Q — Tell us about the new book, A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS. A – It’s the first book in a new series, featuring recovering Southern Belle Savannah Martin. Savannah has always been a good girl, always doing what was expected, fully expecting that if she does everything perfectly, everything will fall into place in its turn. When things don’t work out that way, she starts reassessing everything she’s always believed to be the truth and starts to build the kind of life she wants, not the one she’s expected to have. She gets her real estate license and starts plying her trade, and pretty much immediately finds herself tangled up in a murder mystery, when one of her colleagues is murdered in an empty house and Savannah is the one who stumbles over the body. It’s a part mystery, part romance, part suspense novel, with – according to one early reader – “enough wit and sexual chemistry to rival Janet Evanovich.” Can’t ask for better than that! Q–This is your first book written under your real name. You also write a successful Do-It-Yourself mystery series as Jennie Bentley. A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS played an indirect part in that coming about didn’t it? A – It certainly did! I wrote A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS back in 2005, just after I got my real estate license. I was walking into empty houses with strangers pretty much every day, and having a vivid imagination, it didn’t take long for me to consider all the possibilities for what might be hiding inside. Dead body, escaped convict, crazed ax-murderer, rabid dog… Once I finished the manuscript, my agent started sending it to editors, hoping to find a home for it, and eventually it ended up at Berkley Prime Crime, an imprint of the Penguin Group. They have a very specific focus on mysteries featuring ‘crafts and activities’ – knitting, sewing, baking, cooking, glass blowing, doll collecting, etc. – and my book didn’t fit with the rest of their line. But they liked me and they liked the fact that I had a background in real estate and renovation, and so they asked me if I’d be interested in generating a series about a home renovator for them instead. There are three books in the Do-It-Yourself home renovation mysteries released so far, with at least two more to come. Q–They say write what you know. You’ve been a realtor and you renovate homes. So is it safe to say you had much of your research in your head? A – I’ve owned and renovated nine houses in the past nine years, so yes, there isn’t much I don’t already know when it comes to that end of things. I’m familiar with the various architectural styles, the various Nashville neighborhoods, the ins and outs of Savannah’s new profession. What I have to research are the crime-related parts of the books: the murders, the murder-weapons, the police procedure. Q–You also live in Nashville. Why does the city work as the setting for this book? A – I didn’t pick it specifically because I thought it would work; I chose to write about Nashville because I live here and it was what I knew. That said, I think it works very well as a setting on a lot of levels. Back when I wrote the book, the real estate market in Nashville was very strong. It’s still doing better than in a lot of other areas in the country, although it’s more of a normal market now, rather than the very strong sellers’ market it was back then. Nashville is an interesting city in which to place a series of books. It’s big, but not too big; more like an overgrown small town. There’s been a lot of population growth in the past few years, from other parts of the country, and there’s a small amount of tension between the ‘natives’ and the ‘newcomers.’ People in other parts of the country tend to think of Nashville as Music City – all country music all the time; nothing but country music – but to those of us living here, there’s a lot more to Nashville than that. We have a vibrant art scene, a lot of history, and a lot of industry. Music isn’t the only big industry here, something a lot of people are unaware of. Besides, Nashville offers a lot of different settings, from downtown urban areas and historic neighborhoods to suburban sprawl and rivers, forests, and hills. There’s something for everyone in Nashville. Q–Did you sometimes get Bente Gallagher and Jennie Bentley confused? A – I don’t get myself confused with myself, since I’m pretty much the same person no matter which name I write under. And the styles of the books are similar enough that that’s not a big problem either. The way I write is the way I write, pretty much, with small allowances for the parameters of each genre: cozy mystery for the DIY-books and more of a romantic suspense mystery for A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS. The problem is in keeping the voices of the two protagonists distinct. Both are young women, both narrate the stories in the first person. Both have some of the same traits. My traits, most likely. They’re very different characters, though. Avery Baker, the protagonist in the DIY-series, is a New Yorker born and bred, who lives in Maine where she renovates houses with her boyfriend Derek. She’s very hands-on, not at all afraid to wade in and get dirty, and she’s curious to a fault and quite talkative. Savannah Martin, the main character in A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS and the other books in that series, is a Southern Belle: elegant, ladylike, reserved, sweet as sugar on the outside and hiding a lot of ‘inappropriate’ thoughts and feelings below the surface. Their two voices are very different, both regionally and because of the different ways they think and see the world. It can be tough, after spending six months in Avery’s head, to remember what Savannah sounds like when I get back to her. Other than that, though, the two settings and casts of characters are distinct enough in my head that I don’t get them mixed up.
