Sunday, May 08, 2016

What is Elizabeth J. Duncan reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Elizabeth J. Duncan, author of Murder on the Hour.

Her entry begins:
The untimely death of songwriter and musician Glenn Frey prompted me to read To the Limit: the Untold Story of the Eagles by Marc Eliot.

He sets the Los Angeles music scene and cultural climate of the 1970s that enabled a new generation of rock stars to emerge and flourish: Crosby, Stills, Nash and (sometimes) Young, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell and the group that would go on to sell the most albums of all time – the Eagles. After describing the clubs, drugs, booze, groupies, and the obscene amounts of money at stake, Eliot explores the personalities, soaring talents, ego clashes and creative jealousies that generated unforgettable songs like Take it Easy, Desperado, and Hotel California.

Glenn Frey always introduced the band on stage as, “the Eagles from Los Angeles.” I’d argue they emerge from this book as not just a great California band, but possibly the greatest ever American band.

Favourite anecdote: Glenn Frey and his musician pals were hanging out at a popular Los Angeles restaurant observing a wealthy-looking older man at the bar with a beautiful young woman. “Man,” said Frey, “look at those lyin’ eyes.” And everybody...[read on]
About Murder on the Hour, from the publisher:
The residents of Llanelen are brimming with excitement. Antiques Cymru, a regional take on the popular national TV show, is coming to the Welsh town and people are flocking from miles around, hoping their attic treasures turn out to be worth a fortune. On the day of filming, quiet local sheep farmer Haydn Williams brings a generations-old long-case clock for evaluation, while the woman he's always admired from afar, Catrin Bellis, turns up with a cherished handmade quilt. Will either hear surprising good news about the value of their family heirlooms? By the end of the day, Catrin turns up dead, her quilt missing.

Who could have wanted this shy, quiet woman - who had been overshadowed by her parents for her whole life - dead? Delving into Catrin's past, spa owner and amateur sleuth Penny Brannigan is surprised to discover that Catrin had at least one enemy. And as Penny's romantic life heats up with a new love interest, she realizes that a mysterious document hidden in Haydn's clock could hold the key to a long-forgotten secret and a present-day murder.

Murder on the Hour is a light-hearted traditional mystery featuring a charming heroine set in an enchanting Welsh town.
Visit Elizabeth J. Duncan's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Elizabeth J. Duncan and Dolly.

The Page 69 Test: The Cold Light of Mourning.

The Page 69 Test: A Brush with Death.

The Page 69 Test: Never Laugh As a Hearse Goes By.

The Page 69 Test: Slated for Death.

Writers Read: Elizabeth J. Duncan.

--Marshal Zeringue