Blog Tour: San Francisco Nights by Greg Messel

Author: Greg Messel
Publisher: Sunbreaks Publishing
Pages: 232
Genre: Mystery / Suspense

The wife of a wealthy San Francisco shipping magnate leads a secret life but someone is threatening to expose her.  Private eye Sam Slater and his wife and partner, Amelia, meet a mysterious woman in a large red hat during a train trip. The woman approaches him pleading for help because she‘s receiving anonymous notes quoting Bible verses which are becoming more and more ominous with each passing day. Her secrets have been discovered but by whom? What really happens behind closed doors in Room 505 in a swanky downtown hotel?

Sam is willing to take the case but Amelia warns that this woman is nothing but trouble. What does the woman really want? She’s been watching Sam for months and has a scheme to pull him into her world. 

Find out in the latest Sam Slater Mystery “San Francisco Nights” set in the fall of 1959. It’s the seventh book in the series but is a heart pounding stand alone whodunit. 

Watch the book trailer at YouTube.

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My thoughts:

  San Francisco Nights is the seventh book in the Sam Slater series.  Each book can be read as a stand alone.  I did miss reading books five and six, but the author did a good job of catching me up to what Sam and Amelia had been up to in those books.  Once again, the sleuthing duo is plunged into an intriguing mystery that kept me guessing.  The appeal of this series has always been the setting.  Going back to simpler times where it took foot work and phone calls to solve a case is always fun to experience.  This author does a great job of immersing the reader in the time period.  This is a solid addition to the series and one I highly recommend

Book Excerpt:

The neon lights of the slumbering city gave the streets an eerie blue and purple glow in contrast to the dark store fronts. The three story brick office building was abandoned and the normally bustling street at the entrance to San Francisco’s Chinatown was quiet with only an occasional dark solitary figure walking by. The ancient black metal fire escapes seemed to cling to the facade of the building like an alien spider web. 

The interior of the building was dark except in the private eye’s office on the top floor where a single desk lamp provided the only circle of illumination against the thick blackness of the night. The lamp provided just enough light to brighten the frosted glass on the door with the name “Amelia Slater” on it. 

Amelia sat at her desk in the dimly lit office shuffling through some papers, but she was unnerved and having trouble concentrating.  She took a drag on her cigarette before placing it on the rim of the ash tray. The rising smoke appeared blue as it swirled lazily into the air. 

She suddenly stopped, thinking she heard a sound. After intently listening for a few moments, Amelia concluded her imagination was playing tricks on her. She turned her attention back to the items on her desk but was interrupted again by a prolonged squeak of the outer office door opening. 

Then Amelia heard the outer door softly closing, followed by the sound of quiet footsteps on the hardwood floor. The sound seemed to stop just outside the door to her office. 

Amelia could see the intruder’s silhouette through the frosted glass window. Her eyes were riveted on the door as the door knob to her office began to slowly turn.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

Greg Messel is giving away three of his books!!

Terms & Conditions:

• By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
• Winners will be chosen via Rafflecopter.
• This giveaway ends midnight September 29.
• Winner will be contacted via email on September 30.
• Winner has 48 hours to reply.

Good luck everyone!

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About the Author

Greg Messel has spent most of his adult life interested in writing, including a career in the newspaper business. He won a Wyoming Press Association Award as a columnist and has contributed articles to various magazines. Greg lives in Edmonds, Washington on Puget Sound with his wife Jean DeFond.

Greg has written ten novels. His latest is "San Francisco Nights" which is the seventh in a series of mysteries set in 1959 San Francisco. "Shadows In The Fog," "Fog City Strangler," "San Francisco Secrets," "Deadly Plunge" are sequels to the first book in the series "Last of the Seals." His other three novels are "Sunbreaks," "Expiation" and "The Illusion of Certainty." For a more detailed summary of Greg's novels go to www.gregmessel.com 

Greg is currently working on his eleventh novel "Dreams That Never Were" which is not part of the mystery series.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

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Blog Tour: Guest Post & Review Shadows in the Fog by Greg Messel

Thanks to author Greg Messel for visiting with us today. His 5th Sam Slater book, Shadows in the Fog, is out.  He has a guest post about attitudes about the smoking culture in the 1950s. Enjoy it after my thoughts on the book.

