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

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