Kill and Run by Lauren Carr - Review, Guest Post and Giveaway

I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review

Published: September 4, 2015

Number of pages: 422

Genre: Mystery

Series: Thorny Rose Mystery Series

Synopsis:

Five women with seemingly nothing in common are found brutally murdered in a townhome outside Washington, DC. Among the many questions surrounding the massacre is what had brought these apparent strangers together only to be killed.

Taking on his first official murder case, Lieutenant Murphy Thornton, USN, believes that if he can uncover the thread connecting the victims, then he can find their murderer.

The case takes an unexpected turn when Murphy discovers that one of the victims has a connection to his stepmother, Homicide Detective Cameron Gates. One wintry night, over a dozen years before, her first husband, a Pennsylvania State trooper, had been run down while working a night shift on the turnpike.

In this first installment of the Thorny Rose Mysteries, the Lovers in Crime join newlyweds Murphy Thornton and Jessica Faraday to shift through a web of lies and cover-ups. Together, can the detectives of the Thorny Rose uncover the truth without falling victim to a cunning killer?

What did I think about this book:

I thought this was a good start to a new mystery series. This was the first book that I have read by this author. The author did a good job of catching your interest from the first page. She kept me guessing throughout the entire book. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep the story moving right along and there is even a little romance thrown in for an added bonus. The charcters were well developed and very real. I also like how the author used animals in the story. You can tell she is an animal lover. I enjoyed this book and look forward to more by this author.

About the author:

Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday Mysteries, which takes place in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland. Open Season for Murder is the tenth installment in the Mac Faraday Mystery series.

In addition to her series set on Deep Creek Lake, Lauren Carr has also written the Lovers in Crime Mysteries, which features prosecutor Joshua Thornton with homicide detective Cameron Gates, who were introduced in Shades of Murder, the third book in the Mac Faraday Mysteries. They also make an appearance in The Lady Who Cried Murder.

Three Days to Forever introduced Lauren Carr’s latest series detectives, Murphy Thornton and Jessica Faraday in the Thorny Rose Mysteries. Look for Kill and Run, the first installment in this series, to be released September 1, 2015.

The owner of Acorn Book Services, Lauren is also a publishing manager, consultant, editor, cover and layout designer, and marketing agent for independent authors. Visit Acorn Book Services’ website for more information.

Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She also passes on what she has learned in her years of writing and publishing by conducting workshops and teaching in community education classes.

She lives with her husband, son, and three dogs on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.

Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook

Guest Post:

Since When Do Best-Selling Authors Wash Dishes?
By Lauren Carr

Ever since I was a little girl rewriting the Bobbsey Twins (I’d change the mystery of the missing sea shell to finding a dead body), I dreamed of being a best-selling mystery author.

I envisioned it this way—I would be standing on the balcony of my Manhattan penthouse gazing out across the skyline—drinking an obscenely expensive champagne from a crystal champagne flute. Of course, I’d have a perfect figure and hair and family and quirky friends dropping into my home on a regular basis like the writers you see in Neil Simon plays.

So then, after decades of hard work, my books have broken through. I am now an Amazon All-Star with my book sales ranking in their top-100. My books have reached the top-100 in police procedurals and cozies both here on Amazon and in their overseas markets.

Not only am I a best-selling author—I am an international best-selling author.

And … here I stand at the kitchen sink in my West Virginia mountain home gazing out at a tree full of birds glaring at me because their feeders are empty. A broken dishwasher rests at me side. As for the champagne—I don’t drink. But I do have a very nice domestic vanilla ice cream in my freezer. We won’t talk about the perfect figure and hair.

Yes, I do have quirky friends, but they don’t drop in very much because of Gnarly, my one-hundred pound German shepherd (chief of security), won’t let anyone in with being patted down. Most of my friends feel violated after going through that procedure. (Hey, there are a lot of nuts out there! You can never be too safe!)

So what happened?

It all started when my eight month old dishwasher broke during the first week of June …

Oh, sorry, I thought you were asking why an international best-selling author is up to her eyeballs in dirty dishes when she has an expensive dishwasher that doesn’t work?!

Truth is—life as an international best-selling author is grand … except for the broken dishwasher … and the angry birds.

Big city life—been there-done that. After ten years of living and working in Washington DC, my husband and I left the city for a mountaintop home in West Virginia where the trees are green and the people are real. As for the gorgeous skyline—my view of the Blue Ridge Mountains is to die for.

I prefer ice cream to champagne--though my waistline does complain.

So my quirky friends don’t like my chief of security. Hey, if life was perfect, then it’d be boring. That’s why God likes to keep us on our toes.

Which is what I will tell the angry birds while filling their feeders as soon as I finish washing these dirty dishes.

So, as I look down into Gnarly’s adoring brown eyes before handing him a dog biscuit, to answer your question, “What is life like being a best-selling author?”

Life is grand indeed.

