Berkley Prime Crime's 5-Cozy Giveaway with Tote Bag

To celebrate 20 years of Berkley Prime Crime, Berkley is offering a special 20^th anniversary tote bag filled with 5 of their cozies as a giveaway on this and other blogs. The cozies will be Berkley Prime Crime titles. See the details at the end of this post.

Scandal in Skibbereen

20 YEARS OF BERKLEY PRIME CRIME

  

Twenty years ago, in March 1994, Berkley Books introduced Berkley Prime Crime, a mass market mystery imprint that included five launch authors.  This year, Berkley celebrates the 20^th anniversary of Prime Crime with special author events and promotional giveaways.

In its first year, Berkley Prime Crime (BPC) published approximately forty titles, all mass market.  In 2013, the imprint published 150 titles, including mass market originals, trade paperbacks, and hardcovers.  Every year, BPC launches approximately 25-30 new series, including several house-owned franchises that editors have developed from idea to execution.  In the past year, BPC debuted sixteen titles on the New York Times Bestsellers List (printed and extended lists combined), which comes out to more than one per month!

“When we launched Berkley Prime Crime in March 1994 I believed that the audience for the traditional or ‘cozy’ mystery was still largely underserved and untapped.  Twenty years later I can say without reservation that this has proven to be correct and that Berkley Prime Crime has succeeded beyond my wildest expectations,” said Natalee Rosenstein, Vice President and Senior Executive Editor of Berkley. 

This spring Berkley Prime Crime is hosting two events at mystery bookstores that have supported Berkley Prime Crime over the years.  On March 13, Julie Hyzy, Miranda James, and Rebecca Hale will be at Murder by the Book in Houston, Texas.  On March 25 the Poisoned Pen in Phoenix will host Margaret Coel, Carolyn Hart, Earlene Fowler, and Avery Aames.

Throughout the remainder of 2014, more events and promotional giveaways are planned, in addition to Berkley Prime Crime’s annual presence at mystery conventions BoucherCon and Malice Domestic.  Visit the cozy mystery Facebook page at www.facebook.com/thecrimescenebooks.

GIVEAWAY: To enter the giveaway of a Berkley Prime Crime tote with cozies, leave a comment by March 10 and tell me about the last cozy you read. For anyone having a problem leaving a comment here, email me at harvee44@yahoo.com with the heading: BERKLEY GIVEAWAY.

A winner, must be a U.S. resident, will be chosen at random and announced on March 11. The winner will have 24 hours to respond by email before another winner is chosen.

UPDATE: The winner, chosen by random.org, is #6, Carol! 
Thank you all who entered the contest! 

The publisher will mail the books and the tote. 

Book Review: Sweet Tea Revenge by Laura Childs

Title: Sweet Tea Revenge: A Tea Shop Mystery by Laura Childs
Publication date: March 4, 2014; Berkley
Genre: cozy mystery

Just when Theodosia was delivering a plate of black currant scones and a pot of vanilla spice tea, the ghost hunters came charging into her shop. They spotted her, gave an enthusiastic wave, then trooped over to the same table they'd secured yesterday. (ch. 8)

My comments: I have no doubt half of the appeal of the Tea Shop Mystery series is the description of delicious scones, exotic teas, tea sandwiches, desserts, and lunch offerings served in Theodosia's tea shop in Charleston, South Carolina. Her cook and baker Haley and her tea expert Drayton are two of the characters involved in the various pairings of delicacies and tea.

That's the tea shop background of the mystery series. This novel, like the others, presents a different mystery and murder for amateur sleuth Theodosia to solve. In Sweet Tea Revenge, Theodosia must find out who ruined the marriage of her friend Delaine with a murder at the wedding, discover if the Ravenscrest Inn, the venue for the wedding, is really haunted, and try to remain safe from a murderer at the same time.

Recommendation: Scrumptious details of tea parties and tea menus were part of the charm for me. The cozy is also a good mystery that had me guessing till the end. The novel has entertaining characters, a subtle plot that is not at all predictable, and a smooth writing style that eases the reader along effortlessly. It was fun to read.  My objective rating is 4.5/5.

Thanks to the publisher for a complimentary book tour copy of the novel.. 

Sunday Salon: Cold Rain versus Snow

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, and Mailbox Monday.

Snow is expected tonight and tomorrow after a day of moderate temperatures. Only my bones are complaining about today - humid weather does that - and I may welcome the seriously colder temps that are coming. So, I can forget about living in places with persistent cold rain - no Seattle or Vancouver for me, though they are lovely cities to visit.

On the bright side, I have a few new books:

Death in Reel Time I think I will enjoy - a Family History Mystery series.

Above is a more serious novel, about an abduction of a teenager that lasts way too long. I may have to be in the right mood for this one.

What are you reading this week?

Half World by Scott O'Connor

Friday 56 Rules: *Grab a book, any book.

*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader  *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. *Post it. *Add your (url) post in Linky at Freda's Voice.

Also Book Beginnings by Rose City Reader.

