Virtual Tour & #Giveaway for The Devil's Music by Pearl R. Meaker

Welcome to my stop on the Virtual Book Tour, presented by Goddess Fish Promotions, for The Devil’s Music by Pearl R. Meaker.  Please leave a comment or question for Pearl to let her know you stopped by.  You can enter her tour wide giveaway, for a $25 Amazon/B&N GC, by filing out the Rafflecopter form below.  You can also follow all of the stops on her tour by clicking on the banner above. The more stops you visit, the better your odds of winning.

The Devil’s Music

By Pearl R. Meaker

Emory Crawford Mysteries, Book 1

Publisher:  Promontory Press

Release Date:  April 30, 2015

Genre:  Mystery/Female Sleuth

Length:  176 Pages

Format: Print/eBook

ISBN:  978-1927559642

ASIN:  B00WZU2EX4

Buy Links:  Amazon | Nook | Kobo | Publisher

About the book: 

Emory Crawford doesn't do martial arts nor is she an athletic, leggy woman who is built like a model. She's a wife, grandmother, and empty nest lover of crafts, reading, birding and bluegrass music.

When an acclaimed scholar, best-selling author and fellow bluegrass musician is found murdered on the Twombly College campus where her husband teaches chemistry and forensics, Emory takes up her knitting caddy, to help her channel the spirit of Miss Marple, and heads off to help solve the crime.

EXCERPT

Stars shone in a sky hazed with moonlight from a half- moon. The fountain played its merry music. The smell of late spring flowers wafted on the cooling air. Soft lights in the fountain made the area cozy while keeping it from being scary-dark. But our playful mood faded as we saw the silhouette of someone sleeping on one of the backless benches near the fountain.

“Drat! I was looking forward to some romance.” At forty-seven I still sound like a

sulky child when I’m disappointed.

“So was I.” Jebbin didn’t sound it though. He was too busy squinting at the figure on the bench. He nodded his head toward the figure. “Something’s odd there, Emory.”

I looked closer. The figure’s arms both dangled down, hands resting on the ground. The legs were straight, hanging off either side of the bench in an uncomfortable looking position. We edged closer until we could see, lit by the light of the fountain, the body of a man splayed lengthwise on the bench. Several pouches and odd amulets rested on his chest. On the ground, the hand nearest us was holding a fiddle with no strings.

Jebbin grabbed my shoulders, turning me toward the fountain and away from the bench.

“He’s been strangled.” Jebbin’s body was tight, his voice tense. “It’s Archie and he’s been strangled.”

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Pearl R. Meaker is an upper-middle-aged, short, pudgy homemaker, mother, and grandmother who in 2002 became a writer. Initially writing fanfiction she soon tried original fiction at the encouragement of her regular readers. She has been a life-long lover of mystery stories and automatically went to that genre for her first book, The Devil’s Music. She and her husband of nearly 40 years live in central Illinois. They both love bluegrass music, playing fiddle and banjo and singing. Pearl also does many crafts – when she’s not reading or writing - knitting, crochet, origami, needlepoint, and cross-stitch among them. She also enjoys birding and photography and is a former fencer.

Visit Pearl here:      

Website:  pearlrmeaker.com

                                   

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

                                   

Twitter link: https://twitter.com/PearlRMeaker

                                   

Pinterest:  https://www.pinterest.com/PearlRMeaker/

A mystery written in classic Agatha Christie style, The Devil’s Music by Pearl R. Meaker features a middle aged, married female sleuth whose penchant for knitting and reading mysteries helps her solve a local murder.  Set in a college setting in a small town in her home state of Illinois, Ms. Meaker’s story features colorful characters, a clear love of food and a good, solid mystery.  A good pace, a touch of snarky dialogue and a heroine you can’t help but like make this a book mystery lovers will want to read. 

Ms. Meaker does an excellent job developing the primary characters in this story; I easily connected with Emory Crawford, a middle aged homemaker whose college professor husband works at Twombly College.   A wife, grandmother and lover of crafts and books, Emory is still deeply in love with her husband, loves her children and enjoys volunteering at the college library.  She’s bright, well-mannered and loves to eat.  I also enjoyed getting to know her husband, Dr. Jebbin Crawford, who teaches both chemistry and forensic science.  His involvement with solving the case quickly and quietly, at the behest of the college president, helps Emory conduct her own simultaneous investigation, which of course leads to her making several significant discoveries.

The mystery itself is well written and takes several twists and turns.  The pace is good and the secondary characters are also well developed and colorful.  I especially enjoyed getting to compare Emory’s quiet intelligence at work compared to some of the more flamboyant and highly educated/regarded characters.  Following Miss Marple’s footsteps, so to speak, Emory is quite the detective as she uses her “knitting” hobby to make “the suspects” comfortable and easy to question.

Will Emory be able to solve who killed the visiting professor before her husband and the other “authorities” solve the case themselves?  Will the killer feel threatened enough by Emory’s investigation to threaten her life?  You’ll have to read The Devil’s Music to find out.  I enjoyed it and look forward to reading the next book in this series.

My Rating:  4.5 out of 5 Crowns

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