Kills Well With Others Review & Book Tour

Welcome to my stop on the Kills Well With Others Book Tour! Scroll down for my review and Meet the Author.

Author: Deanna Raybourn

Series: Killers of a Certain Age #2

Publisher: Berkley

Release Day: March 4, 2025

Many thanks to Berkley for a complimentary arc of this title. Opinions expressed are my own.

Review first publisher in Mystery & Suspense Magazine

Four women assassins, senior in status—and in age—sharpen their knives for another bloody good adventure in this riotous follow-up to the New York Times bestselling sensation Killers of a Certain Age.

 

Review:

KILLS WELL WITH OTHERS by Author Deanna Raybourn is the sequel to the bestselling KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE featuring four, deadly, elderly women assassins. The gang is reunited when the fabulous four are called out of retirement by the head of an organization known as the Museum. Resuming about a year after the end of book one, the four are ready, willing and able to come out of retirement to take on what proves to be the challenge of a lifetime. Prepare to laugh at the snarky banter, but don't mistake this for just another cozy mystery because there's plenty of gory scenes to go around.

Four former women assassins of a "certain" age, Billie, Helen, Mary Alice, and Natalie, are rested and let's face it . . . bored out of their minds by retirement. An off the book assignment is just what the doctor ordered to cure what ails them. The challenge is to uncover the mole working on the inside leaking information, specifically a list of major kills carried out by the agency's assassins over time, while tracking down the Eastern European criminal seeking revenge by working her way down the kill list and ordering her own assassinations in retaliation. It's no surprise that the four retirees' names make a prominent appearance on that kill list. Their mission is to find and take out the evil queen bee before they get taken out. As the story unfolds, the ladies travel across the globe in a race against time to face the most challenging opponent of their long careers. Who will emerge the winner?

Author Deanna Raybourn excels at rendering well-developed, unique characters who are slightly larger than life facing seemingly impossible odds while delivering hilarious one-liners -  all the while making it believable and entertaining. KILLS WELL WITH OTHERS is delivered via present and flashback chapters through Billie's point of view allowing readers insight into Billie's past and her trust issues. Interaction between the four friends is not always smooth highlighting the many nuances of long-term, complex friendships. The author's ability to showcase the character and relationship development in these women through interactions among themselves and others and flawlessly weave it into the story is the mark of an expert. The steadily increasing pace is driven by swift action through twists and turns as they race towards the final showdown. A snarky dose of humor lightens the load of blood and gore making KILLS WELL WITH OTHERS a witty, engaging, highly entertaining read that's hard to put down. Think Golden Girls meets Charlie's Angels and you have these four, intelligent, funny women defying their age who just happen to kill people who commit unforgivable crimes. Highly recommended to fans of humorous mysteries and suspense thrillers.

Synopsis:

After more than a year of laying low, Billie, Helen, Mary Alice, and Natalie are called back into action. They have enjoyed their rest, but the lack of excitement is starting to a professional killer can only take so many watercolor classes and yoga sessions before she gets the itch to get back in the game. When they receive a call from Naomi Ndiaye, the head of the elite assassin organization known as the Museum, they are ready tackle the greatest challenge of their careers.

Someone on the inside has compiled a list of important kills committed by Museum agents, all of them connected to a single, shadowy figure, an Eastern European gangster who rules her business empire with an iron fist and plays puppet master in international affairs. Naomi is convinced this criminal queen is bent upon revenge, killing off the agents who attempted to thwart her, and the aging quartet of killers is next.

Together the foursome embark on a wild ride across the globe on the double mission of rooting out the Museum’s mole and hunting down the gangster and her assassin. But their nemesis is unlike any they’ve faced before, and it will take all their experience and a whole lot of luck to get out of this mission alive.

Deanna Raybourn

Website

http://www.deannaraybourn.com/

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Mystery & Thrillers

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New York Times and USA Today bestselling novelist Deanna Raybourn is a 6th-generation native Texan. She graduated with a double major in English and history from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Married to her college sweetheart and the mother of one, Raybourn makes her home in Virginia. Her novels have been nominated for numerous awards including two RT Reviewers’ Choice awards, the Agatha, two Dilys Winns, a Last Laugh, three du Mauriers, and most recently the 2019 Edgar Award for Best Novel. She launched a new Victorian mystery series with the 2015 release of A CURIOUS BEGINNING, featuring intrepid butterfly-hunter and amateur sleuth, Veronica Speedwell. Veronica has returned in several more adventures, most recently AN IMPOSSIBLE IMPOSTOR, book seven, which released in early 2022. Deanna's first contemporary novel, KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE, is now available.

Dead Man's List Review & Book Tour

 

Welcome to my stop on the DEAD MAN'S LIST Book Tour! I'm loving this series and look forward to more! Check out my review below along with the Synopsis and Author Info.