Title: Half World: A Novel by Scott O'Connor
Published February 18, 2014; Simon and Schuster
Genre: literary thriller

page 56:

Henry couldn't fathom what it would take to walk down into the party. Everyone there assumed he was guilty in some way. This was the organizing principle that he had instilled in the company, that Weir had instilled. Proximity to guilt is still guilt." 

Book beginning:

San Francisco, Spring 1956

The landlady opened the door and led him into the apartment he'd telephoned about, the rooms above the mechanics' garage on Telegraph Hill. She stood to the side while Henry walked to the far end of the living room and looked out the windows through the last of the morning fog. Alcatraz to the north, the bridge and the bay and the black hills to the east. A beautiful corner view. He would need to cover it. 

Book description: "In the 1950s, the CIA began a clandestine operation known as Project MKULTRA, in which American citizens were subjected to drug and mind-control experiments. In the two decades the program ran, a nation’s trust was betrayed and countless lives—and families—were destroyed.

Scott O’Connor has crafted a literary thriller that imagines the devastating emotional legacy of such a program through the eyes of one of its more unexpected victims, CIA analyst Henry March.... Torn between duty and conscience, Henry’s own identity begins to fray, until he... disappears without a trace, taking with him the evidence and becoming the deepest ULTRA mystery of all.

 Twenty years later, another troubled young agent will risk everything to find Henry, protect Hannah, and piece together the staggering aftermath of the crimes before it’s too late."  (publisher)

Would you keep reading based on the excerpts and the book description? 

Book Feature: Happily Ever After by Elizabeth Maxwell

Title: Happily Ever After by Elizabeth Maxwell
To be published March 18, 2014; Touchstone
Genre: women's fiction, romance

Book description: At forty-six, Sadie Fuller’s life isn’t exactly romantic. A divorced, overweight, somewhat sexually frustrated mother of an eleven-year-old, she lives in the suburbs, shops the big box stores, makes small talk with her small-minded neighbors, and generally leads a quiet life. But while her daughter is at school, or when Sadie is up late at night, she writes erotic fiction under the name KT Briggs.

Then, Sadie runs into someone familiar…too familiar, in fact. She encounters an incredibly handsome man exactly like the one in her imagination—and her latest novel. Is Aidan Hathaway really one of her characters? And if so, what is he doing in Target? As Sadie tries to negotiate this strange new world, her eyes begin to open to romantic possibilities in places she never dreamed of looking... places where Happily Ever After might not be so far-fetched after all. (publisher)

Can't wait to read this one. A writer meets one of the characters in her book, a handsome one at that. 

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy. 

GIVEAWAY WINNER of Fallen Beauty

Title: Fallen Beauty: A Novel by Erika Robuck
To be published March 4, 2014; NAL Trade
Genre: historical fiction

Congrats to NAIDA, the giveaway winner, chosen by Randomizer. Thanks to everyone for entering.

Book Review: The Korean Word for Butterfly by James Zerndt

First Chapter, First Paragraph is a weekly meme hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea.

Title: The Korean Word for Butterfly by James Zerndt
Published April 8, 2013
Genre: fiction

First chapter: Joe and I were met outside the airport by a man in a black suit. He was holding a sign with our names on it just like you see in the movies. He told us he worked for the English school and his name was, get this, Moon. He spoke to us in this quiet, gentle voice that immediately put me at ease. To say I was on edge would been an understatement. Joe and I were frauds. There was no other word for it.

Book description: Set against the backdrop of the 2002 World Cup and rising anti-American sentiment due to a deadly accident involving two young Korean girls and a U.S. tank, the novel is told from three alternating points-of-view. This is a story about the choices we make and why we make them. It is a story, ultimately, about the power of love and redemption. (from goodreads)

My comments: I found this novel an interesting and enlightening look at the Korea of ten years ago, written by a former English teacher in Seoul. There is resentment and suspicion of the U.S. forces there, especially after two schoolgirls are run over by a U.S. military tank. The Koreans avoided mixing with foreigners and the cultural differences often made for uneasy relations between the two groups.

The novel makes the local people come alive in the persons of Moon and Yun-Ji, whose personal lives and problems we see and can sympathize with, to some degree. Moon's compassion for Billie and Joe, the two American teachers who pretend to be what they are not, and Yun-ji's friendship with an American soldier Shaun, eventually show hope in the edgy situation of American and Korean interaction in those times.  

The cover of the book, showing a blue butterfly with its wings torn off, suggest to me the fragile nature of the U.S. presence in Korea then and perhaps even now, and the damage that could so easily be done. I recommend the novel for an insight into the multiple perspectives.

James Zerndt lives in Portland, Oregon, with his family. His poetry has appeared in The Oregonian Newspaper, and his short stories/fiction have won awards. He taught English in South Korea in 2002 and still loves the spicy Korean condiment, kimchi.  Visit the author on
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JamesZerndt
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZerndtJ
Google+: https://plus.google.com/107437037060168201663/posts?partnerid=gplp0

See the tour list for other reviews of the book. 
Thanks to Virtual Author Book Tours and the author for a review copy of this book.