Author: Greg Messel

Publisher: Sunbreaks Publishing

Date of publication: October 2014

The story begins on a stormy morning in February of 1959. The front page of the morning paper is dominated by news of the plane crash which killed rock ’n roll stars Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens. 

Private Eye Sam Slater is hired to perform what he thinks is a routine two-day job as a favor for a friend. However, it all goes terribly wrong when a young San Francisco policeman is gunned down while sitting in a parked car with Sam. 

The murder sets off a chain of events which will pull Sam and his wife and partner, Amelia, into a dangerous web of intrigue in the dark, shadowy alleys and back rooms of San Francisco’s Chinatown. 

My thoughts:

After reading the fifth book in this series, I still had the feeling that I was visiting with old friends.  Amelia and Sam seem like a couple you would definitely want to hang out with.  In Shadows in the Fog, Amelia is finally free from the airline and has become a partner in the detective agency with Sam. A routine case involving spying on a spouse turns dangerous when Sam in almost killed and Amelia kidnapped.  

The last couple of books have been pretty intense and this one is no different.  I liked the mystery and suspense. I was happy to see Amelia finally grounded and home with Sam. There are two mysteries going on at the same time, so that was fun to try to figure out. This author has a good knack for doling out information as the readers needs it without giving too much away too soon.  The great thing about this series is that it is a mixture.  It has the fun and easy banter found in the old Nick and Nora movies mixed in with the darkness and suspense of a film noir movie.  I can't wait to see where Sam and Amelia end up next!

SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES

A trip back in time to the 1950s world of my novels, "Last of the Seals," “Deadly Plunge,” “San Francisco Secrets,” “Fog City Strangler,” and my new novel “Shadows In The Fog,” is full of reminders how much the world has changed. 

One of the most obvious changes involves the social mores surrounding smoking. In “Shadows In The Fog” the characters rarely have five minutes of conversation before they start lighting up. 

My main female character, Amelia, even tries to light a cigarette while she’s on a wind swept water taxi going out to Alcatraz. I’ve been out on San Francisco Bay on a boat to Alcatraz. You can hardly stand up straight because of the wind, let alone light a cigarette. 

Sam Slater’s cigarette case actually saves his life during a shooting in “Shadows In The Fog.” He quips to Amelia, “who says cigarettes are bad for your health.” When I began my career in the corporate world in the 1970s,  I remember conference rooms being smoke filled with ash tray spilling over with cigarette butts and ashes.  

I remember the smoking sections on airplanes. I remember being in the last row of the non smoking section which was pretty much the same as sitting in the smoking section. 

Flight attendants still warn you on airplane flights to not smoke in the  bathrooms. That warning is about 35 years old now.

Today smokers must huddle around the doorways of office buildings to grab a cigarette outside. There are enclosed rooms at airports for smokers. That's fine with me but it has been a monumental change.  

In today’s business world it would be considered appalling if in the middle of an office, someone lit up a cigarette. 

In the 1950s, smoking was even more pronounced. My grandparents were both chain smokers and I remember as a child or a teenager, that you could actually see smoke rolling out the door when you entered their house. I was exposed to massive amounts of second hand smoke for years. 

My grandparents are long gone but when I picture them in my mind’s eye, they are holding a cigarette.  

In my mystery novels set in the 1950s, everyone smokes and pretty much non stop.  They are constantly lighting up--even baseball players like Sam Slater. Sophisticated, glamorous San Franciscans of the 1950s, like Sam Slater and Amelia Ryan nearly always had a cigarette in their hands. Watch movies from the 1950s or 1960s to witness how it was just part the persona of the attractive, urbane persona. Watch an old “Tonight Show” when Johnny Carson smokes one cigarette after another with guests like Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin. 

