Bøger af Michael Llewellyn

Welcome to Meander, Tennessee, circa 1957, smack dab in the middle of the ever-blooming, mayonnaise-slathering, kudzu-swarming, moonshine-swilling, deep-frying, Bible-beating, cotton-pickin' South. This is where the mayor runs white lightning out of the local cat house, Baptist preachers read girlie magazines and Jesus saves S&H Green Stamps. It's also where Anrita Harrington is Dixie's reigning chicken salad queen, Cassandra Maddox teaches her high school class plenty more than English, Sylvianne McNeil sets her cap for husband (and bourbon) number five, and, from her pillared mansion high atop the bluff, Eulalie "Miss Sugar" Saunders takes potshots with her late husband's elephant gun. Visitors who see Meander as a picture perfect Southern town have no idea what's simmering behind that genteel Magnolia Curtain. By the time folks gather on Labor Day to celebrate the town's 150th birthday, longtime feuds boil over like a pot of overheated grits, stirred to a fare-the-well by the mayor's wife, Fern Abernathy, the KKK, and none other than Hollywood movie star Robert Mitchum. Mud is literally flung, lives are wrecked and saved, arrests are made, history is rewritten and truths are exposed that should've stayed hidden where the sun don't shine. Unrefined, Sugar is one wacky, bittersweet, screwball page-turner.

Michael Llewellyn's first mystery includes a long-overdue expose of the historic California Mission system. Armed with extensive research, including 18th century eyewitness accounts, he explodes the romantic myths surrounding the so-called benevolent Franciscan padres and their Native American converts, lifting the "Adobe Curtain" to reveal a world of slavery, deprivation and cruelty. Once you read Communion of Sinners, you'll never see the famous missions in the same light again. The plot unfolds quickly as New Orleans travel writer Sam Crockett drives across country to visit friends in Carmel, California. He stops along the way to explore isolated Soledad Mission and ventures into the cemetery where he stumbles upon what he believes is an ancient skeleton. When local police determine the bones are recent, Sam finds himself on the scent of a potentially explosive story and calls his partner Claudia Durand for help. The veteran photojournalism team has barely begun work when another corpse appears.The journals of a recently deceased and famously reclusive anthropologist provide clues leading the team to the Santa Cruz Mission and three skeletons unearthed by the Loma Prieta earthquake and hastily reburied when their crushed skulls scream murder. Despite being stonewalled by the local Catholic Church, Sam and Claudia persevere in searching for the truth which, unbelievably, connects murders committed over two centuries ago with the recent killings. As the idyllic California landscape becomes littered with the corpses of Spanish soldiers, Franciscan padres, Native Americans and modern-day journalists, Sam and Claudia wonder if they'll be next as they unmask a deadly and unholy Communion of Sinners."Llewellyn has cooked up a savory literary paella inspired by the hidden history of California's Spanish missions and flavored it with a touch of investigative journalism and the beauty of the Pacific coast. Mysterious deaths, long-held secrets, heartbreak and wonderful descriptions of food and wine combine in this compelling new novel to create a feast of a book." --Anne Hillerman, author of Spider Woman's Daughter"As a Carmel native, I know Llewellyn's territory well, but he has unearthed long-ignored truths about California's mission system that are sure to stir controversy. He showcases his findings in an enthralling murder mystery that deftly links ancient killings to contemporary crimes while sending the reader on a rollercoaster ride with a take-no-prisoners finale. Fasten your seatbelts!" -Ciji Ware, author of That Autumn in Edinburgh, Book Two of the Four Seasons Quartet

