Left Turn at Paradise by Thomas Shawver + a Giveaway

Hi, readers! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Thomas Shawver's latest Michael Bevan mystery, Left Turn at Paradise. There is a tour wide giveaway here so be sure to read through to the bottom to enter.

While preparing for a trip to the California International Book Festival, Michael Bevan stumbles upon a rare and surprising find. Hidden away in his attic, in a box that dates back to his military days, Bevan discovers an eighteenth-century journal penned by a sailor on the HMS Endeavor. The volume is relatively unknown but the sailor who wrote it accompanied Captain Cook on all three of his voyages. What makes the book in question even more of a find is the fact that it would be a first look at a side of Cook's story that is both uncensored and could reveal more about the famed explorer than ever before. 

Bevan makes a connection at the show who also has a journal in hand by the same sailor. Together their set could collect quite a bit of attention and money, but they both suspect a third journal may be hiding somewhere. They agree to consider their options overnight but wake the following morning to find that both journals have been stolen. A bereft Bevan is close to throwing in his book selling towel when he's offered up one last shot to find the book. But of course tracking down the stolen and rare tome won't be easy!

Readers may recall that when we left the ex lawyer/ex marine antiquarian bookseller in The Dirty Book Murder, he'd just barely escaped his last adventure with his life. It's ok if you don't remember, though, there is a small recap worked into the beginning of this follow up. We also begin with the promise of wild dog attacks, cannibalism, a ritual with a fertility god, and the immortal Captain Cook, which for another Michael Bevan adventure is pretty promising.

I love that this series is based in the book world. Books about books are almost irresistible for a reader like me! I also enjoy the fact that a first glance might leave a reader under the impression that this is a cozy series. Further delving into Shawver's books reveals this is very much not the case. The books are actually kind of violent and twisted. And the plots themselves are pretty clever.

Shawver does have a tendency to get a bit wordy. To me wordy is fine as long as I don't notice it, so when I saw Shawver is wordy I mean there are extraneous bits of information I find don't really move the story ahead. (The same could be said for my reviews sometimes, though, so it's totally subjective!) In spite of that, this is a series that I am rather enjoying, flaws and all.

Rating: 3/5

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here. For more on Thomas Shawver you can like him over on Facebook.

And now for the giveaway. Again this is tour wide, to enter simply fill out the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway