FOLLOWUP-VBT-Fatal February

As you know, I like to do a followup when I participate in a virtual book tour. For me, this VBT for Barbara Levenson and her first book Fatal February has been fun. The other stops on the VBT have been great in introducing the author, her book, and letting her speak. I had read about her website and went to check it out.

I discovered a link to another blog called Dallas Book Diva where there was an entry for the author and her book at http://cherylnason.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html. At the end of the entry there was a link to "hear the interview". I clicked on it and listened to an interview between Cheryl Nason and Barbara Levenson. It was really great. Check it out at the link above!!! (I probably could have added a link to the interview in this blog but was not certain if that would have been legal or ethical).

Incidentally, I want to thank Lance at Mystery Book News for including me in this VBT.

Virtual Book Tour - Fatal February

Talk about a book for the month, this is definitely one of them. Barbara Levenson is a new author and Fatal February is a great start.

First some qualification material about the author. Barbara has lived in Miami, Florida, for the past 32 years so it is not surprising that this book is set in this neck of the woods. On the professional side, Barbara has been a prosecutor and runs her own law practice where she focused on criminal defense and civil rights litigation. It is no wonder that the main character in her book - Mary Magruder Katz - is also a lawyer. I think there is an adage something like "you write about what you know" and this author seems to do that. Is this a mystery? Yes it is but it definitely has a style unique to the author.

When the book opens, we find Mary Magruder Katz at the car wash. Little does she know how this trip is going to change her life. As a side note, it was an interesting surprise to find out the story not only starts at the car wash but also ends at the car wash. She is rear-ended by another driver at the car wash who becomes a client. But he become more than just a client and one wonders if the chance encounter at the car wash was just an accident.

Katz has been dating her boss for years and now she starts seeing this guy. And when she gets caught fooling around in the office with this new guy, her life takes a turn. She finds herself out of the firm and having to open up an office of her own - with help from this new guy. There also seems to be a connection with a murder case that Katz is working on.

The author definitely has an interesting character in the form of Katz. She is a blend of a woman and a tough lawyer that sometimes seems to get mixed up. She also has a nice blend of supporting characters in telling the story. Fatal February is definitely a good first book.

“Barbara Levenson is giving away a signed copy of her book, Fatal February, to one lucky tour visitor. Go to Barbara’s book tour page, http://barbara-levenson.omnimystery.com/, and enter your name, e-mail address, and this PIN, 3395, for your chance to win. Entries from this blog site (Mystery Reader Discussion) will be accepted until 12:00 Noon (PT) tomorrow (Feb 18). No purchase is required to enter or to win. The winner (first name only) will be announced on Barbara’s book tour page next week.”

Discussion Group Selection For February

One of my favorite TV shows is Ghost Whisperer with Melinda Gordon (Jennifer Love Hewitt). I was surprised when I started reading February's selection Don of the Dead by Casey Daniels. Until then, I did not realize that the sleuth - Pepper Martin - was also a ghost whisperer. However, it is like comparing apples and oranges. The fact they both see and communicate with the dead is the only similarity between the characters. One was written for a tv series while the other was written for a book. One's gift seemed to be inherited, while the other's was a result of a bump on the head.


Pepper works as a guide in a cemetary. It is here where she hits her head and starts seeing a ghost. The ghost is a mafia don who was murdered years ago. Now that he has somebody alive he can talk to, he wants to find out who killed him. Pepper reluctantly agrees to help him despite warnings to stay out of it.

This was one of those books that you either like or not. Our discussion group was divided on this one. It was 7 thumbs up and 4 thumbs down. It was not surprising that what some liked about the book was what others did not. One reason some did not like it - it was not real - their preference is for more true crime. For others, not being real was just fine. It just goes to show people are different and have different interests.

Finally just as a side note - while one lady was looking for this book by Casey Daniels, she actually found another mystery writer with a similar name who happens to be a Texas / local writer. The author's name is Cindy Daniels and she wrote a book called Death Warmed Over. I think I will have to put that one on my list.

FOLLOWUP - VBT - The Mind of a Genius

I like to followup on Virtual Book Tours I have participated in. The VBT for The Mind of a Genius by David Snowdon is still in progress. There have been some interesting stops on the way. In particular, there are a couple of interviews of the characters from the book.

Here is an interview of Laura Prince who is the wife of the dead scientist / genius - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com/2009/02/meet-laura-prince-from-mind-of-genius.html. There was also an interview of Jason Clay who was one of the agents trying to get the secret formula - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com/2009/01/meet-jason-clay-playboy-and-mi4-agent.html.

Next week there should be some more interesting posts of a "unique 5 part serial story" at the blog http://printedwords.blogspot.com/. Check it out!!!! I know I will!!!