Death by the Dozen by D.B. Borton

Today at Celtic Connexions, I’m reviewing Death by the Dozen by D.B. Borton. This is the second of her novels I’ve had the pleasure of featuring here.

Death

 

Blurb

A curious case of a disappearing pig. A murdered historian. A sassy senior sleuth. If Cat Caliban’s not your favorite crime-solving grandma, you just haven’t met her yet!

Meet Cat Caliban — sixty-something widow, proud cat lady, and budding private eye. She’s traded in her old life as a housewife for something far more exciting: solving crimes.

But nothing in her sleuthing career has prepared her for this.

When a local historian begs Cat to find the villain who stole her beloved pig — Gertie, a cupcake-loving micro-mini with a mischievous streak — Cat figures it’s a simple petnapping. Sorry, pignapping. Until the trail leads to a dead human body.

With the city gearing up for its bicentennial celebrations, Cat finds herself tangled up in a complex mystery involving missing historical papers, a children’s book about a detective with trotters . . . and a cunning killer who’s determined to keep the past buried.

Cat must crack the case, bring home the bacon, and catch a murderer, before she becomes the next victim of Cincinnati’s deadliest – and oinkiest – celebration.

My Review

Death Cat Caliban is a hoot! When I read Eleven Hours to Murder, I wasn’t sure what to make of Cat. Now that I know her better, I love her, her friends, and her detective partner, Moses.

Set in Cincinnati, Ohio, the case Cat has taken on isn’t what one would call usual. It starts out with a pig-napping and ends with a murder.

Cat is in the throes of seasonal allergies, and when she’s at a function early in the book, the author’s descriptions of the poor woman’s stuffed sinuses cracked me up. I can sympathize because I, too, suffer from seasonal allergies.

Now, it’s up to Cat and Moses to search for the culprit(s). This book had me turning the virtual pages from the get-go.

If another book comes my way, you bet I’ll get myself on that tour.

Book Links

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/247823113-death-by-the-dozen-a-brand-new-witty-and-addictive-cozy-murder-mystery

Purchase Link: https://mybook.to/deathbythedozen-zbt

About the Author

D. B. Borton is the author of two mystery series—the Cat Caliban series and the Gilda Liberty series —as well as the standalone mystery novels Smoke and Bayou City Burning and the humorous science fiction novel Second Coming.

In graduate school, Borton converted a lifetime of passionate reading and late-night movie-watching into a doctorate in English. She is Professor Emeritus of English at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Borton currently lives with Zoe the cat in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she gardens, practices aikido, a martial art, and, of course, reads.

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dbborton
Website https://dbborton.com/

Decoy by Christopher C Tubbs

Today at Celtic Connexions, I’m reviewing Decoy by Christopher C. Tubbs, another new-to-me author.

Decoy

Blurb

1941 Europe.

The Nazis have taken northern Europe, borders are sealed, until one heavily disguised trawler, a decoy ship, finds a way in.

Tommy Keelson was a smuggler long before MI6 recruited him for the war effort.

Now he commands The Sarah — a German-built trawler refitted with hidden guns and covert equipment. It’s a lethal decoy built to slip through occupied waters and fool the enemy.

From Saint-Nazaire to Honfleur, Tommy’s missions grow deadlier by the week. But his next mission will be his most dangerous yet.

He must rescue a captured MI6 agent who’s trapped deep in occupied France.

Tommy and three Free French commandos slip into Paris, strike the Gestapo’s headquarters and pull her out.

But their escape erupts into a firefight along the Seine — ending in an explosion that sends Tommy overboard, presumed dead.

Now wounded and trapped behind enemy lines, Tommy must fight his way to safety and back to England where Germans forces are closing in on all sides.

Decoy

Book Links

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/246488183-decoy

Purchase Link: https://geni.us/decoy-review

My Review

I jumped at the chance to read Christopher’s novel, Decoy. First of all, it’s set in a time period that’s important to me. My father fought during WWII but never spoke about his time overseas. I found out long after he passed away that he was able to get leave to go from mainland  Europe to his youngest brother’s wedding in Scotland.

Back to the book. Christopher’s style pulled me in immediately. He turned a tragic event into a story without going into too much detail. Yes, there was violence. Some might say it was gratuitous. But, that’s what happens in a war. Young men go off to fight. Some never return. And some of those who do are never the same again.

The swashbuckling story, Tommy operating a Decoy boat to protect the fleet and cause general mayhem to keep the Germans on their toes, was an interesting read.

