Lisa Ks Book Reviews

Saturday, July 9, 2016

BOOK TOUR

I'm thrilled to be a stop on the

blog tour for author

Vicki Vass

and her new book

KILLER FINDS

Book 3 in the Antique Hunters Mysteries

Antique hunter Anne Hillstrom’s whirlwind shopping tour to Paris comes to a dead stop, as dead as the man sitting next to her on the plane. And to make matters worse, her identity has been stolen, leaving her to face her worst nightmare. She must sell all her precious antiques with the help of her business partner and co-blogger, CC Muller. Together, they open a pop-up antique store in the quaint suburb of Glen Ellyn Illinois. Their blog fans flock to the store looking to find that perfect treasure and so does a killer. When the Sweet Shop lady next door is found caramelized, the success of the pop-up sale turns bittersweet. Anne and CC dust off the clues, unraveling a centuries-old mystery that leads them to one conclusion. They must find the killer before the killer finds them.

Now a word from author

Vicki Vass!

I recently returned from vacation, and my vacations have a way of working themselves into my stories. Pickin’ Murder, the second book in the antique hunters mystery series, follows my 2015 vacation when we traveled from Chicago to the Smoky Mountains to Nashville and back again.

This year we made a similar trip, all by car. Driving allows us to stop on a whim and see things we might not normally see. We went to Nashville and then Asheville, N.C., and back through the Smoky Mountains. Along the way, it was filled with sightseeing, food and of course, antiquing.

It started with our arrival into Nashville. An “estate sale” sign distracted me so my husband pulled the car over. I went into the old house and walked back out with a miniature signed Van Briggle pitcher. I gifted it to the real CC, one of the heroines of my antique hunters series. Even though I went to a few other antique stores, I did not purchase anything. I did take lots of notes, and I’m sure some of it will make it into the book.

We also spent a delightful day, sluicing for emeralds and hiddenite, a rare green stone, in the red dirt of Hiddenite, N.C. It is the only emerald mine in the world where the public is allowed to mine. We found many small emeralds, citrine, amethyst, sapphire and ruby. We were too tired to stop at their lapidary shop so my husband and I will take a trip to Cedarburg, Wisconsin, to visit a lapidary. I am most curious to see if any of the stones we found are gem worthy or just pretty rocks. Even if they are just rocks, they look particularly pretty in my flowerpots. It’s so much fun to have jewelry created from a stone that you found yourself. I have a ten-carat citrine pendant and a .50 carat emerald from our last trip to Hiddenite.

And, the day after we went to Hiddenite, we toured the fabulous Biltmore estate in Asheville, N.C., built by George Vanderbilt. Before the house tour, my husband and I did a motorcoach tour around the estate where they discussed renowned landscape designer Frederick Law Olmstead’s vision for the grounds. His ingenuity surpassed all my expectations. He was able to capture mountain water to use in the house, filter a bass pond so the dirt stayed out and introduce sustainable plants to the estate.

Then we toured the house and what an accomplishment. The house is beyond words and is scrumptious. I am hoping to go back to celebrate Christmas dinner in the dining room, which is an option the estate offers.

Then it was time unfortunately to head home, back to Chicago. But not before picking up the greatest vacation souvenir ever, our 8-week-old Australian shepherd puppy. His name is Atticus, and he proved himself to be a great traveler, sleeping most of the way home in my arms. Until unfortunately we reached 20 miles outside of the Illinois border where traffic ground to a halt. It made me ready to leave once again.

We are settling in back at home. I’ve made my final edits to the next book in the Antique Hunters mystery series and started the fifth one. I’ve also started the next one in the Alex Kustodia mystery series, about the gem hunter. It’s been a productive summer.

How do you all spend your summer? What trips do you take? What are your favorite places to visit?

More about Vicki

With a passion for shopping and antiques, Vicki Vass turned in her reporter's notebook to chronicle the adventures of Anne and CC, two antique hunters who use their skills to solve a murder case.

Vicki has written more than 1,400 stories for the Chicago Tribune as well as other commercial publications including Home & Away, the Lutheran and Woman's World. Her science fiction novel, The Lexicon, draws on her experience in Sudan while writing about the ongoing civil war for World Relief.

She lives in the Chicago area with her husband, writer and musician Brian Tedeschi, son Tony, Australian shepherd Bandit, kittens Terra and Pixel, seven koi and Gary the turtle.

Like Vicki on Facebook

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*****!!!GIVEAWAY!!!*****

One copy of

KILLER FINDS

Winner's choice of print or eBook

(Open to USA only)

Winners will be chosen after July 19

at the end of the tour

Enter using the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post.

This giveaway is through Great Escape Book Tours, not Lisa Ks Book Reviews.

www.escapewithdollycas.com

MY REVIEW

KILLER FINDS is the most exciting and fun installment of this series to date!

Having loved the first two books in Antique Hunters Mysteries, I was thrilled to finally read KILLER FINDS. I was not disappointed! There was more action in the first chapter than normally seen in some entire stories. Along with the action, series co-lead Anne Hillstrom had me laughing out loud by the end of chapter one. I know a couple of people who would have done the same thing she did. Excuse me? No way! You have to read it for yourself. ;-)

Author Vicki Vass really pulled out all the stops in KILLER FINDS. Her superb storytelling shined through the entire book. With more than one murder, and a case of stolen identity, there was always something happening to make each new page as exciting as the ones before. And Vass kept notching up the twists and turns until I was holding my breath in anticipation of what would happen next!

I could feel the excitement revving up all over again as I wrote this review. Well done, Ms. Vass! How long must I wait for book four, and the next adventure of the Spoon Sisters? Please, not too long!