Friday, April 8, 2011

Book Review, High Tide: A Cozy Mystery

High Tide (Lowenna Series)

High Tide: A Cozy Mystery by Ann Summerville is the second book in the Lowena Series.


ABOUT ANN (taken from her SITE)
Ann Summerville wrote her first short story before her age reached double digits. She was born in England, and in search of a warmer climate, moved to California before settling in Texas.  Her short stories and flash fiction have been published in Long Story Short, The Shine Journal, Doorknobs & Bodypaint Anthology, Associated Content, Trinity Writer’s Workshop newsletters and also their collection of Christmas stories.  A member of Cowtown Crimesolvers, the Fort Worth Chapter of Sisters in Crime, Ann is currently working on her latest cozy mystery set in a Texas town.  Ann resides in Fort Worth, near her daughter and son-in-law, with her son, two boisterous dogs and a somewhat elusive cat.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW 

Tell us a little about yourself?
Until my late 20s I lived in England and moved to California before settling in Texas. I like the simple things in life – family and friends are at the top of the list. I enjoy gardening, making quilts, and knitting - especially now I have a granddaughter to make things for.

When did you start writing?
I have always loved writing, but only in the past few years have I sent anything out for publication. I had many short stories published in e-zines and started writing novels about four years ago.

Where do you get your ideas from?
Many of the stories start with either something I have heard or perhaps a newspaper article or story. It starts me thinking “what if?”

What advice would you give new authors?
Enjoy writing and realize that opinions of others are just that. If writing is your passion, don’t give up. Learn from your favorite authors, study what they have written and learn about your craft. Look for a good critique or writing group. The members at Trinity Writers’ Workshop in Bedford, Texas have helped me to grow as a writer.

Where is High Tide available?
The printed copy is available on Amazon. For e-readers it’s available on Kindle and on other formats on Smashwords.com.

How can readers find out more about you?

Thanks for inviting me.

ABOUT THE BOOK (from the back cover)
  Giovanna Matthews settles into the English west country village of Lowenna, but a storm is about to rock her world.  Distressing the ladies from the knitting circle, a body drifts in with a hide tide and unconvinced the death is an accident, Gia leaves no pebble unturned while sleuthing her way around the village.  Her delving further disrupts village life much to the upset of many villagers who want every rock to stay firmly in place.  Meanwhile, her boyfriend, David, has an unwelcome visitor who threatens to unravel the bonds that tie him and Gia.  Can Gia solve the mystery and encourage the visitor to leave before her anchor in the village is uprooted and she too is cast out to sea?

MY THOUGHTS:
When I first heard the title of the book I wondered how exactly a mystery could be cozy, but it is cozy indeed!  This mystery does not leave you wanting to look under your bed, double check the locks on the door or leave the light on at night.  Instead, it makes you want to curl up and leaves a smile on your face as you follow Gia as she unfolds the mystery!

Gia is one who is full of energy, chattering away like a chickadee and sometimes leaves you breathless as she is relentless in her sleuthing!  The people in this book are full of fun characteristics which make them entirely real and rather quirky. 

I enjoyed the story line, it was a fun mystery instead of creepy and all in all a nice change from the usual.  High Tide left me wanting to read the first book, and anxiously awaiting the third...I hope there's a third because Gia certainly must figure out what to do with her mom!!

Ann is giving away 3 of her books and has reduced all of her Ebooks to $2.99 for the month of April, head on over to her BLOG to learn more!




**I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for review directly from Ann Summerville, I was not compensated in any other way for my honest opinion.
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2 comments:

  1. Sounds like a great book!

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    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for the lovely review.
    Ann

    ReplyDelete

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