Tuesday, September 29, 2015

The Eye of God, A SIGMA Force Novel by James Rollins, Now Available at a Special Price

Omnimystery News is always searching for newly discounted mystery, suspense, thriller and crime novels for our readers to enjoy.

Today, we're pleased to present the following title, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, William Morrow …

The Eye of God by James Rollins

The Eye of God by James Rollins

A SIGMA Force Novel (9th in series)

Publisher: William Morrow

Price: $1.99 (as of 09/29/2015 at 8:00 PM ET).

The Eye of God by James Rollins, Amazon Kindle format

In the wilds of Mongolia, a research satellite has crashed, triggering an explosive search for its valuable cargo: a code-black physics project connected to the study of dark energy — and a shocking image of the eastern seaboard of the United States in utter ruin.

At the Vatican, a package arrives containing two strange artifacts: a skull scrawled with ancient Aramaic and a tome bound in human skin. DNA evidence reveals that both came from the same body: the long dead Mongol king Genghis Khan.

Commander Gray Pierce and Sigma Force set out to discover a truth tied to the fall of the Roman Empire, to a mystery going back to the birth of Christianity, and to a weapon hidden for centuries that holds the fate of humanity.

The Eye of God by James Rollins

A complete list of today's featured titles can be found on the Discounted MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News.

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

Cold Snap, A Lucy Kincaid Mystery by Allison Brennan, Now Available at a Special Price

Omnimystery News is always searching for newly discounted mystery, suspense, thriller and crime novels for our readers to enjoy.

Today, we're pleased to present the following title, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, Minotaur Books …

Cold Snap by Allison Brennan

Cold Snap by Allison Brennan

A Lucy Kincaid Mystery (7th in series)

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Price: $2.99 (as of 09/29/2015 at 7:00 PM ET).

Cold Snap by Allison Brennan, Amazon Kindle format

On his way home to San Diego, P.I. Patrick Kincaid takes a detour through San Francisco to check on the wellbeing of a family friend who's mysteriously been unreachable. What he doesn't expect is to be shot at before he can find out why attorney Elle Santana won't ask the police for help in finding a missing girl. Soon, he's on the run from both good guys and bad as he and Elle race to find the witness and take down a sweatshop run by a corrupt businessman with a penchant for violence.

Newly sworn FBI Agent Lucy Kincaid can't remember the last time she spent the holidays with her whole family, but getting home by December 25th is proving to be a bit of a problem. A blizzard shut down the airports and she and her boyfriend Sean Rogan are stuck in a Denver hotel … with a dead body. And if that wasn't all, back in San Diego Colonel Kincaid ends up in the hospital, where an even greater danger awaits … a man with a vendetta who will kill anyone who gets in his way. This Christmas, the Kincaid family needs nothing less than a miracle to survive. And time is running out.

Cold Snap by Allison Brennan

A complete list of today's featured titles can be found on the Discounted MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News.

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

Jury Town, A Novel of Suspense by Stephen W. Frey, New This Week from Thomas & Mercer

Named for streets that flank its headquarters in Seattle, Thomas & Mercer — an imprint of Amazon Publishing — showcases first-rate fiction, from cozy mysteries to heart-stopping thrillers.

Omnimystery News is pleased to present you with one of their new titles …

Jury Town by Stephen W. Frey

Jury Town by Stephen W. Frey

A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Price: $4.99 (as of 09/29/2015 at 6:30 PM ET).

Jury Town by Stephen W. Frey, Amazon Kindle format

Even the most incorruptible juror can be unwittingly influenced by others' opinions in the digital age, but more sinister forces are at work: jury tampering has reached all-time highs. Unexpected verdicts are coming down more and more often, indicating that shadowy groups may be blackmailing jurors — and leaving the American justice system in shambles. Is impartiality even possible anymore?

Victoria Lewis, former governor of Virginia, thinks it is — and she has a plan to fix the broken system. Her home state is about to select two hundred citizens to become full-time jurors. Those chosen will live in a refurbished prison for two years, where they'll be completely isolated from society and protected from all outside influences.

But someone always finds a way to cheat the system. And when a deadly political conspiracy reveals corruption that poisons even the highest echelons of government, everything Victoria has created stands on the brink of destruction. Can she protect the jurors, the justice system — or even herself?

Jury Town by Stephen W. Frey

Visit our New Indie MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News for a complete list of titles featured today.

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

An Old Betrayal, A Charles Lenox Mystery by Charles Finch, Now Available at a Special Price

Omnimystery News is always searching for newly discounted mystery, suspense, thriller and crime novels for our readers to enjoy.