Michael Llewellyn is the author of nineteen published novels in multiple genres including historical fiction and mystery. Past Time is the second in his time travel series and continues the adventures of Madeleine "Maddy" St. Jacques, a New Orleans librarian with a passion for history and amateur sleuthing. Her older paramour and partner in time crime is Henri Chabrol, a Tulane University professor with access to parallel universes via the secretive August Ones. In the first book, Still Time, Madeleine was hurtled back to 1861 New Orleans, a world of black masters, white slaves, glamorous courtesans of color and assorted shady souls out to thwart her mission. In Past Time, she travels to Tsarist Russia where she is thrust into the midst of a power struggle for control of the largest-and most unstable-empire on earth. Once again Madeleine struggles to learn why she was sent back in time and how she might keep history on course. The truth eventually comes, but at a terrible price. From the back cover: The August Ones are back!Those enigmatic entities manipulating age-old time corridors have once again propelled New Orleans librarian Madeleine St. Jacques into the past. This time her destination is Russia circa 1914, an empire ruled by Tsar Nicholas II and the fabled Romanov dynasty. Arriving in frozen, wintry St. Petersburg, Madeleine finds herself amid grand dukes and duchesses, gypsies and imperial guardsmen, ferocious revolutionaries and corrupt holy men, each with a disparate stake in a doomed nation hurtling toward apocalypse. "If those superstitious fools learn you're a time traveler, they'll tear you to pieces!"As the guest of Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna, Madeleine is seduced by the opulent Romanov world of endless balls, glittering soirees and oceans of vodka while the furtive monster of revolution lurks just outside the palace doors. Her royal idyll is imperiled when she discovers the most imminent threat to the dynasty lies within the family itself and wonders if it's her destiny to stop it before it's... PAST TIME. Reviews of the author's other books: Still Time"Still Time is a new kind of historical time-travel/mystery/thriller that delights and informs the reader. Steeped in New Orleans past and present, Llewellyn creates a steamy, sultry, romantic atmosphere that will have you craving gumbo and beignets. Heroine Madeleine St. Jacques transforms quite satisfyingly from quiet librarian to cunning, action-oriented belle-of-the-ball once she is singled out by transcendent 'forces' to fulfill a critical mission in the past. Llewellyn's history is accurate and illuminating, especially in regard to the looming Civil War, which will make historical fiction readers happy, and his time-travel devices are innovative and clever, so time-slip fans will appreciate that as well." -Mary F. Burns, author of The Spoils of AvalonCommunion of Sinners"Llewellyn has cooked up a savory literary paella inspired by the hidden history of California's Spanish missions and flavored with a touch of investigative journalism and the beauty of the Pacific coast. A compelling, feast of a book." -Anne Hillerman, author of Spider Woman's DaughterCreole Son"With skill and sensitivity, Llewellyn captures the interaction of art and violence, ugliness and beauty, the transition of an artist, a man and a world." -Barbara Hambly, author of A Free Man of ColorTwelfth Night"Entertaining...a solid sense of life in antebellum New Orleans." -Publisher's Weekly"Will be the gilded bean in your king cake." -New Orleans Times-Picayune

Michael Llewellyn is the author of eighteen published novels in multiple genres. "Still Time" is his first foray into time travel as he transports his heroine into the past. Madeleine St. Jacques, 33, is a New Orleans librarian with a penchant for history and amateur sleuthing. Her paramour and partner in time crime is Henri Chabrol, 42, a Tulane University professor with access to parallel universes via the mysterious August Ones. Madeleine's goal is to repair potential tears in the curtains of times past, a destiny that triggers challenging, often perilous exploits."Still Time" catapults Madeleine to 1861 New Orleans, where she encounters a topsy-turvy world of black masters, white slaves, glamorous courtesans of color and assorted shady souls who create escapades at every turn. As civil war erupts and the city falls under siege, Madeleine experiences love, death and devastating betrayal as she battles to keep history from veering off course and learns the truth about why she was sent back in time. It is, most of all, a voyage of self- discovery.From the back cover copy: They were called The August Ones, enigmatic entities manipulating millennia-old time corridors via specially chosen Couriers. Unknowingly conscripted for this role, New Orleans librarian Madeleine St. Jacques attends a Mardi Gras ball only to be propelled back to 1861 and a vibrant but restless city on the brink of civil war. Her journey takes her to Louisiana's Isle Brevelle, an exotic topsy-turvy world where black planters own slaves, and to Five Oaks plantation where she meets her Creole forebears and is tempted by the unthinkable. Warned by a voodoo priestess that a mysterious Spaniard holds the key to her mission and that she will find him "in the last possible place she would think to look," Madeleine's search grows desperate when war ignites and New Orleans falls under siege. Each day brings new challenges as she is drawn deeper into a world of duplicity and passion, deceit and murder. Shadowy veils are lifted one by one as Madeleine sails on a time voyage as serpentine as the Mississippi River before discovering her destiny as a Courier and why she must fulfill it while there is "Still Time." (c)2014, Scaramouche Publishing. All rights reserved."Michael Llewellyn's latest book, Still Time, is a new genre of historical time travel/mystery/thriller that delights and informs the reader. Steeped in the New Orleans of both the present and the early days of the Civil War, it creates a steamy, sultry atmosphere that has you craving gumbo and beignets all the way to the end. Heroine Madeleine St. Jacques transforms satisfyingly from quiet librarian to a cunning, action-oriented Southern belle when she is chosen by transcendent 'forces' to fulfill a critical mission in the past. Llewellyn's Civil War research is accurate and illuminating which will make historical fiction readers happy, and his time-travel devices are innovative and clever, so time-slip fans will appreciate that as well. A fun romance is thrown in for good measure, so we get a well-rounded introduction to "Maddy" and her friends in this first of what I hope will be a long-running series. A true page-turner, I was up until 2 a.m. finishing it!" -Mary F. Burns, author of The Spoils of Avalon

