Chris Crossed Murder by Lauren Carr Book Tour, Review, Guest Post & Giveaway! {Ends 4/7/23}
This is the Chris Matheson Cold Case Mystery series #4 book. It is just as fun captivating and fast-moving as all of this talented author’s other books!
Book Details:
Chris Crossed Murder (A Chris Matheson Cold Case Mystery #4) by Lauren Carr
Category:Adult Fiction (18 +)
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Acorn Book Services
Release date: Feb 22, 2023
Tour dates: Feb 22 to Mar 31, 2023
Content Rating: PG-13 (Lauren Carr’s books are murder mysteries, so there are murders involved. Occasionally, a murder will happen on stage. There is sexual content, but always behind closed doors. Some mild swearing (a hell or a damn few and far between). No F-bombs!
Book Description:
It proves to be a Christmas to remember when the Matheson family receives the horrendous news that Chris Matheson’s body has been found in the woods near an international airport.
Everyone is stunned—especially Chris Matheson.
The mystery deepens when they discover the victim has Chris’s federal agent badge and appears to have been investigating one of his old cases.
The Geezer Squad’s latest case is not only a whodunit but who-got-dun. Is this a case of mistaken identity? Was Chris the intended victim? If not, then they must identify the murder victim to find his killer.
With Christmas days away, join the Chris Matheson and the Geezer Squad as they race to piece together the clues to their most puzzling case yet.
Add to Goodreads ~ Buy the Book: Amazon.com ~ B&N ~ BAM ~ BookBub
Review By LAWonder10:
This very talented writer, Lauren Carr, has once again created a thrilling, suspenseful mystery, with a touch of humor. It is always a joy to read one of her creations. I love the “dry” humor, her wonderful, intriguing characters, and the touch of romance found in all of her books.
As in her other books, Chris Crosed Murder seems like it is at the ending but then continues with a new scenario, several times. Her books are never boring or slow-moving.
In ti fourth book of the Chris Matheson Murder mysteries, Chris is retired, remarried, and living on a ranch. However, while on a trip with his newest daughter, to buy a retired racehorse, his family is in terror after hearing his body was found in a tree near an airport.
Chris is drawn into his past life in order to discover whose body was in the tree with Chris’s identity on it… Of course, he had the help of the”Geaser Squad”!
I felt quite pleased with myself for figuring out who the culprit was although I wasn’t sure until the very end. Even then, there were added surprises. As always, the reader/listener is left with the anxiety of having to wait until the next book of the series!
I offer a Five Stars rating for this book.
This book was gifted me with no pressure to post a positive review. This is my honest review.
Other Books in the Series:




Guest Post:

Practical Tips for Beginning Mystery Writers By Lauren Carr
Everyone wants to be Jessica Fletcher. Do you remember Jessica Fletcher? Oh, that’s right. She was in the ’80s. I guess I’ve dated myself. Okay! I admit it! I’m THAT old. Do you want to make something of it?
All right. My mood is swinging back in the other direction. … Where was I? Oh, yes, you want to be a mystery writer:
Number One: Research. Research in mystery writing is very important. However, I strongly advise against hands-on research in murder mystery writing. No matter how good you may be, if you kill your ex-husband, they are going to catch you and you will go to jail. Then you will be spending so much time fighting off a muscle-bound, tattooed roommate calling you “Cupcake” that you won’t have time to write your book.
It is best to do your research online. Google is a good starting source. There is an unbelievable wealth of sources on the internet now, geared specifically toward writers for research in law enforcement and forensics. I know one author who found a video on how to build a bomb.
Number Two: Once you’ve done your research into murder, you now need to come up with a storyline.
The best place to start is to come up with a protagonist. Another word is ‘hero.’ Some writers base their detectives on themselves. Others base them on their fantasy hero. At this point, ask yourself: Who do you want to save the day? You or some dashing, sexy, man with piercing eyes and a big gun? (Hold that thought while I go get a glass of cold water.)
Number Three: Your victim. You can’t have a murder mystery without someone getting killed. You may already have a murder victim. Many murder mystery writers have victims in mind before they have even thought of writing a book. To tell you the truth, many mystery writers were driven to write murder mysteries because of their victims.
This is the one case where it is okay to ask, “Who would I like to kill?” Bosses are a favorite. At a book event, one reader told me that she had two ex-husbands that she wanted me to kill between the pages for her.
Number Four: How are you going to kill your victim? If you are basing your victim on someone in particular, you may already have a murder method in mind. Or you may have so many ideas that you don’t know which one to choose from. It is all a matter of preference. Do you want your murder victim to go out with a whimper or a bang? Is he or she worthy of going out in a blaze of glory? If not, maybe you want a particularly tortuous death, like being dined on by a kamado dragon. Or, you could have him die “off-stage”. In this case, you don’t need to write it out. You could simply have the reader hear about it later.
Number Five: The solving of the case. This is where many mystery writers get tripped up. They have so much fun with steps one through four that they’ve forgotten that someone must solve their victim’s murder. Maybe because subconsciously, they don’t want their victim’s murder solved. That is something for the writer to take to Dr. Phil to sort out.