Actual events were included, as were actual people. That’s what really brought it to life for me.

Even though this is the fourth book in Christopher’s series, it reads quite well as a standalone.

About the author

Decoy

Christopher C Tubbs, is a SABA 2020 Fiction Book award short listed Author. A dog loving descendent of a long line of Dorset clay miners who has traced his family tree back to the 16th century in the Isle of Purbeck. He left school at 16 to take an apprenticeship in Avionics and has been a public speaker for most of his career and was one of the founders of a successful games company back in the 1990’s.

Now in his sixties he is writing the stories he had going around in his head for many years. Thanks to inspiration from great fiction and fantasy authors he was finally able to put digit to keyboard and start writing the Dorset Boy series. He makes no apologies that he write for himself. The stories emerge as he writes and is often surprised by the twists and turns that they take. His dogs sit by him as he writes and it would be unfair to leave them out so look out for them in The Dorset Boy series. Now living in the Netherlands Antilles on the island of Bonaire with his wife and furry kids.

You can follow Christopher at these links.

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thedorsetboy/
Website https://www.thedorsetboy.com

New Release Day! Decoy by Christopher C Tubbs

Today is New Release Day for Decoy by Christopher C Tubbs!

New Release

Blurb

1941 Europe.

The Nazis have taken northern Europe, borders are sealed, until one heavily disguised trawler, a decoy ship, finds a way in.

Tommy Keelson was a smuggler long before MI6 recruited him for the war effort.

Now he commands The Sarah — a German-built trawler refitted with hidden guns and covert equipment. It’s a lethal decoy built to slip through occupied waters and fool the enemy.

From Saint-Nazaire to Honfleur, Tommy’s missions grow deadlier by the week. But his next mission will be his most dangerous yet.

He must rescue a captured MI6 agent who’s trapped deep in occupied France.

Tommy and three Free French commandos slip into Paris, strike the Gestapo’s headquarters and pull her out.

But their escape erupts into a firefight along the Seine — ending in an explosion that sends Tommy overboard, presumed dead.

Now wounded and trapped behind enemy lines, Tommy must fight his way to safety and back to England where Germans forces are closing in on all sides.

Decoy

Book Links

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/246488183-decoy

Purchase Link: https://geni.us/decoy-review

About the author

Decoy

Christopher C Tubbs, is a SABA 2020 Fiction Book award short listed Author. A dog loving descendent of a long line of Dorset clay miners who has traced his family tree back to the 16th century in the Isle of Purbeck. He left school at 16 to take an apprenticeship in Avionics and has been a public speaker for most of his career and was one of the founders of a successful games company back in the 1990’s.

Now in his sixties he is writing the stories he had going around in his head for many years. Thanks to inspiration from great fiction and fantasy authors he was finally able to put digit to keyboard and start writing the Dorset Boy series. He makes no apologies that he write for himself. The stories emerge as he writes and is often surprised by the twists and turns that they take. His dogs sit by him as he writes and it would be unfair to leave them out so look out for them in The Dorset Boy series. Now living in the Netherlands Antilles on the island of Bonaire with his wife and furry kids.

You can follow Christopher at these links.

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thedorsetboy/
Website https://www.thedorsetboy.com

 

Shadows Through Time – Book 3 in my Through Time series

Shadows Through Time was one of those books that took me on an unexpected journey. While it’s still a dual timeline and the characters are the same as in the first two, this one is different.

Shadows

I took the photograph of the house on the cover a number of years ago, then added some atmospheric aging to it. Beginning with a platinum effect, I used another piece of software to set it to 29% sepia, giving it an older appearance.

Blurb

Past and present collide as shadows reveal the truth and where the forgotten still linger

Nicole has always sketched the world around her.

But when she and Mitch uncover strange symbols hidden in century-old buildings, her drawings begin to connect past and present in ways she can’t explain.

In 1832, Whitmore, apprentice to the brilliant yet secretive Elias Greaves, learns that foundations can conceal more than stone—that loyalty, once broken, leaves scars as lasting as any carving.

Two timelines, bound by mystery, converge in a race to decipher Greaves’s legacy. To understand the past, Nicole and Mitch must follow the whispers that linger in wood and shadow—before the truth slips away forever.

*****

The ebook is available on Amazon, Kobo, Kobo Plus, and Barnes & Noble for the Nook. You can download it from your favourite platform at this link:

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