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An established must-read romance author, Maggie Bishop has crossed into the mystery genre with finesse. Her
latest novel is packed with suspense around a tightly-woven plot which begins with the poisoning of dogs and escalates to
the murder of a local man. Throughout, she deliciously teases the reader with the bristly attraction between the investigating
detective and the woman who found the dead man's body and who just might be a suspect. Set against the beautiful backdrop
of Boone, North Carolina, with engaging characters, red herrings at every turn, and a galvanizing story line, this is a must-have,
must-read. Highly recommended.
---- Christy Tillery French, Midwest
Book Review
"The rural hilly setting in which Maggie Bishop sets her mystery becomes one of the characters. The
central character (Jemma) is a sympathetic character, and her interest in the forensic science on television gives a plausible
reason for her to investigate -- and it is difficult to give the amateur sleuth a legitimate reason for his/her connection.
The touch of romance is a delightful touch. Please continue to send us review copies of books of this caliber!"
-- Margaret Baker, Director, Glencoe Wordsmithing
Romantic Suspense
Blue Falls Guest Ranch, near Boone, North Carolina, the Present
Jemma Chase's life is
going through a directionless patch. After her last relationship went bad, she moved to her parent's guest ranch in North
Carolina's Appalachian Mountains. She leads trail rides, is the resident handy-person/carpenter and a talented photographer.
Because of her beef with a neighbor whose son is tearing up the horse trails with his four-wheeler, she becomes the number
one suspect when the neighbor's dog is poisoned. To top that off, her horse Brandy acts up on a trail ride and leads Jemma
to a dead body. As a fan of TV's CSI, she knows just what to do...take a lot of pictures and don't disturb the evidence.
Detective
Tucker of the Sheriff's Office is a dedicated peace officer, single and prone to working long hours. He interviews Jemma Chase
about the dog poisoning and decides she is just too calm and her answers too ready to be completely innocent. Then crime in
the area escalates, leading to arson and murder.
Jemma figures the only way to prove her innocence is to solve the
crimes herself. She begins her investigation by doing as CSI Sara would do. By this time, she and Detective Tucker have called
a truce. He might as well go along with her; she'll just go ahead on her own anyway. But someone doesn't want Jemma snooping
around.
MURDER AT BLUE FALLS is a light, easy read with lots of local color. The daily workings of a dude ranch are
portrayed in a manner both interesting and realistic, and so are the folk, good and not so good, who inhabit the area. Besides
a mystery story with no lack of suspects, there is the beginning of a relationship. Jemma and Tucker are mature, likable characters
who could very well become a team in future mysteries set in the high country. If that weren't enough to entertain readers,
Maggie Bishop has used some actual people as minor characters and included pictures of some of them and many of the horses.
All of this is explained in forewords and afterwords, and, as a result, this reader felt very much as though she'd visited
Blue Falls and come away a friend. Two previous books by Ms. Bishop were set in that beautiful area, APPALACHIAN PARADISE
and EMERALDS IN THE SNOW.
For a fresh, enjoyable read with a homespun flavor, try MURDER AT BLUE FALLS.
--Jane Bowers,
Romance Reviews Today
Maggie Bishop's latest romance, Murder at Blue Falls, is also a murder mystery.
Bishop has chosen a new kind of setting-a dude ranch in the western Carolina mountains-and all of her real-life characters
are in attendance.
Five years before, Jemma Chase had come back to Blue Falls Ranch, the dude ranch
her parents had set up in the Carolina mountains. Now, dogs around the Watauga County community are being poisoned. Almost
immediately, we discover an unorthodox side to Bishop's engaging heroine: on the way into the sheriff's office to answer questions
about the case, she thinks,"It's one thing to poison a person - but a dog?"
Standing six feet tall, Jemma intrigues Detective
Tucker when he finds that he can look straight into her eyes. During her interview, Jemma reveals that, years before, she
was arrested in Colorado on a drunk driving charge. Bishop loses no time in providing the conflict between these two well-matched
protagonists: Tucker's pet abomination is drunk drivers.
The dog-poisonings quickly fade to the background, when, during
a ride up a steep trail, leading a passel of guests, Jemma's horse reacts to a peculiar stench. Jemma, not one of those shrinking-violet
heroines, immediately ties her horse and goes into the bushes to investigate.
You guessed it-a body. Now Tucker is a part
of Jemma's daily life, and Jemma finds herself enthusiastically (and somewhat to Tucker's dismay) finding
a CSI side to her make-up. As they combine their assets to investigate, Tucker (whose first name appears to be Detective)
and Jemma find that their styles are not so incompatible after all. In a rip-snorting action scene, the murderer is
discovered and bagged, the remaining dogs in the valley are safe, and Tucker and Jemma join Bishop's endearing circle of interrelated
romance protagonists in Bishop's loosely linked series of Appalachian adventure-romance novels.
schuyler
kaufman for Carolina Mountain Living
Review by Nora Percival of Murder at Blue Falls by Maggie Bishop
Maggie Bishop’s new mystery romance is another delight, in the same breezy style as the two previous novels which
have made her popular with whodunit fans. This time she gives us a dude ranch in the High Country of North Carolina, where
the reader shares the tourists’ fun as well as the escalating dangers from a situation fraught with peril. As the intrepid
heroine fights to prove her innocence by finding the real villain, we are also treated to her budding romance with the detective
who suspects her. Hard to put down, this book will surely expand the author’s popularity.
– Nora Percival, author of Weather of the Heart and Silver Pages on the Lawn
"Maggie Bishop's Murder at Blue Falls will send chills down your spine as cold as the North Carolina
Mountains in February." -- B. J. Foster, award winning author of Bayou Shadows.
"As I read through, I've become aware of how well she's built
Jemma's character -- particularly the visual aesthetic sense and sense of adventure that makes her a keen observer, both as
a photographer and a sleuth...It's very well done and I'm impressed." -- Judy Geary, author of
Getorix, a mystery in Ancient Rome
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Order Murder at Blue Falls, ISBN 1932158758, $12.00 + $3.00 shipping =
$15.00
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