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Karen Cantwell

Karen Cantwell

About

I have been writing plays and short stories for many years, some of which were published in various college literary magazines.  More recently, my short story “The Recollections of Rosabelle Raines,” was published in the mystery anthology Chesapeake Crimes: They Had it Comin’ available at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, or directly from the publisher, Wildside Press.

But I had always wanted to write a novel.  I found that more difficult.  Finally, a few years ago I became inspired to write my first novel, Take the Monkeys and Run, a comedy-mystery, inspired, to some degree by a true monkey sighting.   Because I love to laugh as well as make other people laugh, I have the most fun imagineable writing the character Barbara Marr as well as her friends and adversaries.  When I set out to write this book, I knew I wanted to write something that readers would say, “Now that was FUN.”  I HOPE I have achieved that goal.  And if I did, please feel free to drop me a line at and let me know!  I love to hear from readers.  (especially if they LIKE the book!)

These days, I can be found pecking away at my laptop, conjuring the second Barbara Marr novel, Citizen Insane or hanging out with my kids while they're still not embarrassed to be seen with me.

A King Under Siege: Book One of The Plantagenet Legacy

A King Under Siege: Book One of The Plantagenet Legacy

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<p>Richard II found himself under siege not once, but twice in his minority. Crowned king at age ten, he was only fourteen when the Peasants' Revolt terrorized London. But he proved himself every bit the Plantagenet successor, facing Wat Tyler and the rebels when all seemed lost. Alas, his triumph was short-lived, and for the next ten years he struggled to assert himself against his uncles and increasingly hostile nobles. Just like in the days of his great-grandfather Edward II, vengeful magnates strove to separate him from his friends and advisors, and even threatened to depose him if he refused to do their bidding. The Lords Appellant, as they came to be known, purged the royal household with the help of the Merciless Parliament. They murdered his closest allies, leaving the King alone and defenseless. He would never forget his humiliation at the hands of his subjects. Richard's inability to protect his adherents would haunt him for the rest of his life, and he vowed that next time, retribution would be his.</p>

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<p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#000000;">From Publishers Weekly</span></strong><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#000000;"><br /> This fun if light novel’s quippy, hilarious narrator, Barbara Marr, has so much warmth and genuine gumption, you’d certainly want her on your criminal investigative team. The spunky Virginia housewife and mother of three is almost at the end of her rope — her hunky husband, Howard, has left her; it’s her 45th birthday; and she’s just discovered three monkeys living in the trees in front of her house. “Life was pretty sucky” as she puts it. But while investigating the curious case of these monkeys, a bit of unexpected adventure shakes things up just the right amount. In a warm-hearted, deftly observed comic-farce-meets-mobster mystery, Barbara and her friends from her quiet suburban neighborhood, Peggy and Roz, stick their noses into the business of a deserted house down the street and find themselves caught up in some off-the-wall FBI business that hits way closer to home than they could have imagined. Perhaps a bit goofy at times, this is nevertheless an outright treat: diverting, funny and fast-moving. </span></p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><em>This text refers to the manuscript reviewed as a part of the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest.</em></p>