Searching For Truth (A Jake Scott Mystery #1) by Barry Finlay | $15 Giveaway, Excerpt, Review
A book blog tour from Goddess Fish Promotions.
Thank you to the author, publisher, and Marianne & Judy at Goddess Fish for providing me with the information for this tour.
Book Details
Searching For Truth: A Jake Scott Mystery by Barry Finlay Series: Jake Scott Mystery Series #1
Published by Keep on Climbing Publishing on September 1, 2021
Genres: Amateur Sleuth, Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
Format: eBook, Paperback
The truth could be deadly for him and the people he cares about. Can this former reporter resist an enticing story despite the consequences?
Former journalist Jake Scott relies on his weekly breakfast gatherings with friends and a temperamental tabby cat named Oliver to keep his spirits up. He has lost his wife, retired from his job, and watched his daughter move to Toronto with her boyfriend.
Things change when one of the breakfast attendees, a beautiful and tenacious police detective with a troubled teenage daughter, suggests Jake should write a book. When he takes her advice and researches a convicted murderer’s case, he finds out something is terribly wrong. Could a member of the breakfast group be hiding a secret deadly enough to commit murder?
Jake follows leads that uncover a mysterious and disturbing rollercoaster ride of clues, all while his attraction for the detective grows. An attempt to force the true murderer out of hiding results in a terrifying ordeal on the coldest night of the year.
Searching For Truth is written by the author of The Marcie Kane Thriller Collection, one of the Authors Show's "50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading" list in 2012 and the winner of multiple literary awards.
Source: Goddess Fish Promotions, Kindle Unlimited, Received from the author or publisher for review.
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Excerpt from Searching For Truth
The row of cars started again, and as he approached a park near his home, he noticed a startling sight through the barren trees. His headlights reflected on something as he turned the corner. Any faster and he would have missed the lone figure hunched over on a bench.
For a moment Jake thought the individual was a drifter and concern swept over him, leaving a dull ache in his stomach. Nobody should be sitting outside as the temperature plunged, and the snow accumulated. But the troubled feeling turned the ache to churning in the pit of his stomach. The small person on the bench in a snow-covered toque had an unsettling familiarity.
Jake slowed his car and stared at the figure to confirm his fears. A horn blared, and a car swept around him, too fast for the conditions. The angry driver’s mouth moved rapidly as he shot a single finger into the air. Jake barely noticed.
No, it can’t be. But it was. The person on the bench was Dani’s daughter, Emilie. Jake was sure of it. Why would she be sitting on a bench in the middle of winter? He had seen the way she dressed. She probably wore scarcely enough clothing to keep her warm on a summer evening.
He pulled onto a side street and located a parking spot between two cars. He didn’t bother buying a ticket to allow him to park there; this was too serious. He held his arms out like airplane wings for balance as he slipped and slid on the snow-covered icy sidewalk, rounded the corner, and peered through the white curtain to see that the figure hadn’t moved. Ice pellets battered his face and bit his skin like a swarm of black flies at a picnic as he rushed to the park.
She’s going to freeze out here with what she’s wearing! I hope she’s okay.
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Purchase Links for Searching For Truth
The Book Depository Waterstones
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My thoughts on Searching For Truth
A great start to a new mystery series.
,Searching for Truth has all you need for a great mystery. The tale opens with a double homicide, then immediately jumps to two and a half years later. Jake Scott retired from journalism hoping for the elusive peace that he was promised. Instead, he is bored and alone. His wife passed away, his daughter moved away with her boyfriend. Poor Jake is left with his grumpy cat, Oliver.
While attending his regular Saturday morning breakfast gathering with buddies at the Brew and Buns, a newer friend, homicide detective Dani, suggests he write a book about a case she feels convicted the wrong killer.
From that point on, the mystery and intrigue grow as Jake and Dani work together to find the real murderer. Their feelings for each other become apparent as they spend more time together.
The characters are well-developed and very relatable, even down to the cat. The setting of the author’s hometown of Ottawa, Canada in the winter adds to the tale. I enjoyed the bits where friends and family try to drag Jake into the current technology scene. I can relate.
The suspense and intrigue roll through in waves taking me from the edge of my seat to breathing a sigh of relief.
Overall, I recommend Searching for Truth to all fans of classic “whodunit” mysteries.
I received a copy of the book for the tour. This review is my honest, unbiased opinion.
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I love my Amazon Kindle Unlimited Subscription. So many books, so little time!
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About Barry Finlay
Barry Finlay is a fiction and non-fiction author. In his previous life, he had an extensive career in financial management before retiring in 2004 after thirty-two years with the Canadian federal government. Since retiring, he has divided his time between writing, working as a consultant on financial policy matters, travel, playing golf, climbing mountains, philanthropy, and enjoying his three grandchildren.
In 2009, Barry got off the couch and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with his son, Chris. The experience of climbing Africa's highest mountain at age 60 with one of his sons, and discovering the satisfaction of reaching a goal and giving others the opportunity to achieve theirs, was a non-fiction book waiting to be written. The travel memoir and inspirational Kilimanjaro and Beyond have won numerous awards and Barry is featured in the Authors Show book, "50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading."
His 2nd book, a travel memoir called I Guess We Missed The Boat, also non-fiction received the 2013/14 Reader Views Literary Award in the Travel category and reached Amazon Kindle Bestseller status.
In 2014, Barry started working on the Marcie Kane Thriller Collection. The first in the series, The Vanishing Wife, was released that year. On the merits of The Vanishing Wife, Barry was named as a winner of a Canada Book Award for his accomplishment and contribution to the publishing world. It was also named the best e-book in the Thriller/Mystery category by New Apple Literary Awards and also reached Amazon Kindle Bestseller status.
That was followed by A Perilous Question, which received an award for the best Thriller/Suspense in the New Apple Literary Awards e-book category, and was named Official Selection in the 2016 New Apple Book Awards: Suspense / Thriller (paperback) and as a Finalist in the Eric Hoffer Book Awards.
His contemporary political thriller, Remote Access, was released in 2018 and has received acclaim from a variety of reviewers. In 2019, he released a novella called Never So Alone, which expands on the background of one of his central characters. His next in the series, The Burden of Darkness, will be released in 2020.
He has now launched The Jake Scott Mystery Series with the first book, Searching For Truth, released in 2021.
Barry is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee medal for philanthropy.
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Giveaway!
Barry Finlay will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Visit more stops on this Goddess Fish tour for extra chances to win!
Full Tour Schedule:
October 27: The Avid Reader
October 27: The Faerie Review
November 3: Novels Alive
November 3: Fabulous and Brunette
November 10: Sandra’s Book Club
November 10: Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read
November 17: Gina Rae Mitchell
November 17: Hope. Dreams. Life… Love
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Purchase Searching For Truth online from a local book store.
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Easy Amazon Links
Searching For Truth: A Jake...Shop on Amazon Kindle 
Searching For Truth: A Jake...Shop on Amazon Paperback
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I enjoyed reading the excerpt and I enjoyed following the tour and learning about your book, which sounds like a great mystery to be solved! Thanks for sharing it with me and I hope the tour was a success! Good luck with your book! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Gina! Have a magical holiday season!
Thank you for the review! If you or any of your readers have questions about the book or writing in general, I would be happy to answer.
Thanks for hosting!