MÂTOWAK: WOMAN WHO CRIES by Jolene N Butler @cluculzwriter #Canada #Mystery #TuesdayBookBlog

Posted on November 15, 2016 by Rosie Amber

Mâtowak: Woman Who Cries by Joylene Nowell Butler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Three Point Five Stars.

Mâtowak: Woman Who Cries is a murder mystery set in Canada, and is a sequel to “Broken But Not Dead”. The book opens with a murder scene of Leland Warner a former Minister of National Defense. During Leland’s life and political career he built a long list of enemies and it quickly becomes a high profile case.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Corporal Danny Killian is given the case, he’s a native Haida aboriginal, whose wife was recently murdered, which gives him an emotional tie to Leland’s wife Sally.

Sally Warner has suffered enough; miscarriages, a still birth of a daughter and the death of two sons eighteen months ago, and now she faces life without her husband too. However she cannot be dismissed as a possible suspect.

The book is written from alternating points of view of both Sally and Killian with added character’s own thoughts in an aside to the reader. The plot builds the suspense with suitable twists. Throughout we see a side of Canada described by culture and racism which adds to the atmosphere of the story-line.

There was room to shorten some of the dialogue into more natural everyday conversations, especially where the police procedures were being described, I expect most crime readers or TV viewers of crime have a good notion of what goes on and some of the details felt a little unnecessary, or repetitive.

My review is based on a free ARC pre final edit in return for an honest review.

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Author Joylene Nowell Butler is on tour this month with MC Book Tours featuring her new novel, Mâtowak Woman Who Cries, being released Nov. 1 by Dancing Lemur Press L.L.C.

You can follow Joylene’s tour schedule HERE for excerpts, Q&As, chances to win copies of her book and more.

A murder enveloped in pain and mystery…

When Canada’s retired Minister of National Defense, Leland Warner, is murdered in his home, the case is handed to Corporal Danny Killian, an aboriginal man tortured by his wife’s unsolved murder.

The suspect, 60-year-old Sally Warner, still grieves for the loss of her two sons, dead in a suicide/murder eighteen months earlier. Confused and damaged, she sees in Corporal Killian a friend sympathetic to her grief and suffering and wants more than anything to trust him.

Danny finds himself with a difficult choice—indict his prime suspect, the dead minister’s horribly abused wife or find a way to protect her and risk demotion. Or worse, transfer away from the scene of his wife’s murder and the guilt that haunts him…

Mâtowak Woman Who Cries is available in eBook at the following sites:

Amazon.ca

Amazon.com

Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C

The print copy is available at:

Amazon.ca

Amazon.com.

When Joylene’s father died in 1983, she wrote her first full–length manuscript to channel her grief. The seven-year process left her hooked and she began Dead Witness within a few weeks of finishing Always Father’s Child. Today Joylene is the author of three suspense novels: Dead Witness, Broken But Not Dead, and the steampunk collaboration Break Time. While she’ll admit being published didn’t fix all the wrongs in her life, she wishes her parents had lived to see her success. Dead Witness was a finalist in the 2012 Global eBook Awards. Broken But Not Dead won the 2012 IPPY Silver Medal and its sequel Mâtowak Woman Who Cries is due for release November 1, 2016.

Joylene lives with her husband and their two cats Marbles and Shasta on beautiful Cluculz Lake in central British Columbia. They spend their winters in Bucerias, Nayarit, Mexico.

For more on Joylene and her writing, visit her website and blog then connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, and her Amazon Author Page.

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Rosie’s #Bookreview Team #RBRT A LONG WAYS FROM HOME by @Mike54Martin #Cosy #Mystery

Posted on October 9, 2016 by Rosie Amber

Today’s Team Review is from Noelle, she blogs at http://saylingaway.wordpress.com

Noelle has been reading A Long Ways From Home by Mike Martin

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This is the first Sgt. Windflower book I have read, and I was curious about a book with a Native American member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as the protagonist. The series takes place in Newfoundland on the east coast of Canada. Sgt. Winston Windflower is an RCMP officer and a Cree from Northern Alberta, who is stationed in the small town of Grand Bank.