From the back cover: "You need not be frightened, my dear. I'm frightened enough for both of us!"Never second-guess the August Ones! Transported from New Orleans to 1820's Haiti, as the guest of King Henry I, Madeleine St. Jacques is dazzled by his opulent palace and a fanciful court with a Duke and Duchess of Marmelade and Royal Pages called Bonbons. Slaves only a generation ago, these extravagantly costumed courtiers dance the minuet and worship in a Catholic Cathedral while voodoo ceremonies flourish and the mountains throb with the drums of Africa. Madeleine soon discovers ominous forces at work in a fairytale kingdom as fragile as it is exotic. Consumed with power and determined to make Europe respect his tiny island nation, King Henry builds on a Pharaonic scale-grand palaces, sugar plantations, new harbors and the largest fortress in the New World- at a terrible cost of human lives. When his obsessions morph into madness and her world careens toward chaos, Madeleine fears she'll never learn why she's been sent back and becomes desperate to return home before running OUT OF TIME.Out of Time is the third in Michael Llewellyn's time travel series, continuing the adventures of Madeleine "Maddy" St. Jacques, a New Orleans librarian with a passion for history and amateur sleuthing. Her older paramour and partner in time crime is Henri Chabrol, a Tulane University professor with access to parallel universes via the secretive August Ones. In the first book, Still Time, Madeleine was hurtled back to 1861 New Orleans, a world of black masters, white slaves, glamorous courtesans of color and assorted shady souls out to thwart her mission. In Past Time, she travels to Tsarist Russia and thrust into a power struggle for control of the largest-and most unstable-empire on earth. Reviews of Michael Llewellyn's other books: "The characters of Past Time are superbly drawn and completely believable in the period of Tsarist Russia, circa 1914. I also appreciated the mysteriously referred mechanism of the time shifts and the allusions to a mystic race of time keepers. The time traveler, Madeleine, shows the proper fear of blurting out information that she should keep quiet, but I enjoyed the little bits of modern speech she spills into the Imperial Russian household. Well-paced, satisfying ending, and a lot of fun to read." -Richard Sutton, author of The Red Gate "Still Time is a new kind of historical time-travel/mystery/thriller that delights and informs. Steeped in New Orleans past and present, Llewellyn creates a steamy, sultry, romantic atmosphere that will have you craving gumbo and beignets. Heroine Madeleine St. Jacques transforms quite satisfyingly from quiet librarian to cunning, action-oriented belle-of-the-ball once she is singled out by transcendent 'forces' to fulfill a critical mission in the past. Llewellyn's history is accurate and illuminating, especially in regard to the looming Civil War, which will make historical fiction readers happy, and his time-travel devices are innovative and clever, so time-slip fans will appreciate that as well." -Mary F. Burns, author, The Spoils of Avalon"For the reader who likes a good historical novel, The Goat Castle Murder is a must. For the reader who likes an intricate whodunit, this is also a must. For the reader who likes both, this is a gift." -Gene Farrington, author, The Blue Heron"Creole Son, a novel of Degas in New Orleans, is dazzling! With skill and sensitivity, Llewellyn captures the interaction of art and violence, ugliness and beauty, the transition of an artist, a man and a world." -Barbara Hambly, author, A Free Man of Color

From WATER STREET PRESS In 1872, French painter Edgar Degas is disillusioned by a lackluster career and haunted by the Prussian siege of Paris and the bloodbath of the Commune. Seeking personal and professional rebirth, he journeys to New Orleans, birthplace of his Creole mother. He is horrified to learn he has exchanged one city in crisis for another-post-Civil War New Orleans is a corrupt town occupied by hostile Union troops and suffering under the heavy hand of Reconstruction. He is further shocked to find his family deeply involved in the violent struggle to reclaim political power at all costs. Despite the chaos swirling around him, Degas sketches and paints with fervor and manages to reinvent himself and transition his style from neoclassical into the emerging world of Impressionism. He ultimately became one of the masters of the new movement, but how did New Orleans empower Degas to fulfill this destiny? The answer may be found in the impeccably researched, richly imagined historical novel, Creole Son.

Before the television age, when “crime of the century” meant something, the public was unduly fascinated by murder. This was especially true during the Great Depression, when Americans were desperate for escapist fare. The more bizarre or glamorous the crime, the greater their fascination, and few intrigued them more than the events of August 4, 1932 in Natchez, Mississippi. The brutal shooting of spinster recluse Jennie Surget Merrill grabbed instant headlines with tales of fabulous wealth, beautiful women, European royalty, Southern aristocracy, a U.S. President and the Confederate President, army generals and ambassadors, not to mention madness, incest, racism, bitter internecine feuds, vertiginous falls from grace and eccentricity in spades. The case became known as the Goat Castle Murder.  Michael Llewellyn has taken the known facts of the case, breathed life into these eccentric Southerners, and created a fascinating novel, The Goat Castle Murder.