Blog Tour: CRIMES AND CREVICES OF THE HEART by Beth Ford

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Beth Ford will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Cassie Woods yearns to be a real journalist. But in 1880s New York City, her only assignments are women's interest stories. Until, that is, a cookbook author she's meant to interview goes missing and Cassie finds herself in the midst of a police investigation involving one of the city's major crime families. Surly but handsome Detective O'Neill threatens repercussions to her career if she continues to interfere. Will Cassie get in over her head or will she save the day and solve the mystery?

This collection contains seven connected stories, each centered on an exciting new case for Cassie to solve while navigating the highs and lows of her relationship with Detective O'Neill.

Read an Expert

“A lady reporter?” the policeman at the front desk asked her. “Are you serious?”

“Quite serious, I assure you.” She pointed at the card he held in his hand.

“Anyone could have these printed.”

“Are you going to let me talk to the detective who’s investigating her case or not?”

The man scowled, making his bushy blond eyebrows meet in the middle. Without a word, he walked through a door and out of sight. He returned a few minutes later followed by a fortyish man with strong cheekbones and striking green eyes. The first policeman returned to his duties at the front desk while his handsome superior continued into the lobby. Cassie turned her most charming smile on him.

“Are you the detective?”

“I can’t have reporters interfering in my case.” He spoke in a rough Irish brogue.

Her face fell. Clearly this man was not one to be charmed. “I’m merely asking for information.”

“What does the News Desk want with this story anyway? And why send you?”

“I’m the women’s editor—”

“Women are reading missing persons cases now, are they?”

“I’m simply trying to ascertain where the investigation currently stands. Mr. Walker’s lawyer—”

“What lawyer has he got?”

“Mr. Greene—”

The detective harrumphed. “No good swindler, that one.”

“I’m sure such a description applies to many lawyers you encounter, Mr.…”

The man glared at her. “O’Neill.”

About the Author:

Beth Ford writes historical and time travel stories that transport you in time. She is the author of the novels In the Times of Spirits, Love Between Times, Love Across Time, and After the Spirits Come: A Continuation of Dickens's A Christmas Carol. She also writes the Cassie Woods, Reporter historical mystery romance novella series. Her work has also appeared in a variety of literary journals. She lives in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Website: http://bethfordauthor.com
X: https://x.com/BethFordAuthor
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bethfordauthor.bsky.social

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Crimes-Crevices-Heart-Complete-Reporter-ebook/dp/B0H3811ZPM/ref=sr_1_1

Blog Tour: SHENANIGANS by Gail Koger

 

One psychic pet detective.

One grumpy homicide cop.

A million ways to cause total chaos. 

Shenanigans

Shenanigans Book 1

by Gail Koger

Genre: Paranormal Romantic Comedy, Supernatural Sleuth

Kandi Cain inherited her Dr. Doolittle abilities from her grandmother and became a psychic pet detective. To her dismay, she just acquired the power to communicate with the spirit world, but dead people give her the willies.

Just when Kandi thought her life couldn’t get more complicated, the neighbor from hell moved in next door. The nasty guy’s name is Dutch Callaghan. How can someone so gorgeous be such a dick? Kandi could chalk some of it up to his job. Dutch is a Phoenix PD homicide cop.

Kandi’s current case is rescuing a Yorkie from a brutal dog fighting ring. Little does she know her dog napping suspect is involved in a series of brutal murders. Disguised as an elderly nun, Kandi rescues the Yorkie and, in the process, blows the hell out of Dutch’s undercover operation.

Kandi now finds herself a person of interest in her client’s murder and her sexy-as-hell, pain-in-the-butt neighbor is in hot pursuit of the Ninja Nun. Is Dutch about to slap the cuffs on? Only time will tell.

 

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The Trouble With Tigers

Shenanigans Book 2

Lions and tigers and skunks, oh my! Kandi Cain’s a psychic pet detective. Her cases range from wrangling baby goats, to finding lost critters. Her current case is rescuing a lion from a Nigerian warlord. Kandi knew dressing up as a demonic clown and walking a lion down a city street would freak people out. But, wow! She didn’t expect Armageddon.

The hot as hell Detective Dutch Callaghan’s on her trail again and showing more than a professional interest. Kandi’s talents have attracted the attention of a CIA black ops agent who wants her to steal twelve endangered white tigers from a Pakistani warlord. The mission’s crucial to prevent a terrorist attack.

Wait! What? Terrorists? What had she gotten herself into? Kandi wasn’t a superhero. She couldn’t bend steel with her bare hands, and she wasn’t faster than a speeding bullet. She’s Doctor Doolittle. She talks to the animals and occasionally the dead.

 

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Howdy. My name is Gail Koger and once upon a time I was a 9-1-1 dispatcher. Too many years of wild requests, screwy questions, bizarre behavior and outrageous demands have left me with a permanent twitch and an uncontrollable craving for chocolate. I took up writing science fiction romance to keep from killing people. So far, it has worked.

 

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Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

Enter the Shenanigans Giveaway Here

Blog Tour: HOLES IN THE SOMEWHERE by Richard R. Brown

 

Sometimes grief sneaks up on you and hunts you down.

Sometimes it walks right up and punches you.

Holes in the Somewhere 

by Richard R. Brown

Genre: Speculative Fiction, Horror Stories

Holes In The Somewhere is a collection of short works, anchored by a personal memoir of the author's own experience with grief and loss after the passing of his father from cancer, by speculative fiction author Richard R. Brown.

A single mother encounters insanity in the worst possible person; an estranged parent loses his reunited family to a mysterious bathroom wall; a group of strangers come together to fight a fungal pandemic; college students prepare for the extinction of the Sun... these are a few of the challenges faced by the desperate characters in Holes In The Somewhere. The choices they make, the dilemmas they wrestle with, all have very supernatural consequences, but are felt with very human emotions.

