Death Runs in the Family by Heather Haven

 

Lee Alvarez’ ex-husband, Nick—a man she divorced with joy in her heart and a gun in her hand—sprints back in her life only to disappear again. She’d love to leave it at that, but could he be responsible for the recent death of her cousin, who keeled over at the finish line of a half-marathon in front of hundreds of spectators? As PI for the family-run business, Discretionary Inquiries, Lee follows the clues to Vegas, where she joins forces with Shoshone PI, Flint Tall Trees. Together they uncover a multi-million dollar betting syndicate, a tacky lounge lizard act, and a list of past but very dead runners, plus future ones to be offed. At the top of the ‘future’ list is the love of her life, Gurn Hanson. Hoping to force the culprits out in the open, Gurn and Lee’s brother, Richard, plan to run San Francisco’s famous Palace to Palace 12K in only a few days. Lee aims to keep the two men she loves from hitting the finish line the way her cousin did—not in a dead heat, but just plain dead! With more at stake than she ever dreamed possible, Lee is in a battle against time to stop the Alvarez Family’s race with death.

Okay, I’m prejudiced.  This is the third book in the Alvarez Family Murder Mystery series and the first two were five-star, kick derriere page-burning, hold-your-breath reads.  I’ve been waiting for this book the way I waited for the next Jim Butcher Harry Dresden book, or the next Harry Potter, or Mary Janice Davidson’s next Undead book, etc.  I had no doubt Death Runs in the Family would be just as good as its predecessors, nor did my cats, Acey and Tinkerbelle (who are fans of Rum Tum Tugger, Lee Alvarez’s cat).  Ms. Haven (and Tugger) did not disappoint any of us.  In fact you (and your cats) should see Tugger in this one!  Not sayin’ anymore, other than to tell you this is an absolute MUST READ!  

You don't have to have read the first two books to enjoy this one, but you'll want more of this warm, loving, funny, crime-fighting family's nail-biting adventures.

Okay, Acey!  Of course I’ll let you have your turn.

Tugger!  Dude!  I guess you don’t need any more advice from me.  That was some fancy paw work there in this book.  You really got in there and saved the day.  Your human, Lee, was ready to go to the ends of the Earth for you, but you did pretty well for her, too.  I’d salute you if I could stand on my hind legs and raise my paw that way.  I guess I’ll just rub my scent on the corner of Rochelle’s computer before I walk off the keyboard and give you a tail flick.  Oh, she’s setting out some catnip.  Guess she has more work to do.  Me-ann, she has her shoes on, and that stupid alarm’s going off.  She must be going somewhere.  Maybe I can sneak out and go play at the auto museum when she opens the door.  Bye Tugger.  Keep up the good work.  Oh, hey, Tinkerbelle says hi.  She’s sticking her whole butt up in the air and mrowling.  Shameless tabby.  I thought Rochelle got her fixed.  Women!

Acey walked away from the computer, so I guess I can add a quick note. Liana (Lee) Alvarez is still the featured guest on my other blog.  Hop next door and meet her. Here's the link. Rochelle Weber, Author  Tink and Acey are over there saying hi, as well.

Length:  226

Price:  $5.95

Buy Link:  MuseItUp Publishing

You’ll notice I always include the publisher’s buy link.  That’s because authors usually receive 40% of the book price from the publisher.  Editors and cover artists usually receive about 5%.  When you buy a book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut and the author, editors and cover artists receive their cuts from what is left.  So, if a book costs $5.99 at E-Book Publisher.com and you buy from there, the author will receive about $2.40.  If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $0.83.

Downloading the file from your computer to your Kindle is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive.  Plug the USB end of your chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from your “Downloads” box to your Kindle/Documents/Books directory.  I actually download my books using “Save As” to a “Books” file on my computer that’s sorted by my publisher, friends, and books “to review,” and then transfer them to my Kindle from there.  That way, if there’s a glitch with my Kindle, the books are on my computer.  Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.

A Wedding to Die For by Heather Haven

There's More to Being Maid of Honor Than Just Planning a Shower...

A Note from Acey to Tugger:

Hey Tugger, how ya doin’?  Dusty’s family moved.  Ah, well—more mice for me.  I hear you don’t get out much.  Yeah, Rochelle tries to keep me in when the weather’s bad, but I’ve got my safe spots out back at the auto museum.  I tried everything the other night, even the eyes, they predicted storms and she would not budge.  Good thing, too.  Had a BIG lightning bolt.  I jumped up in her lap and she cuddled me.  I think it scared her, too.  There was a high-pitched wail even louder than the storm.  Hurt my ears.  I think Tink was hiding under the bed.  She’s Rochelle’s other cat.

Well, Tugger.  Keep lettin’ Lee and Tio Mateo pamper ya.  That’s what bein’ a cat’s all about.  Watch this.

“Mew…”

“Oh, Acey, what is it?”

“Mew…”

“You have foodies.”

“Mew…”

“You want a treat?  Let’s see…  Oh!  We have cat nip!  There you go.  Tink!  You want some too? Now where was I?  Oh, yes—reviewing Heather Haven’s book.”

A wedding without a groom leaves a lot to be desired. So when the wedding of Lee’s best friend is threatened by the arrest of the groom for murder, thirty-four-year old Lee Alvarez—a combination of Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone and Janet Evanovitch’s Stephanie Plum - heads south of the border in search of the real killer. Not only is this half Latina, half WASP, and 100% detective thrown into the well-organized world of plundered Mesoamerican relics, but she finds herself eating the best tasting tamales ever.

With the help of the rest of the Alvarez Family, Never-Had-A-Bad-Hair-Day blueblood mother, Lila Hamilton Alvarez, brother and computer genius, Richard; favorite uncle, “Tío” Mateo; and Tugger, her energetic orange and white cat, Lee stumbles across the man of her dreams. But is he too good to be true? Probably. She tries to follow her own sage advice, ‘when Cupid’s wings start flapping, take cover.’ Good luck to her.

A Wedding To Die For is the second novel in a series of humorous murder mysteries involving the Alvarez Family, owners of Silicon Valley’s successful Discretionary Inquiries.

There’s more to being maid of honor than just planning the bridal shower.  First you have to prove the groom is innocent of murder.  Somehow, nothing is ever normal or easy for Lee Alvarez.

After reading Murder is a Family Business, I couldn’t wait to read A Wedding to Die For, and I was not disappointed.  Ms. Haven has created a wonderful ensemble cast in the Alvarez Family Murder mysteries.  Liana (Lee) Alvarez is smart and funny.  The book is well-paced, building the tension from the first page to the last, as she and her family stalk the killer and almost become the next victims.  If you have not read either of Ms. Haven’s books, please do so.  I highly recommend both.  Below is the buy link for A Wedding to Die For.

Price:  $5.95

Buy Link:  https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage-ask.tpl&product_id=80&category_id=1&manufacturer_id=14&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1