Author: K.T. McGivens

A #CrimeFicFridays Book Review | “The Secret at Sunset Hill” (A Katie Porter Mystery, Book One) by K.T. McGivens

Posted Friday, 23 September, 2022 by jorielov , , , 1 Comment

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Acquired Book By: Quite happily, my path with Ms McGivens crossed in early July, 2021 wherein I messaged her via Twitter and we struck up a conversation which led me to booking her for @SatBookChat and I received her first novel for the Katie Porter Mysteries in the mail. I had fully intended to read and review this novel closer to the time in which I spoke with her during my chat but sadly, that simply wasn’t in the cards. This August I started to resume my readerly life after a difficult Summer wherein I had a complete disconnection with both my reading life and my blogging life. Mysteries, especially Cosy Mysteries have always been the backbone of my readerly interests – thus, I had a feeling that if I returnt to reading this lovely to jump-start my #CrimeFicFridays again alongside other selections I’ve been blogging about during #WWWednesdays, I might find myself in happy cycle of reading more Crime Fiction before year’s end.

I received a complimentary copy of “The Secret at Sunset Hill” direct from the author K.T. McGivens in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

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Why I wanted to read The Katie Porter Mysteries;

I was looking at the chapter sampler for the first Katie Porter Mystery “The Secret at Sunset Hill” and I was loving it. I have a soft spot for newspaper reporters… grew up on Lois Lane in one version or another and my fascination always stuck. Plus, like McGivens, I loved Nancy Drew as I cut my teeth on Mysteries quite young devouring the case files and reading the Hardy Boys too. By 8 or 9 I was given my first Miss Marple anthology of stories and I was literally in awe and set for life to be a Mystery, Suspense & Thriller reader. Although, I carry my Cosy sensibility with me as I don’t like anything too overtly violent or graphic, plus I’m not into overly peppered vulgarity in stories either.

And, then when I realised it was going to become a fully developed series with multiple installments, I knew I had to interview Ms McGivens on my chat as I felt this series and Katie Porter in particular would be a wicked good fit for @SatBookChat. As I have had the tendency of focusing on strong women & imploring narratives across genres which interest me most as a reader. There was something wicked clever, too, about Katie Porter – about how she’s quite the everywoman heroine and someone you can relate, too.

Similar in vein to how we all cross-identify with Nancy Drew but also with women like Anna Blanc but in a different capacity of course, as Ms Blanc’s life is a bit grittier than Katie & Nancy’s but evenso, there is a thread of connection between them in finding strong women set in historical eras who were choosing to live their lives on their own terms and just finding themselves able to solve mysteries as if they were bourne to it. Of course, this also brings to thought and mind the characters within Jennifer Lamont Leo’s novels & stories, too!

We could always use another wicked awesome heroine in our lives and for me, right now, that new heroine has arrived in the form of Katie Porter!

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A #CrimeFicFridays Book Review | “The Secret at Sunset Hill” (A Katie Porter Mystery, Book One) by K.T. McGivensThe Secret at Sunset Hill
Subtitle: A Katie Porter Mystery : One
by K.T. McGivens
Source: Direct from Author

About the Katie Porter series:

Set in year 1947, Katie Porter is a 21 year old newspaper reporter who finds herself caught up in various mysteries while researching and writing articles for her hometown paper, the Fairfield Gazette. Set before modern technology such as cellphones, computers, and the Internet, she must rely on her courage and wits to discover the truth and capture the culprits. She has a wide circle of friends who help her and her adventures are filled with friendship, loyalty, suspense, danger, tenacity, problem solving, and romance! Each book builds on the previous one as the reader helps Katie and her friends solve yet another case. Life in the town of Fairfield and Katie’s ancestral home, Rosegate, is never dull! And the mysteries continue...

Genres: Crime Fiction, Amateur Detective, Cosy Historical Mystery



Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1692346652

Published by Self Published

on 18th September, 2019

Format: Paperback Edition

Pages: 140

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The Katie Porter Mysteries:

NOTE: Books One-Three are now in audiobook! 🎧📖

1. The Secret at Sunset Hill
2. The Mystery at the Mystic Museum
3. The Plot at the Pearson Playhouse
4. The Ghost of Golden Joe
5. The Murder of Major Pennington
6. The Disappearance of Devlin Douglas
7. The Passing of Preston Peabody
8. The Case of the Casual Killer
9. The Mystery at Maplewood Hall
10. The Incident on Ivory Island
11. The Odd Appearance of Anneliese Abbott
12. The Crime at Covington Corner
13. The Body in Bounty Bay

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Converse via: #HistoricalMystery or #CosyMystery
as well as #KatiePorterMysteries

Available Formats: Trade paperback and Ebook

Read More

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

  • #CrimeFicFridays
  • 2022 Backlogue Reviews
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Posted Friday, 23 September, 2022 by jorielov in 20th Century, Aftermath of World War II, Amateur Detective, Book Review (non-blog tour), Content Note, Cosy Historical Mystery, Crime Fiction, Fly in the Ointment, Historical Fiction, the Forties, The World Wars