It’s a Big Easy Mystery with Uneasy In New Orleans
UNEASY IN NEW ORLEANS has everything you love about the French Quarter, delicious food, sexy men, mystery, gossip, trouble, and dead bodies…Well maybe not all of what people love about the city. However Finnigan Jones is dealing with all of these things and more. UNEASY IN NEW ORLEANS is the first in a new series called the Big Easy Mysteries from multi-published author Carol Carson.
To learn more about Carol Carson and her books check out her new website!
Giveaway:
Grand Prize: 2 Winners Will Receive 2 $35 gift card to Amazon or B&N
About UNEASY IN NEW ORLEANS
FINNIGAN JONES HAS A PASSION FOR COOKING AND A PENCHANT FOR TROUBLE.
Dead bodies aren’t on Finn’s New Orleans walking tour of cemeteries and haunted houses. Ditto disappearing bodies. Now she has to explain to Detective Jack Boyle how her missing corpse has turned up in the Mississippi putting her smack-dab in the middle of a murder investigation.
Unfortunately, another of Finn’s odd jobs is taking questionable photos for Jack’s PI brother, Tommy. After she snaps shots of a dubious pair of lovebirds, they stalk her, then kidnap her. Now Finn’s dealing with two lunatics intent on killing her. Or driving her crazy. She’s not sure which.
Because lunatics and smokin’-hot brothers aren’t enough trouble, she’s gossiping, yes gossiping, with a chef ghost at culinary school, cat-sitting her aunt’s six felines and attempting to corral her wayward teenage sister.
All Finn wants is to survive school and become the best chef in the world.
FINN’S LIFE IS ABOUT TO GET EVEN MORE COMPLICATED.
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Add UNEASY IN NEW ORLEANS to your TBR pile on Goodreads!
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Author Bio:
Multi-published author Carol Carson was born and raised in central Iowa. She is a former finalist in the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart contest and is an avid bookworm who actually enjoys doing research. Her other passions include travel, American history, the Kansas City Chiefs, the St. Louis Cardinals and dark chocolate. She has lived in Colorado and Kansas, and currently lives with her husband in a log home on the outskirts of St. Louis, Missouri. Write to her at carol.carson@centurytel.net.
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Excerpt
3
She heard a faint noise. She wasn't alone. A tall stranger whose face
looked familiar came toward her, his strides long and deliberate.
"You the one takin’ pictures of me?"
"No," she automatically lied.
His tone left little doubt about how he felt about her. ‘Dislike’
would be too kind.
‘Outraged and highly motivated to harm her’ seemed more likely.
Which was when she remembered why he looked familiar. Franco, the
wandering husband she'd photographed last night in all his
pants-around-his-ankles glory. It took a nano-second to register the
thought that he shouldn't have known where to find her before extreme
terror kicked in.
Closer to the stairs than Tommy's office, Finn managed to dash past
him in her rarely-worn heels.
He grabbed at her but she ducked. She reached the outer door and
twisted the doorknob. He yanked her from behind, and pulled her
toward him. A nasty blast of stale breath hit her in the face. The
knob slipped from her sweaty hand. She wrenched her backpack off and
screamed. She swung it and connected with his head. He grunted and
lost his grasp on her.
Finn took advantage of the moment and wrenched open the door. She
scrambled out to the landing. With one foot on the first step, he
jerked her by the back of her sweater. She screamed bloody murder
again and swung around to hit him.
Tommy appeared and yanked Franco up, smashing him in the jaw. The man
stood in the tiny space swaying. Finn took advantage. She swung her
backpack. This time, Franco sidestepped. And she hit Tommy full
force.
He lost his balance, arms cartwheeling in the air as he reached for
the rail. He missed and tumbled down the steps, crashing against each
riser with a horrible thump until he lay crumpled at the bottom.
Franco raced down the stairs, hurtled over Tommy's prone body, then
disappeared up the dark alley.
Finn flew down the steps, her backpack forgotten. Tommy lay at the
bottom, his eyes closed, his jaw clenched.
She knelt by his side, her breath jerking in and out. She patted his
cheek, and prayed he wasn't dead. She couldn't take two dead bodies
in one day, no matter how insensitive it sounded.
He opened one eye and squinted at her, his face pinched. "Hell,
I, I broke my...damn it all to hell...my damned leg."
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MY REVIEW
Part talent on the part of the author, Carol Carson, part N'awlins mystique, Uneasy in New Orleans is ALL GOOD! I've been reviewing books 'officially' now for going on two years, and on a handful of occasions, just holding a book in my hands (or, in this case, opening the MOBI file), I knew I was in for an entertaining read. Such was the case with this book.
I didn't find a voodoo doll of myself with a little copy of this book tied into my hands, but I'm a huge fan of this story nonetheless. Finn was not so lucky. She found one resembling herself at the scene of a missing body, complete with pins and a little noose around her neck. Given the fact that she was knocked out from behind while approaching the yet-to-be-missing corpse, things are not looking good for our intrepid heroine. Although, I must say, when the real reason for the doll was revealed, it as quite amusing.
Finn's life is beyond complicated. She has two jobs: French Quarter tour guide by day, photographer for a PI by night. She is going to cooking school. She pet sits 6 cats when her aunt goes on cruises looking for husband #4 (was it?). Her 17 year old sister winds up on her doorstep after being kicked out by Mom and Dad. And she's busy 'not falling in love' with Tommy (the PI) and his police detective brother Jack.
Some lessons I learned from reading this book:
1. Do not discuss potentially embarrassing personal business in horse-drawn carriages.
2. If you are going to take pictures for a PI, make a duplicate of the data on a thumb drive and hide it in a separate location.
3. If your cooking school classmate turns up the crazy, and attempts to flambe the school, stay away from her!
Uneasy in New Orleans is a cozy mystery feast for the senses. Take a big dose of this series, with a beignet and leave me a comment in the morning.
It sounds like the main character is so cool and does so much with the time she has! I can appreciate that about someone else. I also love when books are set away from the usual America and England, and Paris sounds like a brilliant place to do so!
ReplyDeleteFinn is rather inspirational in that regard, I agree, Olivia-Savannah! :O)
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