Welcome to Lauren Carr's Audiobook-a-palooza Blog Tour! To celebrate the release of Lauren Carr's mysteries in audiobook format, we have 14 books from her three series on tour!
The Mac Faraday Mystery Series:
Book Description:
Old loves die hard...and in the worst places.
In Old Loves Die Hard, Lauren Carr continues the rags-to-riches story of Mac Faraday, an underpaid homicide detective who inherits 270 million dollars and an estate on Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, from his birth mother on the day his divorce becomes final.
Mac is settling nicely into his new life at Spencer Manor when his ex-wife Christine shows up-and she wants him back! Before Mac can send her packing, Christine and her estranged lover are murdered in Mac's private penthouse suite at the Spencer Inn, the five-star resort built by his ancestors.
The investigation leads to the discovery of cases files for some of Mac's murder cases in the room of the man responsible for destroying his marriage. Why would his ex-wife's lover come to Spencer to dig into Mac's old cases?
With the help of his new friends on Deep Creek Lake, Mac must use all of his detective skills to clear his name and the Spencer Inn's reputation, before its five-stars - and more bodies - start dropping!
My Review:
Mac Faraday is back. His ex wife shows up drunk saying she wants to get back together. Mac Takes her to the inn and checks her in to sleep it off. The next morning he shows up to meet her for breakfast and finds not only her but her estranged lover, who she left Mac for, both murdered in Mac's private suite.
Once sort of being cleared as being a suspect he has to help his 1/2 brother the Police Chief solve the murders. The strange part of the whole thing is the lover has shown up with a handful of files from Mac's old murder cases. Mac needs to arrest the killer so his Kids can have closure and also to figure out why McGuire was digging around in his old cases.
I am huge fan of Lauren Carr. I have read several of her books. I love all of the twists and turns in the books. The books are always pretty fast moving but they also drag you in as well as make you feel like a detective. I usually have a list of my own suspects, but am usually wrong when I pinpoint the killer, with all of the twists. I love how there is a touch of humor, a touch of light romance, and no real strong language.
I also like that that with the Mac Faraday books, you do not have to read them in order to follow the story line. Each book can be read as stand alone. I have read the last few books of this series already so am back tracking with this book. But it could be the next book in the series instead of being the 2nd book.
I did listen the audio book. I was quite happy with James C Lewis' narration. his voice is very expressive. He makes you hear what the characters are feeling. I really like that in narrator. He also does a great job with changing his voice for each character.
Content Rating:
All of Lauren Carr's books are rated PG-13 because they are murder mysteries and will contains murder scenes. Some of the books contain violence associated with military assignments. There are some books that contain sex scenes which are not explicit. There is little profanity, no f-words.
All of Lauren Carr's books are rated PG-13 because they are murder mysteries and will contains murder scenes. Some of the books contain violence associated with military assignments. There are some books that contain sex scenes which are not explicit. There is little profanity, no f-words.
Meet the Author:
Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose Mysteries—over twenty titles across three fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns!
Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr’s seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, romance, and humor.
Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She lives with her husband and three dogs (including the real Gnarly’s klutzy nephew Sterling) on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
Author Interview with Lauren Carr
Later this year, your twentieth mystery, Twofer Murder, will be coming out. What took you so long to start having your books produced in audio?
Actually, I have had my earlier books produced in audio several years ago. When my first book, A Small Case of Murder, came out one of my friends instantly asked when my book would be available in audio. My eyes glazed over and I stammered out, “Eventually.”
This friend only listened to her books in audio. She had a long commute to work and that was when she would listen to her books. She would go through a couple books a week.
Not long after that, I discovered that another friend only did audiobooks. She listened to them on cassette. She loved books, but couldn’t read due to extremely bad eyesight. While she wasn’t legally blind, her eyesight was so poor that the only way she could enjoy a book was if it was available in audio.
Back then, audiobooks were available on cassette or compact discs. They didn’t have digital downloads like they do now. I considered myself lucky when a traditional audiobook publisher picked up my first three books to be produced in audio (compact disc and digital download)—until I started receiving my royalty checks. I was lucky if I made over two hundred dollars a year! I would take a few copies of the compact discs to book events—only to have them gather dust. Eventually, I tossed them into the back of my closet, where they still rest.
Since there did not seem to be a market for audiobooks and only an occasional reader would ask for that format, I ignored it.
What changed your mind?
Readers have been asking for my books in in audio with increasing frequency. Then, Amazon suggested I make my books available through their company ACX. They also pointed out that Audible, a very successful audiobook dealer, fell under their umbrella. Audible is the leading seller of audiobooks.
