Lee Strauss's Blog, page 9
October 29, 2020
New Release – Out Today
If you love early rock & roll, poodle skirts, clever who-dun-its, a charming cat and an even more charming detective, you're going to love this new series!
Murder is a hit!
It's the summer of 1956 and Private Investigator Rosa Reed (former Woman Police Constable from the London Metropolitan Police) attends her first rock and roll concert featuring the young and upcoming music sensation Elvis Presley.
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The high note goes sour when a press photographer is found dead onstage and Rosa is called in to investigate. When the apparent suicide is deemed to be a murder, she is once again called upon to work side by side with her former flame, Detective Miguel Belmonte.
Will Rosa keep her heart in line and find the killer before she has to sing the blues?
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Coming soon…
Cover reveal coming soon!
***
Ginger Gold's Journal
I hope you're enjoying learning about Ginger's time with the British secret service!
If you're not following and you'd like to, the Journal is available to my newsletter subscribers.
You can subscribe here.
The post New Release – Out Today appeared first on Lee Strauss.
October 22, 2020
Homer the parrot + Rock ‘n Roll Preorder Countdown
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New to the Rosa Reed Mystery series is Homer the African Grey Parrot.
These parrots are known for their uncanny ability to talk and mimic sounds. In fact, they can often repeat words and phrases after hearing them just once or twice.
Some owners claim that these parrots can be very intune with human emotions, even speaking in proper context to human conversations happening around them. Research has shown that some parrots can even come to understand what they are saying, and some have even been taught to identify colours, objects and shapes.
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Their intelligence is so renowned that in some circles they are known as ‘The Einsteins of the Bird World’.
One downside to this intelligence is that once they start talking, sometimes you can’t get them to stop! Unlike TVs or Radios, there is no ‘off’ button for African Grey Parrots!
I had the pleasure of meeting the *real* Homer and his lovely person Barbara. It was the first time for me to get up close and personal with an African Grey Parrot, and I found the experience to be delightful. Homer often rides the handlebars on Barbara's bike as she rides around the park, and accompanies her on other fun outings as well. He loves to play with rags in the bathtub, which is a nesting instinct, and his favorite food is broccoli with cheese sauce. Parrots have to chew all the time because their beaks are always growing.
Homer has his own facebook page. You can follow him here: https://www.facebook.com/homer.parrot
Be sure to preorder Murder and Rock ‘n' Roll and watch for Homer's appearance! Diego isn't sure what to make of him. 
October 15, 2020
How often do you want to hear from me? + New Release Excerpt
I want to make sure I'm giving my readers and newsletter subscribers what they want.
Go ahead and let me know how often you want to hear from me in this Reader's Poll!
Click here to answer Reader's Poll
Murder and Rock ‘n Roll… Chapter 1
Despite her efforts to restrain bubbling excitement, Rosa Reed couldn’t help but let out a low-pitched squeal. Her British upbringing, with its emphasis on keeping a “stiff upper lip,” made this uncharacteristic sound unusual. Even her sleepy cat, Diego, who was curled up in the center of her four-poster bed, glared at her through narrow yellow-green eyes.
Rosa emitted a chuckle and vigorously rubbed his ears in retaliation. “I know it means nothing to you, Diego, but it’s Elvis Presley!”
A year previous, Rosa would’ve been hard-pressed to recite a tidbit of trivia about the young music star, but now it was as though Elvis Presley were everywhere—one couldn’t get away from hearing his music on the radio, seeing his face on the cover of magazines, and watching him on The Ed Sullivan Show.
And he was in Santa Bonita!
Pure serendipity, since the concert had been booked before Elvis had become a national sensation. Rosa’s main squeeze, Dr. Larry Rayburn, the town’s assistant medical examiner, had gotten tickets for them, and Rosa couldn’t wait for their evening to begin. She turned back to her bedroom mirror and added finishing touches to her makeup. After agonizing over several outfits, Rosa had decided on a two-tone navy-blue and red dress with a form-fitting bodice, accentuating her new “bullet bra.” Wearing her flouncy red skirt with a full crinoline slip would be fun for the upbeat event that an Elvis Presley concert promised to be. She suspected that many of the attendees would be teenagers. Though she was closer to thirty than twenty, Rosa felt young at heart, perhaps because, despite a failed attempt, she’d yet to marry and start a family.
The melody of “Blue Moon,” a song that had frequently been playing on local radio, reached Rosa from down the hall. Rosa had recently relocated to California from London, England, and lived with her American relatives in a large home known as the Forrester mansion. Gloria Forrester, Rosa’s cousin, who was closer to twenty than thirty, prepared to go to the concert with her friend Marjorie.
“Without a dream in my heaaaaart,” they sang loudly in unison.
Curious as to what the two girls were up to, Rosa tapped on the partially opened door before entering Gloria’s colorful bedroom.
“Oh, Rosa,” Gloria trilled. “I’m so excited; my knees are like marshmallows!”
Marjorie stared at the cardboard cover of the long-playing record they were listening to and swooned over the picture of Elvis, his smiling face large and inviting. “He’s just so dreamy!”
Rosa laughed. “I hope you two will survive the night.” She looked at Marjorie. “Is your sister going to be there?”
When Rosa had lived with the Forrester family to escape the dangers of German bombs over London, Nancy Kline became a high school friend.
“Yes,” Marjorie said. “She practically had to force Eddie to take her. I told her she could go with us, but I guess we’re too uncivilized for her. I swear, sometimes she acts older than our mother.”
“Three young sons might do that to someone,” Rosa said.
Although Gloria and Marjorie acted like teenagers, they were in their early twenties. Most girls their age were married or engaged. But Rosa had missed marrying her high school sweetheart, Miguel Belmonte, who now happened to be a detective in the Santa Bonita Police Force. Their romance, forbidden by Aunt Louisa, had been short but intense. When World War II ended, Rosa had been sent back to England, forcing the young couple’s relationship to dissolve.
Now she had Larry on her arm, a funny and kind Texan, and couldn’t be more thankful.
Yes, she was thankful.
Miguel’s engagement to Charlene Winters had thawed, rather, had disintegrated, and in a shockingly public way, and suddenly, Miguel was single again. Even though Rosa’s heart was still pulled toward Miguel, she refused to break the heart of her sincere and lovely boyfriend, over a once-fiery teenage love.
It wouldn’t be fair.
Returning to her bedroom, Rosa scooped Diego from the bed, headed downstairs, and walked along the wide hallway and into the kitchen at the back of the mansion. Señora Gomez, the long-time housekeeper, greeted Rosa and Diego with her standard warm smile.
“You look nice, Miss Rosa.”
“Thank you. I hope I’m not overdressed.”
“This Elvis fellow is very famous now, eh?”
“They call him an overnight sensation.”
Rosa set Diego on the tile floor, and he immediately investigated the status of his food and water bowls, both full, thanks to Señora Gomez.
Through the vast windows, Rosa spotted two members of her American family and joined them on the patio overlooking the pool, tennis court, and vast gardens. Palm trees dotted the well-manicured lawns, and Rosa loved the tropical essence the trees evoked. The mansion itself was a sprawling mission-style edifice that had Rosa gasping in admiration, even on her second visit.
“Join us for a cocktail?” The invitation came from Aunt Louisa, technically Rosa’s half-aunt, as she and Rosa’s mother, Ginger, shared a father but not a mother. Her aunt, dressed in a top-of-the-line, blue satin cocktail dress with triangular capped sleeves and a waist narrow enough to make a much younger woman envious, gave off the sophistication that her wealth and status demanded.
Rosa hardly felt she could refuse the drink. She lowered herself to the edge of one of the loungers, not wanting to get too comfortable, as she expected Larry to arrive soon.
“Just a small one,” Rosa said. “I’ll be leaving shortly.”
Aunt Louisa called to Ricardo, the pool boy, who hovered nearby. “A piña colada for Miss Reed.” She glanced at Rosa for approval, and Rosa nodded.
“Are you going to that Elvis Presley thing?” Sally Hartigan asked, a hint of her Boston accent remaining. The eldest occupant of the Forrester mansion, she was Aunt Louisa’s Boston-born mother, and though not related to Rosa by blood, she insisted Rosa call her Grandma Sally. The lady’s permanently tanned face had wrinkled through her seventy-plus years, but her gray hair was professionally permed and her perfectly pressed dress was tailored just for her. She lifted a glass of amber that tinkled with ice in Rosa’s direction.
