Cynthia Kuhn

In the I Read/I Wrote series, authors introduce a book they loved–in the genre in which they write–and share one of their own books.

GENRE: Private Investigator

I READ: One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich introduced the world to my favorite Jersey Girl, Stephanie Plum. Stephanie is an out-of-work lingerie buyer who blackmailer her cousin into letting her become a bounty hunter. Her first assignment? A cop who also took her virginity.

I still remember the first time I discovered the series as impressionable high school student in a since-closed Barnes and Noble in Livingston, New Jersey. I’ve happily followed Stephanie’s adventures for twenty five books now and I’m always amazed at how Evanovich is able to make you laugh even in the most scary situations. #WriterGoals

I WROTE: Hollywood Ending

Hollywood Homicide and Hollywood Ending are the first two books in the Detective by Day Mystery series from Midnight Ink. The series centers on a semi-famous, mega-broke black actress who takes on the deadliest role of her life: private detective. The first in the series, Hollywood Homicide, won the Agatha, Anthony, Lefty, and IPPY awards for Best First Novel. The second, Hollywood Ending, came out in August. As you can imagine from above, I was thrilled when Library Journal wrote that “fans of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series will feel right at home.” Reading Hollywood Ending. #HeartBeStill

Kellye Garrett writes the Detective by Day mysteries about a semi-famous, mega-broke black actress who takes on the deadliest role of her life: Homicide Detective.  The first, Hollywood Homicide, won the Agatha, Anthony, Lefty, and Independent Publisher “IPPY” awards for best first novel. The second, Hollywood Ending, was released on August 8, 2018 from Midnight Ink. Prior to writing novels, Kellye spent eight years working in Hollywood, including a stint writing for Cold Case. She now works for a leading media company and serves on the Board of Directors for Sisters in Crime as the organization’s Publicity Liaison.  You can learn more at KellyeGarrett.com and ChicksontheCase.com.

In the I Read/I Wrote series, authors introduce a book they loved–in the genre in which they write–and share one of their own books.

GENRE: Historical Mystery

I READ: Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters

I stumbled on Elizabeth Peter’s Amelia Peabody series by randomly downloading titles from the Denver Public Library. These books have it all–intrigue, fine prose, romance, a rich historical setting, and, above all, hilarity. My husband and I giggled all the way through them.

The books are set in late 19th century Egypt and feature Peabody, an eccentric English Egyptologist, and her beast of a love interest, Dr. Emerson. The author herself was an Egyptologist so her world building is vivid and accurate. Crocodile on the Sandbank comes first in the series, but you can read the books out of order. I devoured these books before it ever occurred to me that I could write novels, and they were the strongest literary influence on my own mystery series. I highly recommend the audiobooks narrated by Barbara Rosenblat.

I WROTE: The Secret Life of Anna Blanc

It’s 1907 Los Angeles. Mischievous socialite Anna Blanc is the kind of young woman who devours purloined crime novels–but must disguise them behind covers of more lady-like reading. She could match wits with Sherlock Holmes, but in her world women are not allowed to hunt criminals.

In the I Read/I Wrote series, authors introduce a book they loved–in the genre in which they write–and share one of their own books.

GENRE: Police Procedural

I READ: Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

This was one of the best mystery books I read all of last year. Told from the view point of a young boy during one hot summer, it evokes a similar feelings as To Kill a Mockingbird. Rich in its descriptions of the small town and its inhabitants, the writing is fabulous.

New Bremen, Minnesota, 1961. The Twins were playing their debut season, ice-cold root beers were selling out at the soda counter of Halderson’s Drugstore, and Hot Stuff comic books were a mainstay on every barbershop magazine rack. It was a time of innocence and hope for a country with a new, young president. But for thirteen-year-old Frank Drum it was a grim summer in which death visited frequently and assumed many forms. Accident. Nature. Suicide. Murder.

I WROTE: Among the Shadows

First in the Detective Byron Mysteries, the novel introduces us to Detective Sergeant John Byron.

Fall in Portland, Maine usually arrives as a welcome respite from summer’s sweltering temperatures and, with the tourists gone, a return to normal life—usually. But when a retired cop is murdered, things heat up quickly, setting the city on edge.

