The Cinderella Murder by Mary Higgins Clark

First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted weekly by Bibliophile by the Sea. Share the first paragraph of your current read. Teaser Tuesday is hosted by MizB.

The Cinderella Murder (Under Suspicion #1) by Mary Higgins Clark/Alafair Burke

First paragraph, first chapter:

It was two o'clock in the morning. Right on time, Rosemary Dempsey thought ruefully as she opened her eyes and stirred. Whenever she had a big day ahead she would inevitably wake up in the middle of the night and start worrying that something would go wrong. 

It had always been like this, even when she was a child, and now, fifty-five years old, happily married for thirty-two years, with one child, beautiful and gifted nineteen-year-old Susan, Rosemary could not be anything but a constant worrier, a living Cassandra. Something is going to go wrong. 

Publisher description:

Television producer Laurie Moran is delighted when the pilot for her reality drama, Under Suspicion, is a success. The program is a cold case series that revisits unsolved crimes by recreating them with those affected. It helps solve an infamous murder in the very first episode. Now Laurie has the ideal case to feature in the next episode of Under Suspicion: the Cinderella Murder.

When Susan Dempsey, a beautiful and multi-talented UCLA student, was found dead, her murder raised numerous questions. The suspense and drama are perfect for the silver screen - but is Cinderella's murderer ready for a close-up?

Are you a Mary Higgins Clark fan? Are you ready for her new mystery? 
Released today by Simon and Schuster, who provided a copy for review/feature. 

Sunday Salon: Spring Has Not Sprung; Books and Poetry Blog Tour

Welcome to the Sunday Salon! Also visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer; It's Monday: What Are You Reading? at Book Journey.

A reluctant spring is here, sprinkled with snow and dropping below freezing at times. No bud or sprig dares show its head in this still frigid cold. Only more birds singing...a good sign. I'm more than ready to come out of hibernation. The temps are back in the 20s today after teasing us with 50s last week.

Fans of Mary Higgins Clark will be glad to know about her new thriller to be released April 1, 2014 by Simon & Schuster:

I've Got You Under My Skin

"When Laurie Moran’s husband was brutally murdered, only three-year-old Timmy saw the face of his father’s killer. Five years later his piercing blue eyes still haunt Timmy’s dreams. Laurie is haunted by more—the killer’s threat to her son as he fled the scene: “Tell your mother she’s next, then it’s your turn . . .”
Now Laurie is the producer of a true-crime, cold-case television series to launch with the twenty-year-old unsolved murder of Betsy Powell, a socialite found suffocated after a gala celebrating the graduation of her daughter and three friends. Reopening the case with the cooperation of the surviving guests that night, Laurie is sure to have a hit on her hands. But when the estranged friends begin filming, it becomes clear each is hiding secrets . . . small and large. And a pair of blue eyes is watching events unfold, too . ."(publisher)

I was one of five winners of a new e-book in a contest by the prolific Southern author, Peggy Webb:

Phantom of Riverside Park

"An unwed mother looking for a miracle… A wounded war hero living in the shadows… A grandfather praying for a silver lining… They never expected that miracles come in the most unlikely ways. Poignant and touching with lovely dashes of humor, this story will haunt you for a long time to come." (publisher)
Enjoying the descriptive writing.

Did you know that April is National Poetry Month?
The National Poetry Month Blog Tour hosted by Serena of Savvy Verse and Wit in April will feature bloggers posting on selected poets and their poems. On April 11 I will share thoughts on a favorite poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, "Spring and Fall: To a Young Child."  Contact Serena re signing up for the tour!

My next book tour will be March 26, a review of The Riot by Laura Wilson, a mystery novel set in racially charged 1950s London.

What books are you reading this week?