The author Zanna MacKenzie asked me to let you all know about the next two books in her Amber Reed mystery series. I have included all the goodies provided by Zanna. Please check them out. I reviewed book one and really enjoyed it. You should definitely take a look if you like cozy mysteries.
~ Toni
Precious
Amber Reed Mystery Book Two
Tagline - “Romantic comedy meets celebrity murder mystery”
Short blurb – A murdered pop star on a remote Scottish island – it’s all in a day’s work for Amber Reed, the Celebrity Crimes Investigation Agency’s newest recruit…
Book Blurb:
When celebrities need a crime solving quickly and discreetly they call in the specialists, the Celebrity Crimes Investigation Agency, otherwise known as the CCIA…
Who would want to murder former pop star Flynn Garrison?
That’s exactly what Amber Reed, the Celebrity Crimes Investigation Agency’s newest recruit, needs to find out.
She’s desperate to get to grips with her first assignment and prove she’s up to the job but there’s a lot at stake… and it’s not only her new career that’s on the line.
Is mixing business and pleasure ever a good idea? Will her relationship with fellow CCIA agent Charlie survive the challenge of the two of them working together?
And then there’s agent extraordinaire Martha, a man-eating six foot blonde goddess, also assigned to this murder investigation, who clearly has designs on Charlie.
Trying to uncover who killed Flynn and why whisks Amber from glamorous red carpet film premiere, to learning Scottish dancing at a Highland party in a grand country house - and the distinct possibility of becoming the murderer’s next victim.
Can Amber solve the case and still keep her relationship with Charlie on track?
Extract:
“Ah, good, you’re back.” Bethan, the woman who owns the B&B, says as we dash into the entrance hall, dripping rain all over the carpet. She’s standing behind the little reception desk and next to her is a stunningly attractive woman in jeans and a close-fitting jumper, a suitcase at her feet. “I was just talking to Martha here about how you were both down at the beach with the murder victim.”
Strange – does she usually welcome guests by telling them about bodies washing up on the local beach?
“It hasn’t been confirmed as murder,” Charlie says, following me inside, head down as he pulls off his wet coat. “Not officially.”
The beautiful woman steps forward, ignores me and envelopes Charlie in a hug, catching him off guard. “Charlie!” she squeals excitedly. “It’s ages since we’ve worked together. So good to see you again!”
Did she just say “work together”?
I watch as Charlie hugs her back, meeting my questioning gaze over her shoulder.
“Martha, what are you doing here?” he asks once she’s eventually disentangled herself from him.
“The agency sent me to help you out with this case.” Martha casts a dismissive look in my direction. “They wanted their best agents working up here. So,” she shrugs her shoulders in a here-I-am way, “they sent me to work with you. I understand this is Amber’s first case and we don’t want her getting all overwhelmed on an important job like this do we?” She giggles and pushes a hand through her long honey-coloured hair.
They’ve sent Miss Beautiful CCIA Agent to work with Charlie. I’ll probably be relegated to fetching her cups of coffee and typing up her paperwork.
“Anyway,” Miss Beautiful continues, “the boss wants a thorough investigation and expects us to be on this godforsaken island for a while so I’m told the guys back at base have arranged a rental cottage for us all to share. If you want to get packed and meet me back down here then I’ll lead the way to our new home. Ten minutes OK?”
Fantastic.
Not only do my new employers not trust me to do my job, they send another agent, a very beautiful one with a superior attitude, to work with Charlie and me on this case.
Oh, and we all get to share a rental cottage together as well.
I was so wrong when I thought this day couldn’t get any worse…
Forever Mine
Amber Reed Mystery Book Three
By Zanna Mackenzie
Tagline:
“Romantic comedy meets celebrity cozy mystery”
Book Blurb:
When celebrities need a crime solving quickly and discreetly they call in the experts – the CCIA, otherwise known as the Celebrity Crimes Investigation Agency…
Stalkers, shootings and sexy special agents.
All part of being famous, right?
