Today you are doubly blessed because you'll get 2 (yeah TWO!) Saturday Spotlights!
My guest author, Jen J Danna contacted me and well, I guess internet gremlins got ahold of her book info the first time around but she sent it to me again so without much further ado, please welcome a fellow Five Star author, Jen J Danna.....
A scientist specializing in infectious diseases, Jen J.
Danna works as part of a dynamic research group at a cutting-edge Canadian
university. However, her true passion lies in indulging her love of the
mysterious through her writing. Together with her partner Ann Vanderlaan, she
crafts suspenseful crime fiction with a realistic scientific edge. Their Abbott
and Lowell Forensic Mysteries include DEAD, WITHOUT A STONE TO TELL IT, NO ONE
SEES ME ‘TILL I FALL, and A FLAME IN THE WIND OF DEATH, with TWO PARTS BLOODY
MURDER coming in 2015. Her Skeleton Keys blog has been listed as one of the top
forensic blogs on the web. Jen lives near Toronto, Ontario, with her husband
and two daughters. You can reach her at jenjdanna@gmail.com or
through her website and blog at http://www.jenjdanna.com.
Author Website and social links:
Website and blog: http://www.jenjdanna.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jenjdanna
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenJDanna
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/jenjdanna/
Author Website and social links:
Website and blog: http://www.jenjdanna.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jenjdanna
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenJDanna
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/jenjdanna/
Now about Jen's book.....
Book Blurb:
At Halloween, Salem, Massachusetts is a hot spot for Witch and tourist alike. But when a murder spree begins, a cop and a scientist must team up to find the killer before a media circus unleashes, panic ensues, and more victims are killed.
Forensic anthropologist Matt Lowell and Massachusetts State Police Trooper Leigh Abbott are called in to investigate burned remains following a fire in a historic antique shop. As Matt, Leigh and their team of graduate students investigate the death, clues point to Salem’s traditional Witchcraft community. However, having dabbled in the Craft as a teenager, Leigh is skeptical that someone who has sworn an oath of good to all and harm to none would commit premeditated murder, let alone kill in such a vicious way.
A second body is found in a similar fire and the team begins to suspect that coven members are being framed. Now they must solve the murders before 100,000 tourists overrun Salem for what could be the deadliest Halloween of their lives.
Excerpt:
Matt looked up at Kiko. “We’re going to need to do a skull reconstruction.”
“I agree,” Kiko said, “but it’s going to be a challenge. Even if we can find all the pieces, the bone is going to be calcined.”
Leigh slid in beside Matt, bracing her hand on his shoulder to lean over the body. “What happened to the head? Blunt force trauma?”
The forehead and top of the cranium were missing above the startlingly white bone rimming the eye sockets, exposing the mass of charred brain tissue. Below the eye sockets, the fleshy cheeks were burned a deep, leathery black. “Could be, but I doubt it. That’s typical fire damage.”
“The infamous exploding skull,” Bree said.
Leigh glanced from Bree to Matt. “Exploding skull?”
“People think the skull fractures like that because pressure builds up as the brain boils, causing the head to explode,” Bree explained. “Somehow they seem to forget that the skull has several natural openings that allow the steam to vent.”
“There’s actually a very simple explanation,” Matt said. “Skin burns first, then the muscle and fat underneath. In areas like the forehead, there is very little fat and muscle below the skin, so the organic components in the bone start to burn quickly. When the organic components are gone, what’s left is calcined bone—the mineral scaffold which is extremely brittle and shatters easily under any pressure.”
“Like from a water stream or the roof collapsing,” Bree supplied.
Leigh leaned closer to the body. Matt reached up to steady her as her eyes locked on the torso where it disappeared under the wardrobe. “See something?” he asked.
“There’s something buried in the chest.”
Matt stretched upward, trying to peer over the side of the corpse. “I can’t see from this angle. What is it?”
“There’s a lot of damage and the upper body is curled in on itself, but it looks like a knife.” She paused. “It’s just . . .”
“What?”
Leigh remained silent for a moment, then she straightened. “Let’s wait until the body is out from under all this. We’ll see better then.”