“Yes,” Rosa answered. “I’m waiting for Larry to pick me up.”
Grandma Sally scowled. “I’ve seen Mr. Presley on television. The way he wiggles about onstage is uncouth.”
“It’s the new music, Mother,” Aunt Louisa said, taking a sip of her drink. “Rock and Roll.”
“It’s vulgar,” Grandma Sally muttered. “Young people these days have no manners. No respect for their elders.”
“I’m sure they’re not all like that,” Rosa said.
Ricardo returned with the piña colada, attractively garnished with a slice of fresh pineapple. Rosa thanked him before taking a sip.
“It’s not safe to cross the street,” Grandma Sally insisted. “Just the other day, we were nearly run over by a young man—his car radio blaring that crazy music—speeding down Main, right, Louisa?”
“I’m going to talk to the mayor about putting in another set of traffic lights,” Aunt Louisa replied. “And a lower speed limit. Something they’ll enforce. What do the police do around Santa Bonita, anyway?”
Rosa and her aunt didn’t land on the same side in their opinions about the police. Rosa’s job as a private investigator often caused her path to cross with the local men in blue along with a certain well-dressed detective that her aunt had never forgiven. Rosa found it best to steer away from the topic when it came up.
“And don’t forget,” Aunt Louisa added, “our annual fundraiser for Santa Bonita Veterans’ Foundation is happening in a few days at that same theater you’re going to tonight.” She raised a dark, professionally plucked eyebrow at Rosa. “I hope you’ve marked it on your calendar.”
“Oh, yes. I am looking forward to that,” Rosa returned, thankful that they’d moved off the subject of the police.
Señora Gomez entered the patio with quick steps. “Telephone for you, Miss Rosa,” she called out. “It’s your doctor amigo.”
Rosa checked her watch. Larry should be driving his truck up their drive, not calling on the telephone. She excused herself and followed Señora Gomez back into the kitchen where she picked up the receiver.
“Larry?”
“Hello, darlin’,” Larry said.
Rosa thought his voice sounded a little weak. “Are you all right?”
“I’m sorry to do this to ya, but I can’t make it to the concert tonight. I had a migraine come on strong about an hour ago. I don’t get them often, but when I do, they hit me like a runaway locomotive.”
“Oh no.” Rosa’s heart dropped. As much as she was concerned for Larry’s health, she was dreadfully disappointed not to go to the Elvis Presley concert.
As if he read her mind, he said, “You can still go. I’ll send a cabbie to you to deliver the tickets. Maybe you could take a friend.”
Rosa’s mind worked hurriedly. She could go with Gloria and Marjorie, and perhaps she could convince Clarence to join them. Since his wife had left him and his young daughter, he did nothing but mope about. It would be good for him.
“If you don’t mind?”
“Not at all. I’d feel terrible if you missed out on my account. You’re doin’ me a favor by goin’.”
“Well, if you’re certain.”
His warm Texan accent reassured her. “Darn tootin’, I am.”
It was a consolation prize, but Rosa took it.”
“Thank you, Larry. I’ll take pictures and be sure to tell you all about it. It’s going to be a momentous event.”
Pre-Order Murder and Rock ‘n Roll
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Ginger Gold's Journal
I hope you're enjoying learning about Ginger's time with the British secret service!
If you're not following and you'd like to, the Journal is available to my newsletter subscribers.
You can subscribe here.
The post How often do you want to hear from me? + New Release Excerpt appeared first on Lee Strauss.
October 9, 2020
Murder at High Tide FREE for limited time + Thanksgiving
I'm so glad Fall is here! It's a beautiful season where I live in the Okanagan Valley, and I get very excited when the leaves change colour. What does it look like where you live? Send me a photo!
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To all my fellow Canadians, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family and enjoy your turkey dinner.
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Murder at High Tide FREE for a very limited time
Murder's all wet! It's 1956 and WPC (Woman Police Constable) Rosa Reed has left her groom at the altar in London. Time spent with her American cousins in Santa Bonita, California is exactly what she needs to get back on her feet, though the last thing she expected was to get entangled in another murder case!
