And Justice for Some
by Joanne
Sydney Lessner
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Dinner
theater can be a death sentence—literally.
Actress
Isobel Spice and her best friend Delphi Kramer are thrilled to finally have an
opportunity to perform together, even if it’s just a cheesy interactive murder
mystery at a judge’s lifetime achievement dinner. But when Isobel’s dramatic
death scene is upstaged by a real murder and Delphi is left holding the
still-smoking gun, Isobel drops the role of victim and assumes the role of
detective. With the help of her precocious brother Percival and her reluctant
temp agent James Cooke, Isobel peels back layers of deception to reveal a
shocking abuse of power—and no shortage of suspects eager to deliver justice to
a man who denied it to so many.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Giveaway:
Joanne will be awarding a $30 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter between this tour and the Book Blast Tour, here: a Rafflecopter giveaway
Joanne will be awarding a $30 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter between this tour and the Book Blast Tour, here: a Rafflecopter giveaway
Don't forget to stop by the other book tours for more chances to win:
September 30th:
October 7th:
October 14th:
Our Families Adventure
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My Impressions:
I love mysteries that have strong female characters with wit and humor. After reading the first book in this series: The Temporary Detective, I knew when I saw the 3rd I could not turn it down. The Isoble Spice series has been a treat to read. Although And Justice For Some is the third book in the series, you do not have to read the first two to be able to follow along. The author does a great job of getting the reader caught up by giving enough background information on each of the characters without rehashing the entire story for those who have read the previous books.
What I really enjoyed about this book is that it is told not just from the main characters point of view, Isobel Spice, but also from a secondary character, James. All of the characters are well developed and once again we see Isobel's brother Percival working along side Isobel and James. I love whodunit books and trying to solve the mystery along the characters. What makes this book great is it is a whodunit wrapped up inside a dinner murder mystery show that Isobel and her best friend Delphi are involved in.
Joanne does a great job of giving us the download on how murder mystery dinners work and how we can construct our own by reading this book-if that should be your desire. I enjoy Isobel. She has a strong sense of justice and good prevailing over evil. It did not surprise me to see her conduct her own murder investigation, despite the police presence. I keep waiting for the romance between James and Isobel to explode, but nothing yet other then some strong chemistry, fireworks and tension between these two.
If you love mystery, plot twists, action and excitement than this is the book for you! Fast paced, engaging, great characters, hilarious and quirky make this an excellent choice for a weekend read.
Excerpt:
Practically before the last word was out of Delphi’s mouth,
the crack of the gunshot ricocheted off the walls. Isobel smacked her hand to
her chest and felt the blood packet burst against her blouse. Someone shrieked
behind her as she staggered forward onto the dance floor. The Brioschi burbled
up from her throat, foaming out the corners of her mouth and down her face. She
spun around, arms flailing, eyes closed. More shrieks erupted around her.
Yup, she thought with satisfaction, definitely memorable.
She finally collapsed on the floor, limbs splayed, and after
a few full-body spasms, settled into a position she could hold until Peter
lifted her into the fireman’s carry.
She strained to hear Andrew’s line, “You just shot my wife,”
but she was distracted by the sound of a glass shattering somewhere to her
left. Somebody kicked her arm, but she held still, determined to be a
convincing corpse. A pungent tang of gunpowder tickled her nose. Funny, she
hadn’t noticed that when they were practicing. And…was that someone crying?
Suddenly, she felt Peter’s stubble scrape her cheek as he
hissed in her ear, “Get up. Get up!”
He tried to yank her into a sitting position, but the sharp
movement made her choke on the still-fizzing Brioschi. She knelt on all fours,
hacking and heaving until her eyes finally stopped tearing.
“You see?” she heaved. “That’s why I wanted to practice…”
Her words died in her throat as she got to her feet. Two
Hostelry security guards gripped Delphi’s shoulders, pinning her arms behind
her back. Delphi’s mouth was frozen open in horror. Slowly, Isobel turned and
looked behind her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joanne Sydney
Lessner is the author of BloodWrites Award-Winner The Temporary Detective
(Dulcet Press, 2012), which introduces Isobel Spice, aspiring actress and
resourceful office temp turned amateur sleuth. Isobel’s adventures continue in
the novels Bad Publicity (Dulcet Press, 2013) and And Justice for Some (Dulcet
Press, 2014). The Ghosts’ High Noon (Dulcet Press, 2014), an Isobel Spice short
story, is available on http://joannesydneylessner.com as a free download.
Inspired by the true story of the world’s most expensive bottle of wine,
Joanne’s debut novel Pandora’s Bottle (Flint Mine Press, 2010) was named one of
the top five books of 2010 by Paperback Dolls. Her play, Critical Mass, winner
of the 2009 Heiress Productions Playwriting Competition, received its New York
premiere at the Lion Theatre on Theatre Row in October 2010. She has written
the book and lyrics to several musicals with her husband, composer/conductor
Joshua Rosenblum, including the cult hit Fermat’s Last Tango, which received
its Off-Broadway premiere at the York Theatre Company in November 2000, and
Einstein’s Dreams, based on the celebrated novel by Alan Lightman. They are
currently developing a musical based on Wilkie Collins’s The Haunted Hotel for
the Signature Theatre Company in Arlington, Virginia. Joanne is also a regular
contributing writer to Opera News.
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