The Evening’s Amethyst Book Tour Stop and Review

On Tour! Check out The Evening’s Amethyst!

GENRE: Cozy Mystery

About the Book

Who is Verity? That becomes a central question for American Nora Tierney, who has moved to her new Oxford home with her fiance, DI Declan Barnes, and her young son. Declan’s new case at Exeter College coincides with a frantic call from Nora’s stepsister, Claire Scott: a fellow graduate student has died in a fall, and Claire begs Nora to help her prove her friend didn’t commit suicide. The sisters conduct their own snooping, while Declan and his team juggle this death with a cold case that proves to be more surprising than Declan could ever imagine.

Nellie’s Review

When a graduate student falls to her death and Nora Tierney’s step-sister is the first one the scene, she and fiancé Declan Barnes must investigate to find the reason behind the unexpected death and clear Claire’s name.

This was an interesting, easy read.  It was my first book in the series (and by this author) and I had no trouble jumping into the series and understanding who was who and some of the backstories. 

I found the book entertaining.  The prose was easy to read and digest, making it a breeze to read through and understand.  I found the characters to be likeable and realistic for the most part (though I did question the number of times they let their children go with total strangers or without supervision). 

Overall, the book was well-written, engaging and interesting.  The book is written from multiple perspectives which can make teasing the details out more intriguing as you jump from character to character.  Sometimes the same information is rehashed as a result, but it is fun to see how each character handles the details differently and how it all comes together.

I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it!

Character Guest Post

Welcome Declan Barnes

My name is Detective Inspector Declan Barnes, Thames Valley Police, and I’m posted out of St. Aldate’s Station, Oxford. I work with a great team, including civilian analysts, and my right-hand man is Detective Sergeant Trevor Watkins, although he’ll soon be out on paternity leave as his wife is due to deliver their first child any day now—which makes him antsy at times.

            I’ve just sublet my modern, glossy Oxford flat to move in with my fiancée, Nora Tierney, and her young son, Sean. We also have a beagle puppy, Typo, although I’m not sure how I was hoodwinked into that one. Moving house with young child and a puppy in training has been a challenge, but thankfully I’ve plenty of holiday time saved up and I think I’ve been a real help to Nora with unpacking. We only have the library left, Nora’s place to write, and it’s being painted right now if Nora can ever settle on the paint colors.

            Our new home is one Nora found with a decent yard, and although it’s a vintage property, it had been renovated inside, so there are lots of modern touches, despite them leaving the green Aga Nora has gotten used to cooking on—the wonders of YouTube!

            Sean isn’t my biological child, but since I met Nora when she was pregnant with him, and we’ve been together since he was an infant, I’ve helped her to raise him. His real father is dead, and someday he’ll learn the truth that I’m really is stepfather, but for now he calls me “Da” and I’m thrilled.

            Nora. Now there’s a woman I would never in a million years have thought I’d end up with, after my divorce years earlier. My first wife, Anne, was lovely but couldn’t handle me being a detective, between the hours away and the danger. Anne is remarried and we exchange holiday cards but I haven’t seen her in years. I don’t blame her at all—being a detective’s wife is not for everyone—but Nora handles it well enough. Some days I even think she’s jealous!

            When we first met, Nora’s best friend was a murder suspect and she swung into action, getting in my way when I was investigating. Some days I was exasperated with her, pregnant or not, but I came to see she was trying to clear her friend out of love. I have to say, she managed to lie her way into places and get information I couldn’t. When she gave birth, someone had tried to murder her, and it was then I realized I had feelings for the petite redhead with the green eyes and her funny Yankee accent.

            Now that we’re engaged, after Christmas, a few weeks away, we’ll turn to planning out small wedding in Cornwall. But right now I’ve got to leave, as Nora’s stepsister has just called, as has my sergeant. Seems a graduate student at Exeter has fallen down a stairwell and died, and it will be my job to figure out if she fell, jumped to commit suicide, or was pushed.

            Life for a detective is rarely quiet. And just as this new case came in, my Super handed me a cold case, too. A young man walked into St. Aldate’s this morning to say he thinks he might we Donnie Walsh, kidnapped from his playpen as a baby in Cumbria years ago. What are the chances of that?

About the Author

Marni Graff is the award-winning author of The Nora Tierney English Mysteries and The Trudy Genova Manhattan Mysteries. The Evening’s Amethyst is the fifth in the Nora Tierney series. Her short story “Quiche Alain” is in the Agatha-winning Malice Domestic Anthology, Murder Most Edible.

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