If you love early rock & roll, poodle skirts, clever who-dun-its, a charming cat and an even more charming detective, you're going to love this new series!
SALE ENDS TUESDAY, OCT 13th
Click here to grab your free copy!
The post Murder at High Tide FREE for limited time + Thanksgiving appeared first on Lee Strauss.
October 4, 2020
Have you tried Goodreads yet?
Goodreads allows individuals to search its database of books, annotations, quotes, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and reading lists. They can also create their own groups of book suggestions, surveys, polls, blogs, and discussions.
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Basically, it’s a great community for readers to be involved in!
Click here to try Goodreads for yourself!
Once you’ve signed up for Goodreads, why not add Murder and Rock ‘n Roll to your ‘Want to read’ list?
Feel free to Comment on or ‘Like’ any book you find!
The post Have you tried Goodreads yet? appeared first on Lee Strauss.
October 1, 2020
Don’t Miss These 2 Great Contests! + Journal Entry
To celebrate the upcoming release of the Murder and Rock ‘n Roll I'm giving away a FREE Rosa Reed mug, plus a $30 cash prize!
Click here to enter Gleam contest!
Contest #2 – Goodreads
Enter for a chance to win one of 10 e-book copies of Murder and Rock ‘n Roll!
A murder brings Rosa together with her former flame. Will Rosa keep her heart in line and find the killer before she has to sing the blues?
Click here to enter Goodreads Contest!
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NEW GINGER GOLD JOURNAL ENTRY
Don't miss out on this week's Journal entry.
Ginger meets a German Soldier who appears in later Ginger Gold books. Can you figure out who it is?
The password is Goldmine. Don't forget to capitalize the ‘G'
Just a quick caveat: these entries aren't professionally edited.
If you're not following and you'd like to, the Journal is available to my newsletter subscribers.
You can subscribe here.
The post Don’t Miss These 2 Great Contests! + Journal Entry appeared first on Lee Strauss.
September 24, 2020
Music of the 1950s
Popular music in the 1950s was dominated by a new and fresh sound called Rock ‘n roll, a sound that excited young people and annoyed their parents.
Rock ‘n roll was birthed out of a culmination of genres that had been developing at the turn of the 20th century, including rhythm and blues, country & western, gospel music and pop.
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Rock ‘n Roll Controversy – Elvis ‘the pelvis'
When Elvis performed on television, he was slammed by TV critics for his “vulgarity”, “appalling lack of musicality” and “animalism.”
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Much of this criticism came from his dancing, particularly when he swayed his pelvis, something his fans would scream for. People were very concerned that his performances were promoting juvenile delinquency and changing the moral values of the younger generation for the worse.
Watch this video of Elvis Presley singing ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ and see him sway his hips around the 1:12 mark.
How ‘shocking’ does this dancing seem today?
Rock ‘n Roll would go onto to influence fashions, lifestyles, language and attitudes for generations to come.
In Murder and Rock ‘n Roll, Rosa is surprised to hear Miguel and his band perform an original Rock ‘n Roll song that she suspects might have been written about her.
You can hear this song Pretty Little Lady in a White Corvette here!
Ginger Gold's Journal
I hope you're enjoying learning about Ginger's time with the British secret service!
If you're not following and you'd like to, the Journal is available to my newsletter subscribers.
You can subscribe here.
The post Music of the 1950s appeared first on Lee Strauss.
September 17, 2020
Save when you buy books in a bundle!
What is a book bundle?
A book bundle is a bunch of books ‘wrapped together’ in a package or included in a boxset. If you are the type of reader who likes to buy many books by the same author, or if you like to stick to a certain genre or theme, then book bundles are for you!
[image error] Get more for less
Instead of paying full price for each individual book, choosing the bundle or boxset option lets you buy many books at once … for a lower price. I don’t know about you, but I like discounts. When something is both convenient and saves me money, I’m excited.
It also saves you time (and effort)! Instead of having to go through the entire store and putting each book into your cart one-by-one, you can order many books with one click. It’s as easy as that!
