Queen of All She Reads: Virtual Book Tour & Giveaway for Picking Lemons by J.T. Toman

Please join author J.T. Toman on her Virtual Book Tour for Picking Lemons, presented by Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours from January 26 – February 1, 2014. Please leave a comment or question for J.T. to let her know you stopped by. You can enter the giveaway for one ebook copy of her book at this stop by filling out the Rafflecopter form below.

Picking Lemons
A C.J. Whitmore Mystery
Cozy Mystery
Publisher: Cozy Cat Press (October 2, 2013)
Paperback: 194 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1939816221
ASIN: B00GF4ZZA0

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About the book:

Economic theories can predict many things – just not the death of a renowned Economics professor.

When Professor Edmund DeBeyer is found dead in his office, strangled to death by his own Ph.D. hood, the police don’t have to look further than his colleagues in the Economics Department for suspects. After all, Edmund was the most despised member of the department. C.J. Whitmore, the department’s only tenured female, (who also has a penchant for wearing pink cowboy boots to class) resolves to get to the bottom of the mystery using economic principles.

Comparing tracking down murder suspects to to selecting a used car, she attempts to discern the real deals from the “lemons.” That is, which suspects are really telling the truth and which are lying to protect their guilt. Will C.J. be able to pick the lemon before her clever adversary strikes again?

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About This Author

J.T. Toman lives in Boulder, Colorado. She received her Ph.D. in economics from Yale University and has taught econometrics at the University of Sydney and the University of Colorado at Boulder. She also has a degree in zookeeping from Pikes Peak Community College and has cared for everything from butterflies to elephants. She now teaches math at Front Range Community College, and truly believes fractions are useful in everyday life.

In her spare time, J.T. Toman joins the rest of Colorado hiking, biking and skiing. However, much like her cats, she finds food more inspiring than scenery. J.T. particularly loves home- grown tomatoes, udon noodles and tall glasses of chocolate milk, but not at the same time.

Picking Lemons is her first novel.

Author Webpage: jttomanauthor.com

A quickly paced cozy mystery, Picking Lemons by J.T. Toman, takes us into the world of academia to uncover who killed a prestigious economics professor. Filled with zany, well developed characters, lively dialogue and plenty of suspects, Ms. Toman captured my attention from the first page. The first book in the C.J. Whitmore Mysteries, Picking Lemons is off to a good start.

After having earned tenure at Eaton by behaving as if she was one of the men in the department, C.J. Whitmore has earned the freedom to be herself. Wearing pink cowboy boots and allowing her Southern Texas drawl to make an appearance, C.J. is ready for another year of teaching classes, writing articles and attending stuffy “seminars” given by her colleagues. When a tenured colleague, who wasn’t very popular, gets killed on the first day of class, everyone wonders who could have committed the crime. When a tenure seeking instructor is arrested, and another professor steps forward claiming to have committed the crime, C.J. realizes more is going on in the department than plain economics.

As C.J. begins her investigation, and realizes everyone in the department is a suspect, she wonders if her scientific and mathematical method for solving the case will work. Especially since everyone seems to have more than one or two secrets. Ms. Toman does a really good job developing C.J.’s character; she’s smart, independent, outspoken and is somewhat sassy.

Will C.J. be able to uncover the truth before another person is killed? And will she be able to face her colleagues once she uncovers their secrets? You’ll have to read Picking Lemons to find out. I enjoyed it and look forward to reading the next book in this series.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 Crowns