Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman Blog Tour and Review

Please join Tessa Arlen as she tours with HF Virtual Book Tours for Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman, from January 5-February 6.

Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman by Tessa Arlen
Publication Date: January 6, 2015
Minotaur Books
Formats: eBook, Hardcover
Genre: Historical Mystery
Soure: Publisher via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for an honest review




Lady Montfort has been planning her annual summer costume ball for months, and with scrupulous care. Pulling together the food, flowers and a thousand other details for one of the most significant social occasions of the year is her happily accepted responsibility. But when her husband’s degenerate nephew is found murdered, it’s more than the ball that is ruined. In fact, Lady Montfort fears that the official police enquiry, driven by petty snobbery and class prejudice, is pointing towards her son as a potential suspect.
Taking matters into her own hands, the rather over-imaginative countess enlists the help of her pragmatic housekeeper, Mrs. Jackson, to investigate the case, track down the women that vanished the night of the murder, and clear her son’s name. As the two women search for a runaway housemaid and a headstrong young woman, they unearth the hidden lives of Lady Montfort’s close friends, servants and family and discover the identity of a murderer hiding in plain sight.
In this enchanting debut sure to appeal to fans of Downton Abbey, Tessa Arlen draws readers into a world exclusively enjoyed by the rich, privileged classes and suffered by the men and women who serve them. Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman is an elegant mystery filled with intriguing characters and fascinating descriptions of Edwardian life—a superb treat for those who love British novels.
A Party for Winston, the second book in the series to be released in January 2016.


My Take:
I had really high hopes when I agreed to participate in the blog tour - and I was most definitely not disappointed. From the opening paragraph I was hooked and thoroughly immersed in the setting and the story.

The book begins as Edith Jackson, the housekeeper for Lord and Lady Montfort, is getting ready for a busy day of final preparations for the annual summer ball. The reader is introduced to the household, the servants and their roles and the family members. There are wonderful descriptions of the estate and the workings of the household. I really appreciated the attention to detail regarding the roles and expectations for every station as well as  the dress and gardens.

Despite the beautiful surroundings, all is not well within the family. Lord Monfort's nephew, Teddy Mallory has gotten himself in trouble - again. Lord Montfort received a letter from the president of Oxford University and it pretty much ruined his day. This is the first in a line of problems regarding Teddy. He is not well liked - for good reason - as becomes apparent later in the book.

The family and friends all gather for a sparkling party and things seem to have gone perfectly - until the gruesome discovery the next morning. Lady Montfort is concerned about the investigation into Teddy's murder for personal reasons, and with the help of her inquisitive and clever housekeeper, they defy societal conventions and work discreetly to figure out who the murderer was.

I loved the subtle way in which Mrs. Jackson manages to make inquiries and listen to the gossip of the other servants - despite her first inclination to shut such gossip down immediately. This was one of those books that despite the urgency of the situation, I wanted to read slowly and savor the whole experience. The dialogue and settings were just wonderfully done and I loved the attention to societal expectations and the way both women were able to navigate around and within these expectations and still show that they were smarter and more intuitive than the officials investigating the crime.

I was pleasantly surprised that the author tackled some serious issues with the way servants were treated and thought of. I hadn't really expected her to address these issues, but she did, and did it well.

Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman has become the book that I recommend to everyone. I think it would appeal to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and particularly those who enjoy books about Edwardian England and those who watch Downton Abbey. I anticipate reading it again soon - just for the fun of it. I am also anxiously awaiting the second book in the series.

