Shadow of Murder ~ Book Blog Tour Audio Book Sample & Giveaway!

SHADOW OF MURDER
A Mac Faraday Mystery (Volume 14)

by Lauren Carr

Genre: Adult fiction

Categories: Murder Mystery / Police Procedural / Crime Fiction

Publisher: Acorn Book Services

Release date: March 30, 2022

496 pages

Content Rating: PG-13. Lauren Carr's mysteries are murder mysteries. Sometimes, the murder does happen on-stage. There is no graphic violence or explicit sex. There is some very mild language; No F-Bombs!

Book Description:

You can't move to the next chapter of your life, without tying up loose ends in the previous.
 
True crime blogger, Erica Hart starts a new chapter in her life with a bang when a dark shadow darts into the mountain road to send her SUV off a cliff and to the bottom of Deep Creek Lake. Spencer’s newest addition to the police force, Dusty O’Meara assumes it was a bear. Erica is not so sure.
 
Soon afterwards, contractors discover Konnor Langston’s body at the bottom of an abandoned swimming pool at the new summer home of Mac Faraday’s son.
 
With Police Chief David O’Callaghan away on paternity leave, Deputy Chief Dusty O’Meara must lead the investigation in his first murder case since moving to Spencer. Not only does Dusty have to work under the shadow of the legendary Mac Faraday, but he also has to match wits with Erica, who is determined to find justice for Konnor, her childhood friend.
 
Mac isn’t so difficult. Even Gnarly, the town’s canine mayor, is manageable if his authority is well-respected and he is kept entertained.
 
Erica Hart, Dusty finds, is more of a challenge. It wouldn’t be so difficult if she wasn’t so irresistible.

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"Five Stars for Lauren Carr's 14th book of the Mac Faraday Murder Mysteries, Shadow of Murder! In this new release, she has recaptured the fun of cute "creatures" with the fast-moving, suspenseful, and captivating mystery, along with her usual touch of romance." - review by Lu Ann Worley, Rockin' Book Reviews

 

"This newest title in the author's Mac Faraday cozy murder mystery series offers Lauren Carr's most intricate plot to date - full of twists and turns guaranteed to keep readers up until the wee hours. While still full of the humor, fun critters and touch of romance that are her trademark, the author has also woven in a dark supernatural element that whispers through to the startling ending." - review by Marilyn R. Wilson, bestselling author, freelance writer, editor, and speaker at Olio by Marilyn.

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Washed in the Blood ~ Lone Star Book Blog Tours Playlist, Mini-Review, & Giveaway!

WASHED IN THE BLOOD

by

SHELTON L. WILLIAMS

Memoir / Biography / True Crime

Newly updated!

Date of Publication: February 17, 2022

Number of Pages: 175 pages

 

Scroll down for Giveaway!

 

The true story behind the Kiss and Kill murder in Texas in 1961. Author Larry King says: Washed in the Blood is a page-turning read about the time--early 1960s--and place--Odessa, Texas--during its rowdy oil boom days when violence often rode the range. It is at once an examination of local mores and foibles, piety and hypocrisy and an inside-look at the famed 'Kiss and Kill' murder of a 17-year-old would-be actress, Betty Jean Williams, whose ghost is said to haunt the Odessa High School campus to this very day.

 

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│ Amazon│Shelton L. Williams

Music of the Times

Number 1 song the night Betty died

Elvis Presley, "Surrender"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGYjWfp3aQI

When we kiss my heart's on fire

Burning with a strange desire

And I know, each time I kiss you

That your heart's on fire too

So, my darling, please surrender

All your love so warm and tender

Let me hold you in my arms, dear

While the moon shines bright above

All the stars will tell the story

Of our love and all its glory

Let us take this night of magic

And make it a night of love

Won't you please surrender to me

Your lips, your arms, your heart, dear

Be mine forever

Be mine tonight

 

Betty's favorite song

Gogi Grant, "The Wayward Wind" 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cQUVtbztEs

 

Betty's favorite Roy Orbison song, "Crying"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNdBLBleO90

 

Betty's favorite upbeat song song: 

Thursday Harris, "Little Bitty Pretty One"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8j4mn4eF-c

 

Betty's wish for teen girls today

Roy Orbison,"Bridge Over Troubled Waters"

https://youtu.be/XUY3hB9tfoA

HALL WAYS MINI-REVIEW: Washed in the Blood is a very quick story, coming in at just under 200 pages, but readers will be invested -- particularly if they know West Texas. WASHED IN THE BLOOD vacillates between being a coming-of-age, 1960s memoir, glory-days-of-football story and an exploration of, social commentary about, and reflection upon the murder of the author's cousin, Betty -- with a splash of courtroom drama and eye-witness testimony thrown in for good measure.

“No one noticed that I was a completely different person.”

More than anything, this book feels personal. Writing and telling Betty's story is clearly cathartic for the author, but also clear is that closure eludes him, even years after the murder. He sometimes speaks straight to Betty, and we even hear Betty speak (via her letters). Her words are painful to hear, and Williams doesn't shy away from sharing the impact of those words on him and all the questions that linger.

Overall, Washed in the Blood is an engaging book that covers a lot of ground and leaves the reader thinking. And I think the book would translate very well to the screen -- and maybe, just maybe that will happen.

*Be sure to get the version featured on this tour as it's newly edited and updated with extra content.*

 

Shelton L. Williams (Shelly) is founder and president of the Osgood Center for International Studies in Washington, DC. He holds a PhD from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and he taught for nearly 40 years at Austin College in Sherman, Texas. He has served in the US Government on 4 occasions, and he has written books and articles on nuclear proliferation. In 2004 he began a new career of writing books on crime and society. Those books are Washed in the Blood, Summer of 66, and now the three books in the Covey Jencks Mysteries series. All firmly prove that he is still a Texan at heart.

 

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