Hey, lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Colleen J. Shogan and her new book, “Dead as a Duck”! 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!
Dead as a Duck
by Colleen J. Shogan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Mystery/Cozy Mystery
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Congressional staffer Kit Marshall is looking forward to a much-deserved summer vacation in the Outer Banks. When the mayor of the beach town turns up dead, Kit and her friends need to put their fun and relaxation on hold to help solve the crime.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT ONE:
“I don’t know if it was accident or something else, but there’s a dead body down there,” she said.
I felt my face become flush, and it wasn’t because of the jog.
How could this happen again?
“Maybe someone had one too many at the wine bar and fell over the railing,” I said.
Lisa shook her head. “I doubt it. This railing is too high. It was likely built to prevent that from happening. Unless someone was deliberately trying to climb over it, and I don’t know why that would be the case.”
She pulled out her cell phone from the arm band she wore when exercising. “None of these businesses along the water are open yet. I’m going to call 9-1-1.”
Lisa moved away from the railing and stepped to the side of the boardwalk. Curious walkers stared at us as they strolled by, but no one had stopped to ask what the fuss was about.
I moved over to the spot where Lisa and Murphy had discovered the body. I knew I shouldn’t look, but how could I not? Curiosity killed the cat. Wasn’t there another part of that old proverb? Satisfaction brought the cat back. Of course, I wasn’t a cat and I certainly didn’t have nine lives.
When the police arrived, we’d probably be stuck here for a while. No harm in sneaking a peek before the authorities walled off the area. I peered down into the marsh. The body of a man was floating on top of the reeds and vegetation. He was several feet away from the railing and his face was partially obscured. But I did recognize the clothes he was wearing: light brown linen pants and a dark blue blazer. Mayor Ronan Godfrey was a dead duck.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MY BOOK REVIEW:
This book was such an exciting, intriguing, engaging read!!! I could NOT put this book down, nor did I want to!!!
Without a doubt, this book is another fabulous read in Colleen’s captivating “A Washington Whodunit,” Book 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 A Washington Whodunit Book Series.
There are three things that I can always count on with Colleen’s writing. First, her books always feature engaging, relatable characters. Colleen creates such strong, well-developed, likable characters that are easy to connect with. Second, her books are always filled with such fascinating, suspenseful, and cleverly created story lines that often keep even this crime solver lover on her toes trying to solve the case!! Thirdly, Colleen writes with superior precision and skill as she uses proper, practical mystery crime solving structure that sounds not only convincing, but realistic. Her latest book, “Dead as a Duck,” is no exception, as it meets all of the above and then some!!
Kit, the main character of this book, and the entire “A Washington Whodunit,” Book Series, has certainly become one of my absolutely favorite amateur sleuths!!! I loved teaming up with Kit again and solving another mystery!!!
Kit has shown strong development over the book series as she continues to grow and reach her full potential character arc. She is such a smart, resilient, compelling, compassionate, and kindhearted character!! I think that is definitely part of the reason I enjoy following along on her adventures. She’s the type of character you’d be friends with, someone you’d admire, and someone you could easily count on to be there for you. Colleen’s ability to create such realistic, enjoyable, characters is what truly drives this book series!!!
As always, I totally loved the main characters! This book is hugely character driven which is one of the top reasons I adore these books! I was so excited to see so many returning characters as I really get so invested them, 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 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 easily 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 seventh 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, 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 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!!
**Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book and have voluntarily provided an honest, and unbiased review in accordance with FTC regulations.**
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 splits her time between Arlington, Virginia and Duck, NC in the Outer Banks with her husband Rob and beagle mutt Conan.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECT WITH COLLEEN:
Website:
Email:
washingtonwhodunit@gmail.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/washingtonwhodunit
Twitter:
https://www.twitter.com/cshogan276
BookBub Author Page:
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/colleen-j-shogan
Goodreads Author Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1269678.Colleen_J_Shogan
Goodreads Book Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57744601-dead-as-a-duck
Amazon Author Page:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle eBook:
Amazon Paperback:
Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dead-as-a-duck-colleen-j-shogan/1138848865?ean=9781942078333
Barnes and Noble Paperback:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dead-as-a-duck-colleen-j-shogan/1138848865?ean=9781942078326
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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**
Thank you for sharing your awesome review and the book and author details, this sounds like an excellent read
ReplyDeleteI love the cover and think the book sounds good.
ReplyDelete