Book Review with Featured Author: Run Dog Run by Kathleen Kaska

Run Dog Run by Kathleen Kaska

 

 

Publisher & Release: Wild Rose Press, February 28, 2022

Setting:  Texas

Genre: Mystery Romance

Length: 272 Pages

Heat Level: 1 Sweetheart

Rating: 4.5 Gold Crowns

Book Description: 

After five years in Africa, researching the decline of elephant populations, Kate Caraway’s project comes to a screeching halt when she shoots a poacher and is forced to leave the country.
Kate and her husband, Jack Ryder, flee to a friend’s ranch in Texas to recuperate. But before Kate has a chance to unpack, her friend’s daughter pleads for Kate’s assistance. The young woman has become entangled in the ugly world of greyhound abuse and believes Kates is the only one with the experience and tenacity to expose the crime and find out who is responsible. On the case for only a few hours, Kate discovers a body, complicating the investigation by adding murder to the puzzle. Now she’s in a race against time to find the killer before she becomes the next victim.

 

Buy Links:

 

Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/Kate-Caraway-Animal-Rights-Mystery-Book-ebook/dp/B09NJWJQ3X

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/run-dog-run-kathleen-kaska/1125918071

KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/run-dog-run-1

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Kathleen_Kaska_Run_Dog_Run?id=uExgEAAAQBAJ

 

 

Add to Goodreads & BookBub:

 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34579089-run-dog-run

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/run-dog-run-by-kathleen-kaska

 

Vikki’s Musings

 

Thanks go to the publisher and Net-Galley for the complimentary digital copy of Run Dog Run by Kathleen Kaska. I voluntarily agreed to read and review and leave an unbiased review. My opinions are my own, and nothing has influenced my rating.

 

Run Dog Run is a fast-paced novel with compelling characters and a suspenseful plot. Ms. Kaska hold her secrets tightly, keeping me guessing and wondering who the villain is of this tale. The pacing pulled me into the story from the start and held me captivated until the end. 

 

The primary protagonist is Kate Caraway. She’s recently returned to Texas after spending five years in Africa with her husband, Jack Ryder. She quickly becomes involved when her niece asked for her help in fighting for animal rights. A nearby rancher and senatorial candidate may be abusing his racing greyhounds.  Kate is fierce when it comes to fighting for defenseless animals. I admire her determination to find the truth.

 

The mystery is enthralling. Ms. Kaska threw me off the track several times, just when I thought I knew who was behind the murder and mayhem. She builds the tension and suspense to a crescendo until the villain is revealed. The dark moment is truly dark indeed!

 

If you enjoy a mystery with intriguing characters and an action-packed tale, then you will love Run Dog Run as much as I did. I look forward to reading the next book in this amazing series. Happy reading!

 

Author Bio:

 

Kathleen Kaska is the author of The Sherlock Holmes Quiz Book, which has been updated and reissued by Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group and released on November 1, 2020. She is the founder of The Dogs in the Nighttime, the Sherlock Holmes Society of Anacortes, Washington, a scion of The Baker Street Irregulars.

Kathleen is also the author of two awarding-winning mystery series: the Sydney Lockhart Mystery Series set in the 1950s and the Classic Triviography Mystery Series. Her first two Lockhart mysteries, Murder at the Arlington and Murder at the Luther, were selected as bonus-books for the Pulpwood Queen Book Group, the country's largest book group. Her latest Sydney Lockhart mystery, set in Austin, Texas, is Murder at the Driskill. A Two Horse Town, Kathleen’s second mystery in the new Kate Caraway animal-rights series, was released by Black Opal Books in December 2018. Murder at the Menger and Eagle Crossing will be out in 2021.

When she is not writing, she spends much of her time with her husband traveling the back roads and byways around the country, looking for new venues for her mysteries and bird watching along the Texas coast and beyond. Her passion for birds led to the publication The Man Who Saved the Whooping Crane: The Robert Porter Allen Story (University Press of Florida). 

Kathleen was the writer, editor marketing director for Cave Art Press. Her collection of blog posts was released in August 2017 under the title, Do You Have a Catharsis Handy? Five-Minute Writing Tips. Catharsis was the winner of the Chanticleer International Book Award in the non-fiction Instruction and Insights.

