A Shot of Murder by Brenda Gayle - Book Tour - Book Sale - Book Review - Giveaway - Enter Daily!

Hello, lovelies!  It gives me great pleasure today to host Brenda Gayle and her new book, “A Shot of Murder”!  For other stops on her Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post - except the Available at Amazon Picture, which takes you directly to the Amazon Book Sale Page.

Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $30 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!!  Also, come back daily to interact with Brenda and to increase your chances of winning!

This eBook is on SALE during the book tour for ONLY $0.99!!!  See below for more details.

Thanks for stopping by!  Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous giveaway!

A Shot of Murder

by Brenda Gayle

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GENRE: Historical Mystery

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BLURB:

In 1948, Charley Hall resents giving up her job as city reporter for the Kingston Tribune to a returning soldier. But her demotion to the women’s pages is the least of her worries since Gran is organizing a surprise birthday party for Charley’s older brother, Freddie. Trouble is, Freddie hasn’t come back from his latest bender. When Charley goes looking for him, she discovers the dead body of a woman, last seen with her brother. Beside the murdered woman is a torn newspaper article about local politician Dan Cannon, who also happens to be Charley’s best friend. To make matters worse, a police detective from Toronto shows up and begins nosing around. Charley is not about to stand by and let her brother nor her friend take a fall for a murder based on circumstantial evidence. Not by a long shot.

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EXCERPT ONE:

Charley watched the pale liquid trickle into the fine china teacup. She’d have preferred a black coffee—or something stronger—but this afternoon ritual seemed to mean a lot to her grandmother, and despite their differences, her grandmother meant the world to her. When Gran had taken her first sip, Charley went on the offensive. “You fought for a woman’s right to vote. You marched in the streets. You were arrested. You taught me to be strong and independent. How can you not see the injustice in this?”

“You are not being fired from the paper. You are merely being reassigned to a position more suitable to your sex and social standing.”

“I’m not going to take it. I don’t want to get dressed up and go to all these hoity-toity social events—”

Gran had begun to giggle, quietly behind her teacup at first, but now her laughter shook her whole body and she had to put the cup down on the table or risk spilling its contents.

“What is so funny?”

“You.” Bessie sobered. “As a Stormont, you already get dressed up and go to ‘all these hoity-toity social events.’ John is giving you the opportunity to do more than simply look pretty at them. You can write about who was there and who were the big contributors to whatever charitable cause was being celebrated. You will wield far more clout with the power brokers of Kingston on the women’s pages than you ever could on the city ones.”

“I don’t want to do it,” Charley said.

“Then don’t.” She shrugged and picked up her teacup. “There are many ways to be useful. The Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire is always looking for intelligent young women to join our ranks and aid in service to our country.”

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MY BOOK REVIEW:

This book was an intriguing, exciting, suspenseful, mystery read that fully captured my attention and kept me engaged throughout the story!!!

This book takes you on a time-hop all the way back to 1948, when men were considered superior to women; women were told they should stay home and take care of their men and have children; and that women have no place working in a man’s career field.  Although, maybe not so far back, as many of these customs not only continue to remain current today, but are strongly encouraged in some communities; and women are still not equal to men.  It is very interesting how much and really little things have changed in over 70 years!!!

This book starts out with the main character, Charlotte, aka Charley, losing her job position at the Kingston Tribune, a newspaper her grandfather founded.  Charley is told that since the men are coming back home after fighting in the war and since women do not belong in the newsroom, she must give up her riveting investigation journalism assignments and move over to the women’s pages that write about stuffy parties and clothes – things Charley has no interest in.  Charley has more than proven herself over the course of working at the paper for over five years and has shown she is a talented writer.  So, giving up her investigation stories, especially when she’s on the trail of a hot story about two prison escapees – she is not going to take this lightly!!

This book then quickly catches up with Charley’s grandmother, aka “Gran,” who is worried about Charley’s brother, Freddie.  Freddie’s birthday is over the weekend and Gran wants to plan a party and invite a bunch of his friends.  She’s concerned he’s been so withdrawn lately and wants to cheer him up.  Freddie had returned from the previously mentioned war, but he came back another person – someone deeply struggling with PTSD (technically PTSS now) and being haunted by demons and dark memories of battle.  Although it seemed Freddie was getting better, minus the occasional bender or so, Gran and Charley realize he’s been gone for three days.  Charley goes looking for Freddie, not sure what kind of jam she will find him in, but she certainly was not expecting to find a murder and a mystery along the trail!  No spoilers here, but you will definitely want to check out this book to find out what happens!!

