YvonneAs I have only one new book to add to my shelves this week, but it is the latest title to be published by an author who has been known to me for some time, I decided to make this a combined post.
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Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house during the last week.
Be warned that Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.
Your host for November 2012 is: Kathy over at Bermudaonion, the stalwart stand-in host for this great meme.
This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!
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‘FLEETING GLANCE’ by SHERBAN YOUNG
John Hathaway just wanted a quiet weekend alone with his fiancée.
Instead, he receives a cryptic postcard from a man he’s never met, gets wrapped up in an elaborate art heist and finds himself framed for murder.
And what’s worse, his future in-laws are in town!
The palette is certainly thickening here, and there might be only one person who can rally the muses in time to string it all together: the Master himself, Enescu Fleet, retired private eye.
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Sherban Young is another author I first met back in 2011, when he contacted me regarding a review for his new ‘mystery caper’ story, ‘Fleeting Memory’. Now Sherban’s erstwhile character, retired Private Detective Enescu Fleet, is back with a brand new set of problems to solve and I can’t wait to get started on the case with him!!
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Sherban Young, splits his time between Maryland and Maine, and has often been called the next P. G. Wodehouse, or at the very least the current Sherban Young. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of poker, baseball, literature, classical music and film (although, it should be noted that this encyclopedia is a single volume, pop-up book edition). He enjoys single malt, his MINI Cooper S, Macs and, at times, listing things he enjoys.
Sherban claims to be pretty old school, when it comes to mystery writing, with inspiration from the pens of P.G. Wodehouse, Agatha Christie and Rex Stout, urging him on to become an author.
The 37-year-old Ellicott City resident became interested in solving puzzles and mysteries through CD-ROM interactive adventure games, whilst studying at Loyola University, (where he majored in English literature), with his friend developing the graphics and programming and Sherban writing the stories and puzzles.
Whilst currently his own boss, in partnership with his father in a Columbia financial planning firm, Sherban has disciplined himself to devote time each morning to writing his mystery capers, although he does confess that not many first ‘writes’ make it into the finished book.
I spend a lot of time rewriting, it’s essential. I think this is not only true at the end of a project but also at the beginning. If you go into a project fully aware that you’re going to rewrite it, you can approach it with a much more relaxed attitude. Then the ideas flow.
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But what’s even more fantastic news, is that following some email exchanges between myself and Sherban, about the vagaries of the English language between the US and the UK, he has been gracious enough to include a mention of both myself personally and the Fiction Books blog, on his ‘dedication’ page …..
Thank you so much Sherban, you have no idea just how much that kind thought and deed means to me!!
You can read my thoughts about Sherban’s first book in the Enescu Fleet series ‘Fleeting Memory’, here.
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As the book was an author review request, this free Kindle download was sent to me by Sherban Young.
This will in no way influence any comments I may express about the book, in any blog article I may post. Any thoughts or comments are my own personal opinion and I am in no way being monetarily compensated for this, or any other article.
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Happy reading Yvonne, this does sound like an interesting mystery. How wonderful that the author mentions you on his dedication page! Congratulations 🙂
Hi Naida,
I was certainly excited to see my name in print on the dedication page of the book, especially as I had no idea that Sherban was even thinking of doing something so generous. Apparently ‘Fleeting Glance’ has an English character in it somewhere and Sherban and I just bandied a few ideas back and forth about the differences in the English language betwen the US and the UK (and there are many!), to make the finished character a little more authentically English.
Mystery Capers are great fun to read. They are generally not too dark and the violence is always tempered with plenty of humour and mayhem. There is always a seeming multitude of characters and the reader really stands little chance of ever getting to the bottom of the case, without the quick wit and brain of the detective on hand to help out, in this case one ‘Enescu Fleet’.
When Sherban first introduced me to the genre, I really didn’t know what to expect, however I was pleasantly surprised and am now hooked!
Thanks for stopping by, have a great week.
The book sounds like fun, a new author to me. Congrats on your mention!
Hi Cath,
Sherban has quite a few books under his belt now, although I only recently discovered him, when he asked me to review ‘Fleeting Memory’, his first book in the ‘Enescu Fleet’ series.
Sherban himself is a great fun to communicate with, always very interactive with his reviewers and chats as though he were a long lost friend. I should imagine that his personality almost mirrors his style of writing in his ‘mystery capers’.
There is never a dull moment in a mystery caper, the action is frenetic and the dialogue snappy and cutting. There always seems to be a multitude of suspects and just when you think you have worked out who it was, something new happens and you find yourself back to square one!
I am hoping that this develops into a good sized series of stories and am looking forward to seeing just how Sherban has developed the character of ‘Enescu Fleet’ in his second case.
