Friday, September 6, 2019

BOOK: June Green Leaves of Deceit by Carol Ann Kauffman


Join Cat Collier is this serial mystery short story series, described as a cross between Nancy Drew and Mike Hammer.

Carter disappoints Cat in the worst possible way. She begins to doubt her worth. Can a new location bolster Cat’s self-confidence? Is she strong enough to let a new love in?

June Green Leaves of Deceit continues and adventures and misadventures of Mary Catherine Collier, known as Cat, as she opens a second online investigation office, away from Heaton Valley and the love and support she’s known there. Can she make it on her own? 


Amazon Buy Link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DYFCFS3/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i5

But, wait! Read an excerpt before you buy:


Chapter One
Gauze and Breeze


It was a perfect June morning in northeastern Ohio. The sun illuminated the periwinkle sky as a gentle breeze fluttered through the open window of my gorgeous office on the eighth floor of the beautiful Palazzo Castellano, a hotel situated in the center of downtown Heaton Valley. Perfect morning. Perfect office. Perfect little town.
So why was I so damn miserable? 
I have everything a girl could want. I’m living my dream. I have my own private online investigation business in a big, beautiful office that adjoins the office of a sweet, handsome lawyer who just happens to love me to pieces. I have a new car, gorgeous clothes, and a huge rock of an engagement ring so big I could use to put out an eye in a street fight. I have a wonderful circle of friends and family who love and support me in whatever I do. I am my own boss. Nobody tells me what to do. 
So then… why the misery?
I don’t know. Because I’m not the person I used to be, maybe. My motto has always been honesty is the best policy. But one lie led to two, then four, and they continued to grow at an alarming rate. I almost needed to carry around a notebook to write down my lies in order to keep them straight. But I was afraid I’d lose it, someone would find it, and discover my deceit.
I’m no longer the honest human being I thought I was. Lately, I lie to people on a daily basis. I lie to my mother. I told her I met Kayko in Los Angeles last year at the newspaper convention. I told her there was nothing serious going on between Kayko and my brother Dane. I told her Kayko would probably be going back to California soon. 
My wonderful fiancĂ© whom I adore? Yes, I lie to him, too. Of course, you can come with me, Carter. And no, I’m not up to anything. And I nurture those lies and cuddle up to them and keep them warm. 
I am keeping the truth from my brother Dane about his new girlfriend, Kayko. He thinks she’s a little wounded bird. And he is dead-set on saving this orphaned waif. Little does he know, she not an orphan. She has family and a betrothed in China. She was part in a human trafficking ring. She lived as a homeless person on the streets of Detroit. And her name is made up, like every other part of her life.
I lied to my client Jack Harlan. I know who the father of his girlfriend’s daughter is, and it’s not some dead Italian Art professor. Lystra’s father is very much alive and is an extremely dangerous criminal. And as far as keeping his fiancĂ©e Simone out of the loop? Well, guess what, she knows everything.
And I lied to Kayko. Sure, I can get you papers so you can stay in the country legally. Sure, I can keep you safe. Sure, I can hide you from international sex trade criminals.
I took a deep breathe. Stop it, Cat. Everybody tells a few untruths every now and then, don’t they? Maybe I was blowing this whole honesty crisis out of proportion. Maybe a walk in the park across the street would clear my head and help me feel better. I pulled on my jacket and put my wallet and keys in my pocket. 

Just then I heard the sound of stiletto heels clicking on the tile floor, slowly, deliberately, almost seductively, into Carter’s adjoining office. He likes to keep the door between our two offices open in case I get into trouble. He believes private investigation tends to draw out the most unsavory of characters and he worries about my safety. I peeked around the corner.
The most gorgeous girl I ever saw in my life was standing in Carter’s office. A beautiful face framed with long, flowing, shiny brown curls gazed at Carter. Her hands on her hips, feet apart, her tiny gauzy dress blowing slightly in the breeze. Skin, hair, figure, nails, outfit - all perfect.
“Hello, Lover,” the beautiful creature purred.
“Yvette!” called Carter.
Yvette. Of course, my finance’s ex-girlfriend had to be the most beautiful girl in the world.
“What are you doing here?” Carter said in shock.
“I miss you, Rick,” she cooed as she walked runway-style around his desk. 
I hid around the corner, plastering myself to the wall, trying to calm myself. I peeked around slowly.
She pulled open his bottom desk drawer.
“What are you want?” Carter asked.
“Isn’t it obvious? I want… you. I want you back.”
Yvette put her foot up on the bottom drawer. The sun streaming through the window left nothing to the imagination. Little Miss Yvette, the beautiful underwear model, wasn’t wearing any.
“Yvette, I’m engaged to a …
She reached over and grasped his hand. She placed his hand gently on her uppermost inner thigh, then slid it up.
Carter moaned. 
I knew that particular moan. I knew it very well. I held my stomach. I thought I was going to puke. I needed to get out of the office. I couldn’t bear to stand here and listen to her… to them… I slipped off my shoes and quietly made for my office door.
Once in the hallway, I ran to the elevator at break-neck speed. I went up to our penthouse apartment. I just made it into the bathroom. Crying and puking. Heaving and sobbing.
I knew it! I just knew the someday he’d want his old life back. Big Manhattan lawyer with his underwear model Barbie Doll of a girlfriend. Why would he be satisfied with this boring, little hick-town existence? With me? Why was I surprised? I knew it was coming. More sobs, more heaves. 
I threw some clothes in a suitcase and found some shoes. I placed my big, beautiful, heart-shaped diamond engagement ring in the center of the dining room table. I ran. 
Where could I go? I let my friend Marcy Winegard stay at my old shoebox of an apartment while she looks for a place. She and boyfriend Carl Hayden called it quits and she needed a place. I could stay with my sister. I know she would take me, but she was at work and I need to get out of here right now. Where could I go?

“Mom?” I cried.
“What is it, Cat? What’s wrong?”
“Carter…” I blubbered. “And Yvette.”
My normally nasty, caustic, supercritical mother wrapped her arms around me and pulled me close to her. She stroked my hair.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, honey. He was really something special. You two were so happy. So, he packed up and went back to New York and the underwear model girlfriend, huh?”
“No. She came to his office. In this flimsy, little see-through dress. I was just leaving. I saw…” I cried some more. “I saw her seduce him. He didn’t try to stop her. He didn’t push her away. He didn’t say stop. He… he moaned.” More tears and sobs.
“Men! They’re horrible, disgusting creatures. Sex maniacs, all of them. They have no self-respect or self-control.”
“Not Daddy.”
    “No, not your father. And not your brother. But all the rest of them."

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

A NOTE FROM CAROL: NETFLIX Pick of the Week- Green Frontier


Dear Gentle Readers,

My NETFLIX Pick of the Week is a new limited series called Green Frontier

It has been released as a Limited Series. I streamed all seven episodes last night. 

It takes place somewhere in the Brazilian Amazon jungle. It is dark and timely.

An investigator is called in to try to make sense of the murder of four missionary girls in the middle of the jungle populated by a tribe who has had no contact with the outside world.



Think of it the X Files without the strong character leads of  Scully and Malder.  The main character is the female investigator named Helena Poveda. But the one who grasped my imagination was the native woman called Ushe (here with the red face). She made the series a total binge-watch for me.                                         



From the DECIDER:

GREEN FRONTIER: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: The episode starts with a fade-in from white as the camera pans through the jungle, the sounds of the Amazon ringing out, and eventually finds body after body strewn about the greenery. The method of murder is readily apparent: there are arrows in their backs.
The Gist: After a group of missionaries are found dead deep in the jungle, CTI agent Helena Poveda (Juana del Rio) is sent to a remote location to investigate. How remote? It takes a helicopter and a private boat to reach the crime scene. By her side is Reynaldo Bueno (Nelson Camayo), a member of the local law enforcement who gives her the rundown on the suspects: members of an un-contacted tribe.
Tracking down a member of said tribe is going to be easier said than done, too. All the local authorities (including one particularly snarky and dismissive cop) basically call them ghosts and are so uninterested in tracking them down that they disrupt the crime scene by moving the bodies and don’t even bring in a real camera to take photos. Agent Poveda and officer Bueno are on their own here.
But there’s one victim that wasn’t moved yet, and Poveda and Bueno discover her hanging by her hands in the midst of an indigenous cemetery. And even though she’s wearing the sky blue uniform of a missionary, she also has the tattoos and piercings that mark her as part of what might be the un-contacted tribe (the episode description names her as Ushe, so I’ll call her that). Oh, and another thing: there’s a hole in Ushe’s chest where her heart’s been removed and there is not a drop of blood to be seen. And unbeknownst to our leads, they’re being watched by another member of the un-contacted tribe–a man that, thanks to a flashback, we know is way older than he looks.
I don't know if there will be more episodes of Green Frontier. I hope so. If you like a dark, paranormal tale of a native culture protecting Mother Earth, if you don't mind a slow simmer start, may I suggest you add this murder mystery to your To Be Watched List?
Hugs,
Carol

Sunday, September 1, 2019

SCHEDULE: September



Dear Gentle Readers,

I am taking a few weeks off from Vision and Verse. My author website, carolannkauffman.weebly.com, needs a bit of work. I am behind in working on the release of the latest Time After Time novel, Wait for Me. I'm tired and truly need a little break. AND my new puppy Lily Rose, needs plenty of walks and playtime. 

I'll have my weebly posts sent here on blogspot for the month, so you can look forward to an entertainment pick of the week and, of course, my own book posts. Have a lovely September. See you all soon.

Hugs,
Carol