Praise for Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman

“Tessa Arlen has a worthy debut with Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman. With a deliciously gruesome murder and an unlikely pair of sleuths, this is a treat for fans of Downton Abbey who will want to devour it with a nice steaming pot of Earl Grey.” —New York Times bestselling author Deanna Raybourn
“In her debut novel, Tessa Arlen weaves an evocative tale of the passions, loyalties and ambitions that divide and unite two classes, upstairs and downstairs, in a stately home. She instantly transports the reader to Edwardian England.”—Christine Trent, author of Stolen Remains
“A dash of noblesse oblige sparkles between the upstairs/downstairs world of Lady Montfort and her housekeeper, Mrs. Jackson, as they work together to unmask the identity of a killer at large on the Montfort’s country estate. As sharp as a Nancy Mitford novel, Tessa Arlen’s sophisticated Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman deserves its place among the Great and the Good of classic mystery.”—Lyndsy Spence, founder of The Mitford Society and author of The Mitford Girls’ Guide to Life.
“Thoroughly enchanting. Arlen’s debut will appeal to fans of Downton Abbey, with its vivid descriptions, firm grip on the intricacies of the time period, and skilled portrayal of the often complicated relationship between upstairs and downstairs.” —Anna Lee Huber, author of the Lady Darby mystery series

Buy the Book

Amazon (Kindle)
Amazon (Paperback)
Barnes & Noble (Nook)
Barnes & Noble (Paperback)
Book Depository
Books-a-Million
IndieBound
Kobo

About the Author

TESSA ARLEN, the daughter of a British diplomat, had lived in or visited her parents in Singapore, Cairo, Berlin, the Persian Gulf, Beijing, Delhi and Warsaw by the time she was sixteen. She came to the U.S. in 1980 and worked as an H.R. recruiter for the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee for the 1984 Olympic Games, where she interviewed her future husband for a job. DEATH OF A DISHONORABLE GENTLEMAN is Tessa’s first novel. She lives in Bainbridge Island, Washington.
For more information please visit Tessa Arlen’s website. Read Tessa Arlen’s blog at Redoubtable Edwardians. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.
Subscribe to Tessa Arlen’s Newsletter.

Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, January 5
Review at Reading the Past
Review at Back Porchervations
Review & Giveaway at Mina’s Bookshelf
Tuesday, January 6
Review & Giveaway at Unshelfish
Spotlight & Giveaway at The Maiden’s Court
Wednesday, January 7
Review & Giveaway at To Read, Or Not to Read
Spotlight at The Never-Ending Book
Friday, January 9
Review at Mel’s Shelves
Guest Post on The Writing Desk
Review at Back Porchervations
Saturday, January 10
Review at With Her Nose Stuck in a Book
Sunday, January 11
Review at Buried Under Books
Monday, January 12
Review at Flashlight Commentary
Tuesday, January 13
Review at Girl Lost in a Book
Interview at Back Porchervations
Spotlight & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books
Wednesday, January 14
Review & Giveaway at The Book Binder’s Daughter
Thursday, January 15
Spotlight & Giveaway at Passages to the Past
Friday, January 16
Spotlight at Just One More Chapter
Monday, January 19
Review at Beth’s Book Book
Tuesday, January 20
Review at The Lit Bitch
Spotlight & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages
Wednesday, January 21
Spotlight & Giveaway at Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More
Thursday, January 22
Review at Musings of a Bookish Kitty
Monday, January 26
Review at A Literary Vacation
Spotlight at CelticLady’s Reviews
Tuesday, January 27
Review & Giveaway at The True Book Addict
Wednesday, January 28
Review at A Book Geek
Thursday, January 29
Spotlight at What Is That Book About
Friday, January 30
Review at The Maiden’s Court
Saturday, January 31
Review & Giveaway at The Calico Critic
Monday, February 2
Review at Book Nerd
Tuesday, February 3
Spotlight at I Heart Reading
Thursday, February 5
Review at Layered Pages
Friday, February 6
Guest Post & Giveaway at Historical Fiction Connection

Island Fog Blog Tour and Review

Island Fog by John Vanderslice
Publication date: April 28, 2014 by Lavender Ink
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours for an honest review
Description:
Island Fog is a thematic, novel-length collection of stories, all set on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. Nantucket as we know it began as an English settlement relatively early in the colonial period of the United States. In the heyday of its nineteenth century success as a whaling center, the island, for being as small as it is, was quite the cosmopolitan center. Sailors from across the globe mingled with a mixed local population of descendents of the original English settlers, black Americans, and Native Americans. Today too Nantucket is known as being especially open to visitors from around the world. When one travels there, one feels that one is no longer in the United States but in a culturally indistinct, in-between land, somehow equidistant from North America, the Caribbean, and Northern Europe.