In “Shadows In The Fog” the first thing everyone does when they are in a stressful situation is to light up a cigarette. When Amelia escapes after being kidnapped by gangsters, she immediately reaches for a cigarette to light up as they recover from the trauma. 

I’ve watched vintage cigarette commercials which played on television in the 1950s. They are funny but somewhat disturbing when you look back on them with our knowledge about the impact on health from cigarettes. 

Brands like Kool and Newport touted the soothing effect on a raw throat from their filtered cigarettes. There is a famous ad for Camel’s cigarettes which includes the tag line “According to a recent Nationwide survey: More Doctors Smoke Camels Than Any Other Cigarette.”  

When Sam and Amelia visit Dr. John O’Dell in an earlier book in the mystery series, “San Francisco Secrets”, the first thing the medical doctor offers the couple is a cigarette.  At their first meeting, Sam asks the doctor if cigarettes are bad for your health. 

Dr. O’Dell advises Sam “there are benefits of smoking as long as you don’t overdo it. I think smoking filtered cigarettes like these Winstons helps,” the doctor says. “It cuts down on the irritation to the throat.  Smoking actually releases a couple of chemicals in the brain, which relieves tension and helps you experience pleasure.”

The doctor also tells Sam that smoking can aid in weight loss and releases chemicals in the brain which are similar to the sensation that you experience when you kiss a pretty woman.

The doctor’s advice is the common thinking of the times and the narrative from the tobacco companies.  Dr. O’Dell tries to convince Sam that smoking a cigarette is almost as pleasurable as kissing Amelia. Sam’s not buying that argument. 

Ah, the 1950s, when you could eat a steak dinner, light up an after dinner cigarette and not feel a bit guilty. Ignorance is bliss I guess. 

About the author:

Greg Messel has spent most of his adult life interested in writing, including a career in the newspaper business. He won a Wyoming Press Association Award as a columnist and has contributed articles to various magazines. Greg retired from the corporate world and now lives in South Jordan, Utah with his wife of over 40 years, Carol Madsen Messel. They have three adult children who are married and have 11 grandchildren.

Greg has written eight novels. His latest is "Shadows In The Fog" which is the fifth in a series of mysteries set in 1959 San Francisco. "Fog City Strangler," "San Francisco Secrets," "Deadly Plunge" are sequels to the first book in the series "Last of the Seals." His other three novels are "Sunbreaks," "Expiation" and "The Illusion of Certainty."

Greg is currently working on his ninth novel--the sixth in the mystery series--"Cable Car Mystery"--which will be published in late 2015.

For More Information

• Visit Greg Messel’s website.
• Connect with Greg on Facebook and Twitter.
• Find out more about Greg at Goodreads.
• More books by Greg Messel.
• Contact Greg
• Shadows in the Fog is available at Amazon.
• Pick up your copy at Barnes & Noble.
• Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.
• Watch the trailer at YouTube.

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Blog Tour: Fog City Strangler by Greg Messel

Author: Greg Messel
Publisher: Sunbreaks
Date of publication: December 2013

As 1958 nears an end San Francisco is being terrorized by a man who calls himself the “Fog City Strangler,” who preys on pretty young blonde women.  The strangler announces each murder by sending a note and piece of cloth from the victim’s dresses to the local newspapers.

Private eye Sam Slater is worried that the Fog City Strangler may be eyeing his beautiful blonde wife, stewardess Amelia Ryan. Sam’s angst mounts as the strangler continues to claim more victims. His anxiety is further fueled when TWA launches an advertising campaign with Amelia’s picture on a series of billboards plastered all over the city. Sam fears the billboards may attract too much attention--the wrong kind of attention.

Meanwhile, Sam and Amelia are hired to try to find the missing daughter of a wealthy dowager who fears she has lost her only child. The missing woman went for a walk with her dog on Stinson Beach, near San Francisco, and seemingly vanished into thin air. The woman’s husband arrived at their beach house and found the dog running loose but there was no trace of his wife. The police are stumped in their investigation.