These stories will tug at strings your heart thought were too well-hidden for anyone to know about, and cause the mind to probe the gray areas between wrong and right. Between normal and paranormal. Behind what's real and only to the side of what's unreal. A perfect mix of quick, unsettling reads, and longer, heart-wrenching escapes.

 

What readers are saying:

"The debut is speculative fiction in form: weird, unsettling, occasionally cosmic. But it reads less like a genre exercise than like grief that has been given permission to take unusual shapes." - Justine Castellon, Author/Reviewer

"I guarantee there is a 'gotcha' story in there for just about anybody, and if you don't find at least one that bothers you just as you're about to fall asleep, you're made of sterner stuff than I am." - Kenneth Crist, editor-in-chief, Black Petals Magazine

“These stories are weird and creepy and heart-wrenching in all the best ways. If you enjoy fiction that makes you question everything and wrecks you emotionally, this is for you!” – Valerie S., 5 star Amazon Review

 

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Excerpt from ‘A Hole In The Somewhere’, a story in ‘Holes In The Somewhere’

 

When he hung up, he saw the answer to his problem of Tony’s dead body. He picked Tony up and wrestled him into the wall where the blurred patch was. Pieces seemed to fall off into the wall, but that just made Tony easier to handle. He just had time to change into a clean shirt and slide the gun back under the couch before there came a soft knock on his door.

Jack wiped sweat from his forehead and opened the door. Before him stood the same little girl who held his hand twenty years ago and asked him, “Why, Daddy?” about absolutely everything. Only now she had green eyes when she used to have brown eyes. 

“Mommy says you’re my grandpa,” she said to him now. “Why is your door all bubbly and brown, Grandpa?”

Jack looked up and past his granddaughter at Mary, who was smiling anxiously at both of them.

“Hi, Daddy,” was all she said. It was enough.

Jack burst into tears, picked his granddaughter up in his left arm, and trotted down the steps to embrace his daughter with his right arm. They hugged for several moments before a muffled, “Why are you crying, Grandpa?” came from his shoulder.

Jack laughed, and put her down on the ground again. “I’m crying because I’m so happy to meet you!” he said.

“Oh. My name’s Emily, but you can call me Emmy. Why do you live by the train tracks, Grandpa?”

“Actually, Dad, I’m curious, too. This address came up as ‘Condemned.’ How is it that you live here?” 

Jack led them inside and told them his story, forcing himself to be honest about his decisions and his reasons. Recent events disappeared from his awareness as the last twenty years enveloped him. He told them about his depression and anger from the divorce, and how losing everything seduced him into giving up everything. He hadn’t wanted to try to replace what he had lost because that would be admitting that he had lost it to begin with. After a few minutes, Emmy wanted to explore, so Jack gave a tour while he talked. It only took a minute.

In the bathroom, Mary shot him an alarmed look when she saw the cracked mirror. “Oh! It was like that when I found this place. I got a new one last month. I just forgot about hanging it up.”

“Let’s do it now, Daddy. I don’t like that crack, for some reason. It creeps me out.”

They hung the new mirror while Jack entertained them with stories from his train-hopping days. Mary leaned the cracked mirror against the wall below the new one, stood up, and proclaimed, “Much better!”

Jack and Mary returned to the main room. Mary told Jack about her short, failed marriage to Emmy’s father, her job at CyberSolutions, and her academic career. “Where is Emmy?” Jack wondered aloud.

“She was fascinated by that old mirror, so I leaned it against the wall so she could look at it.”

Jack felt a moment of unease at this, but had no ready explanation for it, so he let it go. “Are you hungry, kiddo?” he asked Mary. “I’m sure Emmy probably is. Want to go to lunch?”

“Sure, but I’m pay-“Mary was interrupted by a tremendous whipcrack coming from the bathroom.

The gun!, Jack thought, and leapt to his feet as Mary called out, “Emmy?  Emmy!” They both ran into the bathroom, only to find it empty. There was nothing to hide behind, but Mary made a close search of every corner, anyway, all the while calling her daughter’s name, “Emmy! Emmeeee!”

 

Richard R. Brown is a legally-blind author of speculative fiction, horror, and thrillers. He writes from experience, having lived through paranormal events, alien attacks, and cosmic horrors -- at least, in his mind and in the books he listens to. He and his Guide Dog live in the Pacific Northwest. Richard is between Guide Dogs at the moment as Edison retired last summer. Edison was at Richard's side through every story in his book. Richard has no such guidance for his current novel, but will likely have one for editing help.

 

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Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

Enter the Holes in the Somewhere Giveaway Here

Review: THE OTHER WOMAN by NL Hinkens

 

Who was the other woman that walked out of her husband’s office after hours? The even more shocking part was finding the other woman’s dead body in her husband’s car. Did her husband kill her? This leads the wife on a frenzy and paranoid journey of speculation and doubt. Was her husband a murderer?

 

This soon unravels a tangled web of deceit and treachery, which was truly gripping. Bridgett’s life and family were suddenly turned upside down in this twisted puzzle of a mystery.

 

“In the span of a couple of days, she’d gone from a law-abiding citizen to the wife of a fugitive and the mother of a criminal.”

 

Another great read by NL Hinkens!

 

Rating: 4 stars

Review: SUSPECTS AND SURPRISES by Cindy Bell

 

A murder at Dune House. A man fell off a balcony. The girls knew that he was pushed. But how could they prove it when it looked so much like an accident? And could the death be connected to a stolen antique book? Another great mystery! A little predictable in one area, but a good read!

 

Rating: 4 stars