Island Fog captures the physical, social, and political atmosphere of the island from both historical and contemporary perspectives. It is divided into two halves, with the first half containing five historical fictions and the latter half containing six contemporary ones. The first historical fiction is set in 1795, only a decade removed from the young America’s formalized independence from Britain, and the last historical fiction is set in 1920, one year after America’s passage of the infamous Volstead Act (prohibition). The middle three historical stories are set, respectively, in 1823, 1837, and 1846, the period when the whaling industry enjoyed its greatest profitability and the island its greatest wealth. The set of contemporary fictions begin in the late twentieth century and continue into the middle of the first decade of this century. Thus the stories of Island Fog bridge four centuries of Nantucket history.

The first story, “Guilty Look,” fictionalizes the real life Nantucket bank robbery of 1795, an event that famously divided the heretofore peaceful “paradise” into warring factions of Quakers and Congregationalists, Jeffersonians and Federalists. The other historical fictions—through first, second, and third person narration—depict a fraught and potentially violent friendship between a self-assured white adolescent and the half-breed son of the last full-blooded Wampanoag on the island (“King Philip’s War”); the trapped existence of a whaling widow, who while she waits for her disappeared and likely deceased husband has begun to waken to her latent lesbian nature (“On Cherry Street”); the tortured inner life of an ex-captain who has never gotten over having to become a cannibal to survive during one particularly harrowing whaling expedition twenty-eight years earlier (“Taste”); and the exasperation of a lonely African-American school teacher who despite being born and raised on the island still does not feel, and is not allowed to feel, like a native (“How Long Will You Tarry?”).

The six contemporary stories examine a variety of island lives, some of them Nantucket natives but others visitors for whom the island is either a last refuge or an existential prison. Along the way, we meet a carpenter whose wife deliberately jumped off the Nantucket to Hyannis ferry, drowning herself and her infant child (“Morning Meal”); a couple in their thirties who has not recovered, and will not recover, from a series of tragic miscarriages (“Beaten”); a retired businessman who feels thoroughly caught by his marriage to a dominating, materialistic woman (“Newfoundland”); a fortyish leader of ghost walks who is haunted by both a literal ghost and a communication from his former lover (“Haunted”); a Jamaican family trying to establish quasi-American lives for themselves on the island, an effort that a new tragedy at the mother’s workplace threatens to unhinge (“Managing Business”); and, finally, an American student who has given up on college and goes to Nantucket for a prearranged summer job only to find a different job there, one that forces him to reconsider everything he thought he understood about himself, his life, and the island (“Island Fog”).

The focus of every one of the eleven stories in the collection is on the characters populating them: their latent desires and disappointing pasts, their future hopes and drastic, misguided decisions.  These are stories, not treatises on American cultural history. Yet by gathering together in one place all these pieces, a provocative and even cutting picture of Nantucket—its physical beauty, its social tensions, its preening hypocrisies—inevitably arise, making Island Fog far greater than the sum of its gorgeous, sorrowful parts.

My Take:

Island Fog by John Vanderslice is one of the best short story collections I have ever read. I agreed to read and review for the tour because I like stories that take place in Nantucket and I was curious about this book. The title of the collection is perfect. Once a couple of stories have been read, this starts to become clear. After reading all the stories, I couldn't have thought of a better title. It evokes the feeling of the collection as a whole. This is not the stereotypical version of Nantucket that many of us are used to reading about. This is the truer, rest-of-the-year version of Nantucket, the historical, the other version that is also a big part of the island and its mystique.

The first section has stories that are historical fiction with some of the stories inspired by actual historical events. I found these stories really appealing in a dark, shadowy way. Each one is unique but they all share a feeling of isolation, sorrow, or helplessness. The weird thing is, I can't choose a favorite story because I really like all of them for a different reason. "Guilty Look" is a type of mystery set in Nantucket, 1795. There is a bank robbery and the reader follows the story as the various people work on "solving" this crime. The crime appears to be an inside job, and brings to the surface the different factions living on the island. The leaders of the Quakers seem to be using this event to consolidate power. I really enjoyed this story even though I was cringing and hoping what I knew was going to happen - wouldn't happen.

