Year!!!
CMA Awards Tonight and Twitter
One of my favorite shows is on tonight - the CMA Awards. If you're a country music fan, you're probably like me and will be glued to the TV 8pm EST, or in my case 7pm, in the flatlands of Illinois.Almost all my favorite performers will be there, except I hear that Rascal Flatts can't make it.
I'll be on Twitter during the show also. That's part of the fun of it - discussing and dissecting outfits, performers, songs and even commercials, kind of like I'm at a giant party with people who all go for the same thing and want to share.
What about you? What kind of music do you like? Do you tweet during a favorite show or event?
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When RASCAL wakes up, you'll hear from her and/or her Mom - that would be me, Morgan Mandel.
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Of Dreams and Nightmares - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat"There will be no gala ball for you this year Martha, you are to be married to Jebediah Whitaker in a fortnight." John raised his voice interrupting Martha in mid sentence.
"Father, you are joking. But what kind of a silly thought has entered your head. I have no intentions of marrying anyone right now. Besides, Jebediah Whitaker has three children and is much too old for me." Martha stopped sipping her tea and stared over the rim of the cup at her father in disbelief. As an afterthought she added, "Plus, he is a pompus ass!"
Martha McGuire was the 18 year old daughter of John McGuire and the late Lillian McGuire. She, her father and their cook Emma lived in the home her grandfather had built fifty years before.. Graystone Manor. Having no mother around to guide her, Martha depended on Emma to teach her the running of the household. But she depended on her best friend Austin Wells for fun and entertainment. The two had grown up together and as children were always together getting themselves into more mischief than their parents could handle. But now, when she needed Austin the most, he was away at college and her father was demanding that she marry Jebediah Whitaker.
Jebediah's first wife had died several years before after falling down a flight of stairs leaving him to raise three sons alone. Martha would be the perfect wife. She was young, healthy and even with her high spirit, he would tame her. But there was one thing that very few people knew about Jebediah and that was the he would do anything to get and keep whatever he wanted, even if it was illegal.
After Jebediah took his sons and new wife Martha across the ocean to the Americas, John was presented with the truth of what a mistake he had made in forcing Martha to marry Jebediah. The only recourse he had was to employ Austin and Jebediah's brother Jeremy to find them and rescue her before it was too late.
Of Dreams and Nightmares is a book filled with history as well as being a wonderful story. Following Martha, Jebediah and his three sons as they cross the ocean and on to Wyoming was a wonderful adventure for me. As I read I could see the wagon trains as they proceeded west. I felt the cold as they lived in their small sod cabins. I experienced the pain as Jebediah broke Martha's spirit and will with by inflicting her with fear for not only her life but also the boys. And now I'm getting ready to continue this saga of the Whitaker family through Shirley A. Roe's next book The Whitaker Family Reunion.
To Hell in a Handbasket - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat
What will a wife do to protect her husband? In A Real Basket Case Claire sets out to prove that she didn't sleep with her physical trainer and her husband didn't kill him when he found him straddling her in bed. There was nothing she wouldn't do to prove her and his innocence.
What will a mother do to protect her only daughter? In To Hell in a Handbasket Claire again refuses to let anything nor anyone stand in her way to prevent her daughter Judy from being kidnapped, or worse... murdered.
Claire, Rodger and Judy Hanover are on a much needed ski vacation in Breckenridge, CO. Judy's boyfriend, Nick Contino, his mother, father and sister Stephanie have joined them. What was supposed to be a relaxing couple of weeks went sour quickly when Stephanie has a skiing accident that takes her life. Was it really an accident? Claire believes not. And to prove her theory she tracks down the only person that actually saw what really happened. The information given to her by this young man not only puts herself into danger, it also makes Judy the killer's next target.
I stayed on the edge of my seat as I followed Claire and Detective Owen Silverstone as they uncover the mystery of Stephanie's death. As they uncover what really goes on behind closed doors in the Contino's study. As they fit the puzzle pieces together after finding that the Russian mob is heavily involved with everything that has taken place, which includes a plan to kidnap Judy.
I loved Beth Groundwater's style of writing when I read A Real Basket Case. After reading To Hell in a Handbasket I can have to say that "what I thought couldn't get better did." For a real mystery teaser, I recommend both books, in the order they were written... A Real Basket Case and To Hell in a Handbasket.
'Dearest Ruth,
I am working tonight until midnight and will be thinking about you and wishing I could be by your side. To me it seems like eternity since the last time I saw you. Can't help but remember what a soldier told me once, "This is a lonesome war."
I'm a baby boomer so I was around during the Viet Nam war. Many of my friends were drafted, went off to fight this war and some didn't come back. And many of those that did come back live to this day with the nightmares of what they went through and saw. With the problems going on in today's world, many of us have friends and family serving in the military or know someone who does. We're constantly seeing news reports about roadside bombings that have taken the life of one or more of our brave soldiers. We feel their pain as they deal with being miles away from family and friends. We also feel the pain of the families and friends knowing their loved ones are in such grave danger.
