Leslie Keller Books

I got carried away in my Facebook posting and didn't coordinate it correctly with my blog posts.  Even the most freakishly organized, obsessive of us might have that second glass of wine and oops. Well, that was my excuse anyway. :) So here it is - the unedited beginning - a tease to give you a hint about the cover and what is coming up for Jayne.  Thank you all for following my blog and social media. I hope you are as excited as I am to get this next installment on the shelves. Happy Trails, Leslie CHAPTER ONE Candlelight flickered against the faded wallpaper and bathed the room in a soft glow. A dainty spindle-legged table sat in the corner of the room, set for a romantic dinner for two. Miniature screw-top bottles of blush wine stood beside chipped crystal wine glasses. Covered in foil, well-worn Wedgwood china held tonight’s special of processed turkey with instant mashed potatoes. The scent of lavender bath salts and Ben-Gay wafted through the air and strains...

My advance apology that I posted my reviews of this series out of order.  This is the first book in the series which was recommended to me by my mom, who reads almost as much as I do.  I enjoyed this book so much that I immediately read the next three in the series. Although this might still be my favorite of them all, they all provided a great escape.  Self described spinster, Ava Maria Mulligan lives in the small Virginia town of Big Stone Gap. As a Virginia girl myself I couldn't wait to read how the author describes the town and it's inhabitants. She captured the small town feel and the way the residents all know each other (and each other's business) perfectly. The story follows the life of Ava Maria a pharmacist and how everything she thought she knew changes when she discovers her mother has kept a secret about her past.  Ava Maria sets out to discover who she really is, with the help of her friends and a new love. I recommend this series if yo...

Who doesn't have fond memories of the movie, Back To The Future? What a fun way to go back in time and see what made our current day character who he or she is. In literature, this is much more difficult to achieve. I admit that I rarely pay attention to chapter titles. If the chapter heading is March, 2001, I probably skipped right over it. Of course, once I get to the next chapter where the date may be June, 2015. At that point, I have to stop, go back to the start and check to see how much time has elapsed. I'm not saying that this cannot be done well, only that I find it confusing. I admit it - I'm lazy. I want to start my book and have it flow from one day to the next without jumping backwards into some past event. I might even say it was lazy on the author's part as well. The insertion of backstory takes effort. The reader wants to know why a character behaves a certain way. Was the killer abused as a child? Was the greedy villain raised poor? These ch...

This is the next installment in the Three Act Structure - Act Two, Part Two is the Struggle. Act Two is the protagonist's struggle against adversity.  This comprises the bulk of most mysteries. When the main character has to try to solve the crime. It is filled with setbacks, each progressively worse with rising action. This is where the protagonist in a mystery will come across the red herrings, false clues, get help from secondary characters and work toward the epiphany which finishes Act Two. At this point in our mystery, the protagonist has already had the crisis and is now endeavoring to overcome it. For example, in Menu for Murder, Jayne's crisis happened when she was arrested and faced the possibility of life in prison or worse, the death sentence. The struggle the most exciting part of the story, in that it's where the action builds. Each time the protagonist gets closer to solving the mystery, there is a setback. I like to think of this part ...

I thought it might be a good idea to include some basic bartending instructions along with the drink recipes I regularly post. So for this post I am going to instruct you on how to muddle. Although it would seem that muddling would come naturally to me, since I seem to muddle through my life it actually takes a few good tools to do it well. Muddling means to mash together ingredients, such as herbs or fruit and sugar. If you do this correctly it blends the flavors together well for you cocktail. First you need a good muddler, which is a small bowl, generally made of marble but you can do this in a glass if you have to. Next you need a masher. This is also frequently made of marble. In a pinch you can use the back of a spoon to mash but it doesn't come out as well. Drop your ingredients into the muddler and then press with the masher until everything is basically mush. So muddle + mash = mush.  You can then drop in ice cubes and pour your cocktail over the top. The resu...

I've been meaning to check out this family owned restaurant for a long time and finally I found the time to enjoy dinner on a Saturday night.  Located in a strip mall in Glendale, the restaurant has a sizeable patio which wasn't open on the night I was here due to the still chilly weather. My party was greeted immediately when we entered and despite not having a reservation we were seated promptly. There is a small bar where guitarist performed but that music was only played in the bar and not the main restaurant. Décor was slightly dated but clean and pleasant. We were served a delicious (and addictive garlic bread) while we decided on dinner. I ordered a glass of the Banfi Chianti which wasn't the best I've ever had but was drinkable.  I ordered the wedge salad which was crisp and abundant. For dinner my friend had eggplant parmesan and I had the chicken piccata. We both substituted penne for spaghetti. My friend enjoyed his dish but mine ...

I downloaded this book because it was a cozy mystery by an author I had never read and because it had more than 350 reviews on Amazon with 50% being five stars.  I rarely will not finish a book that I have paid for and started. This book was an exception.  I really did not like it at all . I forced myself to read about one-third but after that I gave up. I had to check several times to see if I had missed the first book in the series - I had not. I tried to take into account that the main character lived outside of London and as such would have some cultural differences. I've been to London a few times and I love the people. In fact, my best friend is British but that wasn't my problem with this book. The characters were not believable. The protagonist, Harley Hill's claim to fame is that she's a criminal, chased by her bookie for money owed. She gets a job working as a finder to help figure out why someone broke into a jewelry store and left only a Chinese object r...

Whenever I need to recharge my mind and body, or just burn off some calories, there is no better place than to hike up a mountain in the Sonoran desert. My cell phone cannot begin to capture the beauty but that never stops me from trying. Here are just a few pictures from my hikes.  Check out my website's scrolling photo gallery for more images.     Happy Trails,   Leslie   Visit my website