Saturday, March 10, 2012

What is Ali Brandon reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Ali Brandon, author of Double Booked for Death, the first in the new Black Cat Bookshop mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime.

Her entry begins:
One of the best things about finishing a manuscript is that it frees you to indulge in the recreational reading that you denied yourself while under deadline. That means I’ve finally been able to sit down with a few books that have been lingering in my TBR pile. Since I’m an eclectic reader, the titles I’ve pulled out for mention come from all parts of the literary spectrum.

First up is The Adventures of Bindi Girl by Erin Reese. Subtitled, Diving Deep Into the Heart of India, it’s the travel memoirs of a thirty-something former executive who decides to ditch it all to backpack through India. She lives with the locals and in various backpacker “camps,” striking up friendships with fellow free spirits along the way. As a former yoga instructor, I have long had an affinity for India and her culture; thus, I leaped eagerly into this book. In the end...[read on]
About Double Booked for Death, from the publisher:
When transplanted Texan Darla Pettistone unexpectedly inherits her Great-Aunt Dee’s Brooklyn bookstore and the apartment above, she’s certain her worst headache will be dealing the store’s mascot. Hamlet, an oversized black cat with a personality to match, considers the four-story brownstone to be his own personal stomping grounds. He has a bad habit of terrorizing customers, claiming every sunny spot for his own, and, in general, acting like a small potentate.

The fact that Hamlet is smarter than the average cat makes dealing with him all the more difficult. But Darla is less sure that a series of odd incidents in the store—misplaced items, lights going on and off after dark—is his fault. In fact, the usually skeptical Darla soon finds herself seriously considering the possibility that her late aunt is now haunting the place.

Matters come to a head when a bestselling author of young adult ghostly fiction meets an untimely end during an autographing event at the bookstore. While the death is officially ruled accidental, Hamlet soon digs up a clue that seems to indicate otherwise. Now, Darla fears the murderer might be one of the author’s entourage—or even one of Darla’s own customers—and that she and her staff are in equal danger. Hamlet's interfering ways might just help point the paw at the culprit...that is, if he doesn’t lose one of his own nine lives in the process of solving the crime.
Learn more about the book and author at the official Ali Brandon--AKA Diane A.S. Stuckart--website.

Read--Coffee with a Canine: Diane Stuckart & Ranger, Delta, Oliver and Paprika.

My Book, The Movie: Double Booked for Death.

Writers Read: Ali Brandon.

--Marshal Zeringue