As Sam and Amelia look into the disappearance of the woman on the beach they discover that nothing is as it seems at first glance. On a stormy night a shadowy figure sets fire to the beach house where the couple is staying--hoping to stop their investigation.

Fog City Strangler is the 4th book in the Sam Slater mystery series.  The series takes place on the late 1950s in San Fransisco.  I have really been enjoying this series.  The latest installment is a welcome addition.  I always feel like I'm visiting good friends when I read an adventure with Sam and Amelia.  It has been fun to watch their relationship progress as the series has gone on.  Now married, they make an even better detective team.  I just want to know when Amelia will quit her TWA job so that can spend more time solving crimes with Sam!

This time around, there are three separate mysteries going on at the same time.  There is a serial killer targeting young blonde women in the city.  There is a missing woman and an ailing mother who is desperate to find her.  Finally, there is a neighbor who seems to be in an abusive marriage and whose husband gives Amelia the creeps.  I liked how the mysteries progressed.  While I was able to figure out one of them pretty easily, the other two kept me guessing.  The story was well plotted out.  Even though the book was long, I was sucked in and couldn't put it down.  As always, the author has sprinkled photos of life in the 50s.  I love that about these books because it really gives the reader something to picture in their mind as they read about the locations.  The next book comes out later this year.  I can't wait to read it!

About the author:


Greg Messel grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and now lives in Edmonds, Washington on the Puget Sound with his wife, Carol.  Fog City Strangler is his seventh novel and is the fourth in a new series of Sam Slater mystery novels. Greg has lived in Oregon, Washington, California, Wyoming and Utah and has always loved writing, including stints as a reporter, columnist and news editor for a daily newspaper.
Follow news about Messel’s writings and books at www.gregmessel.com.

Connect & Socialize with Greg!

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Greg Messel is giving away a 3 book set of his Sam Slater Mystery Series (Last of the Seals, Deadly Plunge and San Francisco Secrets AND a $25 Amazon Gift Card!

• By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
• One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive the 3 book set and $25 Amazon Gift Card.
• This giveaway begins February 3 and ends on March 28.
• Winner will be contacted via email on Monday, March 31, 2014.
• Winner has 48 hours to reply.

Good luck everyone!

ENTER TO WIN!

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Guest post and review: San Francisco Secrets by Greg Messel

Please welcome back author Greg Messel. His latest book is San Francisco Secrets.  Enjoy his guest post after my thoughts on the book!

Author: Greg Messel
Publisher: Sunbreaks Publishing
Date of publication: April 2013

Noted novelist and newspaper editor Edgar Watson Howe once said. "A man who can keep a secret may be wise but he is not half as wise as a man with no secrets to keep." As the spring of 1958 arrives in San Francisco, it seems that baseball player turned private eye, Sam Slater and his fiancee, TWA stewardess Amelia Ryan, are surrounded by people who have secrets. A prominent doctor, John O'Dell is being blackmailed by someone who has discovered a dark secret from his past. When the private investigator trying to catch the blackmailer is murdered, Dr. O'Dell hires Sam Slater to try to pick up the pieces. Someone is playing for keeps and will do anything to protect their own secrets. Meanwhile, Amelia begins her new job as an international stewardess which takes her on adventures to New York City, London, Paris and Rome. In hot pursuit is a womanizing older pilot who has his sights set on Amelia. Their lives get even more complicated when a mysterious woman from Sam's past returns. Sam and Amelia's relationship will be tested as they work together to solve the mystery on the foggy streets of San Francisco.

My thoughts:

Once again, this author has given us a great story.  I was immediately swept into both cases that Sam gets involved with.  I was able to read the book fairly quickly.  This time around, Sam gets a visit from an old flame and ends up having to help her with a case.  He also gets involved in a black mail case that puts him and Amelia in some sticky situations.  Let's just say, I'd be checking my brake lines before attempting any of those steep San Francisco hills!  Speaking of San Francisco  the author has once again sprinkled photos of life during the 1950 in the area.  I always enjoy that.

