Guest Author:Kevin Doyle

It’s one of the oldest cliches in the mystery game. Someone wants to kill one person, and they kill several in order to throw the police off their trail. Gee, officer, it’s horrible that my wife was killed, but you can’t possibly suspect me. After all, look at all those other women murdered in the same way. How could you possibly suspect me of them as well?

But what if they do suspect you of that very thing – killing several to hide your complicity in one? 

And what if you are, in fact, completely innocent?

At 82,000 words, Kevin R. Doyle’s The Group tells the story of a man whose seemingly-normal life turns upside down because of something as mundane as being a participant in an advertising focus group. Taking part in the group leads him first to an affair, then to possible involvement with a serial killer.

Doyle, a native Kansan and long-time Missourian, has spent a large portion of his life writing about murder, death and mayhem, primarily in the short story field and only recently turning to novel-length work. After a bit of a detour with his mainstream novelette “One Helluva Gig,” he is, at least for now, once more firmly ensconced on the dark side of the road.  

Released by Barbarian Books in January 2014.  Available in e-book form only, estimated at 271 pages. Currently available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or directly from Barbarian Books.

The Group
by Kevin Doyle

File Size: 646 KB
Print Length: 271 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: Barbarian Books (January 12, 2014)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Amazon Link

About the book:

Professor Ron Green could only blame himself as his marriage teetered on a precipice. Even though the affair had been over for months, he felt accused by every icy stare his wife sent his way. What could be worse than this slow motion disaster? 

The murder of his ex-lover could be worse. 

Becoming the prime suspect in her murder could be worse. 

Discovering another murder related to his lover's death, and making himself the scapegoat by telling the police about the connection could be worse. 

Someone is killing harmless members of the focus group where he met his lover. What did the group do to cause this horrible vengeance? Who could feel hurt by anything Ron and the others had done in those two brief days? 

Ron must answer those questions and find the killer before he ends up taking the fall. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

"It's Monday! What are you reading?" is a fun meme hosted by Sheila @ Book Journey. This is where we share the books we have read the last week and our reading plans for this week.

Book Reviewed

Fixed on You (Book #1) by Laurelin Paige - 5-star

Book for Review

An old flame rekindled . . .

Zara Cinders always knew Ham Reece was the one, but he wasn't interested in settling down. When she found someone who was, Ham walked out of her life. Three years later, Zara's lost her business, her marriage, and she's barely getting by in a tiny apartment on the wrong side of the tracks. As soon as Ham hears about Zara's plight, he's on her doorstep offering her a lifeline. Now, it will take every ounce of will power she possesses to resist all that he offers.

Ham was always a traveling man, never one to settle down in one town, with one woman, for more time than absolutely necessary. But Ham's faced his own demons, and he's learned a lot. About himself, and about the life he knows he's meant to live. So when he hears that Zara's having a rough time, he wants to be the one to help. In fact, he wants to do more than that for Zara. A lot more. But first, he must prove to Zara that he's a changed man.

Next Book to Read

Just finished watching the TV series, seasons 1 - 3... forgive me my lady and my lord  for not reading and blogging as much as before, this has kept me occupied for the last 3 weeks... and now I am about to read the first book. . . .

Summers span decades. Winter can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun.

As Warden of the north, Lord Eddard Stark counts it a curse when King Robert bestows on him the office of the Hand. His honour weighs him down at court where a true man does what he will, not what he must … and a dead enemy is a thing of beauty.

The old gods have no power in the south, Stark’s family is split and there is treachery at court. Worse, the vengeance-mad heir of the deposed Dragon King has grown to maturity in exile in the Free Cities. He claims the Iron Throne.

Thursday Trailer: Follies Past: a Prequel to Pride and Prejudice by Melanie Kerr

Follies Past:
a Prequel to Pride and Prejudice

Author: Melanie Kerr
Kindle Edition
File Size: 1664 KB
Print Length: 281 pages
Publisher: Petticoat Press (January 6, 2014)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Amazon Link

About the book: 

"I must now mention a circumstance which I would wish to forget myself, and which no obligation less than the present should induce me to unfold to any human being..."

So begins Mr. Darcy to lay before Elizabeth his faithful narrative of Mr. Wickham's villainy toward his sister, Georgiana. The facts he sets out are brief but potent. They contain a story unto themselves, and that story is the subject of this book.

Taking its facts from Austen’s own words, Follies Past opens almost a year before the opening of Pride and Prejudice itself, at Pemberley, at Christmas. Fourteen-year-old Georgiana has just been taken from school and is preparing to transfer to London in the spring. It follows Georgiana to London, to Ramsgate and into the arms of the charming and infamous Mr. Wickham.

To read this book is to step back into the charming world of Jane Austen’s England, to pass a few more hours with some of her beloved characters, sympathetically portrayed as they might have been before ever they came to Netherfield, and to discover a host of new characters each with engaging histories of their own. Authentic in its use of language and meticulously researched, it is a truly diverting entertainment.

Follies Past:

a Prequel to Pride and Prejudice