by Connie Berry
Be sure to SCROLL down to read a special GUEST POST and for a chance to win a FREE giveaway!
A Legacy of Murder: A Kate Hamilton Mystery
by Connie Berry
About A Legacy of Murder
A Legacy of Murder: A Kate Hamilton Mystery
Traditional Mystery
2nd in Series
Crooked Lane Books (October 8, 2019)
Hardcover ~336 Pages
ISBN-10: 1643851543
ISBN-13: 978-1643851549
Digital ASIN: B07NKQDYM3
American antique dealer Kate Hamilton’s Christmastime jaunt to a charming English village leads to an investigation of a missing ruby…and a chain of murders.
It’s Christmastime and antiques dealer Kate Hamilton is off to visit her daughter, Christine, in the quaint English village of Long Barston. Christine and her boyfriend, Tristan, work at stately-but-crumbling Finchley Hall. Touring the Elizabethan house and grounds, Kate is intrigued by the docent’s tales of the Finchley Hoard, and the strange deaths surrounding the renowned treasure trove. But next to a small lake, Kate spies the body of a young woman, killed by a garden spade.
Nearly blind Lady Barbara, who lives at Finchley with her loyal butler, Mugg, persuades Kate to take over the murdered woman’s work. Kate finds that a Burmese ruby has vanished from the legendary Blood-Red Ring, replaced by a lesser garnet. Were the theft and the woman’s death connected?
Kate learns that Lady Barbara’s son fled to Venezuela years before, suspected of murdering another young woman. The murder weapon belonged to an old gardener, who becomes the leading suspect. But is Lady Barbara’s son back to kill again? When another body is found, the clues point toward Christine. It’s up to Kate to clear her daughter’s name in Connie Berry’s second Kate Hamilton mystery, a treasure for fans of traditional British mysteries.
About Connie Berry
Like her protagonist, Connie Berry was raised in the antiques trade. After teaching theology for twenty-five years, she took up writing mysteries featuring high-end antiques and the legacy of the past. Connie loves history, cute animals, travel with a hint of adventure, and all things British. She lives in Ohio with her husband and adorable dog, Millie.
Author Links: Website –www.connieberry.com
Facebook Author@Facebook.com
Twitter @conniecberry
Goodreads –https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18733373.Connie_Berry
Purchase: Amazon Barnes & Noble Indiebound Kobo
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
November 1 – I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT
November 1 – The Power of Words – REVIEW
November 1 – Literary Gold – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
November 2 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW
November 2 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
November 2 – MJB Reviewers – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
November 3 – Carole’s Book Corner – REVIEW
November 3 – I Read What You Write – REVIEW
November 3 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT
November 4 – Baroness’ Book Trove – REVIEW
November 4 – eBook Addicts – SPOTLIGHT
November 4 – Diane Reviews Books – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
November 5 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
November 5 – Brianne’s Book Reviews – REVIEW
November 5 – Brooke Blogs – GUEST POST
November 6 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
November 6 – StoreyBook Reviews – GUEST POST
November 7 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
November 7 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW
November 8 – Book Club Librarian – REVIEW
November 8 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
November 8 – Cassidy’s Bookshelves – GUEST POST
November 9 – Readeropolis – SPOTLIGHT
November 9 – The Bookwyrm’s Hoard – REVIEW
November 10 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW
November 10 – Here’s How It Happened – GUEST POST
November 11 – LibriAmoriMiei – REVIEW
November 11 – The Cozy Pages – REVIEW
November 11 – Christa Reads & Writes – REVIEW
November 12 – Mysteries with Character – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
November 12 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
November 12 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT
GUEST POST
WHO WANTS A HAPPY ENDING?
by Connie Berry
Like most authors, my interest in story-telling stems from my childhood. One of my earliest memories is of my mother, an ex-elementary-school teacher, reading to me from the classics—Winnie the Pooh, Mother Goose, The Wind in the Willows. Some of the stories didn’t make sense, even to a three-year-old. Why would the parents in “Rock-a-Bye Baby” hang their infant’s cradle in a tree? And why could Jack Spratt’s wife eat no lean? That one still puzzles me.
Some of the stories were sad. I didn’t like the sad ones. Poor Humpty Dumpty—one misstep and splat. And “The King’s Breakfast” by A. A. Milne—why would no one get the king “a little bit of butter for his bread?” I didn’t think that an unreasonable request. How about the hapless maid in “Sing A Song of Sixpence” who got her nose snipped off by a blackbird? Was it retribution for the four-and-twenty blackbirds baked in a pie? And the three blind mice who had their tails chopped off? I mean, really. Where was PETA when we needed them?
When I started writing my own stories, the endings were always happy. Here’s an introduction I wrote at the age of ten (excuse the grammar and misspellings):
This little book is dedicated to my Mom and Dad. It isn’t very big but those of you who
like mysteries that end out solved will like it I’m sure. It really is a little book with in it
lots of little mysteries following a pattern of life anyone lives. I am ten years old and this
is my first story. I don’t make them sad stories because I don’t like sad stories. I like
happy stories and stories that have adventure in them. I had better stop describing my
story before you know all about my story before you know what it is.
The appeal of classic crime fiction, many have said, is the restoration of justice and order. Bad things happen, of course—people are murdered, crimes are committed, families are devastated, the fabric of society itself is torn asunder—but readers expect, in the end, that order will be restored, the guilty will be found and punished.
Today there’s a tendency to blur the lines of good and evil, justice and injustice. Think about the movie Chinatown. Or the recent blockbuster Gone Girl. The stories are compelling but ultimately unsatisfying. A friend told me she couldn’t put Gone Girl down, but when she’d read the last page, she threw the book at the wall. No one in a movie theater claps at a sad ending, do they? We do clap when, against all odds, good triumphs over evil. We clap when determination, ingenuity, and compassion overcome the forces of chaos and destruction. We clap for kindness and mercy.
I write the Kate Hamilton Mystery series, set in the U.K. and featuring American antiques dealer Kate Hamilton and English Detective Inspector Tom Mallory. A Legacy of Murder, second in the series, was released on October eighth. I still like happy endings—in fiction and in life.
What about you? What movies or novels have you clapped for?
GIVEAWAY
For a chance to win a FREE $25 Amazon gift card, click here: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/02887792953/?widget_template=56d5f80dbc544fb30fda66f0