We also get to visit with Sam and Amelia.  I love this couple together!  Their relationship is tested as Amelia begins her international flights.  A slime-ball captain makes a play for Amelia.  As a woman in the 2010s, I felt badly for what she has to endure as a stewardess.  I know sexual harassment was common back in the 1950s, but is still gets to me.  Women have come along way!  In a way, the problems on her flight bring Sam and Amelia closer together   For fans of their romance, I think you;ll love this book!  I look forward to their next adventure!

THE WOMEN OF 1958

           
As I journey back into the 1950s to write my mystery series “Last of the Seals,” “Deadly Plunge” and “San Francisco Secrets,” the most striking change I notice is in the treatment of women.
            
It is a world that many younger readers may find difficult to believe once existed. What options were open to women in the 1950s as they hoped for a career or a chance to see the world before they "settled down?" "Settle down" was a euphemism in earlier eras to refer to the time in a young woman's life when she should shun the working world, get married and start having babies.
            
There is certainly nothing wrong with women getting married and raising children. However, in 1958, it was "either or" not both. In the world of my novels, I tried to make the character of TWA stewardess Amelia Ryan, reflective of the narrow opportunities for women in the 1950s.
            
I found an old job application for stewardesses from the 1950s. The requirements show how far we have come as a society and specifically how far women have come in their quest for equality in the work place.
           
 Here is a laundry list of the requirements for stewardesses. They are:

Appearance: Height and weight proportionate
Attractive ("just below Hollywood") Standards
Gender: Female
Martial Status: Single, not divorced, separated or widowed.
Race: White
Age: 21 to 26 years old
Education: Registered nurse or two years of college
Height: Between 5 feet, 2 inches and 5 feet, 6 inches
Weight: 135 pounds maximum

I'm not sure how a woman is supposed to react to the qualification--"attractive, just below Hollywood standards." Is it a compliment or an insult to be told that you are "just below Hollywood standards?" It's astounding to think of a job application which would list the "qualifications" as "white, single, female, a range for height and of course, a weight restriction.             The weight restriction was a sliding scale. For instance, the fictional character, Amelia Ryan is 5 feet four inches which means she could only weigh 125 pounds. If a stewardess shows up for a flight above weight, she is grounded.
           
 The airlines wanted pretty young, single women to provide eye candy for their well-heeled passengers who flew--mostly affluent businessmen. Once a woman was over 26 or was married she was asked to resign.
            
That of course changed.
           
 On February 11, 1958, Ruth Carol Taylor was hired by Mohawk Airlines and became the first African-American flight attendant in the United States. Ironically, despite her historic breaking of the racial restriction, Ruth's career ended just six months later due to another discriminatory barrier: she married and was dismissed by the airline. Incidentally, only stewardesses had the age restriction and the marriage ban. No other airline employees and especially pilots, were under the same type of requirements.
           
 In my novel, stewardess Amelia Ryan falls in love with Sam Slater. They want to get married. But Amelia also loves her job. She has to choose between marriage and continuing as a stewardess. It was a great dilemma for her.
            
The glamorous world of stewardesses was one of the only avenues open to women in the 1950s to "see the world" and have a career. But it came at a great price.
            
In “San Francisco Secrets” another challenge rears it’s head for Amelia--sexual harassment. 
            
A womanizing pilot, Mark Silver, is essentially Amelia’s boss and aggressively pursues her with unwanted sexual advances. There was no such term as “sexual harassment” in the 1950s.  As she tried to fight off  Capt. Silver, Amelia ponders the avenues she has to protect herself. There are basically none.
            
Amelia wonders if she goes to the airline to complain about Silver if it will cause her problems, not the pilot. She fears that when she complains about the “sexual harassment,” the airline will just say that “boys will be boys.”  Stewardesses routinely had to evade grabby male passengers and the unwanted advances of pilots.
            
Sam is upset by the groping of Amelia and complains about her work environment saying that if anyone is attracted to my girlfriend they can “take a sample.”

            
It would be several years before the stewardesses unionized and stood up to the airline. There was a series of lawsuits that knocked down the discriminatory barriers for women. 

