Bird of Prey by Danielle-Claude Ngontang Mba with Giveaway

TITLE– Bird Of Prey - Sémya Slotin Mystery #1

SERIES – Sémya Slotin Mystery

AUTHOR – Danielle-Claude Ngontang Mba

GENRE – Mystery Romance

PUBLICATION DATE – October 7th 2013

PUBLISHER – Ever After Edition

COVER ARTIST – Danielle-Claude Ngontang Mba

 

Synopsis

This was supposed to be an easy case...

 Sémya Slotin had spent the last three years living in London with her best friend Polliannah Koch staying away from solving cases. After Hawaii, she was taking a break from puzzles, cases and mysteries that could potentially get her killed. Instead, she had been doing her second and third favorite things, drinking and selling expensive vintage wines and having earthshattering sex with the mysterious, sexy, beautiful but ever so secretive Josh Heinz. Life in London was good….until her funds ran out. Too much wine drinking, not enough wine selling!

When fashion designer and adoptive mother, Annika Slotin, summoned her back to Paris to hire her for what Sémya considered being the easiest case of her amateur sleuth career, all she could think of and seeing was money signs and a well-deserved Cuban holiday once it was solved.

What Sémya didn’t see was her stumbling on the fresh corpse of supermodel Johanna Cartier. She didn’t think that male model turned fashion designer Julian Marais-Caldwin, who also happened to be Sémya’s ex, would be suspected of brutally murdering her. Johanna was his girlfriend, his muse and he loved her. Sémya didn’t see the dead bodies piling up or the conspiracy theories.

Sémya was a little rusty. But then again, it was supposed to be an easy case and she was going to solve it. One vintage wine at a time… Sémya Slotin was officially back in business!

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Excerpt

Polliannah knew that Sémya would go all Nancy Drew on her tonight. After playing nice with a few guests from the fashion house, she discreetly slipped to the hallway and gestured her to come with her. “I just need to see what’s going on over there?” she whispered as she was removing her shoes.

“Is this not a felony?” she asked Sémya. And she wasn’t going to remove her shoes! Sémya frowned back. How could it be a felony, they are not breaking and entering. They are already inside the house. Every step she was taking was making a sound. “Sorry,” she whispered when Sémya hushed her for the fourth time.

“This house is a maze,” she said opening the third room. It was yet another bedroom, another empty bedroom. She looked around, and apart from the furniture, the place was empty.

“What are you searching for?” She whispered.

“Something…anything. I’ll know when I see it,” Sémya muttered back. “Hide here,” she said when they heard footsteps. She left the door slightly opened so they could see. Johanna was at the edge of the corridor with the gorgeous man they saw at the beginning of the party.

“She’s cheating on Julian?”

“Hush Polli, I want to hear what they’re saying,” she told her.

“Because you have dog hearing?” Polliannah said. The man smoothly passed his hand around Johanna’s waist but she removed it. “Okay maybe he’s just a grabby guest?”

“No, he’s completely invading her personal space. She’s just being careful,” Sémya said. “Peter! Not here, not now.” Johanna said before moving away.

Peter stayed behind and looked their way. They both held our breath until he walked away. “And now I found it,” she smiled. They quickly sneaked back to the party.

“So are you going to tell Julian?” Polliannah asked her.

“Tell him what? That she was talking to some bloke?” She said as she put her shoes back on. “This is Eileen Clarke,” Sémya told Polliannah when the bubbly blond woman joined them. “You’re late but you look lovely tonight.”

“Nice to finally put a face to the name, Polliannah I presume.” Eileen blushed and turned her attention the younger woman who was next to her. “And this is Emma Blum, Johanna’s assistant. She organized this entire shindig for Miss Cartier. I just got here but everything looks great!”

Emma looked a little shaken. “Are you alright Emma?” Sémya said.

She looked away for a bit but smiled. “I’m fine. Who’s up for a tour?"

Polliannah looked at Sémya, they just had their own private tour. Eileen looked very excited about the idea. They all nodded back. “Shall we?” Emma said.

