This is my stop during the book blitz for the Amanda Lester Series by Paula Berinstein. This book blitz is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The book blitz runs from 30 January till 5 February. You can see the tour schedule here
About the Amanda Lester series
The Amanda Lester series is a Middle Grade/ Young Adult Mystery series.
The series contains 5 books so far and at least 2 more books are planned. The first four books are also available bundled in a box set. And the first book is also available in audiobook format. The currently published books are:
- Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy (Amanda Lester, Detective #1)
- Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis (Amanda Lester, Detective #2)
- Amanda Lester and the Purple Rainbow Puzzle (Amanda Lester, Detective #3)
- Amanda Lester and the Blue Peacocks’ Secret (Amanda Lester, Detective #4)
- Amanda Lester and the Red Spider Rumpus (Amanda Lester, Detective #5)
The First book in the series:
Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy (Amanda Lester, Detective #1)by Paula Berinstein
Blurb:
Amanda Lester wouldn’t be caught dead going into the family business. Her ancestor, Sherlock Holmes’s colleague Inspector G. Lestrade, is a twit. Nevertheless her parents refuse to see his flaws, and she’s going to a secret English school for the descendants of famous detectives whether she likes it or not.
When Amanda arrives at the dreaded school, she considers running away—until she and her new friends discover blood and weird pink substances in odd places. At first they’re not sure whether these oddities mean anything, but when Amanda’s father disappears and the cook is found dead with her head in a bag of sugar, they’re certain that crimes are taking place.
Now Amanda must embrace her destiny and uncover the truth. The only snag is that arch-villain Blixus Moriarty, a descendant of Holmes’s nemesis Professor James Moriarty, might be involved, and he doesn’t like nosy little girls interfering in his business.
You can find Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy on Goodreads
The e-copy of Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy is free now on all vendor sites! Grab your free copy here:
Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Kobo * Smashwords
You can buy the audiobook of Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy here:
Listen to a sample of the audiobook here on Soundcloud.
Guest Post
Post 2: Amanda Lester’s wacky technology: fantasy or science fiction?
I will admit that much of the technology in the Amanda Lester, Detective stories is exaggerated. That’s because although Amanda’s story isn’t fantasy, it is fanciful. The characters, the world, the props are larger than life. And so you get weapons based on exploding sugar dust, sentient crystals, hackers who can manipulate matter, and peacocks whose feathers contain invisible messages.
It may surprise you to know that many of those crazy things actually have a basis in fact. I know because I research each and every one of them. The acoustic levitator I invented for the orange book, for example, really does exist. There is a way to levitate matter using sound waves—just not quite as powerful or easy to use as I’ve made mine. Sugar dust is explosive—people have actually died in such blasts. There are life forms with crystalline components like my orange crystals. Odor-controlled locks like the ones in the purple book do exist. And there are color formations in feathers that are visible only in the ultraviolet spectrum.
Because I create fanciful technology in my books, I’ve had a bit of trouble pinpointing their genre. Are they mystery/fantasy? Well, there’s an element of fantasy in being able to deform a computer screen remotely. The same is true of Simon Binkle’s history machine, which allows him to pick up vibrations from the past and recreate the events that caused them. Both technologies are pretty fantastical. And yet there’s no magic in the series, no witches or dragons, despite mentions of potential wizards and zombies, so maybe fantasy isn’t the right genre.
If not fantasy then, are the books mystery/science fiction? Possibly. While some of the devices, such as Simon’s cell phone microscope, are in fact real, others, such as Lovelace Earful’s gold brain-manipulating glasses from Book 6, haven’t yet been invented, but might be. Yet there are no spaceships, dinosaur resurrections, or time travel, so how can I call my series science fiction?
The way I see it, the Amanda stories are mysteries for people who love letting their imaginations soar. Notice that I didn’t say kids or children, I said people. That’s because you don’t have to be a kid to enjoy Amanda and the fanciful world she inhabits. All you need is a sense of fun and the willingness to suspend your disbelief. It’s too bad Amazon doesn’t have a category for mystery/imagination, because that, to me, describes the stories to a T.
Tomorrow I will discuss how I create the physical environments of Amanda’s world.
All five books in the series
Buy the whole series on Amazon!
The first Amanda Lester book is free and book 2, 3, 4 and 5 are only 0.99$ per book or can be bought as part of a box set. Links to each book on Amazon are below:
Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy (Amanda Lester, Detective #1)
Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis(Amanda Lester, Detective #2)
Amanda Lester and the Purple Rainbow Puzzle (Amanda Lester, Detective #3)
Amanda Lester and the Blue Peacocks’ Secret (Amanda Lester, Detective #4)
Amanda Lester and the Red Spider Rumpus (Amanda Lester, Detective #5)
Amanda Detective box set Books 1-4
The Amanda Lester series page
The Amanda Lester books on other vendors
The Amanda Lester series is also available on other vendor sites. Get the books on B&N, Kobo, iTunes and Smashwords.
About the Author:Paula Berinstein is nothing like Amanda. For one thing, she’s crazy about Sherlock Holmes. For another, she’s never wanted to be a filmmaker. In addition, compared to Amanda she’s a big chicken! And she wouldn’t mind going to a secret school at all. In fact, she’s hoping that some day she’ll get to build one.
You can find and contact Paula here:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Goodreads * Paula's blog on Goodreads * The Writing Show podcasts * Newsletter
Giveaway
There is a tour wide giveaway for the book blitz of the Amanda Lester series. These are the prizes you can win:
- One winner will win all 5 Amanda Lester books in paperback.
- Two winners will win a set of all 5 Amanda Lester books in e-format.
For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
2 comments:
Thank you so much for being part of my blitz, Melanie!!!
You're welcome! This is such a fun series!
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