About the author:

Greg Messel grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and now lives in Edmonds, Washington on the Puget Sound with his wife, Carol. San Francisco Secrets is his sixth novel and is the third in a new series of Sam Slater mystery novels. Greg has lived in Oregon, Washington, California, Wyoming and Utah and has always loved writing, including stints as a reporter, columnist and news editor for a daily newspaper. 

Follow news about Messel’s writings and books at www.gregmessel.com.

Connect with Greg:

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Review & Interview: Deadly Plunge by Greg Messel

Today we welcome author Greg Messel who is promoting his latest book, Deadly Plunge.  Enjoy our interview after my thoughts on the book!

Author: Greg Messel
Publisher: Sunbreaks Publishing
Date of Publication: October 2012

Former baseball player and newly-minted private investigator, Sam Slater is hired to find out why a rich, politically-well connected San Francisco man, Arthur Bolender,  suddenly ended his life by plunging off of the Golden Gate Bridge. All those who know Arthur say unequivocally that he did not commit suicide.  However, Bolender's body was found floating in San Francisco Bay and his car was abandoned in the traffic lane of the bridge.  

My thoughts:

Deadly Plunge is the sequel to Last of the Seals which I reviewed back in July 2012.  I'm always a little wary of the second in a series, especially if I really enjoyed the first one. I'm afraid of being disappointed.  I am happy to say that I enjoyed this book as much as the first.  The book was well written and full of adventure.  The story sucks you in and doesn't let go.   This time around, Sam and his girlfriend Amelia get sucked into a mystery that includes kidnapping, murder and international espionage.   Along with the mystery, we get to see more of Amelia and Sam's relationship. Their love is growing stronger and big changes are coming. 

One of the great things about this book is that it really takes you back to a completely different way of living.  Television shows weren't on 24/7.  Women were grieving because Elvis was drafted and stewardesses were victims of discrimination.  My 2013 brain can't wrap itself around the fact that women couldn't marry or be engaged and had to have certain looks and measurements in order to work for the airline.  They would never get away with that nowadays.  Sprinkled throughout the book, the author has included photos of real life places and historical events that have been included in the story.  That was a really nice addition and really enhanced the story.  

Sam and Amelia's adventures continues in the next book, San Francisco Secrets, which comes out Spring 2013.  I can't wait!

Kari& Autumn: What inspired you to become a writer?

Greg: I really can't remember when I didn't like writing. I wrote books--nothing publishable--just enjoyed making books with pictures and writing as a little kid. I also found a small canvas bag which had crayon writing on it. I wrote a small newspaper as a child and rolled them up and put them in the bag. I would then attach the canvas bag to my handle bars and delivery my "newspapers" to neighbors and relatives.  Later in life, I got to work for a real newspaper and write real books, so I guess I'm pretty lucky.  I was on my high school newspaper and supported myself in high school and college as a stringer for the local newspaper. I wrote sports stories, covered some news events and even wrote a few movie reviews.  I had a career in the newspaper business and also in corporate finance. So to answer the question, I guess I've always wanted to write. If you had asked me as a little kid what I wanted to do when I grew up I would have probably said, "be a writer."

Kari& Autumn: Where do you come up with the ideas for your books?

Greg: My earlier books were loosely based on people on knew and relationships I knew about. I wrote three books about people who lost a great deal and then were healed by the power of love.  One of the great dramas of the human experience is trying to find the right person to love who will make you happy. 

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and remember some things about the world my parents lived in. That world was the 1950s in the San Francisco area--the world where my fictional characters Sam Slater and Amelia Ryan inhabit.  The 1950s is a very interesting time and in particular 1957 and 1958 were times of real change in San Francisco. I thought it was a great back drop for my story. I think the story of Amelia Ryan as a stewardess, trying to navigate all of the roadblocks which were placed in front of women in the 1950s is also an interesting aspect of life in that time and place.  

The entire concept for the mystery series came to me as I returned to San Francisco and spent some time walking around the city. It's magical. There are so many interesting venues for the stories. 

