The Root of Murder
“As always, Lauren Carr brings an action-packed story that is almost impossible to put down. Her mystery plots have so many twists and turns that I didn’t know if I was coming or going. And the action just didn’t stop from the very beginning till the very end.” - Melina Mason, Melina’s Book Reviews
Book Details:
Book Title: The Root of Murder (A Lovers in Crime Mystery #4) by Lauren Carr
Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 332 pages
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Acorn Book Services
Release date: March 20, 2019
Format available for review: print, Audible download, mobi, epub, PDF
Will send print books out: USA & Canada
Tour dates: September 9 to October 25, 2019
Content Rating: PG-13 (Lauren Carr's books are murder mysteries, so there are murders involved. Occasionally, a murder will happen on stage. There is sexual content, but always behind closed doors. Some mild swearing (a hell or a damn few and far between). No F-bombs!
Book Description:Homicide Detective Cameron Gates learned long ago that there is no such thing as a typical murder case. Each mystery is special in its own right—especially for the family of the victim.The homicide of a successful executive, husband, and father seems open and shut when the murder weapon is found in his estranged son-in-law’s possession. The circumstantial evidence is so damning that when her step-son, J.J. Thornton, agrees to act as the defendant’s public defender, he assumes his first murder case will be a loss. Only the report of a missing husband proves that this case is not as open and shut as it seems. Strap on your seat belts for a wild ride in this mystery rooted in decades of deception that sprouts into murder.
Book Title: The Root of Murder (A Lovers in Crime Mystery #4) by Lauren Carr
Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 332 pages
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Acorn Book Services
Release date: March 20, 2019
Format available for review: print, Audible download, mobi, epub, PDF
Will send print books out: USA & Canada
Tour dates: September 9 to October 25, 2019
Content Rating: PG-13 (Lauren Carr's books are murder mysteries, so there are murders involved. Occasionally, a murder will happen on stage. There is sexual content, but always behind closed doors. Some mild swearing (a hell or a damn few and far between). No F-bombs!
Book Description:Homicide Detective Cameron Gates learned long ago that there is no such thing as a typical murder case. Each mystery is special in its own right—especially for the family of the victim.The homicide of a successful executive, husband, and father seems open and shut when the murder weapon is found in his estranged son-in-law’s possession. The circumstantial evidence is so damning that when her step-son, J.J. Thornton, agrees to act as the defendant’s public defender, he assumes his first murder case will be a loss. Only the report of a missing husband proves that this case is not as open and shut as it seems. Strap on your seat belts for a wild ride in this mystery rooted in decades of deception that sprouts into murder.
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Audiobooks: An Old and Growing Market for Authors
By Lauren Carr
Fifteen years ago, my first book, A Small Case of Murder, came out. That wasn’t so long ago. Believe me! Fifteen years is not that long ago—not when you compare it to when the dinosaurs were lazily grazing in Yellowstone National Park.
Anyway, back to what we want to talk about …
This friend only listened to her books in audio. She had a long commute to work and that was when she would listen to her books. She would go through a couple books a week.
Not long after that, I discovered that another friend only did audiobooks. She loved to read, but couldn’t due to extremely bad eyesight. While she wasn’t legally blind, her eyesight was so poor that the only way she could enjoy a book was if it was available in audio.
Mind you, this was before the age of digital downloads. Audiobooks were available on cassette or compact discs back then. I considered myself lucky when a traditional audiobook publisher picked up my first three books to be produced in audio (compact disc and eventually digital download)—until I started receiving my royalty checks. I was lucky if I made over two hundred dollars a year! I would take a few copies of the compact discs to book events—only to have them gather dust. Eventually, I tossed them into the back of my closet, where they still rest.
Flash forward.
Then, Amazon suggested I make my books available through their company ACX. They also pointed out that Audible, a very successful audiobook dealer fell under their umbrella. Audible is the leading seller of audiobooks.
