Friday, October 16, 2015

Virtual Tour & #Giveaway for Pane and Suffering by Cheryl Hollon

Welcome to my stop on the Virtual Tour, presented by Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, for Pane and Suffering by Cheryl Hollon.  Please leave a comment or question for Cheryl to let her know you stopped by.  You can enter her tour wide giveaway, where Cheryl will present one (1) print copy of her book and a Kensington Umbrella to one (1) randomly drawn commenter, by filling out the Rafflecopter form below. 

by Cheryl Hollon
A Webb’s Glass Shop Mystery, Book 1

Publisher: Kensington
Release Date:  September 29, 2015
Genre:  Cozy Mystery
Format:  eBook/Print
Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
ISBN:  13: 978-1617737602
ASIN:  B00RRT32HK

Buy Links:  Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Google Play | iTunes


About the book: 

To solve her father's murder and save the family-owned glass shop, Savannah Webb must shatter a killer's carefully constructed 
façade. . .

After Savannah's father dies unexpectedly of a heart attack, she drops everything to return home to St. Petersburg, Florida, to settle his affairs--including the fate of the beloved, family-owned glass shop. Savannah intends to hand over ownership to her father's trusted assistant and fellow glass expert, Hugh Trevor, but soon discovers the master craftsman also dead of an apparent heart attack.

As if the coincidence of the two deaths wasn't suspicious enough, Savannah discovers a note her father left for her in his shop, warning her that she is in danger. With the local police unconvinced, it's up to Savannah to piece together the encoded clues left behind by her father. And when her father's apprentice is accused of the murders, Savannah is more desperate than ever to crack the case before the killer seizes a window of opportunity to cut her out of the picture. . . 

**********

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Cheryl Hollon now writes full-time after she left an engineering career of designing and building military flight simulators in amazing countries such as England, Wales, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, and India. Fulfilling the dream of a lifetime, she combines her love of writing with a passion for creating glass art. In the small glass studio behind her house in St. Petersburg, Florida, Cheryl and her husband design, create, and produce fused glass, stained glass, and painted glass artworks. Visit her online at http://cherylhollon.com, on Facebook or on Twitter @CherylHollon.

There’s nothing I love more than a cozy mystery featuring some kind of craft; whether it’s cooking, knitting or even painting, so when I was given the chance to read and review Pane and Suffering by Cheryl Hollon, the first book in her A Webb’s Glass Shop Mystery series, I jumped at the chance.  Filled with colorful characters, the craft of glass art and a good mystery, Ms. Hollon’s debut novel is both entertaining and a promising start for a cozy series.  If you like learning about crafts and solving mysteries then this is a book you will definitely enjoy!

Ms. Hollon does a good job introducing us to Savannah Webb, the central character of her story.  A talented glass artist, Savannah lives in Seattle while further studying and developing her craft.  When her father in Florida dies suddenly, Savannah heads home to St. Petersburg, Florida to settle his affairs and hand ownership of Webb’s Glass Shop, the family business, to her father’s trusted assistant Hugh Trevor.  When Hugh suffers a sudden “heart attack” the day after her father’s funeral and Savannah finds a letter from her father warning her of danger, Savannah finds herself up to her glass earrings in a mystery and trying to stay alive.  I really liked Savannah’s character and easily connected with this young woman.  While my approach to hand/artisan crafts needs some help (I can crochet, do needlepoint and bake), I found myself drawn into glass art like never before (I’m now thinking of taking a class).  I also found myself a bit jealous of Savannah and her adventures.

The secondary characters are also well developed and I especially enjoyed getting to know Edward and Jacob, two very different young men.  A fellow business owner, and the glass shop’s next door neighbor, Edward is considerate, willing to help Savannah no matter what her request, and very easy on the eyes.  Plus who wouldn’t want to be friends with a man who owns the local pub and brings you coffee and scones every morning?  While Jacob’s character is quite different, he’s a teenage art apprentice who suffers from Asperger’s, he’s also easy to connect with and I liked how Ms. Hollon developed his character and included his issues as a part of the story. 

While the mystery is well developed and I really had no clue till near the end as to who the guilty party was, there are some issues that were a little distracting and brought my rating down a bit.  I found the story’s pace a little un-even; a couple of sections are really slow and the “point of view” wondered a bit from Savannah to other characters.  I also thought Savannah and Jacob both trusted a little too easily and over-shared information, which I thought was odd because of Savannah’s father’s background and her upbringing.  Overall this was a very enjoyable read though.

Will Savannah discover who is behind her father and Hugh’s deaths?  Will she be able to exonerate Jacob when he’s charged with Hugh’s murder?  And will Savannah choose to stay in Florida and run the family business at the end of the story? You’ll have to read Pane and Suffering to find out, I enjoyed it and look forward to reading Shards of Murder, the next book in the series when it releases in February 2016.


My Rating:  4 out of 5 Crowns 


**FTC Disclosure:  This review site purchased a copy of this book for the purpose of enjoyment and I read it for review.



a Rafflecopter giveaway
Tour Participants
October 14 – CarstairsConsiders…. – Review
October 14 – Mallory Heart Reviews – Review
October 15 – Moonlight Rendezvous – Review
October 15 – Girl with Book Lungs – Review
October 16 – Christa Reads and Writes – Review
October 16 – Queen of All She Reads – Review
October 17 – Community Bookstop – Review
October 18 – StoreyBook Reviews – Review
October 18 – Shelley’s Book Case – Review
October 19 – Musings and Ramblings – Review
October 20 – Melina’s Book Blog – Review
October 21 – Back Porchervations – Review
October 21 – Booklady’s Booknotes – Review
October 22 – Book Babble – Review
October 23 – Cozy Up With Kathy – Review
October 23 – LibriAmoriMiei – Review


6 comments:

  1. Pane and Suffering sounds like a great book. I have always been curious about glass art. Thank you for the giveaway. - JL Scott

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  2. What a great review! Your point of view will help sell many copies as this review shows a very positive outlook for Savanah. And who wouldn't like their very own business associate who brings scones and coffee? This sounds like a fascinating, intriguing read.

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  3. What a great review! Your point of view will help sell many copies as this review shows a very positive outlook for Savanah. And who wouldn't like their very own business associate who brings scones and coffee? This sounds like a fascinating, intriguing read.

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  4. Thank you for hosting me on my Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour. I appreciate it very much.

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  5. Every review I read makes me want to read this book more. Thanks for the review and the giveaway.

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  6. Great review - this sounds like a new series that I really need to start. :)

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