Q and A With Author Bente Gallagher
June 6th, 2010 · Comments Off
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Bente Gallagher’s “Cutthroat” Debut
May 31st, 2010 · 1 Comment
[Buy Cutthroat Business at Amazon]Library Journal Praises Bente Gallagher’s New Mystery
Gallagher, Bente. A Cutthroat Business: A Savannah Martin Mystery. PublishingWorks. Jun. 2010. c.362p. ISBN 978-1-935557-07-4. pap. $13.95. Showing a house to a client who turns out to be an old high school boyfriend, Nashville real estate agent Savannah Martin discovers a coworker’s corpse. VERDICT The hilarious dialog and the tension between Savannah and Rafe will delight fans of chick-lit mysteries and romantic suspense. Under the pen name Jennie Bentley, the author writes a popular DIY cozy series (Fatal Fixer Upper).
Author Bente Gallagher’s “Cutthroat” Debut
(You know her as Jennie Bentley)NASHVILLE, TN.–Actually, readers already know author Bente Gallagher.But they know her by her pen name….Jennie Bentley.Gallagher writes a very popular Do-It-Yourself cozy mystery series for Penguin Berkley Prime Crime imprint as Jennie Bentley.Now Gallagher returns, as herself, with a murder mystery, A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS (PublishingWorks), to be released in mid-June.Set in Nashville, everyone has warned new-minted Realtor® Savannah Martin that real estate is a cutthroat business, unsuitable for a gentle-bred Southern Belle. But until she stumbles over the butchered body of fellow agent Brenda Puckett, throat slit from ear to ear, Savannah doesn’t realize that they might mean it literally.With her real estate agent and home renovation backgrounds, Gallagher weaves a mystery that one reviewer says “has enough wit and sexual chemistry to rival Janet Evanovich.”"I wrote A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS back in 2005, just after I got my real estate license,” said Gallagher, a Nashville resident. ” I was walking into empty houses with strangers pretty much every day, and having a vivid imagination, it didn’t take long for me to consider all the possibilities for what might be hiding inside. Dead body, escaped convict, crazed ax-murderer, rabid dog…”A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS was also the lynchpin that launched Gallagher’s career as Jennie Bentley. When originally pitched the manuscript landed on the desk of Penguin Berkley Prime Crime. “They publish arts and crafts mysteries so this didn’t fit their niche,” Gallagher recalled. “They asked if I could write mysteries set around home renovations. So I did.”And author Jennie Bentley was born. “A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS is very special because it is that first manuscript,” Gallagher said. “My agent found a good publishing match for the story.”And Jennie Bentley is helping introduce Bente Gallagher to mystery readers,” Gallagher concluded.Read more about Gallagher at www.bentegallagher.com and at www.jenniebentley.com.
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Andrew Grant’s DIE TWICE Builds On Reputation
May 8th, 2010 · Comments Off
[Buy Die Twice at Amazon]
Library Journal calls DIE TWICE “A solid adrenalin rush….”
Grant, Andrew. Die Twice. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. May 2010. c.352p. ISBN 978-0-312-54027-2. $24.99. David Trevellyan returns shortly after the events that ended Grant’s debut novel, Even. Exiled from New York and at loose ends, Trevellyan comes to the aid of a legendary member of the British Royal Navy Intelligence Service trying to recover a canister of lethal gas. Grant’s first-person narration puts the reader in the front seat of heart-pounding action scenes with a hard man who has no compunction about killing. The tension is relieved by Trevellyan’s wry, understated sense of humor but never long enough to make the story lose momentum. VERDICT A solid adrenaline rush from start to finish from the brother of Lee Child. [Library marketing; national tour.]