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Save money on Ginger Gold books
The first 3 Ginger Gold books are neatly packaged in a boxset, and at a lower price than what you would pay for them individually.
Get a Ginger Gold Mysteries Bundle (and other boxsets in the Ginger Gold series) here.
Save money on Rosa Reed books
Get the first 2 books of the Brand New 1950s Cozy Mystery Series Rosa Reed here, along with other Rosa Reed bundle deals.
Ginger Gold's Journal
I hope you're enjoying learning about Ginger's time with the British secret service!
If you're not following and you'd like to, the Journal is available to my newsletter subscribers.
You can subscribe HERE.
The post Save when you buy books in a bundle! appeared first on Lee Strauss.
September 14, 2020
What's Coming This Fall
What are you working on this fall?
I've got a lot in the hopper (working hard with my husband and co-writer, Norm) and I hope you'll get excited for more fun escapism.
So, what's coming?
First up, releasing October 29, is Murder and Rock 'n Roll, set at an early Elvis Presley concert. Norm and I had a lot of fun researching and integrating early rock and roll history into Rosa's next misadventure. You might know that Norm is a singer-songwriter and used to make his living touring Germany, so this theme was in his wheelhouse. You might even get to hear new fifty-themes music written just for Rosa Reed!
Pre-order your copy now!
https://smarturl.it/RRrocknroll
I know everyone is eager for the next Ginger Gold mystery, Murder in Hyde Park, and it's coming Dec 22, just in time for Christmas! It's not a Christmas story, but set in the summer of 1926 at an outdoor fashion show in Hyde Park.
I sometimes include IRL (in real life) people in my stories and you'll be in for a treat when the flamboyant Coco Chanel gets entangled in the case.
Pre-order your copy now!
https://smarturl.it/HydePark14
But to warm you up for Christmas there's another Lady Gold Investigates short story volume coming November 17, just in time for Thanksgiving. You might notice the cover has been updated to a Christmas Edition. Norm and I have worked on the stories, The Case of the Haunted Castle, and The Case of the Christmas Goose, and they're a lot of fun.
Pre-order your copy now!
https://smarturl.it/LGI4
That takes us to the end of the year. Many more books are planned for 2021, but I'll talk more about them in another newsletter.
Don't miss out on this week's Journal entry. (Available to my newsletter list only, https://www.leestraussbooks.com/join-...)
I hope you're enjoying learning about Ginger's time with the British secret service!
September 10, 2020
What’s coming this fall + journal entry
September is back to school and back to routine, at least in normal years. 2020 is anything but normal!
What are you working on this fall?
I've got a lot in the hopper (working hard with my husband and co-writer, Norm) and I hope you'll get excited for more fun escapism.
So, what's coming?
First up, releasing October 29, is Murder and Rock ‘n Roll, set at an early Elvis Presley concert. Norm and I had a lot of fun researching and integrating early rock and roll history into Rosa's next misadventure. You might know that Norm is a singer-songwriter and used to make his living touring Germany, so this theme was in his wheelhouse. You might even get to hear new fifty-themes music written just for Rosa Reed!
Pre-order your copy now!
*****
I know everyone is eager for the next Ginger Gold mystery, Murder in Hyde Park, and it's coming Dec 22, just in time for Christmas! It's not a Christmas story, but set in the summer of 1926 at an outdoor fashion show in Hyde Park.
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Pre-order your copy now!
I sometimes include IRL (in real life) people in my stories and you'll be in for a treat when the flamboyant Coco Chanel gets entangled in the case.
[image error]
But to warm you up for Christmas there's another Lady Gold Investigates short story volume coming November 17, just in time for Thanksgiving. You might notice the cover has been updated to a Christmas Edition. Norm and I have worked on the stories, The Case of the Haunted Castle, and The Case of the Christmas Goose, and they're a lot of fun.
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Pre-order your copy now!
That takes us to the end of the year. Many more books are planned for 2021, but I'll talk more about them in another newsletter.
New Journal Entry
Don't miss out on this week's Journal entry. I hope you're enjoying learning about Ginger's time with the British secret service!
If you're not following and you'd like to, the Journal is available to my newsletter subscribers.
The post What’s coming this fall + journal entry appeared first on Lee Strauss.
