PROLOGUE
The world is flat. I know it is, because for the last five hours the view has been exactly the same. Only the sun has done any traveling, working its long shadows through straight lines of harvested cotton. A few crows shop the furrowed rows for worms, weevils and grasshoppers. One hops over to inspect the truck I’m lying under, cocks a beady black eye, probably attracted to the shiny metal police-issued handcuffs, my hand in one of the cuffs, dangling from wrist to arm, and finally down to me, Lalla Bains, aero-ag pilot, sometime busybody, meddling where I shouldn’t – again …
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I was so pleased when Rebecca Dahlke contacted me, to let me know that the third book in the Lalla Bains series was soon to be published, with a view to inviting me to read an advance copy of ‘A Dead Red Oleander’ and sharing my thoughts about the book with my readers and fellow bloggers.
I love Rebecca’s style of writing and the complex mix of genres, which leads her to describing her books as humorous/ romantic/ mysteries. There certainly is never a dull moment in the stories and you need to have your wits about you to keep up with the pacey plots and the very ‘off the wall’ behaviour of Lalla Bains!!
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WHAT IS ‘BOOK BEGINNINGS’ – and how can you join in the fun?
Would the first few lines of your book make you want to read on?
If so, would you like to share them with us, (without revealing too many spoilers of course) ?
Visit your host for ths excellent meme, Gilion @ Rose City Reader
You can then leave a link to your own book beginnings post, or just browse for some great reads, there are always plenty of new authors and titles to be discovered.
Don’t forget that Gilion and all the other contributors to this meme love to hear from you, so why not leave a comment or two at the same time.
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This book sounds kind of fun…. glad you shared about it 😉
Hi Sheila,
Lalla Bains often seems to find herself in handcuffs and on the wrong side of the law, despite the fact that her long suffering boyfriend is the local Sherriff.
The reasons why she ends up in the same predicament time and time again, always manage to raise an eyebrow and more often than not a smile, from any reader.
Thanks for stopping by, your comments are always appreciated.
What an intriguing title! And the opening lines piqued my interest. I like the descriptions….
Thanks for sharing, and for visiting my blog.
Hi Laurel Rain,
The previous two titles in this series were ‘A Dead Red Cadillac’ and ‘A Dead Red Heart’, which were both self explanatory from the cover art, so I did wonder why it took me so long to work this title out!!!
Rebecca does offer some quite descriptive writing, which counterbalances the humour, quite nicely and makes for an all-round good entertaining read.
Thanks for stopping by, it is good to ‘speak’ with you again.
Interesting conclusion to come to about the world when handcuffed to a vehicle. Sounds like a fun read.
Here’s my Book Beginning.
Hi Chris,
As you say, finding time to comment in such detail about your surroundings, when you are handcuffed under a truck, is a little bizarre, but if you have been there for some time, I guess there isn’t much else to do!
Lalla Bains, spends so much of her time in these strange situations, that nothing she does surprises me any more. She has a propensity for trouble and being in the wrong place at the wrong time, especially when there are bodies around!!
Thanks for stopping by, great to hear from you!
This is a new series for me. Thanks for visiting.
Hi Jo,
Up until a few months ago, I would never have gone out to buy a book which had any humour in the story, it just wouldn’t have interested me.
Talking and reviewing with authors such as Rebecca, has changed my perspective on this completely. I am now much more open to trying out different genres and writing styles and I am enjoyong the freedom to explore.
Thanks for the visit and I hope that you have a great weekend.
Very interesting beginning. A series I was not aware of, and I read mostly mysteries. I will check out the first in the series. Thanks for featuring this.
Here is my Book Beginning post.
Hi Tracy,
This series of book are nothing if not interesting, entertaining and slightly humorous.
The character of Lalla Bains is so ‘off the wall’ that it seems that she continually finds herself ‘not being able to do right, for doing wrong’, although it is always with the best of intentions and well meant.
These books are a cross between a regular mystery and a ‘cozy’ mystery and are just great to lighten the mood a little.
Thanks for stopping by, I always appreciate any comments your leave.