Series: San Diego Case Files #3

Publisher: Berkley

Release Day: March 4, 2025

Special thanks to Berkley Publ. for a complimentary arc of this title for review. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

First reviewed in Mystery & Suspense Magazine

Homicide Detective Kit McKittrick's latest case exposes San Diego’s seedy underbelly in this nerve-shattering tale of romantic suspense from New York Times bestselling author Karen Rose.

Review:

DEAD MAN'S LIST is the third book in author Karen Rose’s San Diego Case Files series featuring Detective Kit McKittrick and Dr. Sam Reeves. As always, Rose delivers an intense, complicated, twisted murder mystery that keeps fans guessing right up to the shocking climax.

DEAD MAN'S LIST is a complex, multi-layered thriller featuring a gritty, introverted heroine who keeps her emotions tightly wrapped and others at arm's length as much as possible. Kit's horrific experience bouncing around the foster system left her toting a great deal of baggage but extraordinarily little trust before she hit the lottery with foster parents Harlan and Betsy McKittrick whose unconditional love and security chipped away at her defenses helping form the capable woman and resolute detective she is today. Her keen sense of duty and dedication drive her not only to seek justice for victims, but to also give back to the foster parents who saved her by mentoring other young girls and women.

Dr. Sam Reeves, a police psychologist working with the San Diego Police Department, breathes a sigh of relief when SDPD Detective Kit McKittrick finally agrees to go out with him. Sam understands Kit's emotional state remains precarious when it comes to forming relationships, but he's a patient man willing to invest the time to show her he intends to be part of her future. Wanting to share his love of hiking with her, he takes Kit and their dogs to the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park for a casual date. Just as he feels he's making progress breaking through her defenses, they stumble over the partially buried body of a well-known city council member named Brooks Munro. Multiple stab wounds indicated a vicious crime of rage and given the unpopularity of the politician, Kit and Sam know the suspect list will be a long one. As Kit and her team begin working on the case, it's clear several powerful and influential people have dark secrets they’re determined to keep hidden. However, there's a missing binder of names and rumors of extortion circulating, and when more bodies surface, Kit’s certain someone is working through a kill list eliminating witnesses one by one. As Kit gets closer to unmasking the killer, she becomes a complication the killer can't ignore.

Author Karen Rose excels at weaving taut, intricate suspense thrillers with detailed characterizations and multiple plotlines that keep readers on the edge of their seats from start to finish. Dedicated support characters with their own issues help to steadily drive the pace forward as the action increases through twists and turns, crisis after crisis before exploding in a shocking climax most will never see coming. Multiple red herrings provide readers with several possible villains for consideration, and armchair detectives should watch closely for the bread crumb clues the author sprinkles throughout. A budding, slow burn romance between Kit and Sam adds a human touch, allowing readers to join the couple as they explore new emotions, especially Kit as she struggles with accepting she’s worthy of this man. Like the seasoned expert author she is, Rose maneuvers readers and characters through another fantastic suspense thriller. I recommend DEAD MAN'S LIST to fans of murder mysteries, romance suspense and police procedurals as I look forward to the next one.

Synopsis:

On a long-anticipated second date with police psychologist Dr. Sam Reeves—right as things are getting steamy—Kit stumbles across the mutilated body of a local San Diego politician. The politician is loved by many of his constituents but is hated and reviled by many more. That the suspect list is long is no surprise to anyone, but exactly who ends up on it stuns Kit and her team.

As the SDPD reveal the victim’s sinister dealings, Kit and Sam are forced to navigate the lawless world of the city’s most rich and powerful citizens to find answers. But time is rapidly running out, with their sources of information dropping like flies as the killer methodically eliminates loose ends—and anyone else who stands in the way.

About the Author:

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
www.karenrosebooks.com

Internationally bestselling, RITA-award winning, author Karen Rose was born and raised in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. She met her husband, Martin, on a blind date when they were seventeen and after they both graduated from the University of Maryland, (Karen with a degree in Chemical Engineering) they moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Karen worked as an engineer for a large consumer goods company, earning two patents, but as Karen says, “scenes were roiling in my head and I couldn't concentrate on my job so I started writing them down. I started out writing for fun, and soon found I was hooked.”

Her debut suspense novel, DON'T TELL, was released in July, 2003. Since then, she has published fifteen more novels and two novellas. Her seventeenth novel, ALONE IN THE DARK, will be released in 2016.

Karen's books have appeared on the bestseller lists of the New York Times, USA Today, London's Sunday Times, and Germany's der Spiegel (#1), and the Irish Times, as well as lists in South Africa (#1) and Australia!

Her novels, I'M WATCHING YOU and SILENT SCREAM, received the Romance Writers of America's RITA award for Best Romantic Suspense for 2005 and 2011. Five of her other books have been RITA finalists. To date, her books have been translated into twenty-four languages.

A former high school teacher of chemistry and physics, Karen lives in Florida with her husband of more than twenty years, her two daughters, two dogs, and a cat.