Hey, lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Colleen
J. Shogan and her new book, “Larceny at the Library”! 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 $75 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!
Larceny at the Library
by Colleen J. Shogan
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GENRE: Mystery/Cozy Mystery
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BLURB:
Congressional
chief of staff Kit Marshall is finally figuring out what it takes to work for a
newly minted committee chair in the House of Representatives. After a swanky
evening soiree at the Library of Congress, Kit’s husband Doug discovers the
body of a high-ranking librarian inside a ceremonial office. In addition to a
murder, there’s also a major theft to complicate the situation. The contents of
Abraham Lincoln’s pockets the night he was assassinated have gone missing.
Kit’s political boss and the Librarian of Congress ask Kit to investigate, and
she’s released into a world of intrigue populated by a frisky donor, an
ambitious congressional relations specialist, a cagey rare books curator, an
overly curious congressman, and a baseball-loving lawyer. Kit must solve the
crime before Doug’s career is tanked by suspicion. The case takes her to the
inner bowels of the Library of Congress, Ford’s Theatre, the National Portrait
Gallery, and the D.C. Public Library. In the end, Kit must put her own life on
the line to retrieve her most valuable possession, which goes unexpectedly
missing as she hunts down the killer and thief.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT ONE:
Despite
the swarm of police officers, the Great Hall shone with ornate regality. I
scanned the marble expanse, which was now filled with law enforcement and
officials in dark suits. Finally, I spotted Doug, deep in conversation with
O’Halloran.
Maeve
Dixon was here, too, but my first priority was Doug. From across the way, I
could see the worry lines on Doug’s forehead. In his case, graceful aging
wasn’t the culprit. My husband was distressed. Calm and collected, Doug rarely
became flustered. His apparent anxiety upped my own blood pressure several
points.
I
hustled over to the two men. Placing a hand on Doug’s shoulder, I leaned in.
“Good morning,” I said evenly, extending my hand. “I understand it’s Sergeant
O’Halloran these days.”
The
edges of the beefy cop’s mouth inched upward ever so slightly. “Correct, Ms.
Marshall. Unfortunately, we meet under difficult circumstances.” He added,
“Once again.”
This
could only mean murder. “Can you tell me what happened?”
O’Halloran
tried to speak, but Doug cut him off. “I came into work early today, as you
know. After dropping off my coat at my office, I walked over here to the Great
Hall to make sure everything was in order.” Doug pointed to the Librarian’s
ceremonial office, the same place we’d been last night. I noticed a piece of
yellow police tape cordoned off the entrance.
I
nodded my head and massaged Doug’s shoulder. “Go on. What happened next?”
Doug’s
face was now flush. “That’s when I discovered him.”
“Who,
Doug?” I asked. Clearly, the shock had affected his thinking. Maybe he didn’t
realize I had no idea what happened.
“My
boss,” said Doug, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose, no doubt in a
futile attempt to forestall an impending headache. “Gustav Gaffney has been
murdered, and the killer stole the contents of Lincoln’s pockets.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MY BOOK REVIEW:
Another top-notch read in the Washington Whodunit Cozy Mystery
Book Series!!!
This book justly earned ALL FIVE
STARS and might even be my favorite in this series!!!
This
is the fourth book from Colleen J. Shogan that I’ve had the pleasure of reading. In addition, all four of those books are
from her ever-so-enjoyable Washington Whodunit Book Series.
I loved teaming up with Kit again and solving another mystery!!!
Kit has continued to be one of my favorite amateur sleuths!!!
As
always, I really liked the main characters!
This book is hugely character driven which is one of the top reasons I
love these books! I was so excited to
see the whole crew back together again!
I enjoyed Kit, her husband Doug, their adorable dog Clarence, her BFF Meg,
her boss Congresswoman Maeve Dixon, her younger brother Sebastian, Detective O'Halloran, and other new additions: Meg’s new
guy Trevor, Joe Malden, Dorian Jones, Miriam Dunlap, K-9
Handler Lisa Reddy, and the sweetest new character addition – police dog Murphy!! I really get so invested in characters
sometimes – especially in a book series, so it’s great to see so many regulars
brought back! Also, the supporting
characters were well-developed and scrumptiously played off the main cast.
This book has
exceptional mystery crime solving structure with enough clues and excitement to
keep you guessing, but still practical and realistic in police procedures. And of course, there are some fun red
herrings that will keep you on your toes as you try to solve the case!!
I
also really liked that the author used real places in her book. I love when author’s do this because it makes
the story feel more real, authentic, and genuine. This book continues with the
lavishly detailed D.C. backdrop in this book as the author shows her D.C. roots
by throwing in many references throughout the story. I have been to D.C. a few times and love 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 is!
I loved the amount of
historical content and attention to detail featured throughout this book. It is clear the author did a thorough and
extensive amount of research while constructing this book. That plus her own unique advantage of having
previously worked on Capitol Hill, at the Library of Congress, and now with the
White House Historical Association, created reliable and credible details
throughout the story line.
I really enjoyed and appreciated the author’s depth of research
that was thoroughly highlighted in this book.
I liked that she kept the material educational, but not overwhelming as
it was easy to grasp and follow. I always
seem to learn something interesting and intriguing from Colleen’s books!!
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 sixth 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, five, now six and haven’t got lost yet lol! However, there are strong and significant
character and story line overlaps so it may be more enjoyable to start with
book one to get the full benefits of this book series!
All in all, I really
enjoyed reading this book and would absolutely recommend it! I think all cozy mystery readers and mystery fans will like this book
too – and this book series! So, add it
to your TBR List and get to reading – you won’t be disappointed!
Did you find this review helpful?
If so, please, please, please mark it as
helpful on Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/RKCOCUHN256D3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO:
Colleen J. Shogan has
been reading mysteries since the age of six. A political scientist by training,
Colleen has taught American politics at several universities and previously
worked on Capitol Hill as a legislative staffer in the United States Senate and
as a senior executive at the Library of Congress. She is currently the Senior
Vice President of the White House Historical Association.
Colleen
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. She lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband
Rob and their beagle mutt Conan.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH COLLEEN:
Website:
Email:
washingtonwhodunit@gmail.com
Facebook:
Twitter:
BookBub Author Page:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle eBook:
Amazon Paperback:
Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:
Barnes and Noble Paperback:
The Book Depository Paperback:
Kobo eBook:
Smashwords eBook:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFO:
Colleen will be awarding a $75 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.
Colleen ~ Good morning! Welcome back! It is so great to have you here again! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! I really enjoyed reading and reviewing your book, thanks for providing the copy! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you!!
DeleteThank you for sharing your awesome review and the book and author details, this is a must read for me.
ReplyDeleteThank you for such a positive review of my book. Great way to start the week!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteSounds like an interesting book!
ReplyDeleteI liked the excerpt, thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your great book and for the giveaway too.
ReplyDeleteI am intrigued! The cover looks great and I also enjoyed the excerpt.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy cozies, sounds good!
ReplyDeleteGreat excerpt and giveaway.
ReplyDeleteGood evening, my question for you today is, would you like to see your book made into a movie and if so, who is in your dream cast?
ReplyDeleteI like the cover. Thanks for sharing your review thoughts.
ReplyDeleteGood evening! My question for you today is, are you a spontaneous or a scheduled writer?
ReplyDeleteColleen, congratulations on your new book! It sounds like a great story, and I need to add it to my TBR pile.
ReplyDelete