Giveaway Review DEATH RIDES AGAIN by JANICE HAMRICK @JaniceHamrick @MinotaurBooks

Book Description

Release date: June 18, 2013 | Series: Jocelyn Shore Mysteries (Book 3)

Texas high school teacher Jocelyn Shore had been looking forward to spending Thanksgiving at her Uncle Kel’s ranch, but her visit takes an unexpected turn when she discovers Uncle Kel threatening his son-in-law Eddy with a shotgun. It seems that Kel, who is hosting the whole Shore clan, is none too happy about how Eddy has been treating his daughter Ruby June, and tensions are about to boil over.

Thanks to Jocelyn’s quick thinking, Eddy makes it out alive, and it looks like Ruby June is going to toss him out for good. Yet no one knows for sure because that is the last anyone saw of Ruby June. The family pins the disappearance on Eddy and files a missing-persons report. Still, it isn’t until Jocelyn and her sometime-boyfriend, Austin homicide detective Colin Gallagher, find Eddy’s body at the bottom of a caliche pit that the police really take notice. Unfortunately, all eyes---including Colin’s---are on Jocelyn’s family as the most likely suspects. While Colin assists the local police, Jocelyn and her cousin Kyla decide to investigate on their own. Their hunt turns up a shady ranch manager, a mysterious racehorse owner, and an overly persistent goat, but no sign of Ruby June . . . or a killer who is poised to strike again.

With a family reunion that is getting smaller by the minute and more romance and humor than can be fenced in on any ranch, Janice Hamrick’s Death Rides Again is another outstanding addition to her award-winning mystery series.

About the Author
Janice Hamrick is the author of two previous titles in her award-winning Jocelyn Shore mystery series, most recently Death Makes the Cut. Her awards and nominations include a Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Prize, a nomination to be a Mary Higgins Clark Award finalist, and a nomination for the RT Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Award. She lives in Austin, Texas.

SOURCE:  AUTHOR

MY THOUGHTS

ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT

Jocelyn is still teaching high school in Austin, on the fence about the hunky detective, Colin,  she recently met and long distance dating, Alan, who now lives in Dallas full time.  Thanksgiving  at Uncle Kel's ranch is a family reunion that comes with a lot of baggage.   The biggest of course is her two boyfriends that Kyla invites without Jocelyn's knowledge. Her cousin, Ruby June, is found to have been abused by her husband, Eddy,  who turns up dead and Ruby has now disappeared.  Jocelyn witnesses Eddy meeting with someone who might be his murderer.  As Jocelyn's jumps to more than conclusions in this latest installment, you wonder if she will make it out alive.

Told with a lot of humor, a touch of romance, Hamrick brings life to  this Texan mystery.  All of the characters are memorable and you will be wondering who Jocelyn picks as her one boyfriend.  Parts of Jocelyn's escapes remind me of an I Love Lucy episode and had me really laughing out loud.  There is just enough tension and suspense that will make you want to finish in one night.  I always have a great time reading Hamrick's stories and just wish that these were released more than once a year.

Disclosure I received this book from the publisher at no charge and in no way influenced my review.  If you are considering purchasing this book or anything else from Amazon, please use my link above since I earn a very small percentage of the sale which helps pay for shipping my giveaways!  

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GIVEAWAY REVIEW Death Makes the Cut by Janice Hamrick @JaniceHamrick @MinotaurBooks

Book Description

Publication Date: July 17, 2012 Series: Jocelyn Shore

The first bell of the new school year hasn’t even rung, and Texas high school teacher Jocelyn Shore is already at the scene of a murder. Friend and fellow teacher Fred Argus has been found dead on campus, and it isn’t long before the annoying, albeit attractive, Austin police detective Colin Gallagher uncovers evidence that Fred might have been selling drugs to students. Shocked by her loss as well as the insinuation that Fred was a dealer who got what he deserved, Jocelyn starts asking the kinds of questions guaranteed to set fellow teachers, administrators, and parents on edge. 

With the school serving as the setting for a big-time director’s latest film, her investigation could hardly have come at a worse time. Jocelyn, however, finds clearing her friend’s name far more important than the needs of a pesky movie crew and doesn’t care who knows it. But it’s only when she’s attacked while on set that she realizes someone is determined to make sure the secrets hidden by Fred’s death remain hidden no matter what the cost.

Humor, romance, and murder abound in Janice Hamrick’s follow-up to her Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award--winning debut, Death on Tour, and make Death Makes the Cut a charming addition to this outstanding new series.
 

About the Author

Janice Hamrick is the author of two titles in her Jocelyn Shore mystery series. The first, Death on Tour, was the winner of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition, a finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark Award, and a nominee for the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Awards Best First Mystery. She lives in Austin, Texas.

 Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (July 17, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 125000554X
• ISBN-13: 978-1250005540

SOURCE:  AUTHOR

MY THOUGHTS

ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT

Jocelyn is back in Austin, ready to start the uneventful school year as she has planned, teaching French and History.  Well, it doesn't do according to her lesson plan when she finds her mentor and fellow History teacher, Fred,  dead in the school's tennis office.  Enlisted to take over as tennis coach, she thinks the police aren't doing enough to catch the killer, especially when the police suspect him of selling drugs.  Jocelyn thinks those drugs were planted by the killer and wants to clear his name.  The detective, Colin, assigned to the case, questions her and some of those questions become personal.  As Kyla, Jocelyn's cousin notes, Colin is hunky and hot -- my words not hers, but you get the point.  Since Jocelyn is now in a long distance relationship with Alan, Kyla thinks that Jocelyn needs to date someone local and Colin couldn't agree more.  

Also, a famous director, Michael Dupre, is using the high school as a film site and rings in Jocelyn's tennis team as extra which absolutely fries the drama teacher, Roland, since he would love nothing more than audition for the director to get his big break.  While the kids are filming, Jocelyn is attacked and ends up in the hospital and when she is finally released, she finds her home burglarized and trashed.  Colin comes to the rescue and puts her on surveillance.  As Jocelyn collects more clues to Fred's murder, her best friend and fellow teacher, Laura,  finds a few suspicious things about the drama department and the school's finances.  Jocelyn warns Laura not to get too nosy because of what happened to her and things don't go well for Laura as she uncovers more dirt about the school accountant, Pat. 

My favorite line is the story is when Laura, described as tiny, tries to drag Jocelyn to see something in the school's theatre:  "She tugged at me, trying to pull me after her.  It was a little like a dachshund trying to move a fully loaded Yukon sled."  I bet you can guess why this is my favorite!  This is a fast paced and easy to read story, just perfect for the hot days of summer.  I love that Jocelyn is not perfect and just like a dachshund, she  tends to stay on scent, even though her logic knows she should just give up on the hunt for the killer.  Everything is believable and right down to the interactions with her cousin Kyla, students and other teachers just rings true.  I did have an ARGHHH moment at the end of the story where things are left up in the air with her love life.  I really hope there are more books planned for this series since I just adored everything about it.  

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Contest ends on 8.4.12 Winner will be chosen by Random.org 

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This giveaway is sponsored by ME and ONE copy is available.


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GIVEAWAY & REVIEW Death on Tour by Janice Hamrick @stmartinspress @JaniceHamrick

Book Description

Publication Date: May 22, 2012

Texas high school teacher Jocelyn Shore and her cousin Kyla are on a once-in-a-lifetime guided tour of Egypt with a motley crew of fellow travelers when the most odious of the bunch, a nosy, disagreeable woman named Millie Owens, takes a fatal fall off of one of the great pyramids. And that’s only the beginning of their troubles.

From the jovial doctor haggling for trinkets he doesn’t want to the mysterious impostor wearing someone else’s clothing to the attractive stranger traveling alone, this group of tourists is carrying more than one kind of baggage. Add a mistaken identity, a priceless necklace, and another unexpected death, and Jocelyn finds herself reluctantly trying to unravel an intrigue that threatens to end not only her vacation, but her life.

Janice Hamrick’s Mystery Writers of America/Minotaur Books Competition winner Death on Tour is a delightful debut and the beginning of a wonderfully charming cozy series featuring Jocelyn Shore, the determined teacher who always seems to get wrapped up in a mystery, against her usually very sound judgment.

About the Author

Janice Hamrick is the winner of the 2010 Mystery Writers of America/Minotaur Books First Crime Novel Competition. Born in Oklahoma and raised in Kansas, she now lives in Austin, Texas, with her two daughters.

SOURCE: AUTHOR

MY THOUGHTS

ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT


Jocelyn and Kyla are cousins but look enough alike to be sisters.  When Jocelyn's marriage breaks apart, the two decide to take a trip of a life time to Egypt with a tour group.  As they get to know their travel mates, the group's busy body turns up dead.  She becomes even more suspicious about the group after finding said busy body's pack with a note book full of observations about them.  As the tour progresses, strange men approach Jocelyn and her cousin asking them if they are "the sisters from Utah" and giving them things.  Now that Jocelyn is divorced, she has no interest in men except one nice guy on the tour named Allen.  Unfortunately, Kyla has claimed him, just like when they were in high school.  


The descriptions in this book are breath-taking.  I know I will never get to Egypt but this seems to be the next best thing for me.  I truly enjoyed getting to know Jocelyn and her cousin with all the wonderful dialogue between the two and with the other minor characters.  There is enough suspense to keep you turning the pages but nothing uncomfortable like some other mysteries that I have read.  This is just pure, clean fun!  There are so many other little mysteries that all add up the big finale.  I felt like I was reading my first Stephanie Plum book all over again with the right blend of humor and tension.  I can't wait until Death Makes the Cut comes out this July.  I hope there are many more adventures in store for me with Jocelyn.  

WANT TO WIN A COPY OF THIS *SIGNED* BOOK? 

Complete the below form 

Contest is open to anyone over 13 years old with a US mailing address 

(sorry, no PO Boxes)

Contest ends on 6.4.12 Winner will be chosen by Random.org on 6.5.12

Winner will have 48 hours to respond to email or a new winner will be chosen.

This giveaway is sponsored by ME and ONE copy is available.


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