By going through ACX, I would essentially be self-publishing my own books—thus, keeping all of my rights. So, this was quite appealing to me.
What was it like hearing your books narrated as an audiobook?
Surreal. In the last year, I have been working with three audiobook producers to make my entire backlist available in audio for mystery fans. That’s thirteen books that I have written in the last five years. Two more books will be coming out in audiobook later on this year. As a result, I have found myself listening to books that I have not looked at in a very long time. So they’re new to me again. It’s like when you look through a photo album from high school ten years later. There are some pictures that have you scratching your head wondering “What was I thinking?” But then there are also renewed memories of things you had said or done that make you marvel at how witty you were. Listening to these mysteries that I had written as far back as five years ago, I have found myself surprised at plot twists that I had created that I myself have forgotten about. Likewise, I’ve also found myself asking, “What was I thinking when I created that character?” Overall, it’s been a blast working with these three very talented producers in bringing my mysteries to life, so to speak.
Tell us about Mac Faraday, your protagonist in Old Loves Die Hard. Give us one of his strengths and one of his weaknesses.
The premise of the Mac Faraday mysteries is a rags to riches story. Mac Faraday was an underpaid homicide detective who inherited two-hundred-and-seventy million dollars and an estate on Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, from his birth mother on the very day his divorce became final.
Mac’s strength is his down to earth nature. Even though he is worth over $270 million, Mac Faraday does not let his wealth and power go to his head. Mac is the type of guy that you would love to meet at a pub and share a beer with. Like every good detective, he has exceptional instincts—especially when it comes to human nature. When it comes to investigating murder cases, he has the ability to put what he has learned about people during all of his years as a homicide detective to catch killers.
I would have to say some people would consider Mac’s weakness to be a strength. He does not have much patience for pretentious and arrogant people—almost to the point of being difficult when dealing with them. But, Mac has grown some during the course of the series and has learned how to play their games to his advantage to solve cases.
Do you have any upcoming projects that your fans should be looking for?
Twofer Murder will be a treat for mystery lovers because it will be two mysteries in one novel. This book will contain all of the characters from the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose mysteries. The guys go fishing and get embroiled in a murder mystery. Meanwhile, the ladies go off to a murder mystery writers conference and end up wrapped up in their own mystery when an up and coming mystery writer ends up dead! Can’t beat that! Two mysteries for the price of one!
Meet the Narrators:
Over the past several years Dan Lawson has appeared in numerous spots for radio, television and the internet. He has worked with All-State, Sprint PCS, Mountain Dew and many more. His unique ability to mimic existing characters and celebrities has landed him diverse voice match work ranging from Charlie Sheen to Morgan Freeman.
In 2008 Dan was cast as the first American voice actor for the Korean video game company, Nexon. Over the next several years Dan was the flagship voice of the company, appearing in such titles as Mabinogi, Maple Story, Vindictus, Dragon Nest, Dungeon Fighter Online and Atlantica. In total he has voiced nearly 100 characters for Nexon.
In late 2012 Dan’s voice over career took an unexpected turn into book narration. His first audition landed him the job of narrating The Psychology of Twilight, a psychological look at the wide-spread obsession of the Twilight saga created by Stephanie Meyer. Eighteen more audiobook narrations have followed and show no signs of slowing down.
C.J. McAllister is an Audible Approved Producer -- "Audible Approved producers are the best audiobook producers in the business." Only a small number are awarded this honor.
C.J. has produced best-selling audiobooks in multiple genres/styles, TV commercials/promo teasers, animation projects, interviews (TV and radio), corporate presentations.
Another Audible Approved narrator, voice actor James Lewis has established a solid reputation in fiction as well as non-ficton audiobooks. At latest count, he's narrated nearly 50.
Although his specialty is noir fiction, James has done several non-fiction books as well on a range of people and subjects: Butch and Sundance, General Custer, Revolutionary War, psychic development, taxes.
James Lewis has been awarded the AudioFile Earphone Award for narration, "The Last Outlaws". It's about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
A broadcast veteran of over 30 years, Mike Alger is best known as the award-winning Chief Meteorologist for KTVN-TV in Reno, NV. He is also a successful author, having penned the Mystery-Thriller novel "Snow Storm," and is the narrator of the audiobook of the same name.
Enter the Giveaway!
Ends July 22
, a spinoff from her Kendra Ballantyne,
for Berkley Prime Crime, and Harlequin Romantic Suspense as well as the Alpha Force paranormal romance miniseries for Harlequin Nocturne. She additionally writes the 
for Midnight Ink. Her latest cozy mystery series, the 
are also from Midnight Ink.