When the Smoke Cleared by Bill Powers | Book Review ~ $25 Starbucks Gift Card ~ Author Guest Post
A book blog tour from iRead Book Tours.
Thank you to the author, publisher, & Lauren at iRead for providing me with the information for this tour. 
Book Details
When the Smoke Cleared: A Murder Mystery in Malden by Bill Powers
Published by Independent on October 17, 2022
Genres: Adult Fiction 18+, True Crime
Format: eBook, Paperback
Pages: 442
Source: iRead Book Tours, Kindle UnlimitedThere is no greater distinction or responsibility for a law enforcement officer than to be selected to investigate homicides. The same is true for a prosecutor. It is analogous to a call up to the big leagues where the lights are brighter, the audience larger and louder, and the scrutiny and demand for perfection is at times a bit overwhelming.
This story follows an extraordinary murder investigation from the crime scene through the trial prep and into the courtroom and is told through the voice of DLT. Bill Powers, the commander of the State Police Detective Unit for the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts. Walk the path of the investigation with Bill and his team, and then follow in ADA Adrienne Lynch’s footsteps as she guides the trial from opening statements through to the final verdict; a truly unique accounting with a bird’s eye view.
Beyond a police and courtroom procedural, this story is about the personal struggles in the victim’s life and how her death impacted her family’s lives in ways no one could have foreseen. It is a love story that grew from unspeakable tragedy.
Bill Powers writes from the heart because he spent twenty years living the life of a homicide investigator. He went to literally hundreds of death scenes and, while each made its mark, none had more of a personal effect on him than this case.
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Purchase Links for When the Smoke Cleared
Amazon-OneLink for all countries BookShop
When the Smoke Cleared: A M...Shop on Amazon
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My thoughts on When the Smoke Cleared
When the Smoke Cleared by Bill Powers is the personification of a nonfiction, true crime, police procedural novel.
The story is narrated by Bill Powers, a detective from the case. It covers every moment of the case from the original fire call to the discovery of a body to the verdict reached by the jury.
The reading can be slow due to the intricate details laid out in building the case and prosecuting the defendant. However, that does not mean the book was uninteresting. When the Smoke Cleared is a compelling, heartbreaking story that will touch the readers heart.
If you are a fan of true-crime tales, you won’t want to miss this book.
I received a copy of the book for the tour or read through Kindle Unlimited. This review is my honest, unbiased opinion.
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I love to read books through my Amazon Kindle Unlimited subscription.
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About Bill Powers
Bill Powers has been active in the Massachusetts law enforcement community since he joined the Massachusetts State Police in 1974. Over time he rose through the ranks and was promoted to the rank of Detective Lieutenant. He commanded the State Police Detective Units (SPDU) in both Middlesex and Suffolk Counties, where he had direct oversight and involvement in more than one hundred homicides.
His State Police career came full circle when he was named Commandant of the Recruit Training Academy. He retired as the director of the Media Relations Section. Following his retirement, Bill was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the graduate program for forensic sciences at the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM). For the next seven years he lectured on criminal investigation and expert testimony to the graduate students.
In addition, he produced training seminars for police investigators covering a wide variety of topics. Following his tenure at the BUSM he returned to the law enforcement profession as the Director of Public Safety at Wentworth Institute in Boston.
Bill earned an undergraduate degree from Northeastern University with a major in Criminal Justice and a Juris Doctorate degree from the New England School of Law.
He resides South of Boston with his wife Jane. Their two daughters and their families live nearby. He has been blessed with five remarkable grandchildren who sparkle like bright stars in the night sky.
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Guest Post from the author of When the Smoke Cleared
Publishing My First Book at 70
Publishing a book at any age is a great accomplishment. As my brother John, who is three years older than me and has been a newspaper journalist and writer of books for more than fifty years said to me on the day my first book published, “The best part of writing is to be able to say you have written.” That is so true. It is the experience that counts not the financial profit or loss. It is about strangers and friends reading your words and remembering you and those in the story because of what you wrote. It is an emotional rush different than any other. Your age has nothing to do with it.
Years ago I read an old African proverb that stuck with me. “When a person dies, a library burns to the ground.” The point being, when someone dies, a lifetime of knowledge, experience, and context is lost forever, and the world is left a poorer place. Tom Brokaw recognized that when he wrote “The Greatest Generation”. My intent is to tell the stories in and of my life and from my view until something beyond my control intercedes and I no longer can.
I self-published my book for many reasons, perhaps the biggest being because no agent I contacted expressed an interest in bringing it to an established publisher. That is their right and I also believe their loss. I understand the thinking that my being seventy-one years old means the chances of entering into a long-term relationship with a publisher is unlikely or, that there will be time left in my life to write sequels to my first books.
That may be their view but certainly not one I share. I get their point, but that doesn’t mean I agree. Is it age discrimination? Perhaps, but that is a battle I’m not going to engage in. I have too many positive things left to accomplish to bog myself down in that discussion.
In fairness, I don’t know how it would have worked out had a sold away the rights to my manuscript. I needed to relate the stories in my words and pace and not have some important language ripped out and thrown in a recycle bin because the publisher wanted to reduce pages for the sake of saving money. I would feel as though I was letting down or shortchanging the people who have confided in me and allowed me to share their story with all of you.
Then why didn’t I just write the book twenty years ago when the events were fresh in people’s memories? I couldn’t have written it when I was younger for a lot of reasons. The most important being, I had work and family responsibilities that required my undivided attention and took up virtually all of my time. I loved every minute of those segments of my life, and I would have regretted all that I missed if I was self-absorbed in my own personal projects.
In my almost fifty-year career in law enforcement, I have been involved in some extraordinary investigations and situations. I have talked and listened to people grieving and anguishing over the death of their loved one. In many cases, and for understandable reasons, the discussions did not always start well. But we almost always found some commonality and community and a way to work together to bring the killer to justice.
Along the way I have met some incredible people from all walks of life, cultures, and social and financial status. Most were good, some bad,and others pure evil. Those encounters have left indelible marks on me and absolutely changed the way I view the world. I came to recognize how and why we all see life through a series of personal lenses, that when put together, create a differing prism for every one of us.
The depth of my experience on both a personal and professional level helped me grow and changed my attitude from “I want to tell the stories”, to “I need to tell their stories.” I wasn’t mature enough to see or appreciate that when I was younger. I couldn’t have written about them when I was younger because I wasn’t experienced or competent enough to do it. It took me this long to feel prepared enough and have the time to sit and explain it all.
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Purchase When the Smoke Cleared online from a local bookstore.
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Easy Amazon Links
Amazon-OneLink for all countries
If the above link does not take you to your country, here are a few more:
Amazon – France
Amazon – Germany
Amazon – United Kingdom
Please send me a note if your country isn’t listed and you would like to purchase using my links. Using my link does not change the price you pay. Amazon pays me a minimal amount out of their share.
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Giveaway!
Please visit more stops on the tour for extra chances to win!
Official Tour Page for When the Smoke Cleared
WHEN THE SMOKE CLEARED by Bill Powers Book Tour Giveaway
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More True Crime Reviews:
The Deprived: Innocent on Death Row by Steffen Hou
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I look forward to reading this.
When the Smoke Cleared: A Murder Mystery in Malden by Bill Powers sounds like a fascinating and authentically based mystery.