By going through ACX, I would essentially be self-publishing my own books—thus, keeping all of my rights. Over the years, I had seen on my royalty statements how many thousands of dollars my audio publisher was making annually on the sales of my books. So, this was quite appealing to me. However, knowing that the market was slow, I didn’t want to invest a lot of money into the venture. Frankly, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to invest any at all.
1. Share your royalties with the narrator/audio producer. This costs the author nothing, because the audio producer invests the time and expense into producing the book. In exchange, the author agrees to split their royalties for the book’s sales fifty-fifty with the producer. If the book ends up being a flop, then the producer loses out on their investment in the project. However, if the book ends up making thousands of dollars a month in audiobook sales, then the author could end up wondering about what could have been.
2. Hire an audio producer to produce your book. This option means the author hires the narrator/producer on contract (and pay!) to produce the book. With this option, the author gets to keep all of the royalties for their audio sales. So, if your book makes a million bucks in royalties, it’s all yours! The downside of this option is that you have to pay out a lot of money up front—money that it could take a while to earn back. We are talking thousands of dollars. A friend of mine found a narrator she liked, who refused to work for shared royalties. He would only work on contract with the cost starting at $5000.
3. Narrate and Produce the Book Yourself. This is not as easy as it sounds. The author has to make sure there is no background noise and the final product does have to pass ACX’s quality control regulations. As the author, I have proofed some of my audio books, thinking they were perfect—only to have ACX pick up a flaw that I had not noticed. Once I read an interview with John Grisham in which he said one of his biggest regrets was narrating one of his books for audio. He thought the end product was awful. As with anything—I prefer to leave it up to the pros.
I opted to share the royalties and let the producers take the financial risk.
I have been blessed in finding four excellent audiobook producers who have helped me to bring my whole backlist to audiobook fans—a base that I have seen grow steadily over the last few years.
Now I have settled into a comfortable working relationship with one producer, Mike Alger, who brings every new release to life.
I have discovered that for many readers, who have been unable to enjoy reading in print or ebook format for whatever reasons—whether it be lifestyle or medical disability—are discovering audiobooks and returning to reading (listening) to enjoy their favorite books.
Since my books have been coming out in Audible, I have found that I am enjoying audiobooks more and more. Many book enthusiasts, like myself, will read books in both e-book and audio. (For just a few bucks more, readers can include the audio version of a book with their ebook purchase.) I love to read in bed in the evening. After spending the whole day writing on my laptop, my eyes will be tired. So, I’ll switch to the audio version of whatever book I am currently reading to listen to a great book until I fall asleep. With Whispersync, my tablet will pick up my ebook in audio where I have left off in reading.
I’m not the only one. More and more readers (and book reviewers!) are making the switch to audiobooks! I know more than one book reviewer who started reading my books in print, then switched to ebook, who are now only reviewing audiobooks.
If you’re an independent author and you haven’t explored this market, then I highly recommend you take a hard look at it. If your books are already in audiobook, then consider booking an audiobook virtual book tour. There’s a growing list of audiobook bloggers in search of great audiobooks.
Here's the way I look at it: If it weren’t for my readers, I would not be living my dream of being a mystery writer. My readers want my mysteries to be in all formats: e-book, print, and audiobooks. Even if fans of one format are a smaller number than another—they are still my fans and deserve the reading experience they enjoy the most!
Another five star hit from Lauren Carr!
Once again I found myself in the car for several hours which I love, for it gives me longer periods of time to listen to a Thornton family mystery drama. Not only does the whole family get involved in preparing for JJ and Poppy's wedding but also in the investigation of multiple murders ~ or is it multiple identities? Get your whiteboard ready for this one! I did find myself going back once in a wile asking mself, did I really hear that right?
This one actually covers several decades, as that is how long the deception has been covered up. As you can imagine, that also allows enough time for lifelines and activities to tangle beyond disengagement. Every time I thought I had a piece of the puzzle figured out, doubt was cast when a new piece of evidence is exposed.
With motives galore, memorable characters, including some real whackos, you won't want to put it down or stop listening.
Mike Alger does his usual fabulous job with the voices and emotions from panic and derision to humor and romance.