In DIE TWICE Author Andrew Grant Continues To Build On His Thriller Reputation (Already Being Mentioned With The Best) If your writing is to be discussed in the same sentence with the best, the proof must definitely jump off the pages. With DIE TWICE (Minotaur, mid-May release), thriller author Andrew Grant demonstrates in only his second novel the fast-pace story crafting that gets him mentioned with the likes of Robert Ludlum and Ian Fleming. The comparisons actually started with his heralded 2009 debut EVEN. DIE TWICE brings readers back to the world of gritty hero David Trevellyan. He’s the British Naval Intelligence Officer and modern-day James Bond who was introduced to thriller/noir fans in EVEN. Obliged to leave New York City in the aftermath of his previous mission, David Trevellyan is summoned to the British Consulate in Chicago. To the same office where just a week before his new handler was attacked and shot by a Royal Navy Intelligence operative gone bad. Assigned the job of finding the rogue agent and putting an end to his treacherous scheme, Trevellyan soon finds that once again, his only hopes of saving countless innocent lives lie not within the system, but in his instinctive belief – you’re bound to do what’s right, whatever the personal cost may be. “Obviously it’s extremely flattering to be mentioned alongside the icons of the business,” said Grant. “I’m delighted if readers are making comparisons like that. But I just try to write the kind of books I’d like to read, and hope the characters and storylines are woven together in a way that people will enjoy. “ If authors are to write what they know then Grant has placed Trevellyan in a setting which he knows well. Grant resides in Chicago and the United Kingdom. “Chicago works as a location because the city is so diverse,” said Grant. “It enabled me to put Trevellyan in places that suited the action, from the glamorous center of the city to seedy nightclubs, prosperous neighborhoods and grimy back alleys – not to mention the kind of abandoned industrial complex you would not want to be caught in after dark.” DIE TWICE “… deals with a crisis that is believable and compelling” according to RT Book Review. Grant , who is engaged to award-winning historic fiction author Tasha Alexander, is already at work on his next David Trevellyan thriller. Also visit www.andrewgrantbooks.com Media contact: Tom Robinson www.authorandbookmedia.com 615-794-2998 tcr811@aol.com
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Tasha Alexander, Minotaur Sign New Deal
March 28th, 2010 · Comments Off
Author Tasha Alexander Signs New Minotaur Deal To Continue Popular Lady Emily Series CHICAGO–Award-winning historic fiction author Tasha Alexander has signed a new two-book deal with St. Martin’s Minotaur to continue her popular Lady Emily suspense series. The deal will extend the series to seven books. “I’m excited to continue writing for St. Martin’s Minotaur,” said Alexander. “And to further explore Emily’s world. When I began my first book seven years ago I hardly dared hope I could turn something I loved into such a long-running series. I have the readers to thank. They have stuck by Emily.” Alexander has published four books in the suspenseful series set in the Victorian England period. The most recent, TEARS OF PEARL, came out last September, her first with Minotaur. Alexander’s fifth in the series, DANGEROUS TO KNOW, comes out in the fall. The Notre Dame graduate also wrote ELIZABETH THE GOLDEN AGE, the companion book to the Cate Blanchett movie in 2007. Alexander burst on the literary scene in 2005 with AND ONLY TO DECEIVE for Harper Morrow, also the publisher of the second and third Lady Emily books, A POISONED SEASON and A FATAL WALTZ. Alexander resides in Chicago and is engaged to thriller author Andrew Grant.