Today, we're pleased to present the following title, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, Minotaur Books …

An Old Betrayal by Charles Finch

An Old Betrayal by Charles Finch

A Charles Lenox Mystery (7th in series)

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Price: $2.99 (as of 09/29/2015 at 6:00 PM ET).

An Old Betrayal by Charles Finch, Amazon Kindle format

On a spring morning in London, 1875, Charles Lenox agrees to take time away from his busy schedule as a Member of Parliament to meet an old protégé's client at Charing Cross. But when their cryptic encounter seems to lead, days later, to the murder of an innocuous country squire, this fast favor draws Lenox inexorably back into his old profession.

Soon he realizes that, far from concluding the murderer's business, this body is only the first step in a cruel plan, many years in the plotting. Where will he strike next? The answer, Lenox learns with slowly dawning horror, may be at the very heart of England's monarchy.

An Old Betrayal by Charles Finch

A complete list of today's featured titles can be found on the Discounted MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News.

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

The Darkening Sky, A Sister Agnes Mystery by Alison Joseph, New This Week from Endeavour Press

Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher, promoting and selling ebook editions of works by new authors as well as bringing out ebook editions of out of print books.

We've selected one of their recently published mystery, suspense, thriller or crime titles to feature here today …

The Darkening Sky by Alison Joseph

The Darkening Sky by Alison Joseph

A Sister Agnes Mystery

Publisher: Endeavour Press

Price: $3.99 (as of 09/29/2015 at 5:30 PM ET).

The Darkening Sky by Alison Joseph, Amazon Kindle format

Sister Agnes is about to take her final vows. She'll have to give up all her worldly possessions: her house in Provence; her cashmere sweaters, gin and tonics and scented bubble baths …

Agnes is unsure if she's ready for the final step but her worries are put into perspective when Walker McFadden is found dead. He was one of the lodgers at the hostel for addicts at which she works. On first glance, it appears Walker was killed in a drunken street brawl. But when Walker's handsome brother Alasdair turns up at the funeral, he announces that Walker's death was no accident. He enlists Agnes to help track down the killer.

By tracing Walker's childhood friends and comrades in the Falkland's War, Agnes makes horrifying discoveries. She embarks on a journey that will take her to hell and back.

The Darkening Sky by Alison Joseph

Visit our New Indie MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News for a complete list of titles featured today.

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

Cut to the Bone, A Bill Brockton, Body Farm Mystery by Jefferson Bass, Now Available at a Special Price

Omnimystery News is always searching for newly discounted mystery, suspense, thriller and crime novels for our readers to enjoy.

Today, we're pleased to present the following title, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, William Morrow …

Cut to the Bone by Jefferson Bass

Cut to the Bone by Jefferson Bass

A Bill Brockton, Body Farm Mystery (8th in series)

Publisher: William Morrow

Price: $1.99 (as of 09/29/2015 at 5:00 PM ET).

Cut to the Bone by Jefferson Bass, Amazon Kindle format

In the summer of 1992, Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton and Tennessee Senator Albert Gore begin their long-shot campaign to win the White House. In the sweltering hills of Knoxville at the University of Tennessee, Dr. Bill Brockton, the bright, ambitious young head of the Anthropology Department, launches an unusual — some would call it macabre — research facility, unlike any other in existence.

Brockton is determined to revolutionize the study of forensics to help law enforcement better solve crime. But his plans are derailed by a chilling murder that leaves the scientist reeling from a sense of déjà vu. Followed by another. And then another: bodies that bear eerie resemblances to cases from Brockton's past.

But as the body count rises, the victims' fatal injuries grow more and more distinctive — a spiral of death that holds dark implications for Brockton … and everyone he holds dear.

Cut to the Bone by Jefferson Bass

A complete list of today's featured titles can be found on the Discounted MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News.

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

New This Week: Antiques St. Nicked, A Trash 'n' Treasures Mystery Story by Barbara Allan

Omnimystery News is pleased to present a mystery, suspense, or thriller ebook that we recently found by sleuthing (as it were) through new or recently reissued titles from independent publishers during September 2015 and priced $4.99 or less …

Antiques St. Nicked by Barbara Allan

Antiques St. Nicked by Barbara Allan

A Trash 'n' Treasures Mystery Story

Publisher: Kensington

Price: $1.99 (as of 09/29/2015 at 4:30 PM ET).