You can enjoy this as a stand alone mystery but I do recommend you get to know this whole complicated combined clan with other books in the series and various spin-offs.
This one actually covers several decades, as that is how long the deception has been covered up. As you can imagine, that also allows enough time for lifelines and activities to tangle beyond disengagement. Every time I thought I had a piece of the puzzle figured out, doubt was cast when a new piece of evidence is exposed.
With motives galore, memorable characters, including some real whackos, you won't want to put it down or stop listening.
Mike Alger does his usual fabulous job with the voices and emotions from panic and derision to humor and romance.
You can enjoy this as a stand alone mystery but I do recommend you get to know this whole complicated combined clan with other books in the series and various spin-offs.
Fall in Love with These Other Lovers in Crime Mysteries:
Book Details:
Book Title: Killer in the Band (A Lovers in Crime Mystery #3) by Lauren Carr
Category: Adult fiction, 430 pages
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Acorn Book Services
Release date: Oct 3, 2016
Available for review in: print, Audible download, mobi, epub, PDF
Will send books: USA & Canada
Tour dates: September 9 to October 25, 2019
Content Rating: PG-13 (Lauren Carr's books are murder mysteries, so there are murders involved. Occasionally, a murder will happen on stage. There is sexual content, but always behind closed doors. Some mild swearing (a hell or a damn few and far between). No F-bombs!
Book Description:
Summer of Love & Murder
Joshua’s eldest son, Joshua “J.J.” Thornton Jr., has graduated at the top of his class from law school and returns home to spend the summer studying for the bar exam. However, to Joshua’s and Cameron’s shock and dismay, J.J. moves into the main house at Russell Ridge Farm, the largest dairy farm in the Ohio Valley, to rekindle a romance with Suellen Russell, a onetime leader of a rock group who’s twice his age. Quickly, they learn that she has been keeping a deep dark secret.
The move brings long-buried tensions between the father and son to the surface. But when a brutal killer strikes, the Lovers in Crime must set all differences aside to solve the crime before J.J. ends up in the crosshairs of a murderer.
Book Title: Killer in the Band (A Lovers in Crime Mystery #3) by Lauren Carr
Category: Adult fiction, 430 pages
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Acorn Book Services
Release date: Oct 3, 2016
Available for review in: print, Audible download, mobi, epub, PDF
Will send books: USA & Canada
Tour dates: September 9 to October 25, 2019
Content Rating: PG-13 (Lauren Carr's books are murder mysteries, so there are murders involved. Occasionally, a murder will happen on stage. There is sexual content, but always behind closed doors. Some mild swearing (a hell or a damn few and far between). No F-bombs!
Book Description:
Summer of Love & Murder
Joshua’s eldest son, Joshua “J.J.” Thornton Jr., has graduated at the top of his class from law school and returns home to spend the summer studying for the bar exam. However, to Joshua’s and Cameron’s shock and dismay, J.J. moves into the main house at Russell Ridge Farm, the largest dairy farm in the Ohio Valley, to rekindle a romance with Suellen Russell, a onetime leader of a rock group who’s twice his age. Quickly, they learn that she has been keeping a deep dark secret.
The move brings long-buried tensions between the father and son to the surface. But when a brutal killer strikes, the Lovers in Crime must set all differences aside to solve the crime before J.J. ends up in the crosshairs of a murderer.
Book Title: Real Murder (A Lovers in Crime Mystery #2) by Lauren Carr
Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 302 pages
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Acorn Book Services
Release date: May 28, 2014
Format available for review: print, Audible download, mobi, epub, PDF
Will send print books out: USA & Canada
Tour dates: September 9 to October 25, 2019
Content Rating: PG-13 (Lauren Carr's books are murder mysteries, so there are murders involved. Occasionally, a murder will happen on stage. There is sexual content, but always behind closed doors. Some mild swearing (a hell or a damn few and far between). No F-bombs!
