–This must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays. –Douglas Adams

This week my guest is JL Simpson, author of the sparkling new mystery thriller, Lost Cause**

(**For a chance at this week’s prize, a copy of Lost Cause, please play Lie-dar by leaving a comment with your guess about which is her truth)

Diminutive English rose, JL Simpson, was stolen away by a giant nomad and replanted in a southern land filled with gum trees and kangaroos. She quickly grasped the meaning of G’day and mate whilst steadfastly refusing all attempts to convert her to Vegemite.
She loves sharing tales about unexpected twists of fate. Holding on to a steadfast belief every obstacle can be overcome, she spends her moments of solitude creating adventures where mystery and mayhem collide.

Are we ever in luck this week! We can be among the first to meet Daisy Dunlop, the funny, enchanting heroine of JL Simpson’s debut mystery, Lost Cause. I’m particularly pleased to have Janet Simpson as my interview guest.

What was your first car? My first car was a Daf. It was ancient, broke down all the time and a car no one had ever heard of but it got me from A to B sometimes.

Star Wars, Star Trek, or Firefly? Definitely Star Trek. I got hooked with The Next Generation and then Voyager. I have also seen all the movies. I wouldn’t call myself a trekkie but who could resist a show with Patrick Stewart in it?

Worst movie ever? The Bourne movies. Not because I didn’t like them, what’s not to like about Matt Damon, but I couldn’t follow the plot from one movie to the next and once I was lost it bored me.

 

Matt Damon sits next to JL Simpson on 12-hour flight to Australia, but is unable to explain the Bourne movies plot arc.

Who would you most like to sit next to on an airplane? My critique partner, Sofia Grey. We’ve been helping each other to write for a couple of years but she lives in New Zealand I live in Australia so we have never actually met. Maybe one day

Best guilty pleasure ever? Chocolate. Any day, any time, any excuse or no excuse.

Who would play you in the movie? I would love to think someone tall and gorgeous like Amber Heard but it would probably be Danny DeVito

What is the one thing you can’t live without? My husband. The man cooks all my meals, gives me fashion advice, listens to me drone on and on about tax ( the day job) and writing (the fun job) and when all knows exactly when it’s the right time to open a bottle of Australian Shiraz and pour me a glass.

As a child (or now!), what did you want to be when you grew up? A rock star. I wanted to be a pop diva. I used to play the guitar really badly and sing, not so badly. I even fronted a band a few years ago. Alas our lead guitarist couldn’t play an A chord, the drummer kept losing the beat and so we never made it out of the rehearsal studio. You can’t do a show when you can only cover Crocodile Rock.

Are the names of the characters in your novels significant? My hero Solomon’s name is significant to the plot but you’ll have to read the book to find out why.

What is the single biggest challenge of creating the settings in your novels? Research. I set my books in the UK where I grew up but I’ve lived in Australia a long time so I have to research the places that used to be familiar to me and the changing voice of the UK. Fortunately you can pick up a lot of UK slang watching TV so it’s not too much of a hardship.

 

REVIEW 5 out of 5 stars

 Meet Daisy Dunlop of JL Simpson’s Lost Cause:  She’s Bridget Jones Meets Miss Marple

Daisy Dunlop loves a challenge but heir hunting is supposed to be easy. She can deal with anything her new job throws at her, except the bullets, bombs and working with P.I. Solomon Liffey. Her husband’s best friend is supposed to be looking out for her, but when she uncovers Solomon’s biggest secret he’s the one who needs protection.

You basically have two choices with this review:

1. Go straight to Amazon or even better (cheaper!) go to Taliesin Publishing and buy this hilarious, effervescent mystery. (NOTE: make sure you have plenty of time to read it without interruption because you will not want to stop.)
2. Waste your time reading the rest of this review and then (see #1).

JL Simpson’s debut thriller defies categorization. It’s a character driven cozy mystery with a delightfully quirky amateur detective. Only instead of an old lady solving crimes over her knitting, shit gets blown up. And sexy, mysterious private investigators haunted by the dark demons of their painful past do NOT hook up with the beautiful heroine because (even after years of marriage and a teenage son), she’s deliriously in love with her handsome husband. Oh, and there’s at least one shooting that will leave you laughing.

Daisy Dunlop has had a little trouble finding just the right career. She’s already tried a number of the wrong ones, from bar maid, to secretary for an organized crime solicitor, to one shift at a fish-and-chip shop. (“Mr. Singh did say leaving the fat fryer on at the end of the shift was an easy mistake to make. And he got the insurance money so he didn’t need to sell the business to me after all.” ) Her husband Paul’s support for these ventures hasn’t exactly included assistance from his best friend—the tall, sexy, and cryptic Solomon.

“Lucky Solomon was there to rescue you, pool cue or not.”

“I didn’t need him to hit the guy. I could have handled it without the stitches, and the hours in police custody. I also didn’t need to be handcuffed to our kitchen sink by Solomon until I agreed to give up my dream job.”

 

But all that is behind her now, as Daisy embarks on her new profession of heir hunter. And who better to teach her than her husband’s best mate Solomon, who knows everybody, has the dirt on most of them, and lives a life of cryptic mystery? But Daisy’s heir hunt for a missing lord is soon tied into Solomon’s cases of insurance fraud and murder. As the bullets, bombs, and fists fly, both Paul and Solomon soon find reason to regret Daisy’s newest venture. (He had never signed up to be her babysitter. Daisy was a bleedin’ liability. If Paul wanted her to be safe he should never have let her out of the house. She attracted trouble like shit attracted flies. )

I’m completely delighted to give Lost Cause five out of five stars. Although confused (non-British) readers might find it a challenge to get into the swing of Daisy’s unique life, you’ll soon find yourself hiding in the bath with your Kindle and refusing to emerge until you’ve finished every word. Solving the mysteries doesn’t begin to be the only—or even main—reason to read Lost Cause. Other perfectly rational motives might include:

• Witty, non-romantic (if you don’t count a little bit of generic flirting) friendship developing between two attractive adults
• Quintessentially British stuff!  Names (Dempster Blanchette!), speech (“He set a cracking pace”), respect for authority (“Mind you, even owning the gun was illegal in the UK. Taking it with her was probably a bad idea, but then most of the things she did were bad ideas.”), and the awesome crime-fighting properties of tea. (There was no way she could overcome his penetrating stare of evil before she’d had a cup of tea.)
• Loving, R-Rated relationship between two grownups, plus the chance to make their teenage son’s head explode (Sherman banged on the door. “I heard that, and I don’t need to know you’re busy. TMI, man. TMI. I was left on the doorstep by aliens, and you never do that sex thing. You go to bed to sleep. End of.” )
• And most of all Daisy Dunlop—strange dress sense, sparkling humor, uniquely quirky new style of amateur detective.

My only complaint about Lost Cause is that it ends way too soon. I want to know where Daisy’s next adventures will take her, how she’ll torment Solomon, and whether the pair will ever manage to actually get paid for one of their cases. (Sequel, please!)

**I received this book for free from the publisher or author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**

Contacts & Buy Links

• Website: http://jlsimpson.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/JL-Simpson/126748204182731?ref=hl
• Twitter: @jlsimpsonauthor
• Amazon
• Taliesin Publishing

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 LIE-DAR CONTEST!