About Pat Browning, About Absinthe of Malice and More

My dear friend and fellow author, Pat Browning

Absence of Malice

Pat's new writing environment: Oklahoma

Oklahoma wheat fields

Pat Browning was born and raised in Oklahoma. A longtime resident of California's San Joaquin Valley before moving back to Oklahoma in 2005, her professional writing credits go back to the 1960s, when she was a stringer for The Fresno Bee while working full time in a Hanford law office.

Her globetrotting in the 1970s led her into the travel business, first as a travel agent, then as a correspondent for TravelAge West, a trade journal published in San Francisco. In the 1990s, she signed on fulltime as a newspaper reporter and columnist, first at The Selma Enterprise and then at The Hanford Sentinel.

Her first mystery, FULL CIRCLE, was set in a fictional version of Hanford, and published through iUniverse in 2001. It was revised and reissued as ABSINTHE 0F MALICE by Krill Press in 2008. An extensive excerpt can be read at Google Books --

The second book in the series, METAPHOR FOR MURDER, is a work in progress. ABSINTHE takes place on a Labor Day weekend. METAPHOR picks up the story the week before Christmas. Log line: Small town reporter Penny Mackenzie tracks an offbeat Christmas story and finds herself in the middle of a murder and the mysterious desecration of an old Chinese cemetery.

Pat's articles on the writing life have appeared in The SouthWest Sage, the monthly journal of SouthWest Writers, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her web site at http://patbrowning.weebly.com is under construction.

ABSINTHE OF MALICE can be ordered through any bookstore or online from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.
Barnes and Noble, print and Nook
Amazon, print and Kindle

****
You Have My Word

"People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like."-- Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States.

Honest Abe’s book review is a case of damning with faint praise, but I have been luckier. Here are excerpts from ABSINTHE OF MALICE reviews that gave me – to use an old-fashioned term – the big head.
   
**Ms Browning calls her novel a "study in small town secrets." But ABSINTHE OF MALICE is a lot more than that. It's a cozy in the best sense of the word, a charming, Agatha-Christie-like look into crime in semi-rural California. And more. The author throws in a little romance on the side.
--Leighton Gage, author of EVERY BITTER THING, one of several books in his Chief Inspector Mario Silva crime novels set in Brazil

**"Pearl, California and its history may be fictional, but it could easily have been taken straight from real life. Pat Browning does an excellent job of creating a town of people whose lives have been molded by their past and that of their ancestors."
--Lorie Ham, editor and publisher of the e-zine Kings River Life, and author of THE FINAL NOTE, which wraps up her mystery series featuring gospel singer Alexandra Walters.

**I loved this delightful mystery set in a small town in Central California. Having worked on newspapers much of my life, I really enjoyed reading a crime novel starring a journalist heroine who writes lifestyle-type features for the local newspaper. The setting is vividly portrayed, the characters are lively and non-stereotypical, and there's just the right amount of romance.
-- Sheila Beaumont, “a happily retired copy editor who loves reading books.” That’s from her bio at Goodreads, where she lists 418 mysteries and thrillers she has read. I’m happy to say she gave my book five stars.

**Penny Mackenzie is a welcome change from so many women in mysteries. Those of us who get tired of women who rush in by themselves, in the dark, when they know the murderer is out there, have a term for them - TSTL, Too Stupid To Live.  Accidents happen, but Penny tries to protect herself. My kind of amateur sleuth!
--Lesa Holstine, veteran library manager/administrator and professional reviewer.

**In some ways ABSINTHE OF MALICE is a cozy, a crime in a cute setting solved by a reluctant civilian facing a number of personal challenges—back living with her mother, an old flame showing up, etc. But while the book is a quick and fun read, it is also a serious piece of work, exploring moral issues with great sensitivity and insight.
--J.M. Orenduff, author of the award-winning POT THIEF series. The latest award is for THE POT THIEF WHO STUDIED EINSTEIN. It won the Lefty for best humorous mystery of the year at the Left Coast Crime Conference in Santa Fe.

**Pat Browning has written a charming mystery that works on multiple levels. I especially liked the author's illustration of how good people, through a series of questionable but seemingly harmless acts, can be drawn into complicity with evil—but  not without paying an emotional and spiritual price.
--Jaden E. Terrell, author of RACING THE DEVIL, first book in the P.I. Jared McKean series. She’s also Executive Director and co-founder of the annual Killer Nashville Crime Literature Conference.

**And a final word from multi-published author Beth Anderson, whose latest mystery, RAVEN TALKS BACK, is reaping praise. Beth wrote one of the first reviews for ABSINTHE OF MALICE, and the publisher used this line for a back-cover blurb:
“I have rarely read a mystery with such a profound sense of place.”

Will it be overkill if I take a sweeping bow here?

Marilyn, thank you so much for hosting me today, and my thanks to generous reviewers who post reviews at Amazon.com and on the DorothyL listserv.

 And thank you, Pat, always great to hear from you!

Marilyn

   







Comments

Anonymous said…
Hey, Marilyn:
Nobody up but you, me and a few night owls. Gee, those pictures look great. Thank you! But posting my reviews was embarrassing. What WAS I thinking? lol
From here at Route 66 and the Old Chisholm Trail,
Your friend and fan forever,
Pat
Thanks a lot for this post!
Jean Henry Mead said…
Great reviews for an enchanting book. Love the photos too.
M.M. Gornell said…
Love those pictures, Pat and Marilyn. Also love the thought--a "study in small town secrets." Grabs you right in.

Nice thinking of you out in Oklahoma, Pat, on Route 66, with some of the same "Roadies" passing through both our spots...intriguing.

Madeline
All the reviews are accurate and richly deserved. And as someone who's read part of METAPHOR FOR MURDER, I can say that it may be even better, and that we all need to set a schedule to go to Pat's house and hold her feet to the fire while she finishes it. Or, if for some reason she can't write with her feet in a fire, do something else highly persuasive.
Alice Duncan said…
Fun post, Pat! Loved the Lincoln quote :-)
Jackie King said…
Pat. We're all told to PROMOTE! And when we do, we blush and even the ends of our hair feels hot. I'm using your review of my book as one of my posts. If you won't laugh at me, I won't laugh at you. :-)

Also: A book such as ABSINTHE OF MALICE is just going to draw praise. Nothing you can do about it.
Hugs,
Jackie
WS Gager said…
I like the idea of a post being reviews. I need to do that. I'm learning so much on this tour. Thanks, Pat!
Wendy
W.S. Gager on Writing
jenny milchman said…
I love those photos. I hope to see OK before too long. Pat, I have heard everything the endorsements said about your book--and more. It is going on my Pile :)

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