Book Description:
When Homicide Detective Cameron Gates befriends Dolly, the little old lady who lives across the street, she is warned not to get lured into helping the elderly woman by investigating the unsolved murder of one of her girls. “She’s senile,” Cameron is warned. “It’s not a real murder.”
Such is not the case. After Dolly is brutally murdered, Cameron discovers that the sweet blue-haired lady’s “girl” was a call girl, who had been killed in a mysterious double homicide.
Meanwhile, Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Thornton is looking for answers to the murder of a childhood friend, a sheriff's deputy whose cruiser is found at the bottom of a lake. The deputy had disappeared almost twenty years ago while privately investigating the murder of a local prostitute.
It doesn’t take long for the Lovers in Crime to put their cases together to reveal a long-kept secret that some believe is worth killing to keep undercover.
Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 302 pages
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Acorn Book Services
Release date: May 28, 2014
Format available for review: print, Audible download, mobi, epub, PDF
Will send print books out: USA & Canada
Tour dates: September 9 to October 25, 2019
Content Rating: PG-13 (Lauren Carr's books are murder mysteries, so there are murders involved. Occasionally, a murder will happen on stage. There is sexual content, but always behind closed doors. Some mild swearing (a hell or a damn few and far between). No F-bombs!
Book Description:
When Homicide Detective Cameron Gates befriends Dolly, the little old lady who lives across the street, she is warned not to get lured into helping the elderly woman by investigating the unsolved murder of one of her girls. “She’s senile,” Cameron is warned. “It’s not a real murder.”
Such is not the case. After Dolly is brutally murdered, Cameron discovers that the sweet blue-haired lady’s “girl” was a call girl, who had been killed in a mysterious double homicide.
Meanwhile, Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Thornton is looking for answers to the murder of a childhood friend, a sheriff's deputy whose cruiser is found at the bottom of a lake. The deputy had disappeared almost twenty years ago while privately investigating the murder of a local prostitute.
It doesn’t take long for the Lovers in Crime to put their cases together to reveal a long-kept secret that some believe is worth killing to keep undercover.
Book Details:
Book Title: Dead on Ice (Lovers in Crime Mystery Book #1)by Lauren Carr
Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 234 pages
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Acorn Book Services
Release date: August 22, 2012
Format available for review: print, Audible download, mobi, epub, PDF
Will send print books out: USA & Canada
Tour dates: September 9 to October 25, 2019
Content Rating: PG-13 (Lauren Carr's books are murder mysteries, so there are murders involved. Occasionally, a murder will happen on stage. There is sexual content, but always behind closed doors. Some mild swearing (a hell or a damn few and far between). No F-bombs!
Book Description:
Dead on Ice is the first installment of Lauren Carr’s new series (Lovers in Crime) featuring Hancock County Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Thornton and Pennsylvania State Police homicide detective Cameron Gates.
Spunky Cameron Gates is tasked with solving the murder of Cherry Pickens, a legendary star of pornographic films, whose body turns up in an abandoned freezer. The case has a personal connection to her lover, Joshua Thornton, because the freezer was located in his cousin’s basement. It doesn’t take long for their investigation to reveal that the risqué star’s roots were buried in their rural Ohio Valley community, something that Cherry had kept off her show business bio. She should have kept her hometown off her road map, too—because when this starlet came running home from the mob, it proved to be a fatal homecoming.
Book Title: Dead on Ice (Lovers in Crime Mystery Book #1)by Lauren Carr
Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 234 pages
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Acorn Book Services
Release date: August 22, 2012
Format available for review: print, Audible download, mobi, epub, PDF
Will send print books out: USA & Canada
Tour dates: September 9 to October 25, 2019
Content Rating: PG-13 (Lauren Carr's books are murder mysteries, so there are murders involved. Occasionally, a murder will happen on stage. There is sexual content, but always behind closed doors. Some mild swearing (a hell or a damn few and far between). No F-bombs!
Book Description:
Dead on Ice is the first installment of Lauren Carr’s new series (Lovers in Crime) featuring Hancock County Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Thornton and Pennsylvania State Police homicide detective Cameron Gates.
