Welcome to my stop on the
Virtual Tour, presented by Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, for The Deadly Dog Show by Jerold Last. Please leave a comment or question for Jerold
to let him know you stopped by. Jerold
will be giving away one (1) ebook copy of his short story The Dog With No Name to a randomly
chosen commenter at this stop. Please be
sure to leave a comment. You can follow
the rest of Jerold’s tour by clicking on the tour banner above. There are additional giveaways on other
stops.
TRAVEL VICARIOUSLY 1: NORTHWEST ARGENTINA by Jerold LastThe Dollycas website links tourism in interesting places worldwide with authors and readers writing or seeking fun books to read. This is the first of a series of intended blog posts for my Dollycas tour that will discuss other low-priced books and stories I’ve published on Amazon Kindle in addition to “The Deadly Dog Show” using exotic locales as a backdrop for their plots. The posts will focus on books that meet the goal of an excellent vicarious trip within the context of also being an entertaining mystery.Would-be travelers on a tight budget can visit exotic places for free from the comfort of your favorite chair by reading a good story set in an interesting locale. For example, you can visit the Argentine cities of Salta, Cafayate, and various indigenous communities in the Andes Mountains featured in the novella entitled “The Empanada Affair” available in the anthology entitled “Five Quickies for Roger and Suzanne”, which can be downloaded from the Amazon Kindle store (along with a Kindle reader if you need it) at http://www.amazon.com/Quickies-Roger-Suzanne-Mysteries ebook/dp/B00F7VRMKS/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1379311152&sr=1-1&keywords=b00F7VRMKS. The Northwest of Argentina is a relatively undiscovered paradise for tourists, especially eco-tourists. Extraordinary geology has created rock formations that rival the National Parks of the Southwestern United States with a color palette that makes Bryce and Zion National Parks seem monochromatic. The 7-colored rock formations surrounding the indigenous village of Purmamarca near the Bolivian border of Argentina is a don’t-miss spot for tourist visits despite the difficulty of getting there.The Andean region of Northwest Argentina is almost totally unspoiled for tourists. It was difficult to get to until very recently when Salta expanded and modernized its airport, and Salta has not promoted tourism in a systematic way. Thus, it remains uncrowded and relatively affordable. It is seen as a Mecca for ecotourism, and attracts young hikers and bikers from Europe and Asia as well as older tourists. The southernmost end of the Inca Trail is here, and pre-Columbian history is evident in the indigenous villages. A long bus ride to the west, then uphill and downhill connects Jujuy with San Pedro de Atacama on the Chilean side of the Andes for those who want to see what is on the other side of the mountain. Cafayate, to the south of Salta City, is the Napa Valley of Argentina and is a small town where one can tour excellent wineries with tasting rooms and buy artisanal jewelry.The novella describes the areas, local foods, local wines, and local industries within the framework of an entertaining and suspenseful mystery story. The foods our characters enjoy include the empanadas of the title, every conceivable cut of beef (and perhaps a few inconceivable cuts as well), exotic condiments like chimichurri, and indigenous specialties like locro and humitas. The local wines include Malbec and Torrontes, as well as wines made from more familiar grape varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Llamas and Alpacas donate their wool to local craftswomen to weave characteristic products of the area. The characters in The Empanada Affair experience all of the food, wine, and culture of the area as they try to solve the murder mystery at the heart of the story. This isn’t a cozy mystery; there’s violence and a tougher world than traditional cozy in the story, but it adheres to the cozy conventions of no cussing and no gratuitous sex scenes.My wife and I lived in Salta for several months in 1999, and I’ve returned to the city and the region several times since then as part of a long standing research collaboration with a group of scientists and engineers at the National University of Argentina’s campus there. “The Empanada Affair” began its existence as my first attempt at writing a full-length novel. It morphed into a novella as I re-read it a few years (and several published novels) later with the hindsight of experience. The new Empanada Affair contains roughly two-thirds of the original novel, with thoroughly revised and re-edited content. Much of the major subplot I removed from the original novel should appear some time in the indefinite future as a brand new and thoroughly rewritten novella entitled “The Camelid Affair”, which will also contain some new material to make a coherent story with a beginning, middle, and end.
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| New Cover |
by Jerold Last
Roger and Suzanne South American Mystery, Book 6
Publisher: Jerold Last
Release date: July 19, 2013
Genre: Mystery
Length: 252 Pages
ASIN: B00E25BM3I
Purchase Link: Amazon
About the book:
The sixth book in the popular
Roger and Suzanne mystery series finds Roger and Bruce hired to go undercover
impersonating the owner and handler of a Champion German Shorthaired Pointer
named Juliet to investigate certain irregularities that might be occurring at
dog shows in California. To complicate this case the bodies of dead judges
start popping up and Suzanne picks up a mysterious stalker sending her most
unwelcome gifts. Throw in drug cartels and corrupt cops and it sounds like a
typical job for our detective couple.
The Deadly Dog Show can be
read as a stand-alone novel.
About the Author:
The author is a Professor of
Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of California’s Medical
School at Davis, near Sacramento in Northern California. Jerry writes mystery
stories that follow the cozy conventions of no graphic sex and no cussing but
feature tougher protagonists and darker worlds than most cozies.
Jerry knows the real world of
dog shows from his own experience and that of his wife, Elaine, who breeds and
shows prize-winning German Shorthair Pointer dogs. The cover photo is the
author’s own dog Jolie (Grand Champion V. D. Nacht’s Classic Beaujolais, SH).
Elaine provided technical advice for The Deadly Dog Show and editing for all of
his books.
Author Links
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Jerold-A.-Last/e/B0028EKOIY/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_1
Twitter: @Jerold Last
This is a new series for me. I am intrigued.
ReplyDeletelag110 aT mchsi dot com
Please see my comment below.
DeleteSeveral of the novels in this series, including The Ambivalent Corpse, The Surreal Killer, The Matador Murders, and The Origin of Murder, have South American settings (Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador). The next novel in the series (Hunter Down), currently being edited for publication this summer, will return to a dog-related theme. Hunter Down will focus on the exotic world of canine hunt tests, with a Southern California setting.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like fun...my mom used to breed and show collies so I've been to a number of dog shows back in the day. But those weren't nearly so exciting as the ones likely to be in your book. The South American settings sound interesting too.
ReplyDelete