Hey,
lovelies! It gives me great pleasure
today to host Colleen J. Shogan and her new book, “Gore in the Garden”! For other stops on her Goddess Fish
Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in
this post.
Be
sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $50 Amazon or Barnes
and Noble Gift Card!!! Also, come back
daily to interact with Colleen and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks
for stopping by! Wishing you lots of
luck in this fabulous giveaway!
Gore in the Garden
by Colleen J. Shogan
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GENRE: Mystery
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BLURB:
After
her boss narrowly escaped political defeat, Kit Marshall is settling into life
as a busy congressional staffer. While attending an evening reception at the
United States Botanic Garden, Kit’s best friend stumbles upon the body of a
high-ranking government official. The chairwoman of a congressional committee
asks Kit to investigate, and she finds herself once again in the thick of a
murder investigation. The complications keep coming with the unexpected arrival
of Kit’s younger brother Sebastian, a hippie protestor who seems more concerned
about corporate greed than the professional problems he causes for his sister.
To make matters even worse, the romantic lives of Kit’s closest friends are
driving her crazy, diverting her attention from the mystery she’s been tasked
to solve. The search for the killer requires her to tussle with an
investigative journalist right out of a noir novel, a congresswoman fixated on
getting a statue of James Madison installed on the Capitol grounds, and a bossy
botanist who would do anything to protect the plants he loves. When the
murderer sends a threatening message to Kit via a highly unusual delivery
mechanism, Kit knows she must find the killer or risk the lives of her friends
and loved ones.
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EXCERPT TWO:
Sebastian,
Doug, and I drifted back to the sidewalk outside the butterfly garden. “Tell me
more about your friend Meg,” said Sebastian. His eyes sparkled with interest.
“She’s
not dating these days,” I said quickly. “Let’s not go there.”
“Meg
is attractive,” said Doug. “But I’m not sure she’s your type. I don’t see her
taking to the streets anytime soon to protest the world’s injustices.”
“Not
unless the protest was taking place inside Nordstrom’s,” I said. “If you could
arrange that location for a demonstration, then you persuade her to make an
appearance.”
Doug
and Sebastian both chuckled. But their laughter was interrupted suddenly by a
bloodcurdling scream from inside the conservatory.
“That
sounds like Meg!” I exclaimed. “Come on.”
We
rushed over to the entrance, pulled open the door, and entered the garden
court. Meg was standing next to the blooming corpse flower. I didn’t even
notice the odor because I was fixated on her terrified face.
I
ran to her and put my hands on her shoulders. “Meg, what’s wrong? It looks like
you’ve just seen a ghost.”
“Worse
than that,” she sputtered, gesturing wildly behind her.
“Is
something wrong inside the tropical rain forest?” I asked.
“You
could say so,” Meg gasped. “Someone’s dead.”
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MY BOOK REVIEW:
Another exciting, intriguing, and enjoyable read in the
Washington Whodunit Cozy Mystery Book Series!!!
This
is the third book I’ve read in this book series. I previously read, reviewed, and blogged
about Colleen’s third book in this series, “Calamity at the Continental Club,”
a couple years ago and Colleen’s fourth book in the series, “K Street
Killing,” last year so I was very excited to read her latest installment in
the series, “Gore in the Garden.”
I really enjoyed teaming up with Kit again and solving another
mystery!
Kit has become one of my favorite amateur sleuths!!!
Again,
I really liked the main characters! I
was so excited to see the whole crew back together! I enjoyed Kit, her husband Doug, their
adorable dog Clarence, her BFF Meg, her boss Congresswoman Maeve Dixon, and her
interesting hippie younger brother Sebastian that creates some interesting and
uncomfortable situations for her lol!! I
really get so invested in characters sometimes – especially in a book series,
so it’s great to see them happy and still all together! Also, the supporting characters were
well-developed and amply played off the main cast.
This book has a creative story line, intriguing plot points, excellent
mystery structured scenarios, fantastic writing style, well-developed
characters, and keeps you fully engaged through the last page!
Without
giving too much away, there is a scene in the book at the United States Botanic
Garden in D.C. where the characters are gathered at an event and are awaiting a
special viewing of the blooming of a corpse flower. Now, the author does a great job at
describing the details, however, I was very intrigued and just had to Google
this flower. Very interesting! I read a couple articles and watched a few
YouTube videos that showed that actual blooming which apparently it takes this
flower 7-10 years to bloom!!! And it’s
named a corpse flower because it actually smells like decomp right as it’s
about to bloom. I LOVE books that teach
me new things and this book not only educated me about this really intriguing
flower, but it sparked my curiosity to even take it one step further and
research it online! Now I actually want
to find a garden and attend such a viewing!
Again,
I loved the D.C. backdrop in this book series that continued into this fifth
book as the author shows her D.C. roots by throwing in so many references
throughout the book since the book does take place there. I have been to D.C. a few times and loved it. So, I really enjoy when I read a book from
there that the real D.C. is found in the pages – and it sure was!
There are some very
predictable scenes. However, there are
still a few unexpected twists and turns that you won’t see coming!
This is the fifth book in
the Washington Whodunit Book Series.
Although, this book is part of a book series, it can absolutely be read
on its own as a standalone. As you can see, I
started in the middle of the series, with book three, four, and now five and
haven’t got lost yet lol!
All in all, I really enjoyed reading this book and would absolutely
recommend this book to anyone interested in an intriguing, suspenseful, exciting,
and enjoyable cozy mystery book.
Did you find this review helpful?
If so, please, please, please mark it as
helpful on Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R87I7M0V14Q7C
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AUTHOR BIO:
Colleen J. Shogan has
been reading mysteries since the age of six. She conceived of the plot of her
first novel one morning while taking a walk in her suburban Washington, D.C.
neighborhood. A political scientist by training, Colleen has taught American
politics at numerous universities. She previously worked on Capitol Hill as a
legislative staffer in the United States Senate. She’s currently a senior
executive at the Library of Congress.
Colleen
lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband Rob and their beagle mutt Conan.
She is a member of Sisters in Crime. "Stabbing in the Senate" was
awarded the Next Generation Indie prize for Best Mystery in 2016.
"Homicide in the House" was a 2017 finalist for the RONE Award for
Best Mystery. “Calamity at the Continental Club” was a 2018 finalist in the
“best cozy mystery” at Killer Nashville.
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CONNECT WITH COLLEEN:
Website:
Email:
washingtonwhodunit@gmail.com
Facebook:
Twitter:
BookBub Author Page:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle eBook:
Amazon Paperback:
Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:
Barnes and Noble Paperback:
Kobo eBook:
The Book Depository Paperback:
BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:
Smashwords eBook:
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
Colleen will be awarding a $50 Amazon or B/N GC
to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase is made, I may receive a small commission to help support this
blog. This does not cost you anything,
it just helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