Media contact Tom Robinson www.authorandbookmedia.com 794-2998 tcr811@aol.com
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Two Book Award Nominations for Tasha Alexander
February 15th, 2010 · Comments Off
Author Tasha Alexander’s Tears Of PearlNominated For Two Prestigious Book Awards
CHICAGO–Award nominations are coming in for noted historic fiction author Tasha Alexander’s TEARS OF PEARL (St. Martin’s Minotaur). The novel, part of the author’s award-winning Lady Emily series, was recently announced as a finalist for the Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery. The book has also been nominated for the Best Historical Mystery Category for the prestigious RT Book Review Annual Career Achievement and Reviewers Choice Awards.
TEARS OF PEARL was released in September and is the fourth book in Alexander’s series. It was her first entry with St. Martin’s Minotaur after writing the first three books for Harper Morrow. Alexander also wrote the companion book the Cate Blanchett’s movie ELIZABETH THE GOLDEN AGE in 2007.
“As an author, doing what I love, it is so special and humbling to have my work nominated for the Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery and RT Book Review awards,” said Tasha Alexander. “Both groups are so highly regarded in our business and are committed to the art of the written word.”
The Bruce Alexander Award honors the best historical (events prior to 1950) mystery published during the previous year. The winner will be announced at the Left Coast Crime Conference. Tasha’s series is set in Victorian England period.
RT Book Review gave TEARS OF PEARL an outstanding 4½-star rating and said of Lady Emily, “Her voice and accurate historical details will keep the reader enthralled.”
Alexander, a Chicago resident and a graduate of Notre Dame, is awaiting publication of the next Lady Emily installment from Minotaur, DANGEROUS TO KNOW, scheduled for fall release.
RT award winners will be announced April 29 at an awards ceremony in Columbus, Ohio and in the June edition of RT Book Review.
Also visit www.tashaalexander.com
Media contact: Tom Robinson www.authorandbookmedia.com 615-794-2998 tcr811@aol.com
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Q and A with Jennie Bentley on Plaster and Poison
February 15th, 2010 · Comments Off
Q & A WITH AUTHOR JENNIE BENTLEY ON PLASTER AND POISON
(March 2010 release from Penguin Berkley Prime Crime)
Q—Aren’t you introducing us to some family members in PLASTER AND POISON?
A—I am, as a matter of fact! For the past two books, FATAL FIXER-UPPER and SPACKLED AND SPOOKED, Avery, the main character, has been talking to her mother Rosemary on the phone. Rosemary is in California. Her husband Noel Carrick is a TV producer out there, and in PLASTER AND POISON, the two of them come to Waterfield to see Avery and to check out Avery’s boyfriend Derek. Who has his own family playing a part in the story as well: Derek’s father, Dr. Benjamin Ellis, is also remarried, and his wife Cora came with two daughters attached. Both of them, Alice and Beatrice, come to Waterfield for Thanksgiving; Beatrice with a couple of suitcases in the car. She has just left her husband, Steve, who is a lawyer in Boston, and she becomes an integral part of the plot. A long-dead Ellis also figures into the World War One history mystery in PLASTER AND POISON.
Q—Which new character was the most fun for you to create and why?
A—I really had fun with the history mystery in this one; so much so that my editor told me I had to tone it down because it was threatening to take over the plot. So the historical characters are both near and dear to my heart. Rosemary is a fun character to write, as well. So many people had asked me if she would ever be in any of the books, because they liked her so much when Avery spoke to her on the phone, and it was nice to be able to introduce her here.
Q—This is your third book in a series and you’ve signed to write two more books. What’s your advice on keeping a series fresh and entertaining?
I prefer reading series to reading stand-alone books, and I think the reason for that is the same as for most of the other people who feel the way I do: we like hanging out with characters who have essentially become like old friends. It’s human nature, once we care about them, to want to know more, to want to see what happens next. The trick is to keep the characters growing and developing, not getting stale, but at the same time keeping them true to themselves, to what readers love about them.
Basically, Avery and Derek’s relationship is the backbone of the series. There are also a few secondary relationships that are developing over time. The mysteries are superimposed over the relationships, and they change in every book. In chapter 1 of each book, Derek and Avery take on a new project, the renovation of another house. Because the job is different in each book, and because the setting is different, each house is in a different spot surrounded by different neighbors, it isn’t hard to keep things interesting. I always have an influx of new characters I can use, while at the same time I get to add in whoever I need from the secondary characters already established in the previous books. The houses are always different, and I try to vary the plots as much as I can from book to book, while staying true to the characters and basic premise established in the first and second books.