Knowing a little of your reading tastes, I think that you might enjoy Sherban’s style of writing. I just hope that I did the ‘Brit-Speak’ justice in this new book, although Sherban is quite happy to take the blame if he mis-interpreted what I said (and pass the blame onto someone else of course!!).
Thanks for stopping by, it seems ages since we spoke last, I hope that all is well with you.
New author and book to me. enjoy.
Hi Mystica,
Sherban is gradually getting his name out there and becoming known for his seriously funny and adept writing, in this quirky genre.
I never thought that I would enjoy this style of delivery, as I am generally a sucker for the more mainstream crime thrillers, however I have been surprised and pleased that the character of Enescu Fleet has grown on me so easily.
Thanks for taking the time to visit and comment, it is always appreciated.
How exciting, Yvonne, to be mentioned in the dedication! It sounds like a fun read!
Hi Mary,
This will be the second time that I have been mentioned in print in as many months, so as you can imagine, I am very excited. Perhaps more so by this mention, as it actually names me personally, as well as giving my blog name and web address!! Thanks so much to Sherban once again!
The first book in the series ‘Fleeting Memory’, was a laugh a minute, with the dry wit and humour which Sherban injected into the narrative. I have great hopes for this, Enescu Fleet’s second case and I am looking forward to ‘Fleeting Glance’ getting to the top of my reading pile.
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment, I appreciate your thoughts.
Sounds like a fun caper. Enjoy reading it!
Hi Kristen,
Mystery Capers are not stories which I could read constantly and to the exclusion of everything else, but like Cozy Mysteries, they make a lighthearted and fun change to read once in a while.
Everything the characters say, is very tongue in cheek and generally with very snappy dialogue exchanges, which never fail to leave me smiling, so ‘job done’ in the entertainment and happiness stakes!
Thanks for taking the time to comment, it is always good to hear from you.
Loving the look and sound of this one. What a great thing to be mentioned like this, you must have been overjoyed.
Hi Tracy,
Overjoyed is putting it mildly, especially as I knew nothing about it until I opened the Kindle download to make sure it had transferred okay and saw not only the Fiction Books name and web address, but my own personal name as well, right there on the first page!!!
That’s the second mention in a book, in as many months. When I was younger I either wanted to be a teacher, run a bookshop, or be a librarian. I have never really followed up on any of those things, however I am now seriously thinking that after Christmas, I might look into proof reading as a way forwards!
With your own wicked sense of humour which you inject into some of your posts, I think that the mystery caper would possibly be a genre that you might enjoy. The writing is sharp and snappy, the wit and humour dry and dour and the pace of the storyline frenetic, a fantastic foil for the more serious books I read on a regular basis.
Thanks for the nice comments, I realy appreciate them.
It’s so nice being mentioned, sounds like a good read.
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2012/11/mailbox-monday_12.html
Hi Mary Ann,
Yes, I am very grateful to Sherban for even thinking to mention me, as I played such a small part in helping with the book. It does give that warm glow to know that your efforts are appreciated though and I am certainly looking forward to reading the book and catching up with the adventures of Enescu Fleet …. I really must remember to ask Sherban where the idea for the name came from!!
Hi Yvonne,
I’ve actually always loved using composer names. Enescu seemed like the perfect fit because, like Sherban, it’s also Romanian. Oddly enough, Fleet’s not Romanian and neither am I. Strange.
Hi Sherban,
I guess I was just showing my ignorance there, as I didn’t know about either the origins of the names Enescu and Sherban, or about George Enescu’s background as a composer!
You had me intrigued enough to dig around a bit and do some research, so I guess that you’ll have found this same link as I did, but I’ll include it here for anyone else who is interested, where the names Enescu and Sherban are actually linked together …
http://www.sherbanlupu.com/bio.htm
Thanks for taking an interest in the post, ‘Fleeting Glance’ has definitely piqued everyone’s interest.
I really enjoyed reading all the posts. And thank you so much for all your kind words, Yvonne.
Enjoy your book…haven’t heard of this author.
Review for THE GIRL ON THE CLIFF going on at my blog if you want to stop by.
Elizabeth
Silver’s Reviews
http://silversolara.blogspot.com/2012/11/mailbox-monday-11122012.html
Hi Elizabeth,
If you enjoy a good mystery with a humorous touch, some great dialogue, myriad characters who all appear as guilty as sin and no idea who did what to who, where, why and when, then look no further than a mystery caper.
If you want to read books, written by arguably one of the best exponents of the genre, then look no further than Sherban Young.
Thanks for the visit and taking the time to comment, great to hear from you.