Antiques St. Nicked by Barbara Allan, Amazon Kindle format

Hey Santa, get a clue …

Baby, it's cold outside at small-town Serenity's annual Holiday Stroll festivities. But that doesn't stop Brandy Borne and her theatrical mother, Vivian, from making merry. That is, until the two find something frosty in Santa's workshop — the jolly man in red, dead as a doornail. And the goodies inside his donation bag have vanished like cookies and milk on Christmas Eve.

It's up to Brandy and Mother — with spirited shi tzu, Sushi, in tow — to take the reins and start checking off their naughty list. But the sleuthing duo might have to reckon with some ghosts of Christmas past before finally unwrapping the murderer …

Antiques St. Nicked by Barbara Allan

Visit our New Indie MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News for a complete list of titles featured today.

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

Ties That Bind, An Amanda Jaffe Thriller by Phillip Margolin, Now Available at a Special Price

Omnimystery News is always searching for newly discounted mystery, suspense, thriller and crime novels for our readers to enjoy.

Today, we're pleased to present the following title, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, HarperCollins …

Ties That Bind by Phillip Margolin

Ties That Bind by Phillip Margolin

An Amanda Jaffe Thriller (3rd in series)

Publisher: HarperCollins

Price: $1.99 (as of 09/29/2015 at 4:00 PM ET).

Ties That Bind by Phillip Margolin, Amazon Kindle format

Amanda Jaffe was a rising star of Portland's legal community, until a run-in with a psychopath left her scared and craving anonymity. But her new case promises to keep her in the spotlight — and in danger.

Defending the accused murderer of a U.S. senator will place her and those she loves directly in the path of a deadly cabal with ambitions that extend all the way to the presidency of the United States …

Ties That Bind by Phillip Margolin

A complete list of today's featured titles can be found on the Discounted MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News.

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

Every Second by Rick Mofina, New on the Mystery Bookshelf during September 2015

New on the Mystery Bookshelf during September 2015 …

Every Second by Rick Mofina

Every Second by Rick Mofina, A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: Mira

Every Second by Rick Mofina, Amazon Kindle format

On a quiet night in their tranquil suburban home, the Fulton family awakens to a nightmare. Four armed men force bank manager Dan Fulton to steal a quarter million dollars from his branch — strapping remote-detonation bombs on him, his wife, Lori, and their young son.

The FBI moves swiftly with a major investigation while Kate Page, a reporter with a newswire service, digs deep into the story. In the wake of the Fulton family's abduction, questions emerge, including one of the most troubling: is the case linked to Lori Fulton's tragic past?

Working as fast as they can, Kate and the investigators inch closer to a devastating truth — it's not only the Fultons' lives at stake, but thousands of others … and every second counts in the race to save them.

Every Second by Rick Mofina

To see more new paperback titles scheduled to be published this month, visit The Mystery Bookshelf for September 2015. For new hardcover mysteries, visit New Mysteries where for a list of September 2015 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers is provided.

Nicotine Kiss, An Amos Walker Mystery by Loren D. Estleman, Now Available at a Special Price

Omnimystery News is always searching for newly discounted mystery, suspense, thriller and crime novels for our readers to enjoy.

Today, we're pleased to present the following title, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, Forge Books …

Nicotine Kiss by Loren D. Estleman

Nicotine Kiss by Loren D. Estleman

An Amos Walker Mystery (18th in series)

Publisher: Forge Books

Price: $2.99 (as of 09/29/2015 at 3:00 PM ET).

Nicotine Kiss by Loren D. Estleman, Amazon Kindle format

Sometimes friendship is the only thing you can count on. Just before Thanksgiving, an old friend, cigarette smuggler Jeff Starzek, saved private detective Amos Walker's life by getting him to the hospital when he was shot. After New Year's, Walker gets a frantic call from Starzek's sister. Jeff's missing; hasn't been in touch for weeks. It's just not like him.

Now Walker, still gimpy and rehabbing, is trying to find Starzek. All he has to go on is his knowledge of Starzek's territory — the Lake Huron shore north of Detroit — and a tip from Homeland Security agent Herbert Clemson. Clemson, who is also looking for Starzek, says the missing man might be connected to counterfeiters with ties to terrorists.

Walker can't really see Starzek getting involved in a scheme so different from his usual line of work. When he visits the man's brother, a minister of an evangelical church, Walker finds a huge stack of treasury paper perfect for printing $20 bills — but Starzek's brother is also missing. The counterfeiters are damn serious — serious enough to make Starzek's brother disappear, and serious enough to try and kill Walker when he pokes around their operation. Hell of a way to protect an investment.