Buy links:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Flame-Wind-Death-Jen-Danna/dp/1432828096
Amazon.ca: http://www.amazon.ca/Flame-Wind-Death-Jen-Danna/dp/1432828096/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Flame-Wind-Death-Mystery-Series/dp/1432828096
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-flame-in-the-wind-of-death-jen-j-danna/1116603763?ean=9781432828097
Chapters.Indigo.ca: http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/a-flame-in-the-wind/9781432828097-item.html?ikwsec=Home
At Halloween, Salem, Massachusetts is a hot spot for Witch and tourist alike. But when a murder spree begins, a cop and a scientist must team up to find the killer before a media circus unleashes, panic ensues, and more victims are killed.
Forensic anthropologist Matt Lowell and Massachusetts State Police Trooper Leigh Abbott are called in to investigate burned remains following a fire in a historic antique shop. As Matt, Leigh and their team of graduate students investigate the death, clues point to Salem’s traditional Witchcraft community. However, having dabbled in the Craft as a teenager, Leigh is skeptical that someone who has sworn an oath of good to all and harm to none would commit premeditated murder, let alone kill in such a vicious way.
A second body is found in a similar fire and the team begins to suspect that coven members are being framed. Now they must solve the murders before 100,000 tourists overrun Salem for what could be the deadliest Halloween of their lives.
Excerpt:
Matt looked up at Kiko. “We’re going to need to do a skull reconstruction.”
“I agree,” Kiko said, “but it’s going to be a challenge. Even if we can find all the pieces, the bone is going to be calcined.”
Leigh slid in beside Matt, bracing her hand on his shoulder to lean over the body. “What happened to the head? Blunt force trauma?”
The forehead and top of the cranium were missing above the startlingly white bone rimming the eye sockets, exposing the mass of charred brain tissue. Below the eye sockets, the fleshy cheeks were burned a deep, leathery black. “Could be, but I doubt it. That’s typical fire damage.”
“The infamous exploding skull,” Bree said.
Leigh glanced from Bree to Matt. “Exploding skull?”
“People think the skull fractures like that because pressure builds up as the brain boils, causing the head to explode,” Bree explained. “Somehow they seem to forget that the skull has several natural openings that allow the steam to vent.”
“There’s actually a very simple explanation,” Matt said. “Skin burns first, then the muscle and fat underneath. In areas like the forehead, there is very little fat and muscle below the skin, so the organic components in the bone start to burn quickly. When the organic components are gone, what’s left is calcined bone—the mineral scaffold which is extremely brittle and shatters easily under any pressure.”
“Like from a water stream or the roof collapsing,” Bree supplied.
Leigh leaned closer to the body. Matt reached up to steady her as her eyes locked on the torso where it disappeared under the wardrobe. “See something?” he asked.
“There’s something buried in the chest.”
Matt stretched upward, trying to peer over the side of the corpse. “I can’t see from this angle. What is it?”
“There’s a lot of damage and the upper body is curled in on itself, but it looks like a knife.” She paused. “It’s just . . .”
“What?”
Leigh remained silent for a moment, then she straightened. “Let’s wait until the body is out from under all this. We’ll see better then.”
Buy links:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Flame-Wind-Death-Jen-Danna/dp/1432828096
Amazon.ca: http://www.amazon.ca/Flame-Wind-Death-Jen-Danna/dp/1432828096/
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Flame-Wind-Death-Mystery-Series/dp/1432828096
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-flame-in-the-wind-of-death-jen-j-danna/1116603763?ean=9781432828097
Chapters.Indigo.ca: http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/a-flame-in-the-wind/9781432828097-item.html?ikwsec=Home
7 comments:
Pam, thanks for hosting me and thanks for jumping through all the hoops so quickly when the gremlins ate all my info! :)
Enjoyed the excerpt, Jen. Congrats on the success of this novel.
This sounds like a really interesting mystery. I remember visiting Salem in the fall some years ago, and it was a fascinating place.
(previous comment deleted because apparently I can't type coherently at midnight. *eyeroll*)
Jacqueline - Thanks for stopping by and thanks for commenting!
Lyndi - Glad you liked it! And I really love Salem. Such a beautiful place and some interesting (albeit scary) history.
Hi Jen, Hi Pam,
This was great! I love the way you use your scientific knowledge in your fiction. Good luck with your publications (in both domains!)
Joan - Thanks for the good wishes!
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