 

Social Media:

Website: https://kathleenkaska.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathleenkaska

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KKaskaAuthor

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kathleen-kaska

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/178776.Kathleen_Kaska

 

Book Review with Featured Author: The Mozart Code by Rachel McMillan

The Mozart Code by Rachel McMillan

 

 

Publisher & Release: Thomas Nelson, March 15, 2022

Setting:  1946-1947, Vienna, Austria

Genre: Historical Fiction

Length: 367 Pages

Rating: 3.5 Gold Crowns

Book Description: 

No matter how you might try to hide in a war to escape your past, it is always close at hand.

Lady Sophia Huntington Villiers is no stranger to intrigue, as her work with Alan Turing’s Bombe Machines at Bletchley Park during the war attests. Now, as part of Simon Barre’s covert team in post-war Vienna, she uses her inimitable charm and code name Starling to infiltrate the world of relics: uncovering vital information that could tilt the stakes of the mounting Cold War. When several influential men charge her with finding the death mask of Mozart, Sophie wonders if there is more than the composer’s legacy at stake and finds herself drawn to potential answers in Prague.

Simon Barrington, the illegitimate heir of one of Sussex’s oldest estates, used the previous war to hide his insecurities about his past. Now, he uses his high breeding to gain access to all four allied quarters of the ruined city in an attempt to slow the fall of the Iron Curtain. He has been in love with Sophie Villiers since the moment he met her, and a marriage of convenience to save Simon’s estate has always kept her close. Until now, when Sophie’s mysterious client in Prague forces him to wonder if her allegiance to him—and their cause—is in question. Torn between his loyalty to his cause and his heart, Simon seeks answers about Sophie only to learn that everything he thought he knew about his involvement in both wars is based on a lie.

 

Buy Links:

 

Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/Mozart-Code-Rachel-McMillan-ebook/dp/B08BYZ8VNJ

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-mozart-code-rachel-mcmillan/1137257379

KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-mozart-code-1

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Rachel_McMillan_The_Mozart_Code?id=tdTtDwAAQBAJ

Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Mozart-Code-Audiobook/0785253416?qid=1647308391&sr=1-1&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=E2FQTATM34FY6M4VFK8R

 

 

Add to Goodreads & BookBub:

 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54350812-the-mozart-code

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-mozart-code-by-rachel-mcmillan

 

Vikki’s Musings

 

Thanks go to the publisher and Net-Galley for the complimentary digital copy of The Mozart Code by Rachel McMillan. I voluntarily agreed to read and review this book by publication. My opinions are my own, and nothing has influenced my rating.

 

The Mozart Code is a well-researched novel set in the aftermath of WWII. As the British and American fight Russia’s determination to spread communism across eastern Europe. Austria is teetering on the edge and must be saved. The characters are intriguing, and the plot is complicated. 

 

Unfortunately, the tale is so enmeshed in historical details in the first half of the book and told without enough emotion, I almost gave up on it. I’m glad I continued reading. The second half of the book is much better. The pacing picked up and drew me into the story, and I became vested in the characters.

 

Sophie Huntington Villiers is a complex character. Her parents only see her as a pawn in their game, wanting her to marry someone who would raise their social standing. Her grandmother made her vow to never give her heart. That caused her to deny her love for Simon.

 

Simon Barrington is our hero and spymaster of this tale. He’s loved Sophie for years and when they marry, he means every word he pledges, but he realizes he must not let Sophie know. I enjoyed his emotional struggle.

 

The romance between Sophie and Simon is strong, and I wanted them to find their happy ending. However, this novel is not supposed to be a romance, but historical fiction with plenty of espionage and suspense. For me that fell short until the last quarter of the book. I’m a true lover of history and have become entranced with WWII novels, so I’m surprised I didn’t become drawn into that aspect of the book. 

 

If you enjoy well-researched historical fiction set in the aftermath of WWII as the allies race to stop Russia from increasing their stranglehold on Europe, then The Mozart Code may be the book for you. Happy reading!

 

Author Bio:

Rachel McMillan is the author of The Herringford and Watts mysteries, The Van Buren and DeLuca mysteries, The Three Quarter Time series, The London Restoration and The Mozart Code. Her non-fiction works including Dream Plan Go: A Travel Guide for Independent Adventure and A Very Merry Holiday Movie Guide. Rachel lives in Toronto, Canada and is always reading.

 

Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rachkmc1

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rachkmc

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/rachel-mcmillan

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14165949.Rachel_McMillan