But Walker, gimpy, in pain, cold and tired, can't give up on Starzek. It's a matter of friendship, and he won't let down a friend. He just hopes his loyalty doesn't get him killed.

Nicotine Kiss by Loren D. Estleman

A complete list of today's featured titles can be found on the Discounted MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News.

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter, New in Bookstores during September 2015

Today's featured new hardcover mystery, suspense, or thriller title scheduled to be published during September 2015 is …

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter, A Novel of Suspense

Publisher: William Morrow

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter, Amazon Kindle formatPretty Girls by Karin Slaughter, Nook formatPretty Girls by Karin Slaughter, iTune iBook formatPretty Girls by Karin Slaughter, Kobo format

More than twenty years ago, Claire and Lydia's teenaged sister Julia vanished without a trace. The two women have not spoken since, and now their lives could not be more different. Claire is the glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire. Lydia, a single mother, dates an ex-con and struggles to make ends meet. But neither has recovered from the horror and heartbreak of their shared loss — a devastating wound that's cruelly ripped open when Claire's husband is killed.

The disappearance of a teenage girl and the murder of a middle-aged man, almost a quarter-century apart: what could connect them? Forming a wary truce, the surviving sisters look to the past to find the truth, unearthing the secrets that destroyed their family all those years ago … and uncovering the possibility of redemption, and revenge, where they least expect it.

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

For a list of more new hardcover titles to be published this month, visit our New Mysteries page for September 2015. For new paperback mysteries, visit The Mystery Bookshelf where a selection of September 2015 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers are shelved.

The Dead Won't Die by Joe Mckinney, New on the Mystery Bookshelf during September 2015

New on the Mystery Bookshelf during September 2015 …

The Dead Won't Die by Joe Mckinney

The Dead Won't Die by Joe Mckinney, A Dead World Mystery (6th in series)

Publisher: Pinnacle

The Dead Won't Die by Joe Mckinney, Amazon Kindle format

First, the dead rose up — and civilization fell. Those who survived struggled to rebuild, creating makeshift societies with harsh new rules and harsher punishments. Some would be leaders, others slaves. But none would ever be safe from the walking death.

Off the coast of Texas, an island research facility offers sanctuary, supplies — and hope — to a desperate trio of survivors. But when they learn what the scientists are doing, how their experiments could unleash armies of the undead, they have no choice but to fight back.

Dead or alive, the enemy drives the survivors to run and hide — in the last place any human wants to go. Underground. In the tunnels below. Where the dead hunt in herds … and the survivors' numbers are dwindling …

The Dead Won't Die by Joe Mckinney

To see more new paperback titles scheduled to be published this month, visit The Mystery Bookshelf for September 2015. For new hardcover mysteries, visit New Mysteries where for a list of September 2015 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers is provided.

The Monogram Murders, A Hercule Poirot Mystery by Sophie Hannah, Now Available at a Special Price

Omnimystery News is always searching for newly discounted mystery, suspense, thriller and crime novels for our readers to enjoy.

Today, we're pleased to present the following title, now available at a special price courtesy of the publisher, William Morrow …

The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah

The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah

A Hercule Poirot Mystery

Publisher: William Morrow

Price: $1.99 (as of 09/29/2015 at 1:00 PM ET).

The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah, Amazon Kindle format

I'm a dead woman, or I shall be soon …

Hercule Poirot's quiet supper in a London coffeehouse is interrupted when a young woman confides to him that she is about to be murdered. She is terrified — but begs Poirot not to find and punish her killer. Once she is dead, she insists, justice will have been done.

Later that night, Poirot learns that three guests at a fashionable London Hotel have been murdered, and a cufflink has been placed in each one's mouth. Could there be a connection with the frightened woman? While Poirot struggles to put together the bizarre pieces of the puzzle, the murderer prepares another hotel bedroom for a fourth victim …

The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah

A complete list of today's featured titles can be found on the Discounted MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News.

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

New This Week: A Ghostly Murder, A Ghostly Southern Mystery by Tonya Kappes

Omnimystery News is pleased to present a mystery, suspense, or thriller ebook that we recently found by sleuthing (as it were) through new or recently reissued titles from independent publishers during September 2015 and priced $4.99 or less …

A Ghostly Murder by Tonya Kappes

A Ghostly Murder by Tonya Kappes

A Ghostly Southern Mystery (4th in series)

Publisher: Witness

Price: $4.99 (as of 09/29/2015 at 12:30 PM ET).