"Taste" is another of the historical fiction stories that really stood out for me. It is dark and upsetting, but so fascinating as well. It tells the story of a whaler who comes back home after a horrific encounter with a whale that left him and a few crew members stranded. The rumors and whispers that followed him after his return have had lasting consequences. Also, the rumors may not be false. This story was just so creepily fascinating. And disturbing. And dark.

The contemporary fiction stories are quite good as well. I think the two that really stood out for me were "Managing Business" and "Island Fog".  "Managing Business" is the story of hard work, societal differences, frustration, ambition, and consequences. "Island Fog" was the most surreal and haunting of the the stories.  It is almost paranormal and reminded a little bit of something that Neil Gaiman might write. This one stayed with me for awhile.

Honestly, I would probably suggest Island Fog to many different types of readers. This is a collection that I feel would appeal to readers of historical fiction, contemporary fiction, science fiction/fantasy and paranormal fiction. There is a broad range of people and issues and historical periods covered. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Island Fog.

Purchase Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About John Vanderslice

John Vanderslice teaches in the MFA program at the University of Central Arkansas, where he also serves as associate editor of Toad Suck Review magazine. His fiction, poetry, essays, and one-act plays have appeared in Seattle Review, Laurel Review, Sou’wester, Crazyhorse, Southern Humanities Review, 1966, Exquisite Corpse, and dozens of other journals. He has also published short stories in several fiction anthologies, including Appalachian Voice, Redacted Story, Chick for a Day, The Best of the First Line: Editors Picks 2002-2006, and Tartts: Incisive Fiction from Emerging Writers.  His new book of short stories, Island Fog, published by Lavender Ink, is a linked collection, with every story set on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts.

John’s Tour Stops

Monday, January 5th: The Year in Books
Tuesday, January 6th: Svetlana’s Reads and Views
Wednesday, January 7th: Books on the Table
Thursday, January 8th: Savvy Verse & Wit
Friday, January 9th: The Book Binder’s Daughter
Monday, January 12th: The Discerning Reader
Tuesday, January 13th: No More Grumpy Bookseller
Wednesday, January 14th: Lit and Life
Friday, January 16th: Peeking Between the Pages
Tuesday, January 20th: Bibliotica

Thursday, January 22nd: A Book Geek

Broken Trust Blog Tour and Review

Broken Trust by Thomas Maurin
Publication date: November, 2014 by Cultivating Change, LLC
Source: Author/publisher via iRead Book Tours for an honest review
Description:

This is a story about three smart, successful people who were once fast friends in college and have now been thrust together again in an unlikely, multi-layered investigation with far-reaching international implications and billions of dollars at stake. One is a forensic accountant for the SEC, one beta tests hardware and software for the US Department of Defense and the UK Ministry of Defense, and the third is a wildly successful entrepreneur, software developer and venture capitalist in Silicon Valley.

They get caught up in the hunt for a corrupt Swiss banker intent on finally unloading the last of the gold stolen by his father in World War II; a violent, narcissist leader of a Mexican drug cartel making his move to take over as the head of all cartels in Central America; and the daughter of a murdered Bulgarian arms dealer making the deal that will give her mother financial stability and get them both out of the increasingly unstable arms business.

The plot unfolds as financial crimes committed by insiders put common criminal activities to shame in a world where technology has increasingly insinuated itself into our lives to good and bad effects.

My Take:

I don't know what to categorize Broken Trust as, except to call it a financial thriller. The book starts out with a quick introduction to Mary Catherine Fitzsimmons - better know as Fitz - and her SEC investigation into a Swiss bank.  There are hints that some of the accounts may somehow be connected with her own family and she is tense and worried - then things take a sudden, violent turn when her partner is struck by a car that seems to come out of nowhere. Fitz is determined to find out what is going on and why someone would intentionally hit her partner. It all seems connected - because, of course it is. 

