by Cynthia Chow

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of Confessions of a Red Herring. We also have a link to purchase the book from Amazon, and an indie bookstore where a portion of the sale goes to help support KRL.

Alex Vlodnachek loved being a reporter. After twelve years of struggling to cover the news stories she wanted and battling editors, the offer of an actual sustainable salary lured her to the dark side of Public Relations. The grass is always greener on the other side, and it only took three months, along with the CEO attempting to pimp her out to a client, for Alex to storm out and plan on sending out new résumés. Before she has the chance to even consider quitting or filing a lawsuit, detectives arrive on her doorstep wanting to question her about the murder of said CEO Everett Coleman, who was literally stabbed in the back.

The police may be holding off on making an arrest, but the rest of Coleman & Waters don’t hesitate before declaring Alex the murderess non grata. Being thrown out of the office is small potatoes compared to the steps Benjamin Waters takes to amputate her from the company, denying her medical benefits, sabotaging her credit ratings, cutting her off from her bank accounts, blackballing her from all future employments, and threatening dire lawsuits. While Alex’s best friend and reporter Trip Cabot leads the attack in proving her innocence, her family provide emotional support and not a little distraction. Alex and Nick Vlodnachek share having grown up with an uber-successful businessman older brother and supermodel sister, so Alex welcomes Nick’s unexpected arrival on her doorstep. It was the Las Vegas grifter new bride Gabby accompanying him who may prove questionable, especially as she seems to be running an illegal business out of Alex’s bathroom. Fordham, Virginia, is a small town with D.C. media power, so it doesn’t take long for Alex’s Baba to hear the news and land on her granddaughter’s doorstep. With a lot of investigative journalism savvy, some undercover work cleaning toilets, and a lot Gabby’s questionably legal know-how, Alex must discover who is framing her into “Vlod the Impaler,” before she is arrested for committing yet another crime.

Every so often a novel seems to pop out of nowhere and deliver an astoundingly entertaining and hilariously fun new read. Alex is a delight, with a sharp wit and intelligence that makes her a joy to follow. Few would have the canniness to avoid the pitfalls planned to destroy her life and land her in jail, and the pleasure comes in seeing her marshal her forces and fight back against all of the turmoil. Villains are true villains here, but Alex and her family are more than enough to evade their plans and prevail. The humor and dialogue is refreshingly original, and the novel pulls no punches when poking fun at public relations, big corporations, or the state of journalism. The handsome new owner of a bed-and-breakfast lends the promise of romance in the future, even if he can’t cook, and she’s not the safest neighbor to have. I can’t wait for the next appearance by Alex and her exhilarating family, as their future only looks as though it will becoming more chaotic and even more fun.

To enter to win a copy of Confessions of a Red Herring, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “herring,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen July 21, 2018. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please include your mailing address (so if you win we can get the book sent right out to you), and if via comment please include your email address. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

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Use this link to purchase the book & a portion goes to help support KRL & indie bookstore Mysterious Galaxy:

Confessions of a Red Herring (Red Herring Mystery #1)

You can also use this link to purchase the book on Amazon. If you have ad blocker on you may not see the link:

Cynthia Chow is the branch manager of Kaneohe Public Library on the island of Oahu. She balances a librarian lifestyle of cardigans and hair buns with a passion for motorcycle riding and regrettable tattoos (sorry, Mom).

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases using those links. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.