Need a Scottish Fix? #FridayFiveChallenge Hamish Macbeth #Mystery, Would You BUY or PASS?

This fun feature is a mini workshop. We look at book covers just from their thumbnail pictures at online selling book sites and make quick fire buying decisions. We look from a READER’S Point of View and this exercise is very EYE OPENING.

From the book cover we will browse the book description, price and some of the reviews BUT we only have 5 MINUTES.

WE PLAY POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS

Join in and see where it leads.

Grab a coffee and spend 5 Minutes on this exercise.

This week my search term was “Scotland”, as I’m off for a weekend in Glasgow visiting my dear friend Barb Taub and her “wee hobbit hoose.”

Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Book Description

Now that Priscilla Halburton-Smythe has agreed to marry him, Police Sergeant Hamish Macbeth can’t imagine a more perfect life. There’s not much crime in his remote Scottish village of Lochdubh, nothing much at all to do but fish, drink coffee, and slouch around. And now to spend time with lovely Priscilla.

But his days aren’t as tranquil as his dreams. For one thing, Priscilla’s renovation schemes are driving him out of his cottage. Not to mention her ambitious plans for his career as a policeman away from Lochdubh. This might be a good time to find out why Peter Hynd’s arrival in nearby Drim was causing so much trouble.

An attractive, unmarried man with an independent income would always attract attention in such a small place. But this time Hynd’s arrival seems to have caused bitter rivalry among the women of Drim. Hamish finds their petty fights amusing and a clever excuse to avoid Priscilla and her schemes for a new electric stove (to replace his beloved woodburning appliance), a posh new bathroom, and virtuous nutrition. Amusing, that is, until death threats, physical abuse, and murder make statistical history in one of Scotland’s most picture postcard-perfect towns.

Price; £4.99 kindle, second hand hard covers from £2.81. $5.93 or a second hand copy from $4

Number of reviews; 44 Amazon Uk, 70 Amazon US

Would I buy or Pass?….Buy a second hand copy.

Analysis

The piper on the cover screams Scotland as does a name of Hamish Macbeth, an easy option for soaking up some Scottish charm.

Over to you….

Mug 1

Get yourself a cuppa and give yourself 5 minutes.

In today’s online shopping age, readers often base their buying decisions from small postage stamp size book covers (Thumb-nails), a quick glance at the book description and the review. How much time do they really spend making that buying decision?

AUTHORS – You often only have seconds to get a reader to buy your book, is your book cover and book bio up to it?

My Friday Five Challenge is this….. IN ONLY FIVE MINUTES….

1) Go to any online book supplier,

2) Randomly choose a category,

3) Speed through the book covers, choose one which has instantly appealed to your eye,

4) Read the book Bio/ Description for this book,

5) If there are reviews, check out a couple,

6) Make an instant decision, would you BUY or PASS?

(then write a little analysis about your decision)

Share your post, use #FridayFiveChallenge @rosieamber1 and I’ll help share all relevant posts.

Here are links to other bloggers taking the challenge today.

Shelley searched for Witches and found Moon Bayou by J.R Rain

Cathy found a murder mystery Hunting The Crows by Iain Cameron

DEADBEAT DAD by @jr_rain & Rod Kierkegaard #Paranormal #Bookreview

Deadbeat DadDeadbeat Dad by J.R. Rain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Deadbeat Dad is the second book in this paranormal series and I recommend reading the first book before you start this to really appreciate the storyline. Detective Sergeant Richelle Dadd is undead, stuck between the realms of the living and the dead. Deliberately created this way by an ex-boyfriend Val Tabori, who brought her back from the dead to father a Moroi child, a half human, half zombie boy.

However Richelle recently gave birth to a girl which she named Tamara. In this book, Richelle is given a dead end job in filing, researching cold cases. Here she is approached by a ghost, Sophie Grey, who was murdered on Cemetery Hill in 1931. Research shows that Sophie was one of the triple Black Rose murder case.

At home Richelle’s life is complex, she has Dicky Dadd her gypsy father staying with her, her ex-police partner Mal moves in and she has a house full of visiting ghosts from Shadytown. Plus her mother tries to link Richelle up with a long lost Russian cousin.

This is a fast paced book with several minor storylines all adding to the tensions, which come to a head when more than one person wants baby Tamara. The ending has the potential to lead to more books in this series.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Our #Bookreviews featured in January editions of Fleet Life and Elvetham Heath Directory #TuesdayBookBlog

This month the review team and I have several of our book reviews featured in the following magazines,

Fleet Life is featuring the following books, for the online version go to http://www.fleetlife.org.uk, click on the online directory and load the magazine, turn to page 40 for this month’s book review page.