Letters from Heroes is exactly that... letters written to loved ones by soldiers fighting to help keep the world safe. As I read these letters I felt as if I was the one receiving them. Most letters were fairly upbeat but if you read between the lines you find feel the loneliness, hunger, sickness and fear. You also feel the dependency that each soldier places and accepts from their fellow soldiers who have become both their closest friends and protectors.
Letters from Heroes is a very touching book that will at times make you smile and cry. Read this book and you will read the true feelings of soldiers around the world as they do what they feel must be done to protect. These men and women are truly the real HEROES of the world.
I have to tell everyone that I know have 22 reviews for Stir, Laugh, Repeat on Amazon! When you have time, please check out at least a couple.A Corpse for Yew - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat
As you read the excerpt below, picture a group of elderly ladies, all members of the Shamrock Historical Society due to their ancestors and proud of it. Picture these ladies standing in the middle of a cow pasture as they search for a grave that has been long forgotten. And now listen as they reminisce about another outing that took them in search of a grave from the past.
"It doesn't really matter," Geneva said. We're within our legal rights to visit the grave since Mrs.. Waynewright is a direct descendant. MCWhirter can't keep us away."
Dorothy grimaced. "Remember that time we had to sneak into that abandoned cemetery out by Salisbury? Those terrible dogs! I'm not sure what w would've done if Mr. Hawkins hadn't been with us. He took that bite like a man."
"After that, the dogs seemed fine with us being there." Annabelle shrugged.
"But poor Mr. Hawkins had to have rabies shots. He was such a gentleman about it."
Peggy is the owner of a garden shop called the Potting Shed located in Center City, Charlotte. She's also a part-time forensic botanist for the Charlotte Police Department. When her mother, Lilla, talks her into joining the Shamrock Historical Society and their quest to rescue bones that have been buried under Lake Whitley for years, she didn't expect to discover the body of one of the Society's own members, Lois Mullis, who also turns out to be the Aunt of the Police Chief. Was it accidental or murder? The Chief believes it was an accident. The members of the Shamrock Historical Society believe it was murder and they put their faith in Peggy to prove them right and to find the killer.
A Corpse for Yew is a book of humor and mystery, as well as a book that spiked my interest in plants. Joyce and Jim Lavene provide a description of the plants as they are introduced into each chapter, giving you a little history of the plant's origin and it's uses. As they introduced each member of the Shamrock Historical Society, I found myself picturing each lady perfectly. When I put the mental pictures of these ladies together to form the full group, I could see their every move as they persuaded Peggy to help them find the killer of their friend. And with my living in Charlotte, NC, I knew almost every location visited by Peggy and her group of ladies.
A Corpse for You is one of the most enjoyable books I've read in some time. It became a real mystery as I tried to decide who would want to harm the late Mrs. Mullis. But with it's humor, it was a very relaxing book to read.
Death of a Perfect Man - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat
'The pump was indeed antique, and it would be a miracle if it functioned. An old beat-up white station wagon with several flat tires sat dejectedly by the office entrance. "Red Rock Inn Limousine" had been painted on its side ages earlier; now the words, in faded black letters were barely recognizable.... Someone tapped on her car window... "Gas?" A thin-faced middle-aged looking woman with longish brown hair pulled back in a tight ponytail appeared from nowhere... Finally the woman said, "You should stop driving now. I have a vacancy. I'll fix you a sandwich." Then she added. "I'm psychic, sometimes."'
Jada Beaudine's husband was lost in a boating accident leaving her with a large insurance payout. The insurance company doesn't buy the death of Terry Beaudine and sends their best man Lyle Elliott to follow Jada and be present when she connects with her still living husband.
After putting up with police and insurance investigators for a year, Jada decided to move from Seattle to Atlanta in hopes of starting a new life for herself. While driving into the Mojave, Jada stopped for gas at the an old resort called the "Red Rock Inn & Cafe." Due to the lateness and her being physically tired, she decided to check in for the night. But as morning approaches, Jada is drug into the murder of Nick Williams, "the Perfect Man." For Jada, the nightmare begins again as she helps to solve this murder as well as the murder and murder attempts that follow. Plus, in the wake of these new mysteries, Jada still has to contend with the insurance investigator, a white car that's following her and whoever is responsible for the attempts on her own life.
M. M. Gornell has done it to me again. As I read Death of a Perfect Man, I found myself being convinced that I knew who the murderer had to be and why, only to find myself doubting my theory. It wasn't until the last few pages that I was able to understand who the murder was and why. Gornell is truly a "Perry Mason" writer!
The Long Night Moon - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat
'Metal hurtled out of control. Drivers slammed their brakes to the floorboard. Vehicles skidded in all directions. An ear-piercing scream went out, laying down an eerie quiet...'