The reader is introduced to the different parties to a huge financial transaction that has so much hanging in the balance - not just money.  I was completely drawn into this wild ride of a story. There are some really great characters, including some great villains, arms dealers, corrupt bankers and even Nazi gold. Really, is all you could ask for in a financial thriller.

Fitz winds up working with her ex, Chas, and their other college buddy Jamie, to solve the banking mystery and stop some serious international criminals.  I really hate to go into too much detail, because this is one book that it is more fun to experience it all as it is revealed. It is wild and fun. There is even a bit of romance thrown in and I loved the way the family drama and the financial mystery all dovetailed together.

I really enjoyed this fast-paced thrill-ride of a novel. I certainly hope that there will be more novels about Fitz and her adventures.  I can't help but believe that the team of Fitz, Chas and Jamie have a lot more adventures in their future.  I would recommend Broken Trust to anyone who enjoys a good fast-paced thriller. 

Author's Bio:

Thomas Maurin is the pen name of husband and wife writing team Bonnie B. Hartley, Ph.D., and Michael T. Hartley, CFP®. They both write non-fiction books and articles regarding financial and family business topics and have delivered talks on those subjects internationally over the last thirty years.

Connect with them:  Website  ~  Twitter

You can follow the tour here:

Jan 7 - Feminist Reflections - review / guest post / giveaway
Jan 7 - Coffee, Books & Art - book spotlight / guest post / giveaway
Jan 7 - Cindy's Love of Books - book spotlight / guest post / giveaway
Jan 8 - Rockin' Book Reviews - review / author interview / giveaway
Jan 8 - Girl with Camera - review / giveaway
Jan 9 - Green and Glassie - review
Jan 12 - The Discerning Reader - review / giveaway
Jan 12 - Like a Bump on a Blog - book spotlight / guest post / giveaway
Jan 13 - Bookaholics Must Read - review 
Jan 13 - Celticlady's Reviews -book spotlight
Jan 14 - Cassandra M's Place - review / giveaway
Jan 14 - Library of Clean Reads - book spotlight / giveaway
Jan 15 - Deal Sharing Aunt - review
Jan 15 -  Pinky's Favorite Reads - book spotlight 
Jan 16 - Simpliread - review 
Jan 19 - Back Porchervations - review / giveaway
Jan 20 - Confessions Of A Reader - book spotlight
Jan 20 - A Book Geek - review 
Jan 21 - A Soccer Mom's Book Blog - review / giveaway
Jan 21 - Roughseasinthemed - review
Jan 21 - Brooke Blogs - review / author interview / giveaway
Jan 22 - StoreyBook Reviews - book spotlight / giveaway
Jan 23 - A Blue Million Books - author interview / giveaway
Jan 23 - Life as Leels - review / author interview / giveaway
Jan 26 - The Book Review - review / giveaway
Jan 26 - Pure Jonel, Confessions of a Bibliophile - review / guest post / giveaway
Jan 27 - The Many Thoughts of a Reader - review
Jan 27 - Bound 4 Escape - review
Jan 28 - Jessica Cassidy - review / guest post
Jan 28 - Omnimystery News - book spotlight / author interview

iRead Book Tours Broken Trust page here.

Broken Bonds Blog Tour and Review

Broken Bonds by Karen Harper
Publication date:December 30, 2014 by Mira
Source: e-galley provided by the publisher via Pump Up Your Book for an honest review
Description:
Cold Creek is a place with a dark history, especially for the Lockwoods. Now adults, the three Lockwood sisters are still recovering from the events that led to the destruction of their family when they were children. Determined to move forward, Tess and Kate are making fresh starts, ready to put bad—even deadly—memories to rest and settle happily in the small but booming town. And they're hoping their older sister, Charlene, can do the same.

Char is back in town seeking comfort as she figures out her next move. A social worker used to difficult situations, she soon runs afoul of some locals who think she's sticking her nose where it doesn't belong. She's certain something sinister is being covered up, and when she witnesses Matt Rowan being run off the road, she knows she's right.

Working together, Matt and Char figure uncovering the truth will be dangerous, but living in Cold Creek won't be safe for any of them until its secrets are revealed.