Q—How long did it take you to write PLASTER AND POISON?
A—Publishing a book is a long process, and writing the book is only a small part of it. I’m on a six-month contract. It takes me roughly three months to write a first draft of the book. After that, I spend a couple of weeks going over it before sending it to my agent. Then I wait a few weeks to a month until she’s had a chance to read it, and then I work in her suggestions. After that it goes to my editor, who has suggestions for rewrites, as well. After I do those, there are copy edits and line edits to get through. While all this is going on, the designers and marketing department at the publishing house work on the cover, the layout, and the promo. The whole process usually takes close to a year and a half, from the time I write the first words to when I have a book in my hand.
Q—Can you talk about the renovation tips included in the back of the book?
A—Each book has a set of renovation tips in the back, for how to do some of the crafts and projects that Avery tackles in the course of the story. In FATAL FIXER-UPPER, it was kitchen projects and in SPACKLED AND SPOOKED, bathroom. In this third book, the main focus is on the bedroom that B&B owner Kate McGillicutty and police chief Wayne Rasmussen will move into once they’re married and Derek and Avery have finished renovating the carriage house on Kate’s property and have turned it into a romantic retreat for two. Avery is turning the bedroom—the whole house, really—into a pseudo-Parisian apartment, with a padded and upholstered wall behind the bed, skylights that look like balcony doors in the ceiling upstairs, and dripping chandeliers everywhere. The tips include upholstering a wall, turning a basic Shaker-style headboard into a romantic Gustavian-inspired bed, and how to make Avery’s paper-flowers, pictured on the cover of the book.
Media Contact: Tom Robinson www.authorandbookmedia.com 615-794-2998 tcr811@aol.com
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Jennie Bentley’s New D-I-Y Mystery In March
January 5th, 2010 · No Comments
PLASTER AND POISON
D-I-Y AUTHOR JENNIE BENTLEY’S THIRD BOOK OF COZY MYSTERY SERIES SET FOR MARCH RELEASE BY BERKLEY PRIME CRIME
Author Jennie Bentley, the fast-rising voice of Do-It-Yourself cozy mysteries, brings readers back to Waterfield, Maine. This time it’s for a third adventure with home renovater Avery Baker and her handyman-boyfriend Derek in PLASTER AND POISON, a March release from Penguin Berkley Prime Crime.
Local bed and breakfast owner Kate McGillicutty and Waterfield Police Chief Wayne Rasmussen are finally tying the knot. They’ve asked Avery and her boyfriend, Derek, to renovate an old carriage house behind the B&B. It’s a daunting task, but Avery plans on remaking the relic into a romantic Parisian-style retreat.
But the course of true love–and home repair–rarely runs smooth. As proven when Avery stumbles across a lifeless body in the carriage house. And now, Avery’s to-do list reads: find wallpaper…lay insulation…solve murder!
PLASTER AND POISON follows the widely acclaimed success of FATAL FIXER-UPPER and SPACKLED AND SPOOKED.
With the latest book Bentley weaves solid “supporting character” development into the storyline. And as with the previous two books readers will find handy renovating tips at the conclusion.
“I’m very pleased with how the storyline developed in this book,” said Bentley. “It’s a book about family. Readers will find out more about some of the supporting characters that have been on the periphery for a while. They will get to meet Avery’s mom, Rosemary, and her stepfather, Noel, who is a television producer in California, when Rosemary and Noel come to Waterfield to see Avery and inspect Derek.
“Readers will also get to know more about Derek’s family,” Bentley added. “One of Derek’s stepsisters is Beatrice, and she has a big part in the plot of PLASTER AND POISON. I’m having fun with the characters. That’s important as you continue a series.”
