by Sunny Frazier
Getting excited about Left Coast Crime, Monterey? Well, here are some more authors attending and their books to get excited about!
Cindy Sample is a contender for the Lefty Award with her #3 in the series, Dying for a Daiquiri. Laurel McKay attends a wedding in Big Island, Hawaii, and a hula dancer is found dead. The investigation takes us to wonderful locations: a black sand beach, a coffee plantation and a volcano. (Personal note: Cindy and I met at LCC 2009 on the Big Island.)
Continuing on the dance theme is Cora Ramos’ Dance the Dream Awake, set another exotic location, this time the Yucatan Peninsula. Tessa Harper has nightmares of Mayan human sacrifices. Determined to face her demons, she goes to the pyramids. There she receives warnings that her own past life is trying to destroy her. Paranormal with a bit of sex and lots of historical info.
Jumping to 1952, Janet Dawson takes us on a wild trip with Death Rides the Zephyr. The California Zephyr (known as the Silver Lady) ran from 1949 to 1970, from the Bay Area to Chicago (my grandparents rode it to visit). At that time the streamliner had Zephyrettes, much like today’s stewardess. On this trip, Zephyrette Jill McLeod has to deal with a murderer on board when the train is stranded by an avalanche in a remote canyon in Colorado. This one will give you the shivers!
We travel from the Middle East to the Caribbean for Libby Fischer Hellmann’s Havana Lost. On the eve of the Cuban Revolution, Francesca Pacelli flees her mafia father to a rebel fighter in Castro’s army. The novel spans three generations of the Pacelli family. Now residing in Chicago, the family is lured back to Cuba with promises of wealth.
NEWS
Rachel Abbott is inviting everyone to an online launch party Feb. 24 for her latest, Sleep Tight. Although this is a stand-alone, a reoccurring detective shows up in all three of Rachel’s novels. Olivia Brooks reports her husband and children missing. Two years later, Detective Tom Douglas gets the cold case. Olivia has disappeared as well as every photo of the family from albums, phones and computers.
The seven hour party promises prizes and goodies to be given away throughout the day. For more info, go to rachelabbottwriter.wordpress.com. Be there or be square!
Due to medical reasons, Lou Allin, author of Twilight Is Not Good For Maidens, won’t be attending LCC as planned. Like Lou, I’m staying home while waiting for a kidney transplant. But, we’ll both be with you in spirit–right Lou?
OPPS!
Last week I incorrectly described Donna Andrews The Real Macaw instead of The Hen of the Baskervilles. Here’s the corrected synopsis: A dastardly murder and the kidnapping of a prize chicken threaten to ruin Caerphilly’s state fair–fortunately, Meg Langslow is on the case. This is #15 in the series.
Correction from first column-Vinnie Hansen’s book, Art, Wine and Bullets, takes place in Santa Cruz, not Watsonville.
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Thanks for info!
Good luck with the transplant!