My Take:

Broken Bonds is the third book about the Lockwood sisters and Cold Creek. I have not read the other two books, so my review is of the book as a stand alone. Char Lockwood, the middle sister, has returned to her hometown of Cold Creek after some time spent in the Southwest. She is a social worker intent on helping the young children living on the edge of Appalachia.

There is a lot going on in this suspenseful novel. Char is the first person to arrive at the scene after Matt Rowan is almost pushed over a cliff by another truck - and not accidentally. Matt is a newcomer to the area, is manager of the new luxury Lake Azure properties  and has connections to Royce Flemming, the head of the fracking operation that is causing friction between the locals. Since some of the families are making lots of money by selling their land for the fracking and others are not benefiting from this new industry in the area, tensions are running high.

There is also a strange cult living on land nearby and the Lockwood sisters have a cousin who lives there. The leader of the cult seems dubious at best and extremely dangerous at worst. The sisters are concerned for their family with good reason.

Char and Matt hit it off right away, and while it seems a little too fast and abrupt to me, they become a team to be reckoned with - especially since someone seems to have it in for one - or both - of them. There are many possible culprits and so many possible motives, that it can get a bit convoluted.

I thought the book did a decent job of presenting the issues regarding fracking - not just environmental issues, but also ethical and social issues that can go along with this type of industry. The book also examines the poverty and lack of services for families living in remote areas. It took me a while to get into the story, but that may have to do with the fact that I hadn't read the earlier books. Also, the formatting of the e-galley I read was a bit distracting. I did get into the story once I was firmly into the main story line. I think that if you like romantic suspense novels, you might enjoy this book. I would suggest reading all three books in order though. I think I would have benefited from the background and the attachment to characters that comes with reading a series.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excerpt from Broken Bonds:

She started to get out until she saw the driver of the truck was really covered up for the weather. She could see through his windshield that he wore a ski mask, leaving only his eyes visible. He climbed down and started toward her truck, holding up his hands as if to apologize.

Could this be the man who nearly ran Matt off the cliff?

She turned the ignition back on, put the truck in Reverse, yanked the steering wheel and tried to back up to get some maneuvering room, but she was held tight by the tree, and her wheels spun. She laid on her horn, but saw no other vehicle on the road.

The man went back to his truck and returned, holding a metal carjack, the kind needed to change a flat tire. He walked now with swift, strong strides. She knew he was going to use it to smash her window. Was this guy desperate or crazy? They were on a public road in broad daylight.

She waited until he came close and raised the car jack. He hit the glass of the driver’s-side window, which only cracked on the first blow. She had to do the unexpected and fast, run for help. She’d seen a car parked at her childhood home if she could make it there. She dug in her big purse for her phone. Too much in here—couldn’t feel it. She had to go now or he’d have her!

In an instant, she unlocked her doors, tried to grab her heavy purse, but he reached for it, too, yanked it and tipped her toward him. She slid away from the steering wheel and clambered out the other side, forced to leave the purse, the phone. She had no illusions he just wanted the purse. She slipped to her knees in the ice-crusted snow, then clawed her way up and raced toward the trees.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About the Author

A New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Karen Harper is a former college English instructor (The Ohio State University) and high school literature and writing teacher. A lifelong Ohioan, Karen and her husband Don divide their time between the midwest and the southeast, both locations she has used in her books. Besides her American settings, Karen loves the British Isles, where her Scottish and English roots run deep, and where she has set many of her historical Tudor-era mysteries and her historical novels about real and dynamic British women. Karen's books have been published in many foreign languages and she won the Mary Higgins Clark Award for 2005. Karen has given numerous talks to readers and writers across the county.

Her latest book is the romantic suspense, Broken Bonds, the third book in the Cold Creek Trilogy.

For More Information

• Visit Karen Harper’s website.
• Connect with Karen on Facebook.
• Find out more about Karen at Goodreads.

All That Glitters Blog Tour and Review

All That Glitters by Michael Murphy
Publication date: January 6, 2015 by Alibi
Source: Publisher/NetGalley via TLC Book Tours for an honest review
Description:

In Michael Murphy’s rollicking new Jake & Laura mystery, the hard-boiled writer and the aspiring movie star head for sun-drenched Los Angeles, where a cold-blooded murderer lurks behind the scenes.