Detective Sergeant John Byron, a second-generation cop, is tasked with investigating the case—at the very moment his life is unraveling. On the outs with his department’s upper echelon, separated from his wife, and feeling the strong pull of the bottle, Byron remains all business as he tries to solve the murder of one of their own. And when another ex-Portland PD officer dies under suspicious circumstances, he quickly realizes there’s much more to these cases than meets the eye. The closer Byron gets to the truth, the greater the danger for him and his fellow detectives.

Bruce Robert Coffin is the bestselling author of the Detective Byron mystery series and former detective sergeant with more than twenty-seven years in law enforcement. At the time of his retirement, from the Portland, Maine police department, he supervised all homicide and violent crime investigations for Maine’s largest city. Following the terror attacks of September 11th, Bruce spent four years working counter-terrorism with the FBI, earning the Director’s Award, the highest honor a non-agent can receive.

His short fiction appears in several anthologies, including The Best American Mystery Stories 2016.

Bruce is a member of International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. He is a regular blog contributor to the Maine Crime Writers and Murder Books blogs.

He lives and writes in Maine. For more information, please visit www.brucerobertcoffin.com.

In the I Read/I Wrote series, authors introduce a book they loved–in the genre in which they write–and share one of their own books.

GENRE: Thriller

I READ: The Queen of Patpong by Timothy Hallinan

“Those who clump thrillers and mysteries into a lower-echelon genre are generalizing from the worst of the books. If ‘serious novels’ were evaluated the same way, the genre would look like junk—and obviously that would be unfair. The thriller/mystery form is a time-honored structure that stretches characters thin enough to make them transparent, one of the primary purposes of fiction. Oedipus Rex and Hamlet are murder mysteries. Macbeth is a thriller. I don’t want to hear about ‘genres.’ I want to hear about ‘books.'” — Timothy Hallinan, on genre

The Queen of Patpong is book #5 in an amazing series based in Thailand, primarily Bangkok. Queen was nominated for an Edgar (should’ve won) and anchors the Poke Rafferty books in an incredible way.

I began reading this series with the first book, A Nail Through the Heart. The strength of the stories lies in how delicate they are. A tapestry that is both powerful and vulnerable, and expands with each book.

This is Rose’s book, a beautiful woman with a tragic past. She and Poke (a travel writer from America) have finally married and it seems like their adopted daughter, Miaow, a former street child, is finally settling into the new family.

Tim writes the little girl with unbelievable skill, and invokes in Rose a dignity that should have been shattered during her time as a Patpong dancer. If you read Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden and were blown away by his ability to channel women, you will be doubly blown away by Timothy Hallinan’s portrayals.

Warning: Don’t start chapter 19 just before you go to bed. Because you won’t.

I WROTE: Trafficked

Sex trafficking.

Not Thailand. Or the Philippines. Or Russia.

It’s America.

Rich or poor, black or white, girls disappear across this country every day, pulled into the nightmarish world of prostitution and drugs.

Mex Anderson is back, tasked with finding three missing girls before it’s too late. Three girls. Three girls who could live in your town, your neighborhood, or your own home.

Jayla is fifteen. A smart kid from a poor part of town who has to fend for herself. She’s headed for college and a better life than her mother had.

Alexis is seventeen. Money has provided everything she could ever want except functional parents. Alexis has the world by the tail and she knows it.

Livvy is twelve. She’s a middle child who dreams of being a veterinarian when she grows up. But right now she just wants someone to notice her, maybe even to love her.

Caught up in a cruel system fueled by lust and money, all three young women must find the courage within themselves to survive. And Mex must come to terms with his own loss and face his demons head on—or he might not have the strength to save them.

With intent to bring credibility to her stories, award-winning author Peg Brantley graduated from the Aurora Citizens’ Police Academy, participated in the Writers’ Police Academy, interviewed crime scene investigators, FBI agents, human trafficking experts, obtained her Concealed Carry, studied topics from arson dogs to Santeria, and hunted down real life locations that show up in her books. For more information, please visit pegbrantley.com.