FL Jan

The House Of York by Terry Tyler

The Executioner by Ana Calin

Any Man Joe by Robert Leigh

The Sickness by Dylan J Morgan

Murder at the Lighthouse by Frances Evesham

Elvetham Heath Directory is featuring the following books, for the online version go to http://www.ehd.org.uk, click on the online directory and load the magazine, turn to page 32 for this month’s book reviews.

EHD Jan

The Man I Love by Suanne Laqueur

Moon Bayou by J.R Rain

Grimnirs by Ednah Walters

Owen by Tony Riches

Silver Rain by Jan Ruth

Moon Bayou by J.R Rain #Paranormal #Fantasy @jr_rain @CuriosityQuills

Moon BayouMoon Bayou by J.R. Rain
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Moon Bayou is a paranormal fantasy featuring vampires, werewolves and the voodoo culture around New Orleans. This book follows the already popular Samantha Moon series. Samantha is a Private Investigator and lives in California, but she’s been asked to investigate the disappearance of Wendy Lo. Missing for six months, her parents are desperate for any news.

Samantha is an unusual investigator in that she is a vampire, with mind reading skills, plus she can go out in the sunlight, due to some fancy rings she wears. However New Orleans has an uncomfortable atmosphere which she can’t put her finger on. More curious is the warning she receives from a friend about a blood price on her head, set in 1860. A ridiculous statement since Sam wasn’t around then, or is it?

When she’s captured by the Tête de Mort Krewe and help comes from friends she doesn’t remember, Sam has more questions than answers. It looks like Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau is the one she must turn to, but contacting her on the night of their most powerful ceremony has life changing results.

I loved this story, I have read the first Samantha Moon book , which reminds me I need to catch up with this series. The storyline was fast and full of surprises. I wanted to howl like a werewolf when the book ended, I wanted more!

This review is based on a free copy of the book from Curiosity Quills

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Would You BUY or PASS? #FridayFiveChallenge THE DEAD DETECTIVE by @jr_rain

Welcome to my Friday Five Challenge

Mug 1

Get yourself a cuppa and give yourself 5 minutes. (Use your own pic or copy mine or anything else like a clock/ stopwatch etc)

In today’s online shopping age, readers often base their buying decisions from small postage stamp size book covers (Thumb-nails), a quick glance at the book description and the review. How much time do they really spend making that buying decision?

AUTHORS – You often only have seconds to get a reader to buy your book, is your book cover and book bio up to it?

My Friday Five Challenge is this….. IN ONLY FIVE MINUTES….

1) Go to any online book supplier,

2) Randomly choose a category,

3) Speed through the book covers, choose one which has instantly appealed to your eye,

4) Read the book Bio/ Description for this book,

5) If there are reviews, check out a couple,

6) Make an instant decision, would you BUY or PASS?

(then write a little analysis about your decision)

This week I’ve been checking out book covers from Amazon’s list of books they’d “Recommend” to me from my browsing history.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Book Description

Medical-school-dropout police detective Richelle Dadd is… well, dead. But that won’t stop her from trying to hold on to her house in a divorce battle with a bitter husband. Or keep her from digging into her own murder, to discover who put the bullet into her heart. Or from coming to terms with her Gypsy heritage. And it certainly won’t stand in the way of finding out the reason she’s been reanimated as a zombie assassin, no longer in control of her life.
Richelle will face off against Romani shamans, double-crossing ghosts, a partner she can’t trust, and her own undead nature in a journey into the depths of the occult world and out the other side without losing her sense of humor – or humanity – along the way.
It’s a good thing her deductive skills – and her aim – are still up to par.
Total Pages; 272
Price; £3.59 or $5.52
Number of reviews; 13 Amazon.UK, or 157 Amazon.US. Of the Uk reviews 12 were 4 or 5 stars, and 1 x 1*. I checked out the 1* and the comment said they hadn’t read the book yet. How ridiculous that they then left a 1* rating – that really does give reviewer writers a bad name.
Would I BUY or PASS? ……BUY
Analysis
The emerald green cover shouted at me amongst pages of “same old, same old” covers. I liked the title, “The Dead Detective” immediately had me asking questions of the book and it’s title. The book description was upbeat and fun, giving me a feel for the author’s writing style. Throw in paranormal beings and humour and this book is right up my street. As I had been rummaging for a book in books which Amazon recommended to me, this was amongst them because I’ve read others by this author all of which I’ve enjoyed. I like his writing style. The price is quite high for a kindle book, but this is a popular author with a good fan base, who like what they get, so it will be money well spent. It was a good find and a reminder of an author whose work I enjoy and will continue to read.
I’ll be reviewing this book here on the blog on October 20th.
Links to other bloggers taking today’s challenge.
Shelley searched for the “BloodMoon” and found a FREE paranormal murder mystery – http://shelleywilsonauthor.com/2015/10/02/buy-or-pass-the-seventh-sons-fridayfivechallenge/comment-page-1/#comment-823
Cathy found a good holiday read set in Pembrokeshire –  http://betweenthelinesbookblog.com/2015/10/02/fridayfivechallenge-paradise-house-by-erica-james-buyorpass/comment-page-1/#comment-2748

Beach Reads Blog Tour 2015 Day 5 #BeachBooks @CathyRy

Day 5 of our beach reads tour and by now we should all be feeling lovely and relaxed on our holidays.