Spunky Cameron Gates is tasked with solving the murder of Cherry Pickens, a legendary star of pornographic films, whose body turns up in an abandoned freezer. The case has a personal connection to her lover, Joshua Thornton, because the freezer was located in his cousin’s basement. It doesn’t take long for their investigation to reveal that the risqué star’s roots were buried in their rural Ohio Valley community, something that Cherry had kept off her show business bio. She should have kept her hometown off her road map, too—because when this starlet came running home from the mob, it proved to be a fatal homecoming.
Meet the author: With over forty years of writing and publishing experience, international best-selling author Lauren Carr has played an active role in the revolution of independent authors.
While studying for her college degree in English and journalism, Lauren worked as an editor and layout design artist with the federal government in Washington, DC. It was there that Lauren learned the foundations necessary for book publishing.
Lauren’s debut mystery, A Small Case of Murder was a finalist for the Independent Publisher Book Awards. On the heels of that success, she accepted an offer from a traditional publisher for A Reunion to Die For.
When it came time to publish her third book, Lauren rejected offers from two traditional publishers, choosing instead to independently publish It’s Murder, My Son, which made it to #1 in sales on Amazon in cozy mysteries. She has never regretted her decision to become an independent author.
Realizing that she could use her experiences to help other writers achieve their dreams to become published authors, Lauren established Acorn Book Services, offering professional services to independent authors.
The international best-selling author of over twenty-five murder mysteries, Lauren has gone on dozens of virtual blog tours (most with iRead Book Tours!) and has seen first-hand that how an author publishes is irrelevant to success. The key is exposure to potential readers. Virtual blog tours are an excellent avenue for book promotion. Book spotlights, reviews, author guest posts and interviews are forever, unlike in-person book events, which become a memory as soon as they have finished.
With her vast experience, it seemed only natural for Lauren Carr to jump at the opportunity to join the iReads Book Tours team. She lives with her husband, and two spoiled rotten German shepherds on a mountain in West Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.
You can usually find Lauren plotting her next murder mystery in her writer's studio on her mountaintop. Visit Lauren's website https://mysterylady.net/ to learn more about her murder mysteries, Acorn Book Services, and now iReads Book Tours!
Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram
While studying for her college degree in English and journalism, Lauren worked as an editor and layout design artist with the federal government in Washington, DC. It was there that Lauren learned the foundations necessary for book publishing.
Lauren’s debut mystery, A Small Case of Murder was a finalist for the Independent Publisher Book Awards. On the heels of that success, she accepted an offer from a traditional publisher for A Reunion to Die For.
When it came time to publish her third book, Lauren rejected offers from two traditional publishers, choosing instead to independently publish It’s Murder, My Son, which made it to #1 in sales on Amazon in cozy mysteries. She has never regretted her decision to become an independent author.
Realizing that she could use her experiences to help other writers achieve their dreams to become published authors, Lauren established Acorn Book Services, offering professional services to independent authors.
The international best-selling author of over twenty-five murder mysteries, Lauren has gone on dozens of virtual blog tours (most with iRead Book Tours!) and has seen first-hand that how an author publishes is irrelevant to success. The key is exposure to potential readers. Virtual blog tours are an excellent avenue for book promotion. Book spotlights, reviews, author guest posts and interviews are forever, unlike in-person book events, which become a memory as soon as they have finished.
With her vast experience, it seemed only natural for Lauren Carr to jump at the opportunity to join the iReads Book Tours team. She lives with her husband, and two spoiled rotten German shepherds on a mountain in West Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.
You can usually find Lauren plotting her next murder mystery in her writer's studio on her mountaintop. Visit Lauren's website https://mysterylady.net/ to learn more about her murder mysteries, Acorn Book Services, and now iReads Book Tours!
Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram
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Thank you so much for the 5-Star review for THE ROOT OF MURDER. I am honored that you so enjoy the Lovers in Crime Mysteries. I am certain your followers will enjoy them as well. Here's wishing each one luck in the giveaway for the Amazon Gift Card!
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