Hi everyone, and welcome to new subscribers! Also, a big thanks to those who purchased my 5^th Casey Holland mystery, Knock Knock. The $.99 ebook promotion runs until August 31^st, so grab a copy as it won’t be discounted again for some time. You can find the link HERE.

Since my last newsletter, I’ve read about another home invasion, not here in Vancouver, but in another part of the country. I never run out of ideas for crime novels based on real-life event tragedies, sadly. And there never seems to be enough time to transform ideas into mysteries, especially when I’m immersed in other projects these days.

The August Mystery Freebies newsletter sign-up promo is also going until August 31, and that link is HERE.

My second eye surgery took place last week and, for the first time in nearly forty years, I’m living without glasses, thanks to the extended depth of focus lenses that were inserted into my eyes. Ridding myself of glasses wasn’t the goal, but eliminating my glaucoma risk was. Happily, the surgeries were a success. Right now, I can see up close, but if I’m in a grocery store, everything looks slightly out of focus. The doctor said it’ll take time for my eyes and brain to adjust. In about four weeks, I’m advised to visit my optometrist to find out what’s going on with my eyes.

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

Vacation time and waiting for appointments meant lots of reading this summer, and I want to share a couple of great crime fiction novels with you.

First up is A Child Lost by Michelle Cox. This historical mystery is set near Chicago in the mid-1930s. It’s number five in the series, but it wasn’t hard to pick up the continuing thread. Henrietta’s melancholy after her miscarriage has her husband Clive worried. His solution is to involve her in a simple fraud case he’s asked to investigate, since she enjoys solving mysteries. Unbeknownst to Clive, her sister Elsie has become enamoured with a German immigrant who’s trying to find the mother of the child he’s looking after. When Elsie seeks Henrietta’s help in finding the woman, Henrietta’s empathy for the child prompts her to do exactly that. Both cases, however, are proving more difficult and dangerous than anyone anticipated.

The second mystery is The Blue Bar by Damyanti Biswas. This is a police procedural set in Mumbai, which intrigued me from the get-go. When Inspector Arnav Singh Rajput discovers a connection between the murder of three women and some powerful people, he’s warned off the case. Arnav, however, won’t let this go for personal reasons. The further he investigates, the more perilous his life becomes. What I loved best about this book is the author’s superb and vivid descriptions of Mumbai. The setting portrays the darker side of life for some citizens, while the plot shows the different reasons people cross moral and legal lines. Sure, greed is often a factor, but so is survival. Arnav is a well-drawn character, as are the people he works with.

I also read a terrific historical fiction novel called Under Heaven set in 8^th century China as well as a fantasy called The Fifth Season with unique worlds all its own. What can I say? I have eclectic tastes.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, 'Where's the self-help section?' She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose”. – George Carlin

If you’d like to check out all my Casey mystery novels on one Amazon page, the link is HERE.

Until next month, happy reading!

Debra Purdy Kong

dpurdykong@gmail.com

www.debrapurdykong.com

https://debrapurdykong.wordpress.com/ (blog)

Mysteries on the Move…