Kari& Autumn: What exciting projects are waiting in the wings?

Greg: I am currently working on the third book in the Sam Slater mystery series. It will be called "San Francisco Secrets" and is a continuation of the story which began in "Last of the Seals" and "Deadly Plunge." I'm excited about it. It is about a blackmail plot against a prominent San Francisco doctor. There is a recurring theme through--that being that everyone has secrets.  Some of course are more damaging than others. It is now 1958 and things are changing for Sam Slater and Amelia Ryan as well. 

Kari& Autumn: Who is your favorite literary character and why?

Greg: It is extremely difficult to top Atticus Finch in "To Kill A Mockingbird." What a great character and I really admire his quiet heroism. I think "To Kill A Mockingbird" is extraordinary because it is one of my favorite novels and also one of my favorite movies. I greatly admire Harper Lee who never got the credit she deserved as a woman. She also helped Truman Capote considerably as in wrote "In Cold Blood."

Kari& Autumn: Just for fun, if you could be any animal, what would it be and why?

Greg: I live by the Puget Sound near Seattle and I'm from Northern California. Consequently, I love seals. They always look like they are having fun. I think being a seal living in Puget Sound or living in Monterey Bay in California wouldn't be a bad way to go. 

Blog Tour: Last of the Seals by Greg Messel

Author: Greg Messel
Publisher: Sunbreaks Publishing
Date of Publication: April 2012


The year is 1957 in San Francisco. Sam Slater is a lifetime minor league baseball player for the San Francisco Seals. When his friend is brutally murdered, Sam must go it alone and try to find out why. Along the way he is swept off of his feet by a beautiful Elvis-obsessed TWA stewardess named Amelia Ryan. Sam and Amelia try to unravel the mystery together. On dark and foggy San Francisco nights, trouble is lurking just around the next corner.


This book was nothing like I expected it to be.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I know I must have because I devoured the book.  I was worried that it was going to be all about baseball.  Instead, I was treated to two mysteries and a very sweet romance.  The book takes place in 1957, when most men wore suits to work and chivalry was alive and well. The nostalgia in the book made it a fun read. Imagine be able to fill your gas tank for $5.00? The two mysteries were pretty good and well written. 


Sam is a great character.  He is a war hero and a pitcher for the San Francisco Seals.  As his career is coming to an end, he is looking forward to his future as a private investigator with his best friend.  He also meets Amelia who throws him for a loop.  I loved watching their romance blossom.  He was such a gentleman. Amelia was a perfect match for him.  I could see them working together in the PI business.  


This is the first book I have read by Mr. Messel.  The Last of the Seals is the first in a series. It looks like the next one comes out in 2013.  I look forward to reading the further adventures of Sam and Amelia.

About the author:

Greg Messel has written four novels and three unpublished memoirs. He published his premiere novel “Sunbreaks” in 2009, followed by “Expiation” in 2010 and “The Illusion of Certainty” in 2011. “Last of the Seals” is the first in a series of mysteries which are set in 1957 San Francisco. The second book in the series “Deadly Plunge’ will be published around Christmas of 2012. Greg grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and has had a newspaper career as a columnist, sportswriter and news editor. He won a Wyoming Press Association Award as a columnist while working for a daily newspaper in Wyoming. Greg also spent many years in the corporate world as a Financial Manager. He now devotes his energies to writing at his home in Edmonds, Washington on the Puget Sound just north of Seattle, where he lives with his wife, Carol. To get your paperback copy of LAST OF THE SEALS by Greg Messel:http://www.amazon.com/Last-Seals-Greg-Messel/dp/0985485906/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1339973921&sr=1-1
To get your e-copy of LAST OF THE SEAL by Greg Messel at Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/Last-of-the-Seals-ebook/dp/B0083WCHOO/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1339973921&sr=1-1

To view all books by Greg Messel: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&search-alias=digital-text&field-author=Greg%20Messel

To learn more about Greg, go to his website: www.gregmessel.com

Visit Greg Messel on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/gregmessel