Iva's Review

When Semya Slotin's estranged fashion designer mother calls her to ask for Semya's skills as an investigator, Semya thinks the mystery of who is stealing the sketches of her mother's and Semya's ex boyfriend Julian Marais-Caldwin's latest designs will be an open and shut case. But that is before a double homicide occurs and leaves more mysteries for Semya to solve.

Danielle Claude Ngontang Mba's Bird of Prey is an intriguing mystery novel with a well thought out plot and a lot of twists to keep you interested. It follows main character Semya Slotin, but is not written just from her perspective as you get the thoughts from everyone around her.

The prologue is captivating and sets the tone for the book. Unfortunately the first 40 pages of the story feels rushed, as though the author wants to get the reader to the real point of the book, so the backgrounds to the characters feel incomplete and your left wondering whether there is another book preceding Bird of Prey. 

The mystery within the book is reminiscent of Agatha Christie with a main character that is a mixture of Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple.

Semya Slotin has an extremely high IQ, and has degrees in various studies but most importantly Criminology. She profiles everyone she has relationships with and picks up quirks in their behaviour and personalities. Despite all this she co owns a wine shop with her best friend Pollyannah that is barely breaking even because Semya is constantly drinking their expensive inventory. She has had a 4 year relationship with Josh Heinz, a man too frightened to tell Semya that he loves her or give her too much detail of his past because he knows once Semya has "solved" him she may lose interest.

I admired some of Semya's characteristics; she was like a dog with a bone solving the case, but i found her constant analysis of everyone as a flaw in her ability to trust, and her drinking and citing how much each bottle was worth annoying. There is a lot of depth to this woman and I think she will be a good character to follow as she deals with her issues in coming books.

There is some poor word choice used by the author throughout the story and a need to clarify dialogue without actually making it clear who has spoken. Both this and the bouncing back and forth into the different characters thoughts is distracting to the flow of the story.

I also felt that there was not enough emotional or atmospheric detail in the story to make you really care about the characters and some scene transitions occurred without any lead in or closure. 

Dannielle Claude Ngontang Mba's Bird of Prey is a good mystery novel with a side of sex and a fascinating main character that ends with a cliffhanger that will entice many readers to read the next Semya Slotin mystery.

Three magnifying glasses. 

Read if you like Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie Novels.

About the Author

Danielle-Claude Ngontang Mba 

The Author, The Blogger, The Cheeky Reviewer

“My life journey is like my playlist, amazingly unique but full of contradictions with surprising joys with every song...”

I was born in Quebec City, Canada from Gabonese parents but grew up in Paris and Libreville the Gabonese capital until the age of 18. Are you yawning yet? I am... I moved back to Canada in 1999 after high school in Libreville to study Cinematography and Digital movie production in Laval University in Quebec then The International Academy of Design and Technology in Toronto. After graduating in 2003, I decided to sell my soul to the corporate world and worked in the Benefit Outsourcing Industry for seven in Toronto before reconnecting with her first passion writing.

"A teacher told me in high school that people didn't read anymore so I decided that I would make movies instead...so that didn't stick…"

I finally went back to school to study creative writing at Georges Brown College in 2010 and 2011. I started to write The Coulda Woulda Shoulda Song Series as an assignment and finished Book One in late 2011 before moving to London.

And the rest as they say is history... Almost two years later, I'm in London and wrote three novels: This Could Have Been Our Song! A coulda woulda shoulda ballad... (Book one) currently available on amazon and soon in iTunes, Kobo, Barnes and Nobles and Smashwords. The sequel This Would Have Been Our Song! Catchy tune and dancers tales will be release in January 2014. Bird Of Prey, my first mystery novel will be release in October 7th, 2013 on paperback before its wide release in November 25th, 2013. It will be followed by The Plot Thickens (a novella) in January 2014 and Polliannah Got Married! in April 2014 or earlier.

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Giveaway

1 $25 GC amazon, iTunes or BN 10 Kindle Copies of The Plot Thickens, Bird Of Prey first sequel

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