Book Details
Paperback: 278 pages
Publisher: Stairway Press (July 7, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1941071171
ISBN-13: 978-1941071175
It's August 1969--right after the Manson murders in LA and the big rock concert set for Woodstock. Ditching her hopes for the concert, the intrepid amateur sleuth Austin Starr, infant in tow, flies across the continent to support a friend suspected of murdering women's liberation activists in Seattle and Vancouver.
Then her former CIA trainer warns that an old enemy has contracted a hit on her. Her anxious husband demands that she give up her quest and fly back to him.
How much should Austin risk when tracking the killer puts her and her baby's life in danger?
Praise for Rainy Day Women
"Determined to clear a close friend who’s suspected of murdering a popular feminist leader, Austin Starr struggles to balance family and personal independence. Vivid detail of the 1960s and a clever plot make Rainy Day Woman an outstanding follow-up to Kay Kendall’s strong debut, Desolation Row. Austin Starr is a memorable protagonist and Kendall’s skill at crafting a compelling mystery kept me turning the pages!"
- Robert Rotstein, author of The Bomb Maker’s Son and Corrupt Practices
"Kay Kendall’s second Austin Starr mystery will have you believing it’s 1969 all over again. In a book where the musical references mean you’ll find yourself humming tunes now known as “classic vinyl”, Kendall peppers her work with references to the times which make the decades disappear – and she respects her readers enough to not overdo it. Her sense of place as she allows the mystery to unfold within Vancouver’s University of British Columbia, beset by the rain for which the “wet” coast is known, is pitch perfect. Hot diggity - a thoroughly enjoyable read. Now I’m off to dig out my Bob Dylan albums and find an old bra I can burn."
- Cathy Ace, Author of The Cait Morgan Mysteries, and the WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries
"Feminism, the '60s, murder, and a friend in big trouble. Austin Starr is back to help, leaving her husband behind but bringing her baby along. Rainy Day Women is an entertaining and fast-paced mystery set in a turbulent time. Right on!"
- Bill Crider, Anthony Award-winning author of The Sheriff Dan Rhodes Mystery Series
"An exciting jaunt back to the days of flower power and Women's Lib, Kay Kendall's RAINY DAY WOMEN explores serious issues that still resonate today, nearly fifty years later. Austin Starr's second mystery (after 2013's DESOLATION ROW) packs danger and lots of heart, and hits all the right notes in depicting the late sixties. Austin is a smart, relentless sleuth with a baby on her hip and a Makarov pistol in her macramé purse. Right on, sister!"
- James W. Ziskin, author of the Ellie Stone Mysteries, STYX & STONE, NO STONE UNTURNED, and STONE COLD DEAD
Kay Kendall writes atmospheric mysteries that capture the spirit and turbulence of the sixties. A reformed PR executive who won international awards for her projects, Kay lives in Texas with her Canadian husband, three house rabbits and spaniel Wills. Terribly allergic to her bunnies, she loves them anyway! Her book titles show she's a Bob Dylan buff too.
RAINY DAY WOMEN published on July 7--the second in her Austin Starr Mystery series. The E-book and paperback are available now, and the audio-book will be soon.
She says, "In my mystery series featuring Austin Starr, amateur sleuth, I explore what life was like for a typical young woman--not a headline maker, not a Hanoi Jane or Angela Davis, but a moderate who nonetheless got swept up by history's tides during the turbulent sixties. All that turmoil lends itself to drama, intrigue, and murder."
Stairway Press published Kendall's debut mystery, DESOLATION ROW. in 2013, as well as RAINY DAY WOMEN. DESOLATION ROW was a finalist for the Silver Falchion Award in 2014 presented by Killer Nashville. A short story "Strangers on a Plane" launched in January 2015, on Kindle. It is part of a collection of 13 Kindle stories called THE PROMETHEAN SAGA.
Kay is a member of Mystery Writers of America and serves as secretary of its Southwest Chapter. Also a member of International Thriller Writers, she is a contributing editor to its monthly online magazine, THE BIG THRILL. Other organizations she belongs to include Crime Writers of Canada, Writers League of Texas, Houston Writers Guild, and the Texas Association of Authors. She earned degrees in Russian history and studied the Russian language in the Soviet Union, which accounts for her being a student of the Cold War and aficionado of Russian culture.
Other URLs
https://www.facebook.com/KayKendallAu...
http://www.amazon.com/Kay-Kendall/e/B...
https://twitter.com/kaylee_kendall
My Thoughts
It is a time of women's freedom, a time of Woodstock, Charles Manson, and the Apollo moon landing. It is 1969 an amateur sleuth, Austin Starr, along with her infant son, are on their way to clear her best friends name. Her friend, Larissa is a suspect in the death of a woman's activist leader, she served the tea that was poisoned, at a meeting that all the women were. Austin and her husband David moved to Canada because they didn't believe in the Vietnam War, so David was a draft dodger. Austin had worked with the CIA, in the previous book Desolation Row, so she had some detective skills. Her husband is not real crazy about her gallivanting off to Seatle to help out her friend but he 'allows' her to go. The only way she can go is take their three-month son, Wyatt, along with her. This had to have been a lot harder to do in 1969 then it is now.
This is a time where women are still under their husbands thumb, but this is a also a time when all of how a woman is treated is changing, they are now able to pursue an education and work outside of the home. There is a big movement across the country at this time of women's liberation. There are men who do not agree that a woman should have these types of freedom. I was 16 in 1969 and by the time I was 18 women's lib was full blown. I got on the bandwagon; it was exciting. Also, this was a magical time, a lot of changes in the world going on.
Austin arrives to help find out who killed Shona and why. She is told by her previous mentor not to investigate, but she does not comply, she tries but is too determined to find out what is going on and when another female college student is found murdered, Austin feels that these two cases are intertwined as Shona had been friends with the second victim. The race is on, and when Larissa is beaten up, things get real for Austin, and it makes her more determined, against her husband's wish.
I enjoyed this story; It brought back a lot of memories of a turbulent era. I could just hear Eric Clapton, Jimmy Hendrix, and Janis Joplin, long flowing hair and flower power. Watching the news with daily broadcasts of war images when I came home from school. That aside, I also enjoyed the plot, women's lib mixed with a murder mystery, active women who are determined to do what they feel is right. I look forward to Austin's growth as a character in the next installment of this story.
I received a copy of the book for review and was not monetarily compensated for my review.