A Ghostly Murder by Tonya Kappes, Amazon Kindle format

Emma Lee raines knows there's only one cure for a bad case of murder …

I told you I was sick, reads the headstone above Mamie Sue Preston's grave. She was the richest woman in Sleepy Hollow, Kentucky, and also the biggest hypochondriac. Ironic, considering someone killed her — and covered it up perfectly. And how does Emma Lee, proprietor of the Eternal Slumber Funeral Home, know all this? Because Mamie Sue's ghost told her, that's how. And she's offering big bucks to find the perp.

The catch is, Mamie Sue was buried by the Raines family's archrival, Burns Funeral Home. Would the Burnses stoop to framing Emma Lee's granny? With an enterprising maid, a penny-pinching pastor, and a slimy Lexington lawyer all making a killing off Mamie Sue's estate, Emma Lee needs a teammate — like her dreamboat boyfriend, Sheriff Jack Henry Ross. Because with millions at stake, snooping around is definitely bad for Emma Lee's health.

A Ghostly Murder by Tonya Kappes

See all of the mysteries in the Ghostly Southern Series for $4.99 each on Kindle.

Visit our New Indie MystereBooks page on Omnimystery News for a complete list of titles featured today.

Important Note: Price(s) verified as of the date and time shown. Price(s) are subject to change at any time. Please confirm the price of the book before purchasing it.

A Conversation with Mystery Author Vicki Vass

Omnimystery News: Author Interview with Vicki Vass

We are delighted to welcome author Vicki Vass to Omnimystery News today.

Vicki's second mystery in her Antiques Hunters series is Pickin' Murder (Cozy Cat Press; September 2015 trade paperback and ebook formats) and we recently had the chance to catch up with her to talk more about it.

— ♦ —

Omnimystery News: Tell us a little more about the lead characters of the Antiques Hunters series.

Vicki Vass
Photo provided courtesy of
Vicki Vass

Vicki Vass: They're based on my two closest friends. Anne is an enthusiastic shopper and collector of all things shiny. CC is more pragmatic, frugal and has an incredible wealth of knowledge.

OMN: How do you see them developing over the course of the series?

VV: I would like the characters to have an arc that is true to their spirit and the story. I think we always need to see some growth from book to book as long as it is true to the characters. I think the readers also want to learn more about the characters as the characters learn more about themselves.

OMN: Into what genre would you place this series? And do you think there are any advantages or disadvantages in doing so?

VV: I believe this is a cozy mystery series where the characters' hobbies and personality traits are just as important as the story. I think there are both advantages and disadvantages to labeling a book. The advantage is that you can reach the audience that looks for this type of mystery. The disadvantage is that my books are more bent toward mystery than cozy.

OMN: How much of your own experience have you included in your books?

VV: While I haven't stumbled upon any murders, the antique hunting experiences in the books are based on my personal shopping excursions. From flea markets to antique stores to garage sales, I love to shop and those elements, including some of my finds, make appearances into the books.

OMN: Describe your writing process.

VV: I don't do an outline. I start writing what I call scenes and see the story develop. The scenes later become chapters and may move around as the story becomes fleshed out.

OMN: How do you research the plot points of your stories? Have you come across any particularly challenging or exciting topics?

VV: I rely on the internet, consulting with experts and as I said above first-hand experience. The most challenging topic to research was some of the forensic chemistry of the murders because I try to make every murder unique and technically correct. The most exciting was the many trips to the antique stores that my "research" required.

OMN: How true are you to the settings of the books?

VV: In the first book, Murder by the Spoonful, we didn't take liberties with the setting. It is based in Chicago area that I am familiar with. I feel setting is very important to the characters and the plot because characters will interact differently in different settings. For the second book, Pickin' Murder, we took a road trip to Nashville and used all those locations in the book.

OMN: If we could send you anywhere in the world to research the setting for a book, where would it be?

VV: London. I've always wanted to travel to London and would love to include it as a setting.

OMN: What are some of your outside interests? And have any of these found their way into your books?

VV: My hobbies include antiques, shopping, cooking and walking my Australian shepherd. All of these hobbies have made into the book and probably will continue to.

OMN: What is the best advice — and harshest criticism — you've received as an author?

VV: The best advice I ever received was from my journalism instructor and that was to keep writing. He also taught me the importance of editing. He would tell me to write your story or dump everything into the story and then go back and cut it in half. In terms of criticism, I've had one poor review that said my character CC who I intentionally created as a know-it-all knew too much. Ironically I used the real CC for research because she knows so much.

