Guest Appearance with author ~  Jennifer Graeser Dornbush

How did you go about choosing the settings for this book?

The setting for Frozen Lives, book 4 in The Coroner’s Daughter mystery series very much come from the small hometown where I grew up. This is Fremont, Michigan or Newaygo County, in northwest corner of “the mitten” as we Michiganders say. 

I grew up in the country and my childhood was completely unconventional. My dad was a physician and medical examiner for three northern counties. None of these counties had money to set up an official M.E. office, so he set it up in our home. During the years Dad worked in forensics, I had a hands-on education in death investigation right at my kitchen table. The morgue that Emily uses is modeled after the small county hospital morgue where my dad did his post-mortem exams.

Another thing I love about the setting of this series that I get to show how death investigation works in a rural area. In reality, like in Emily’s world, resources in rural areas are often limited and different than they are in big cities. I’m not saying they are not professional. They are. But the elements of staffing, equipment, education, experience, and budget all factor in and vary vastly from county to county and that affects how effectively or efficiently an investigation can be done. 

My other favorite thing about the setting of this series has to do with exploring how smaller communities react when one of their own is taken from them. No one remains anonymous in small towns. Everyone plays a role. Everyone is affected. Everyone has an opinion and a stake. Character actions and reactions are often driven largely because of the small town setting they are in.

– Jennifer Graeser Dornbush

Wow, thank you so much, Jennifer Graeser Dornbush, for sharing with us! 

I love that so much of this book came from real life experience! They say, write what you know, and hearing that much of the content came from Jennifer Graeser Dornbush’s own childhood makes this great book that much better!

“My other favorite thing about the setting of this series has to do with exploring how smaller communities react when one of their own is taken from them. No one remains anonymous in small towns. Everyone plays a role. Everyone is affected. Everyone has an opinion and a stake.“

Oh my gosh, having read the book before reading the author’s thoughts, this paragraph hits even harder! When I say she truly captured how it would feel when “one of their own is taken from them” – believe me, she captured it!!

Read my full review of Frozen Lives

Dr. Emily Hartford is back in Frozen Lives, the next thrilling mystery from Jennifer Graeser Dornbush.

Chicago surgeon Emily Hartford has never quite shaken off the dust of her hometown in Michigan. She may be a professional success and have a princely boyfriend in the Windy City, but she can’t seem to let go of being “the coroner’s daughter” from Freeport.

Once again, she finds herself pulled back upstate during a wintery late March when Jeremiah, the eleven year-old son of her best friend, Jo, goes missing on the frigid shores of Lake Michigan. Emily immediately joins the search for the boy.

To everyone’s relief, Jeremiah turns up days later, alive and unharmed. But tensions remain high, and suspicions of every sort continue to grow. Jeremiah’s account of his abduction doesn’t add up and Emily worries about Jo’s unraveling marriage. Jeremiah’s recovery, it turns out, is not the end of their terrifying tale. It’s only the beginning …

For moving among them is a devious, malevolent force. Sowing panic while seeking to fulfill his own twisted needs, this wolf in sheep’s clothing leaves a trail of rack and ruin, negligent to the damages in his wake … and the bodies he leaves behind.

Emily solidifies her role as coroner’s daughter when she puzzles out this madman’s chilling machinations. Risking everything dear to her, Emily goes the icy distance to end his killing spree.

Genre: thriller, suspense, female detective
Published by: Blackstone Publishing
Publication Date: October 29, 2024
Number of Pages: 350
ISBN: 9798212638364
Series: The Coroner’s Daughter Mysteries, 4

Amazon – https://pictbooks.tours/jofJf    
BN – https://pictbooks.tours/VXE6b    
Goodreads – https://pictbooks.tours/HoYXG    
BookShop.org – https://pictbooks.tours/OI98e    
Publisher – https://pictbooks.tours/JmCiC    

Tour Participants:

10/07 Interview @ Mystery, Thrillers, and Suspense
10/07 Review @ dianas_books_cars_coffee
10/08 Review @ fundinmental
10/08 Showcase @ Books, Ramblings, and Tea
10/09 Review @ Avonna Loves Genres
10/09 Review @ FullyBookedInKentucky
10/10 Interview @ darciahelle
10/11 Review @ Country Mamas With Kids
10/12 Review @ Book Reviews From an Avid Reader
10/13 Review @ Guatemala Paula Loves to Read
10/14 showcase @ Silvers Reviews
10/15 Print @ bookwormbecky1969
10/15 Showcase @ Celticladys Reviews
10/16 Review @ Because I said so
10/17 Guest post @ Because I said so
10/19 Review @ The Mystery of Writing
10/20 Review @ The AR Critique
10/21 Showcase @ Literary Gold
10/23 Review @ Reading is my Superpower
10/24 Review @ fuonlyknew
10/25 Review @ My Reading Getaway
10/25 Review @ Novels Alive
10/26 Review @ The Page Ladies
10/27 Review @ elaine_sapp65
10/28 Review @ mom. read. sip. repeat
10/29 Review @ ashmanda. k
10/30 Guest post @ ashmanda. k
11/01 Review @ Melissa As Blog

 

Author Bio:

The television or movie screen is the closest most people will ever come to witnessing the forensic world. But Jennifer Dornbush was raised in it. As the daughter of a small-town medical examiner whose office was in their home. There were body parts in the fridge. She investigated her first fatality, an airplane crash, when she was 8 years old. Picking up pieces of skull with her father who simply saw it as an anatomy lesson. The first of many coroner lessons she experienced over two decades.
After exploring journalism and high school teaching, Jennifer turned seriously to screenwriting where she began to connect her coroner world to her writing. She sought out a degree at the Forensic Science Academy in Los Angeles to gain more forensic training and earned a unique kinship with LA’s top CSIs, fingerprint specialists, DNA scientists, and detectives.
To share her love of forensics with the writing world, she authored the top selling non-fiction authoritative book, Forensic Speak, used by not only by show-runners and writers, but also crime investigators and law enforcement.
She created an Amazon top selling mystery novel series, The Coroner’s Daughter, which she is currently developing as a series for TV. Her crime thriller, Hole in the Woods, is currently optioned for screen. She is a contributor to mystery anthologies, Hotel California and Thriller. She has also penned two true crime books.
As a screenwriter Jennifer wrote the theatrically released film and novel, God Bless the Broken Road (2018), adapted a popular YA novel to script, and sold a children’s show. She is currently developing TV drama series and feature films with various productions companies.
As a forensic consultant, she is frequently asked to consult with TV writers on shows such as: Bull, Conviction, Hawaii Five-O, Leverage, Suits, and Rectify. She teaches screenwriting and mentors aspiring writers.
Jennifer is a member of the Writers’ Guild of America, Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Crime Writers Association, & the FBI Citizen’s Academy Alumni.

Catch Up With Jennifer Graeser Dornbush:
www.JenniferDornbush.com
Goodreads
BookBub – @jgdornbush1
Instagram – @jgdornbush
YouTube – @ForensicSpeakJenniferDornbush
Facebook – @JGDornbush

 

There will be TWO (2) US-ONLY winners for this tour. EACH winner will receive a trade paperback copy of FROZEN LIVES by Jennifer Graeser Dornbush, compliments of Blackstone Publishing and Jennifer Graeser Dornbush.
 
Hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours  for  Jennifer Graeser Dornbush and Blackstone Publishing. See the widget for entry terms and conditions. Void where prohibited.