Fans of Avery and Derek can expect at least two more books after PLASTER and POISON, as Bentley has been signed to extend the series to a fourth and fifth novel.
“There’s still so much good material, plots and twists to write for this series,” Bentley said. “Avery and Derek have become like my friends because we’ve all been together awhile. PLASTER AND POISON will also provide groundwork for the fourth book in the series.”
When Bentley isn’t busy writing D-I-Y cozy mysteries, she and her husband spend their time renovating their latest home. They are working on their ninth house in Middle Tennessee in as many years.
Visit www.jenniebentley.com
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BookReporter Praises Andrew Grant’s Thriller EVEN
November 30th, 2009 · Comments Off
BookReporter.com—
May 2009
It’s a pleasure observing Trevellyan’s methods. You have to love his philosophy. Take, for example, his approach to finding a needle in a haystack: “So a needle’s in there, and we need it back. No problem. Get some matches. Hay burns. Needles don’t.” This is a man who prefers the direct approach. More importantly, he is highly capable, not to mention highly irreverent, delightfully witty, and deadly in his work.
Even will blow your socks off. Andrew Grant pulls his readers in with the first page and doesn’t let go until he’s finished with them. Kind of like David Trevellyan. Thriller fans won’t find a better book this season.—Kate Ayers
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Caldwell to Write More Izzy McNeil
September 27th, 2009 · No Comments
POPULAR IZZY MCNEIL MYSTERY SERIES TO CONTINUEAS “RED-HOT” AUTHOR LAURA CALDWELL GETS NEW BOOK DEAL
Red-hot mystery author Laura Caldwell, who released not one, not two, but three books this summer—to ignite the popular Izzy McNeil trilogy—announced that she has signed with MIRA books to write four more Izzy McNeil novels. In June, Caldwell published Red Hot Lies, the story of a sassy, red headed Chicago attorney whose fiance disappears on the same day her client is killed. The book was followed by Red Blooded Murder (July) and Red, White & Dead (August), all of which feature Izzy McNeil against the backdrop of Caldwell’s buzzing hometown Chicago.
The books are scheduled to hit stores after the release of Unlikely (tentative title), Caldwell’s non-fiction book with Free Press (a Simon & Schuster imprint) about a murder trial she handled which changed her life. That book is set for September 2010.
“I’m thrilled to write four more books in the Izzy McNeil series,” said Caldwell. “Never before have I felt there was still so much material to cover in the life of this character and those of the people around her. And the fact that so many readers are writing to share what they liked (and what they didn’t; It’s okay, I can handle it) makes it even more exciting. Some readers have made the most incredible suggestions that never would have occurred to me. I have a feeling there will be many readers acknowledged in these books.”
While Caldwell has 10 books published, the popular summer mystery trilogy was her first series.
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Bentley’s D-I-Y Mysteries To Continue
September 27th, 2009 · No Comments
Prime Crime Author Jennie Bentley to Write More D-I-Y Cozy Mysteries in Avery Baker Series
It seems people want more D-I-Y cozy mysteries and noted Berkely Prime Crime author Jennie Bentley will continue to write them.
Bentley has agreed to write two more mysteries in the popular Avery Baker D-I-Y series for Prime Crime, bringing the total number of books in the Waterfield, Maine-based adventures to five.
Bentley debuted Avery Baker last year with the widely popular Fatal Fixer-Upper and the sequel—Spackled and Spooked—has been well received since its August release. Spackled and Spooked made Barnes & Noble’s Top 6 paperback ranking for the first week, the IMBA top ten the first month and for three weeks was first or second on the Davis-Kidd Bookstore list. Davis-Kidd is one of the south’s leading independent stores.The third book, Plaster and Poison, is scheduled for release March, 2010.
“I’m thrilled to be able to continue the journey with Avery and handyman Derek, and look forward to many more adventures with the fine people of historic and fictional Waterfield, Maine,” said Bentley. “Since there’s a population of just under 10,000 to utilize, I can keep going with the decrepit houses and dead bodies for quite a few books yet.”