Seventeen year old Darcie and nineteen year old Ian lost their parents in an auto accident caused by the combustion of a tire. Ian was now head of the family. He alone, had to make all of the decisions regarding the future of his sister Darcie. Three weeks after the funeral Ian made his first major decision which was to move Darcie to their mountain home located in the North Carolina mountains just outside of Franklin. This decision was made due to a secret that Darcie carried around with her. A secret that she had no idea her brother knew. A secret that would change the lives of everyone around her, including her own.
As I read The Long Night Moon, I could feel the compassion and closeness between Darcie and Ian. I could also feel the spirit of 17 year old Darcie and her lack of respect for others. She was a person who had one desire in life. That desire was to have fun no matter what the long run cost may be. She was selfish, self centered and very much on the wild side when it came to relationships with the opposite sex. She was a character that, as I read about her "adventures," I really didn't like. And when she met Wa'si, a Cherokee Indian whose family had lived in the NC mountains for ages, I formed an even stronger dislike for her. Wa'si lost his wife and child after her car went over a mountain. His emotions were still raw and Darcie's plans for him were nothing short of more pain.
As I read deeper into The Long Night Moon, I began to understand Darcie a little better. I followed her as she grew into a caring, mature young woman. And I followed her as she was faced with even more tragedy which again made her into an even stronger woman.
The Long Night Moon has everything needed to make a great read. It's filled with love, pain, sorrow, happiness, tragedy and a shaky ending. It's also filled with places and sites in the NC mountains that I didn't know existed. I've lived here for 15 years now without seeing that much of the state. After reading The Long Night Moon, I plan on changing that. To me, this was a very enjoyable book.
And on the Surface Die - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat
'"Don't discount petty-ante crime," Ben Rodgers, her mentor in The Pas, had told her. "Sometimes they're part of a bigger picture, and it usually involves drugs. Why steal a CD player you can sell for only a twenty unless you need another fix?" But Ben had made his own fatal error. Their last month together, checking out a stolen car seen at a trailer park, he hadn't expected the twelve-year-old deaf boy to be holding a rifle instead of an air gun.'
These words were remembered by Holly Martin as she took charge of her first post as a Corporal in Fossil Bay. Fossil Bay, located on the south coast of Vancouver Island, had its fair share of drunk drivers, speeders, theft and as Holly found out on her 1st day of command, an occasional drowning.
Angie Didrickson's body had been found by a diver while taking underwater photos. Angie, a student of Notre Dame and one of their star swimmers, was on a senior trip. The trip was supervised by teachers in hopes of keeping the drinking and substance abuse to a minimum. But that didn't seem to stop some of them from slipping out of their tents at night in hopes of a little enjoyment.
And on the Surface Die turned out to be a very enjoyable book. It kept me in suspense, as I tried to determine what really happened to Angie and why. Author Lou Allin added another mystery to the story with the disappearance of Holly's own mother. She is drawn between her loyalty to her father and the man her mother was apparently seeing behind his back.
One thing that really impressed me with Allin's style of writing was the way she took one mystery, added another and kept the lines open for a continuation of the story. And I, for one, can't wait to read what happens next.
with a wild imagination running through the sparks.
Man Corn Murders - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat
'Now she was too weak to leave the bunk, her tongue swollen and her lips cracking against every shallow breath, and she prayed for blessed release back into a warm, wet womb, her own barren into eternity. The tears had surrendered days ago, re summon them though she would to bathe sore eyes. She blinked a final time as cotton closed her ears and the pain fled, leaving her fresh and strong, moving her young muscles with the spirit of a freed colt.'
Terry Hart, a reporter from Cleveland, Ohio, and her aunt Judith Davis, a retired world history teacher, were out for a summer long trip to explore the historic "Mormon Road" ending up in Utah's Escalante-Grand Staircase National Monument. Their trip takes them near Sunset Years Retirement Ranch where Deborah, an old friend of Judith lives. Upon reaching the ranch, Judith learns that Deborah has left the ranch to live in Seattle with a nephew. Puzzled by the move, Judith starts investigating and learns that two other residents have mysteriously left the ranch as well. These sudden moves become a challenge to Judith that must be solved.
As Terry and Judith explore parts of the 1.7 million acre wilderness, they run across a cave with a metal door. Upon entering the cave they discover the body of a young woman. Melanie Briggs was an anthropology student who had been missing for several weeks. Now came another mystery which Terry vowed to solve. How did Melanie become trapped inside the cave?
Through her investigation, Terry learns that Melanie believed that the ancient tribes resorted to cannibalism in their attempt to survive the elements. Her theory brings enemies and threats from some of the locals. But did it upset someone enough that they would actually lock her inside the cave?
When I was a child my Dad moved us to a small town just outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. I loved seeing the Great Salt Lake, the Bonneville Salt Flats and even the artisan wells that just "spring" up out of the ground. I've always wanted to go back and see more of this state of many mysteries and after reading Man Corn Murders, that desire has grown even stronger. This book is not just a murder mystery, it's also a mini history book about the Anasazi and Fremont tribes during the 1400s. It has taken me to places and times in history that have sparked my interest to learn more.
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