Tag: Female Detectives

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Hannah's Diary

Awards Week

The Sam Smith Mystery Series has been honoured with three awards recently, including this one, which includes a revealing insight into Sam’s character.

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“Love a good detective story? Then you’ll want to dive into Hannah’s Sam Smith series. You’ll love enquiry agent Samantha Smith. She’s perfect in her imperfections. Abused as a child and even more so as a wife, Sam lacks confidence in herself, except when it comes to solving crimes. In that respect, she dives head first, or sometimes “foot-in-mouth” first into her work. You’ll love this spunky, petite woman, bent on improving the world and her own self. The books in the Sam Smith series have deeper meaning than pure entertainment. Be it prostitution, eugenics, drug abuse, insanity, or other social issues, the books delve into the human psyche.”

http://mysticalemona.com/2015/12/26/ronesas-2015-excellence-in-writing-awards-top-five-picks/

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Hannah's Diary

The Writers’ Cooperative

Introducing a new venture. A group of leading independent authors and authors who publish through small publishing houses have got together to form the Writers’ Cooperative.

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The Writers’ Cooperative represents the cream of independent publishing. The authors in the Cooperative publish their books independently or through small publishing houses simply because they choose to do so. Independent publishing is not a modern phenomenon – Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol independently so that he could retain full artistic control – and the authors featured in the Cooperative, one of whom has been compared to Dickens, are proud to follow in the great man’s footsteps.

If you are looking for a quality book, professionally written and professionally produced, the Writers’ Cooperative is for you. The Cooperative’s authors cover a wide range of subjects, from history to fantasy, from mysteries to romance and I feel sure that there is something there for everyone. So please feel free to visit their website. Hundreds of reviewers have written glowing reviews, thousands of readers have enjoyed these authors’ books. They look forward to welcoming you among their number.

“Feel as though you’re reading the same tired story over and over? Break away from the rigid formula of the big publishing houses and read a true original! These authors deliver the goods.”

http://the-writers-cooperative.com/

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Sam Smith Mystery Series Sam Smith Private Eye

The Hermit of Hisarya #1

The Hermit of Hisarya, Book Five in the Sam Smith Mystery Series, takes Sam away from her home city to Plovdiv, Bulgaria. There, she uncovers a secret dating back to the Second World War. The secret has implications for the people of today and the trail leads to organised crime and murder. The book is currently available as an eBook with the print and audio book versions to follow in the new year.

Pictured is the Ancient Roman Theatre in Plovdiv, a cultural landmark of the city and a popular attraction for tourists. Partially restored with 3,500 seats the theatre is also used for modern performances. Along with Hisarya, Plovdiv features strongly in The Hermit of Hisarya, including a chapter set in the Ancient Theatre.

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Sam Smith Mystery Series

The Big Chill – Reviews

Two wonderful five star reviews for The Big Chill posted on Amazon


Review #1. This series just gets better and better. I finished The Big Chill in one sitting, reading until the wee hours of the morning because I just HAD to know who shot Sam! The story picks up with Sam and Alan’s relationship coming into full bloom. Sam and Alis (Alan’s teenage daughter) are getting along famously after their rocky start, and Sam has earned a solid reputation as a private detective. She begins to think her life has finally taken a turn for the better, when bam, she is shot by an unknown assailant and left for dead.

Sam’s recovery is slow, but she can’t rest until she solves the mystery of who shot her. Alan arranges for a bodyguard to protect her, and here we meet Mac, my favorite character in the series. Sam and the big Scotsman navigate the city’s underbelly, searching for clues, while the police arrest a man Sam believes is innocent. Sam trusts her intuition and knows there is more to the case than meets the eye. But will she be too late as she grows weaker and weaker, unable to defend herself? The book ricochets to a satisfying conclusion, wrapping up all the loose ends nicely. Well done! 

Review #2. This is probably the best in this series. Sam is still a really interesting character with a past that needs some overcoming and trust issues. This time the plot presses her buttons in all the wrong ways. Excellent psychological insights, empathy and suspense. There is a fantastic segment about the blur of consciousness. Howe is really an author to watch, able to change the tone from light hearted to more thoughtful, making this an easy and yet very rewarding read.
Cracking!

http://www.amazon.com/The-Big-Chill-Mystery-Series-ebook/dp/B00UCIABHC/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Big-Chill-Mystery-Series-ebook/dp/B00UCIABHC/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8

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Sam Smith Mystery Series

Love and Bullets Audio Book

Released today on Amazon, Audible and iTunes, Love and Bullets, the second Sam Smith audio book. Please follow this Amazon link for full details Love and Bullets

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Love and Bullets Reviews

I didn’t read the first in the series but there is a brief catch up in the first chapter that helps. I was really involved with the main character from the start, a strong but also vulnerable and deep, interesting character. While there is a great plot and a lot of action and suspense, for me the human tragedy of domestic violence was at the core of my reading experience. I felt the author did a great job at striking a balance between serious and entertainment, though. A very powerful read that I would highly recommend. Gripping and believable at the same time, very well written. – Bookworm

Let me begin by saying how much I love this series. Hannah Howe is a fabulous writer, bringing her characters to life in such a way the reader gets to know them and truly care about them. Love and Bullets, book 2 in the Sam Smith series, begins where Sam’s Song left off. Sam is dealing with the emotional fallout of her last case, which ended in bloodshed and death. As Sam deals with the ghosts of her past, she also walks a tightrope of attraction for Dr. Alan Storey, a psychologist who seems to be the perfect man. But Sam fears to get close to him: is Alan to good to be true? Should she sever the budding relationship before she gets hurt? As a reader, my heart ached for her and all the trauma she’d been through in her life. As Sam works a harrowing case involving eugenics, kidnapping, and murder, she draws closer to Alan and his daughter, learning to trust her heart. I can’t wait to read the next in the series! – Erin

In this Sam Smith novel, private detective Sam takes on a case to protect a woman who believes in eugenics, creating a superior race through genetics. Although the woman’s ideology repulses Sam, she does her best to do what she was hired to do.

The author does a wonderful job of tying the social issue of eugenics with Sam’s own feelings of inferiority about herself. Having been abused physically and mentally her entire life, Sam doubts her own self worth. She has to work through these issues to keep the love of a man who adores her.

Although not written specifically about Sam, a line in the book beautifully sums up the essence of the psychological aspect of the book. “She had cried the rain, but there was still plenty of sunshine in her life and that sunshine would produce a rainbow.” – Ronesa