I really enjoyed the mystery and suspense themes the author was able to instill throughout the book.  I felt just as intrigued as Charley when she stumbled upon the crime scene.  Curious, suspicious, and concerned – how could Freddie be connected to all this?!

I haven’t read too many books that take place around this time period, in 1948, shortly after the war – especially a book that takes place in Canada!  Of course, I remember (some!!! LOL) of my American History in school, but I don’t recall the impact of other supporting countries such as Canada.  So, this was a very interesting topic that I was excited to learn about.

I enjoyed the strong, compelling historical content that filled these pages, and I appreciate the author's in-depth amount of research that she conducted while writing this story.

This book fell more so on the shorter side at only 150 eBook pages!!  However, it felt very concise and to the point, that I think it was the right length as any longer would feel more like rambling on.  I enjoyed the short chapters that kept the story on point and the adorable newspaper images at the end of each chapter.

I am a huge mystery book lover!  However, sometimes I can be a bit harsh on judging amateur sleuths in mystery books as it seems ridiculous for someone with no training and often no street smarts to go chasing after a homicidal maniac!!  However, I feel like this was not the case as Charley was a more complex character with investigative journalism training (on the job counts!!) and the investigation was tied to finding Freddie and more that I can’t say lol.  But basically, Charley was no silly, ditzy female walking toward the scary villain screaming lol!!

I really liked Charley as she was strong, smart, driven, independent, sassy, witty, caring, and compassionate!!  She was a likable, genuine, relatable character that was easy to connect with.

There are some predictable scenes. However, there are still a few very unexpected twists and turns that you won't see coming!

I also enjoyed all the extras the author included in her book, such as the "Author's Note," which provided further background and insight into the story line.  The author also attached a special sneak peek into the next book in the series, "Rigged for Murder," which got me excited to go on the next mystery adventure with Charley!!

This book is Book One in the “A Charley Hall Mystery,” Book Series.  It can be read as a standalone.  Currently, it looks like the author has written four books in this series, with the first three books already available for sale at any major bookstore.  Book Four is listed to be released on November 23rd.  It seems all four books revolve around the main character, Charley.  As previously mentioned, I have become a fan of Charley - and the author, Brenda Gayle, of course!!!  I look forward to checking out the rest of this book series and seeing what other exciting adventures Charley uncovers!!!

All in all, I really enjoyed reading this book and would absolutely recommend it!  I think all historical mystery readers will like this book too!  So, add it to your TBR List and get to reading - you won't be disappointed!

**Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book and have voluntarily provided an honest, and unbiased review in accordance with FTC regulations.**

Did you find this review helpful?

If so, please, please, please mark it as helpful on Amazon here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R11WZV80JMJ6VD

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AUTHOR BIO:

Life is messy and I try to reflect that in my stories while still leaving readers with a feeling of hope. I want them to see themselves and people they know in my characters.

You could say writing is in my genes. My paternal grandmother was a formidable diarist; my father was a journalist and poet; my sister and cousin are both published authors; even my son has shown a talent for putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) to tell awesome stories. So, it came as no surprise to anyone when I returned to my love of fiction after more than 20 years in the world of corporate communications–although some might argue there was plenty of opportunity for fiction-writing there, too.

A fan of many genres, I find it hard to stay within the publishing industry’s prescribed boxes. Whether it’s mystery, romantic suspense or women’s fiction—my greatest joy is creating deeply emotional books with memorable characters and compelling stories.

I love hearing from readers. You can connect with me via my website at BrendaGayle.com (https://brendagayle.com/).

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CONNECT WITH BRENDA:

Website:

https://brendagayle.com

Newsletter:

https://www.subscribepage.com/l2u6i9

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/brendagaylebooks

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/brenda_gayle

BookBub Author Page:

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/brenda-gayle

BookBub Book Page:

https://www.bookbub.com/books/a-shot-of-murder-a-charley-hall-mystery-book-1-by-brenda-gayle

Goodreads Author Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2830744.Brenda_Gayle

Goodreads Book Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55206138-a-shot-of-murder

Amazon Author Page:

https://amzn.to/34PNMT9

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AMAZON BOOK BUY LINK & BOOK SALE INFO:

**A Shot of Murder eBook is on SALE during the book tour for ONLY $0.99!!!**

https://amzn.to/327SQRe

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GIVEAWAY INFO:

Brenda will be awarding a $30 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**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.