Giveaway: ​ 

1. Win an ebook copy of Kill and Run with a $15 Amazon gift card (open internationally - 5 winners)
2. Win a print copy of Kill and Run (USA only - 4 winners)
3. Win a print copy of both Three Days to Forever and Kill and Run with a $25 Amazon gift card (USA only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Aug 31 - Book Stop Corner - review of Three Days to Forever/author interview /giveaway

Aug 31 - Cheryl's Book Nook - review of Three Days to Forever / giveaway

Aug 31 - The Travelogue of a Book Addict - review of Three Days to Forever / giveaway

Aug 31 - The Booksnake Etc. - review of Three Days to Forever

Aug 31 - Coffee, Books & Art - book spotlight / giveaway

Aug 31 - Manic Mommy of Two - review of Kill and Run / giveaway

Aug 31 - readalot - review of Kill and Run

Sept 1 - Book Stop Corner - review of Kill and Run / giveaway

Sept 1 - Bound 4 Escape - review of Three Days to Forever / giveaway

Sept 1 - My Love for Reading Keeps Growing - review of Three Days to Forever

Sept 2 - Bound 4 Escape - review of Kill and Run / giveaway

Sept 2 - Mystery Suspense Reviews - review of Three Days to Forever

Sept 3 - Bound 2 Escape - books spotlighted / giveaway

Sept 3 - Rockin' Book Reviews - review of Three Days to Forever / giveaway

Sept 3 - Library of Clean Reads - review of Three Days to Forever / giveaway

Sept 4 - Griperang's Bookmarks - review of Three Days to Forever/ guest post / giveaway

Sept 4 - Manic Mommy of Two - review of Three Days to Forever / giveaway

Sept 7 - Jaquo Lifestyle Magazine - guest post

Sept 7 - 3 Partners in Shopping - review of Kill and Run / giveaway

Sept 8 - My Love for Reading Keeps Growing - review of Kill and Run

Sept 8 - Nighttime Reading Center - review of Three Days to Forever/interview/ giveaway

Sept 9 - T's Stuff - review of Three Days to Forever / guest post / giveaway

Sept 9 - Vic's Media Room - review of Three Days to Forever

Sept 10 - Rockin' Book Reviews - review of Kill and Run / giveaway

Sept 10 - fundinmental - review of Three Days to Forever / author interview / giveaway

Sept 11 -Vic's Media Room - review of Kill and Run / author interview / giveaway

Sept 11 - Cassidy Salem Reads and Writes - review of Kill and Run / giveaway

Sept 13 - Writers and Authors - book spotlight / giveaway

Sept 14 - The Autistic Gamer - review of Three Days to Forever

Sept 14 - Mystery Suspense Reviews - review of Kill and Run

Sept 15 - The Booksnake Etc. - review of Kill and Run

Sept 15 - Life as Leels - review of Three Days to Forever

Sept 16 - Readers' Muse - review of Three Days to Forever

Sept 16 - T's Stuff - review of Kill and Run / giveaway

Sept 17 - fundinmental - review of Kill and Run / giveaway

Sept 17 - Library of Clean Reads - review of Kill and Run / giveaway

Sept 18 - Cheryl's Book Nook - review of Kill and Run / giveaway

Sept 21 - The Autistic Gamer - review of Kill and Run

Sept 21 - Nighttime Reading Center - review of Kill and Run / giveaway

Sept 22 - Celestial Reviews - review of Three Days to Forever / giveaway

Sept 22 - Griperang's Bookmarks - review of Kill and Run / giveaway

Sept 23 - fuonlyknew - review of Three Days to Forever / giveaway

Sept 23 - Deal Sharing Aunt - review of Kill and Run

Sept 24 - fuonlyknew - review of Kill and Run / giveaway

Sept 24 - Readers' Muse - review of Kill and Run

Sept 25 - Mystery Suspense Reviews - guest post

Sept 28 - Celestial Reviews - review of Kill and Run / giveaway

Sept 28 - Christa Reads and Writes - review of Kill and Run / giveaway

Sept 29 - A Blue Million Books - book spotlight / author interview

Sept 29 - Life as Leels - review of Kill and Run

Sept 30 - Olio by Marilyn - review of Three Days to Forever / giveaway

Oct 1 - The Travelogue of a Book Addict - review of Kill and Run / giveaway

Oct 1 - Writers and Authors - guest post

Oct 2 - Book and Ink - review of Kill and Run / guest post / giveaway

Oct 5 - A Mama's Corner of the World - review of Kill and Run

Oct 6 - Jessica Cassidy - review of Three Days to Forever / giveaway

Oct 7 - Room with Books - book spotlight / guest post / giveaway

Oct 7 - Pause for Tales - review of Kill and Run

Oct 8 - Olio by Marilyn - review of Kill and Run / author interview / giveaway

Oct 9 - Jessica Cassidy - review of Kill and Run / author interview / giveaway

Oct 9 - Book and Ink - book spotlight for Three Days to Forever / giveaway