Beach Read Postcard

Today my guest is Cathy Ryan, Cathy is a book reviewer find her blog here http://betweenthelinesbookblog.wordpress.com

Cathy Ryan

My ideal holiday destination would be a dog friendly, olde worlde cottage with a fire for chilly evenings, a beautiful secluded beach and a view of the sea beyond. It would include a lovely patio area with comfortable squashy chairs, and maybe a hammock, just right for reading and watching the sunset. There’d be a few pleasant walks, cafés and bars/restaurants with pretty terraces nearby.…and maybe some interesting little shops. Possibly a bookshop or two! My iPod and Kindle (so many books taking up such small spaces) travel everywhere with me along with a ‘real’ book or two.
A Book I’ve Been Meaning To Read
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I’ve had Night Road by Kristin Hannah for quite a while. After reading and being engrossed by Winter Garden and FireFly Lane I picked up Night Road in paperback but haven’t got round to reading it yet. The blurb really appealed to me….’Vivid, universal, and emotionally complex, NIGHT ROAD raises profound questions about motherhood, identity, love, and forgiveness.’  It also says it’s ‘a luminous, heartbreaking novel that captures both the exquisite pain of loss and the stunning power of hope.’  I like Kristin Hannah’s writing style a lot, it’s very descriptive and vivid and her stories have depth. I’d leave the book at the cottage for someone else to enjoy.
Book links – Amazon US  Amazon UK
My Fun Read
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I found Off To Be The Wizard by Scott Meyer hugely entertaining, full of geek and pop culture humour. It’s a sci-fi/fantasy book about Martin Banks, a man who finds proof that the reality we are living is actually a computer program. He gets into deep trouble while manipulating the program for his own gain and chooses to escape back to medieval England instead of facing prosecution. Because of the knowledge and gadgets he has from his own time, he is able to pose as a wizard. And he’s not the only one who has found the file and evaded capture, landing in Medieval England! Definitely the audiobook for this one, Luke Daniels makes me laugh out loud with his brilliant narration and range of character voices.
Book links –  Amazon US Amazon UK
A Book From My Favourite Genre
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Hmm…favourite genre is a difficult choice, I enjoy so many. Looking at my tag cloud crime and murder are high on the list. Not sure what that says about me! Anyway, with that in mind I’ll go for Sick by Brett Battles. This pre apocalyptic story is the first in the Project Eden series, beginning with a parent’s worst and devastating nightmare. A secret organisation wants to wipe out most of the world’s population with a deadly virus and restart humanity with the people they consider worth saving. It’s an intense and moving start which sets up the series brilliantly. I chose the audiobook because it’s excellently performed by one of my favourite narrators, MacLeod Andrews.
Book links – Amazon UK Amazon US
A Book That Interests Me
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A book that interests me, and might actually straddle another of the categories, is Secrets of Meditation by Davidji. I’ve been listening to, and enjoying, his free weekend guided meditations for a little while now and decided to purchase the book on the strength of those meditations. The whole process of meditation, mindfulness and conscious choice making sometimes seems quite overwhelming but apparently this book helps to dispel the myths. It’s on my kindle, as yet unopened. Just haven’t got round to it. Never having read anything of this sort before I think it might also come under the self help/inspirational heading and be a good read to ease back into ‘real life’ after a relaxing holiday.
Book links – Amazon US Amazon UK
A Book To Escape With
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I am, and always have been, an Elvis fan and love the concept of this book, and taking wishful thinking to the absolute limit, can almost believe it could have happened. It’s a complete escapist read for me. What if Elvis was really alive and well, and working as a PI in Los Angeles. Taking all the rumours that have abounded over the years one step further J. R. Rain has created a quirky and light hearted story of Elvis’ life after he faked his own death. Extensive reconstructive facial surgery has changed his appearance, although there’s still that fleeting glimpse of familiarity, and for the last thirty some years he’s been living as the likeable and sarcastically witty Aaron King. It’s a sympathetic portrayal of an ageing man who can’t quite distance himself from the past. A great story and I’d (probably ) leave the book for others to enjoy.
Book links – Amazon UK Amazon US
Beach Reads Drift Wood