Well, they are for Oscar-winning actress Amelia Kingston when she starts getting deeply disturbing and threatening notes left by a stalker – in her bedroom!
When her boyfriend Ty is shot she calls in the CCIA. The agency sends its newest recruit Amber and her sexy special agent partner Charlie undercover to Amelia’s luxury mountain chalet to track down the person terrorising her.
But circumstances force the agency to pull Charlie off the case, meaning Amber has a new crime fighting partner to try and catch the stalker with – and he’s trouble with a capital T! He throws Amber’s life into chaos, making her question herself and her abilities as well as her relationship with Charlie.
When events in Los Angeles involving Charlie are splashed across newspapers around the globe Amber’s world comes crashing down.
But before she can even attempt to sort herself out she has to team up with her rogue co-worker and solve this case. Can the two of them manage to pull together and stop the stalker before anyone else gets shot?
Check out this new cozy mystery series with oodles of fun, romance and smart, sassy special agents from the CCIA.
Extract:
“Who’d want to be famous?”
Charlie and I are hovering in the airport’s baggage reclaim area, hoping our luggage has managed to find its way to France too.
“Before I got this job I thought being a star was all glamourous living, oodles of money in the bank and being worshipped by all your adoring fans.”
The baggage carousel emits several loud clunks closely followed by a high pitched screeching noise before slowly starting up.
“But now,” I continue, lowering my voice, “I know being famous makes you a target for all the stalkers, murderers and crazies out there. One minute Amelia Kingston is receiving her Oscar for best actress in the blockbuster movie Forever Mine. The next she’s well, you know....”
Beside me Charlie nods and grabs his battered holdall from the baggage carousel. Then we have to wait for what seems like an eternity before my bright purple suitcase puts in an appearance too.
“Still not got the hang of this travelling light business have you?” he says hauling my own case from the conveyor belt.
“We’re staying in a luxury mountain chalet in the French Alps. Who knows what outfits I might need? I can’t pack light for this,” I retort whilst feeling a tad guilty about just how much I have crammed into my case. I had to sit on it to force the lid closed.
He shakes his head. “We’re working, Amber.”
“Yes, but we’re working undercover and the other guests will be glam celebrities wearing designer outfits so I’ll need to have some half-decent clothes with me. I can’t just turn up for dinner every night in jeans and a sweater.”
“Why not? I am,” he replies as we head for the exit, Charlie tugging my suitcase behind him.
Outside the wind is bitingly cold and almost blows me off my feet as we exit the airport terminal and head for the car hire offices. We left behind a warm spring day in the UK but here it feels more like February than May. I pull on a jacket.
See, that’s another reason why I needed to pack quite so much. The weather in the mountains is notoriously fickle. A girl needs to be prepared for sun, snow and rain where we’re going.
This is my second case as a support officer for the Celebrity Crimes Investigation Agency (otherwise known as the CCIA) and I’m still nervous about the whole catch-a-killer side of my work. OK, it’s mainly for the fully trained CCIA agents to do that side of the job whilst I provide, as my job title suggests, support on the case.
I do have a tendency to get a little bit carried away sometimes though and find myself in, shall we say, tricky circumstances. Like on my first case when I ended up in a cave on a deserted beach with a murderer who had a knife at my throat.
Anyway, technically, it’s the agents who are the guys with the special ‘clearance’ to do all sorts of things (sometimes against the law) to solve a case and get murderers put behind bars. Charlie even carries a gun. Which, to be honest, freaks me out just a little.
Author bio:
Zanna Mackenzie lives on the Derbyshire/Leicestershire border with her husband, 4 dogs, a vegetable patch that’s home to far too many weeds and an ever expanding library of books waiting to be read.
Being a freelance writer and editor of business publications is her ‘day job’ but, at every opportunity, she can be found scribbling down notes on scenes for whatever novel she’s working on. She loves it when the characters in her novels take on minds of their own and start deviating from the original plot!
Find out more about Zanna at:
