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Marlan Warren is a journalist, novelist, editor, playwright, screenwriter, blogger, website designer, and publicist. She is the author of the fictionalized memoir, Roadmaps for the Sexually Challenged: All’s Not Fair in Love or War and the AIDS memoir, Rowing on a Corner. She reviews for Midwest Book Review. Marlan is also a filmmaker.

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Saturday, December 13, 2014

Free EBook Giveaway Today: "Murder in Hand" by Celia Conrad (Dead Lawyers and Puccini in this Italian Crime Romp!)


Barcham Books fights “Forces of Evil” with holiday KDP Giveaway (Dec. 13-14) of Celia Conrad’s Italian Crime Romp “Murder in Hand”: Bone up on your Puccini!


SUMMARY: Interview with “tough little cookie” Celia Conrad: The British author shares her journey from law to crime fiction as she endorses Barcham Books launch of “Murder in Hand” via Amazon KDP E-Book Giveaway (12/13-12/14/14)

Copyright: 2012
Publisher: Barcham Books       
Trade Paperback and All E-Book Formats         Pages: 352
ISBN 13: 978-0954623340       
ASIN: B00A1O1YQE               


The greatest pleasures lie in Celia Conrad's refusal or inability to write for the lowest common denominator. Instead she aims for the highest.—
Midwest Book Review (Murder in Hand)

On Dec. 13 through Dec. 14, Barcham Books will gift readers with Book 3 in Celia Conrad’s Alicia Allen Investigates Trilogy (AAI), Murder in Hand (MIH), as a free e-book via Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Select program.

 “It’s our way of saying thank you and wishing everyone a happy holiday,” said Barcham Books’ Jane Hall. “We are very pleased that Midwest Book Review features Murder in Hand this month. Everyone, it seems, just loves 
Alicia.”

This cerebral legal murder mystery turns on Italian international corruption, Puccini and dead Probate attorneys as it hails the return of Alicia Allen, the potato chip loving half-Italian London lawyer who never lets her thriving relationship with a handsome lawyer cohort stand in the way of fingering a culprit.

“The beauty of Murder in Hand is that it can be read as a stand-alone,” said Hall.
Celia Conrad



We recently sat down with Celia Conrad to discuss her author’s journey from law to legal crime fiction:

Q: All the AAI books deal with the darker side of the legal world. Did you draw from your experiences as a London attorney?
A: As a solicitor I met some rather obnoxious people and a few shady/unsavory characters.

Q: Did you ever find yourself pursuing a murderer in your law practice?
A: My world is far less dangerous than Alicia’s, although we do share love for Italian culture and a crisp that rhymes with “Tingles.” We both like researching and analyzing complex legal issues.

Q: The Italophile Book Review recommended MIH for “Italophiles, Anglophiles, fans of traditional British mysteries, and fans of cozy-murder-mysteries.” Would you agree?
A: Absolutely. And I was thrilled when the Readers’ Favorite 5-Star Award Review said Alicia “should be on the top of every woman’s reading list.” My fan mail shows AAI readers like strong but not perfect female detectives, and they love the repartee between Alicia and Alex. 


Gianni Schichi

Q: Book 1 sends Alicia through London’s urban dangers. Book 2 takes her to Australia, and Book 3 spans New York, London, Italy and Sicily. Italian culture provides color and clues. What inspired you to use Puccini in Book 3?
A: When I first saw Puccini’s opera, Gianni Schicchi, I hoped to use it in a plot of my own, and it did prove most “handy” in Murder in Hand.

Q: How would you sum up Alicia Allen in one sentence?
A: She’s a tough little cookie who will stop at nothing.

Q: And the theme of MIH in one sentence?
A: Forces of darkness are everywhere.

Q: What inspired you?
A: Paul Marsh at the Marsh Agency suggested my experiences could make good novels.

Q: AAI Clues reside in Shakespeare, Italian opera and art. Why the Classics?
A: I’ve always loved the Classics, thanks to my mother who also loved theater. Before she passed away, we read and acted out scenes from the trilogy.

Q: This is a re-launch. Why?
A: AAI never had a launch because I was caught up in the losses of my mother and Paul Marsh at the time of publication. Paul thought MIH my best work yet. He said Alicia Allen deserved to find her audience. That support continues to sustain me.

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 Contact:  Celia Conrad | barchambooks@btconnect.com




Online Sites:  Kindle version is FREE today. You can download App to Smartphone if you don't have a Kindle.

Amazon U.K.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Murder-Hand-Alicia-Allen-Investigates/dp/0954623347

Amazon U.S.
http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Hand-Alicia-Allen-Investigates/dp/0954623347

Author Website | http://www.aliciaalleninvestigates.com/
Author Blog | http://celiaconrad.blogspot.com/
Twitter | Iwrite2b
Facebook | Celia Conrad Author

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