Just arrived from New York, Broadway actress Laura Wilson is slated to star in Hollywood’s newest screwball comedy. At her side, of course, is Jake Donovan, under pressure to write his next mystery novel. But peace and quiet are not to be had when an all-too-real murder plot intrudes: After a glitzy party, the son of a studio honcho is discovered dead from a gunshot wound. And since Jake exchanged words with the hothead just hours before his death, the bestselling author becomes the LAPD’s prime suspect.

In 1930s Tinseltown, anything goes. Proving his innocence won’t be easy in a town where sex, seduction, and naked power run rampant. With gossip columnist Louella Parsons dead-set on publicizing the charges against him, Jake has no choice but to do what everyone else does in the City of Angels: act like someone else. Blackie Doyle, the tough-talking, fist-swinging, womanizing hero from Jake’s novels wouldn’t pull any punches until he exposed the real killer—nor will Jake, to keep the role of a lifetime from being his last.

My Take:
After having read and really enjoyed the first of the Jake & Laura mysteries, The Yankee Club, I was eager to read the second book, All That Glitters. After all the excitement in New York, our happy couple was heading to Hollywood so Laura could start work on her first film. All That Glitters starts up pretty much where the first book left them - on board the train, headed for California.

Naturally things get off to a quick start and the reader finds Jake and Laura trying to adapt to their renewed relationship while trying to negotiate their way through the new, exciting and competitive world of  movies.

As with the first book, I found myself immediately caught up in the adventure. Jake always seems to manage to get into some sort of mess. He blunders through his first Hollywood party by taking Laura's co-star to the party, gets in a fight with the son of the studio head, agrees to work on the script for Laura's movie,  and finds himself a murder suspect before he's been in town for barely twenty-four hours.

I really enjoyed this fast-paced, lively, fun mystery. Jake encounters people from his past, lots of new Hollywood types, learns a lot about the rumors, scandals, and intrigues of the actors, directors, etc., all while trying to clear his own name and not ruin Laura's future in Hollywood.

 I read the book in about a day and was sad when it ended. I look forward to reading many more of these easy to  read and even easier to get hooked on mysteries. While the story is fast-paced and action-packed, it is also complicated with many different issues to deal with and  many interesting and/or suspicious characters running around.

I have started suggesting both All That Glitters and The Yankee Club to anyone who asks for book ideas. So, I can very enthusiastically recommend All That Glitters by Michael Murphy to anyone who enjoys mysteries, historical fiction, or fun, fast-paced novels.

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

About Michael Murphy

Michael Murphy is a full-time writer and part-time urban chicken rancher. He lives in Arizona with his wife of more than forty years and the four children they adopted this past year. He’s active in several local writers’ groups and conducts novel-writing workshops at bookstores and libraries.

Michael Murphy’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Saturday, December 27th: Vic’s Media Room – Review of Book 1, The Yankee Club
Monday, January 5th: Omnimystery News – author guest post
Tuesday, January 6th: Reading Reality
Wednesday, January 7th: The Book Binder’s Daughter
Thursday, January 8th: Joyfully Retired
Friday, January 9th: The Reader’s Hollow
Monday, January 12th: Mystery Playground
Tuesday, January 13th: A Book Geek
Tuesday, January 13th: Vic’s Media Room
Wednesday, January 14th: Psychotic State Book Reviews
Thursday, January 15th: Dwell in Possibility
Friday, January 16th: Fiction Zeal
Monday, January 19th: Open Book Society
Monday, January 19th: A Chick Who Reads
Wednesday, January 21st: Lilac Reviews
Thursday, January 22nd: ImaginativeMinds*
Friday, January 23rd: Read a Latte
Monday, January 26th: From the TBR Pile
Tuesday, January 27th: Bibliotica
Wednesday, January 28th: The Discerning Reader
Thursday, January 29th: Mom in Love with Fiction
Friday, January 30th: Laura’s Booklist