Thursday, January 3, 2013

FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND: A REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

 
GIVEAWAY ENDED
FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND 
A Piper Donovan Mystery
BY MARY JANE CLARK
ABOUT THE BOOK:
It's the dead of winter and struggling actress and wedding-cake decorator Piper Donovan is thrilled to be in warm and romantic Sarasota, Florida, enjoying the powdery white beaches, soothing seas, and golden sunsets over the Gulf of Mexico. She and her family are there to celebrate her beloved cousin's wedding. Not only is Piper creating the sugar-sand-dollar-festooned wedding cake, she's also the maid of honor.
But a cloud seems to be hovering over the whole affair. Shortly after a bridesmaid mysteriously disappears, a kindly neighbor's car is run off the road and a prospective witness, an innocent Amish teenager, is threatened to keep silent. Then a body is found on the beach where the wedding will take place. With the nuptials threatened, it falls to Piper to unmask a killer. Could it be the wedding planner with something to hide? A doctor and his wife who collect unusual Japanese figurines? The best man, an ex–drug dealer with lecherous eyes and roving hands? What about her cousin's future stepfather—or even the bridegroom himself?
As Piper gets close to figuring out who's been covering his guilty footprints in the sand, the cunning killer has already set his sights on Piper as his next victim!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
New York Times bestselling author Mary Jane Clark has written 12 novels, all set in the high stakes world of broadcast journalism. She worked at CBS News headquarters in New York City for three decades, her experience there leading her to create KEY, a fictional television network. What her characters can get involved in as they cover their assignments is as varied as the stories on the morning or evening news. Her media thrillers are published in 22 languages.

Fast-moving, unpredictable, and always changing, the television news world offers a never-ending stream of ideas for Clark’s books. Her writing style has been described as “clear and speedy.” Influenced by years of writing television news stories, where every second counts, she gets right to the action in her suspense novels, in which every word is a clue.

The assignments Clark has completed in the real news world have informed her writing. Covering the 1992 National Presidential Conventions led to the idea for her first book, Do You Want to Know a Secret? Producing stories on the auction of the estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and the Princess Diana dress sale planted the seeds for Do You Promise Not to Tell? Assignments to write and produce obituaries on world leaders and entertainment personalities grew to become Let Me Whisper in Your Ear. On-air correspondents shared their experiences of being stalked by demented fans for Close to You. Covering an approaching hurricane on Florida’s Gulf coast was the premise for Nobody Knows. The anthrax scares at all three U.S. network news headquarters in the autumn of 2001 inspired Nowhere to Run. A love for Rhode Island led to the KEY News morning news show spending a week among the historic mansions of Newport in Hide Yourself Away.

More recently, the high-profile shuffle of competitive network new anchors led to When Day Breaks, and the seed for It Only Takes a Moment came from childhood memories and fears of the kidnapping cases her father investigated.

The daughter of a FBI agent, Clark grew up in Westwood, New Jersey, and graduated from the University of Rhode Island. She is the mother of two grown children and lives in New Jersey and Florida. She spends her time researching her next novel, writing, concocting new plots while walking the beach, decorating ,and supporting causes close to her heart, including research for a cure or treatment for fragile X syndrome.

SOME OTHER BOOKS BY MARY JANE CLARK:
                       

                  

                  

MY THOUGHTS/REVIEW:
There is something about the way Mary Jane Clark writes that I find to be very satisfying. I think that she writes with convincing realism is one factor, and the engaging characters are another. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that she writes short chapters so you want to keep reading, making it hard to put her books down. In her latest Piper Donovan mystery, FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND, Piper is attending her cousin’s wedding as the maid of honor when, of course, the mystery ensues. Set in south Florida, Clark does a fine job of creating a mental image of where this is all taking place.

With murders taking place practically right away, Piper and readers definitely get into the narrative quickly. I particularly liked how the Amish culture was part of the story as one of the characters is Amish. It added another dimension to the story. The fact that Piper is an out of work actress but also a baker who specializes in wedding cakes also is an interesting aspect of the character that allows for many avenues to be explored. There is also a love interest for Piper but although he seems to be a really stand up kind of guy, Piper is cautious. She wants to take things slowly since she has not had the best of luck in this area in the past. This is the third in the series but easily stands alone. However, it is a fun read and I recommend getting all three books so you can follow Piper from the start. Easy reading, with enough of a challenge to keep one entertained and involved.
 

GIVEAWAY
THANKS TO THE FINE FOLKS AT

WILLIAM MORROW BOOKS, I HAVE
ONE COPY OF FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND

TO GIVE TO A LUCKY WINNER
 
--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO
 

COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!


HOW TO ENTER:


+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON WHAT YOU READ ABOVE ABOUT FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND THAT MADE YOU WANT TO WIN THIS BOOK, AND DON'T FORGET YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG AND/OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK HERE AND LEAVE ME YOUR LINK

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FIND INTERESTING AT MARY JANE CLARK'S WEBSITE HERE

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+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON A CURRENT GIVEAWAY THAT YOU HAVE ENTERED ON MY BLOG. IF YOU ENTERED MORE THAN ONE, YOU MAY COMMENT SEPARATELY FOR EACH TO RECEIVE MORE ENTRIES
 
GIVEAWAY ENDS AT 
6 PM, EST, JANUARY 15
GOOD LUCK!

108 comments:

debbie said...

It sounds like you really like this series. It is a new one for me. I would love to see how she solves the mystery.
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Steve Capell said...

On Mary Jane Clark's web site she states, "My aim is lay out all the clues in such a way that you don't even realize that you've been given the answer to the mystery until you get to the end... and then realize "Aha... it was there all the time but I just didn't see it." I agree the best mystery are those that give you the clues, but you cant see the forest for the trees. Thanks for the opportunity to enter this contest. GREAT POST - BINGO!

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Enjoyable series which I have been reading about. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com

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The author writes compelling mysteries. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

petite said...

An excellent mystery. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com

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petite said...

The author has another mystery series which is interesting. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com

Karen B said...

So many possible suspects makes this intriguing!
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Sue Farrell said...

Since it's cold here, I was glad to see that you said the author created a good mental image of the novel's setting-Florida---I'm ready for some Florida sand and sun in my reading.
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Sue Farrell said...

On the author's webpage I found that she has a slideshow of wedding cake's from her facebook followers.
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rubynreba said...

I have always enjoyed Mary Jane's books and this sounds like a very good mystery.
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scottsgal said...

I'm a big fan of hers - I've read every book she's written so far so I'd love to read this one
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scottsgal said...

she was a producer and writer for CBS

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Carol N Wong said...

I am very interested in how she depicts the innocent Amish teenager.

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On her website I went to her fun part, downloaded and printed the word search puzzles. I love them. I love crosswords too but they usually are too easy or too hard for me. So it is hard to find a great crossword puzzle book. I am glad to get a word search puzzle.

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Linda Kish said...

Well, I have always liked her writing so this is just another one for me to enjoy. It sounds like it will definitely keep my attention from the beginning. And, I too like the short chapters. I tend to read more with short chapters for some reason.

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love this series!
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