The story is fairly straightforward with a few twists: A large crew of outlaw bikers terrorizing the town of Grand Falls leaves behind the bodies of two people, a man and a woman, shot execution style in the head. The bodies are believed to be linked to the Bacchus Motorcycle Club, whose members are professional criminals who deal in prostitution, drugs, and brutality. The club is not only the nexus for a large drug distribution ring but is fighting another club for the territory. Sgt. Windflower, whose wedding to Sheila Hillier is rapidly approaching, is called to the town to clean up the mess. Budget cuts, meaning fewer officers to cover the territory, means trouble not only in Grand Falls but also at home, where his future wife is the mayor. A complication arises when the motorcycle belonging to Sheila’s cousin, Carol Jackson, is found abandoned by the side of the road outside of Grand Bank. Windflower learns from Sheila that Carole has been a member of motorcycle gangs in the past.

Windflower has to rely on his fellow Mounties to assist him in solving the crime and neutralizing Bacchus and its leader. He is supported by Sheila and his dog Lady, who is sensitive to his feelings and who is an important part of his life. Windflower’s Cree background also figures into his emotional support – helping him interpret his dreams through his uncle and aunt who are dreamwalkers, and beginning each day with the smoke of his smudge pot to remind him to be kind, strong, and determined.

The one word I can think of to describe this book is ‘nice.’ Such an overworked word, but it means good and enjoyable, kind, polite, and friendly. The characters in the book who are not part of the biker gang are believable, well drawn and, well, nice. The story moves along at a sedate pace, serene in its descriptions, and detailed in the police procedures. Even the tension-filled scenes are not high octane, and the dialogue is almost stately. The lives of the police are realistically portrayed in this way with lots of detail and even the occasionally boring parts. Most significantly, their contributions to helping people and communities overcome new and very difficult challenges is emphasized.

There is food in this book – delicious, mouth-watering in its description – and I am a sucker for food. I was introduced to bakeapples, another term for cloudberries, which are somewhat similar to raspberries of strawberries, but found in cool temperate, alpine climates, arctic tundra and boreal forests. I can’t wait to try them.

One other character that has to be mentioned is Newfoundland itself, an island whose natural beauty the author describes so well that I want to visit.

This was a slow read, but a ‘nice’ one.

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

Letter W April A to Z Challenge #AtoZChallenge

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Rosie Amber

Day 23 April A to Z Challenge my theme is characters from books I’ve read plus some audience participation.

Letter W for Sergeant Winston Windflower from A Twist Of Fortune by Mike Martin

A Twist Of Fortune by Mike Martin

A Twist Of Fortune is a piece of crime fiction set in and around Grand Bank Newfoundland, Canada. Sergeant Winston Windflower is a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. This is the fourth book about the sergeant. The book opens with Windflower’s girlfriend, Sheila, being taken away in handcuffs at a community protest about the closure of the local fish plant.

Winter is making itself know in this part of the world and Windflower and his small team must patrol and close the highways as necessary when the snowstorms blow through. During one storm there is car accident, Michael Ridgeway a local pharmacist is killed. After the storm has cleared and the car is recovered a second body is found, that of local outlaw biker Frankie Fallon. Post mortems produce evidence of opiate and narcotics abuse .

Windflower and his team find themselves working with other officers to solve a much wider drug ring. Meanwhile the Mayor has a fatal heart attack and the local community is shaken up once more.

This book is a leisurely stroll through some of Canada’s wild places, where no one can hide from the effects of crime. We get an insight into the communities and people who choose to live away from the bright lights of the cities.

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

For my audience participation I’m asking readers to create book titles using the letter W for the picture below.

A book title and cover picture can often make or break a book sale. Is a book cover eye-catching? Does the book title appeal to the reader?

Have fun creating book titles from my own pictures, you might even think about a genre they could fit.