OMN: Complete this sentence for us: "I am a mystery author and thus I am also …".

VV: I am a mystery author and thus I am also a fan of the genre and naturally inquisitive.

OMN: Tell us more about the titles of the books.

VV: Murder by the Spoonful was not the original title for the first book. The working title was The Spoon Sisters which is the title of the blog that our two characters write in the story. And then it turned to Murder for Sale which depicts the main plot of estate sale murders. And then our publisher decided Murder by the Spoonful would be the best title.

OMN: What kind of feedback have you received from readers?

VV: The feedback has been positive. I've received many requests for additional adventures of Anne and CC. The second book in the series, Pickin' Murder, was published last month.

OMN: Suppose this series were to be adapted for television or film. Who do you see playing the key roles?

VV: If you ask the real CC, she'd be Angelina Jolie. If you ask the real Anne, she'd say herself. I would go with Reese Witherspoon for Anne and Julianne Moore for CC.

OMN: What kinds of books did you read when you were younger?

VV: I read everything as a child from the Little House series to the Wizard of Oz series to Anne of Green Gables. My favorite books were Nancy Drew, of course, the Vicki Barr and Cherry Ames mystery series. I changed the spelling of my first name after reading Vicki Barr. That probably influenced my decision to write cozy mysteries. My favorite all-time literature books are Pride and Prejudice, which I read in sixth grade, Gone With the Wind and To Kill a Mockingbird. When reading those, it made me realize I wanted to be a writer. I still read everything and have a pile of books around the house and tons of titles downloaded onto my Kindle.

OMN: When selecting a book to read today for pleasure, what do you look for?

VV: I look for an engrossing story. With a full-time job and writing fiction, I don't have a lot of spare time to read so when I do pick up a book, I want to be transported and feel what the characters are feeling. And, I want to read about engaging characters.

OMN: Create a Top 5 list for us on any topic.

VV: My Top 5 Restaurants in American Cities:

1. Trattoria Stefano in Sheboygan, Wisc. A small storefront farm-to-table Italian classic restaurant. Everything is locally sourced and made fresh by an award-winning chef.
2. Pancake Pantry in Nasvhille, Tenn. Best pecan pancakes I've ever had and the chance of running into Keith Urban. Definitely worth waiting in line.
3. The Optimist in Atlanta. A modern take on an old-fashioned seafood camp. Great seafood and fun ambiance.
4. Shaw's brunch in Chicago. All-you-can eat crab legs. Need I say more.
5. St. Elmo Steakhouse in Indianapolis. 45-day aged filet and walk it off in the Circle Centre walkway that hovers above the streets.

OMN: What next for you?

VV: Next, I am writing a new series loosely based on my next-door neighbor, the 74-year-old guardian of our block. In this case, truth is stranger than fiction as I've unraveled her history in writing about her in the Neighborhood Watch series. I have a sack of photos of her with Frank Sinatra, Bob Conrad and other Chicago legends, famous and infamous. Who knew? I know her as Grandma Pat. The first book in the series, The Postman is Late, will be coming to Amazon in October. After that, I plan to put away the pile of clothes in my closet and make my way through the stack of books scattered around.

— ♦ —

With a passion for shopping and antiques, Vicki Vass turned in her reporter's notebook to chronicle the adventures of Anne and CC, two antique hunters who use their skills to solve a murder case. She has also written more than 1400 stories for the Chicago Tribune as well as other commercial publications. She lives in the Chicago area.

For more information about the author, please visit her website and her author page on Goodreads, or find her on Facebook.

— ♦ —

Pickin' Murder by Vicki Vass

Pickin' Murder by Vicki Vass

An Antique Hunters Mystery

Publisher: Cozy Cat Press

Amazon.com Print/Kindle Format(s)BN.com Print/Nook Format(s)

Antique hunters Anne Hillstrom and CC Muller witness the tragic death of rising country star, Dave Southwell. The police determine Southwell's death is an accident. CC has her doubts, so when they are commissioned to hunt down musical antiques they head to Nashville looking for clues.

Along the way, both women find romance, but new love gets put on the back burner when they're snooping makes them a target for an unknown killer.

Pickin' Murder by Vicki Vass

Omnimystery Blog Archive

Total Pageviews (last 30 days)

Omnimystery News
Original Content Copyright © 2022 — Omnimystery, a Family of Mystery Websites — All Rights Reserved
Guest Post Content (if present) Copyright © 2022 — Contributing Author — All Rights Reserved