As much fun as it was killing their boss or ex-husband or nasty neighbor or lawyer who rolled over and played dead in divorce court or—How about that teacher in high school who gave me a “B” on the essay when I bloody well deserved an “A” and because of that I didn’t get into Harvard and my life was ruined and now I’m cleaning gutters for a living—
Excuse me. Back on track.
Your mystery does need to get solved. After the murder, you need to lead the reader on the path through the detection, solving of the crime, and the capture of the killer. That’s right. In the end, the killer is captured by the detective. That’s why in the beginning I warned you not to practice this at home in real life—unless you want to evade capture when they find out by getting cosmetic surgery, going off the grid, and then spending the rest of your life on the lam—which is another blog post.
Happy Mystery Writing!
Meet the Author:
Selling over half a million books worldwide, Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, Thorny Rose, Chris Matheson Cold Case Mysteries, and Nikki Bryant Cozy Mysteries—thirty titles across five fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns!
Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, crime fiction, police procedurals, romance, and humor.
The owner of Acorn Book Services and iRead Book Tours, Lauren is also a publishing manager, consultant, and virtual book tour coordinator for independent authors.
Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions.
She lives with her husband, and two spoiled rotten German shepherds on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
The Tour Schedule:
Feb 22 – Mystery Review Crew – book series spotlight / guest post / giveaway
Feb 22 – The Book Countess– book series spotlight / author interview / giveaway
Feb 22 – Locks Hooks and Books – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / author interview / giveaway
Feb 22 – Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / guest post / giveaway
Feb 23– Leanne Bookstagram– book review of ICE
Feb 24 – My WorldReads– book series spotlight / author interview / giveaway
Feb 24 – Book Reviews by Linda Moore – book series spotlight / giveaway
Feb 27 – Splashes of Joy – book review of ICE / giveaway
Feb 27– Rockin’ Book Reviews – audiobook review of WINTER FROST / giveaway
Feb 27 – Bound 4 Escape– book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / giveaway
Feb 28 – Blooming with Books – book series spotlight / giveaway
Feb 28 – Splashes of Joy– book review of WINTER FROST / giveaway
Feb 28 – Paws.Read.Repeat – audiobook book review of ICE / giveaway
Mar 1 – Christa Reads and Writes – book review of ICE / giveaway
Mar 1 – Leanne Bookstagram – book review of WINTER FROST
Mar 1 – Cover Lover Book Review– book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / guest post / giveaway
Mar 1 – Rockin’ Book Reviews – audiobook review of THE LAST THING SHE SAID / giveaway
Mar 2 – Diane’s Book Journal– book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER
Mar 3 – Novels Alive– book review of ICE / giveaway
Mar 3 – Gina Rae Mitchell – book review of ICE / giveaway
Mar 3 –Bigreadersite – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / giveaway
Mar 6 – Welcome To MLM Opinions Reviews– book review of ICE / giveaway
Mar 6 –Novels Alive – book review of WINTER FROST / giveaway
Mar 7 – Welcome To MLM Opinions Reviews – book review of WINTER FROST / giveaway
Mar 7 – Leanne Bookstagram – book review of THE LAST THING SHE SAID
Mar 7 – Rockin’ Book Reviews – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / guest post / giveaway
Mar 8 – Deborah-Zenha Adams – book series spotlight / guest post / giveaway
Mar 8 – Paws.Read.Repeat – audiobook book review of WINTER FROST / giveaway
Mar 8 – Welcome To MLM Opinions Reviews – book review of THE LAST THING SHE SAID / giveaway
Mar 9 – Splashes of Joy – book review of THE LAST THING SHE SAID / giveaway
Mar 9 – Welcome To MLM Opinions Reviews – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / giveaway
Mar 9 – FUONLYKNEW – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / guest post / giveaway
Mar 10 – Gina Rae Mitchell – book review of WINTER FROST / giveaway
Mar 10 –Novels Alive – book review of THE LAST THING SHE SAID / giveaway
Mar 10 – Splashes of Joy – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / giveaway
Mar 13 – Liese’s Blog – book series spotlight
Mar 14 – Paws.Read.Repeat – audiobook book review of THE LAST THING SHE SAID / giveaway
Mar 14 – Library of Clean Reads – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / giveaway
Mar 15 –Novels Alive – book spotlight of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / giveaway
Mar 15 –Novels Alive – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / giveaway
Mar 16 – Leanne Bookstagram – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / giveaway
Mar 16 – Olio by Marilyn – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / giveaway
Mar 17 – Celticlady’s Reviews – book series spotlight / author interview / giveaway
Mar 17 – Gina Rae Mitchell – book review of THE LAST THING SHE SAID / giveaway
Mar 17 – Christa Reads and Writes – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER
Mar 17 – Older & Smarter? – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / author interview / giveaway
Mar 20 – Books for Books – book series spotlight
Mar 20 – Sandra’s Book Club – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER
Mar 21 – Paws.Read.Repeat – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / giveaway
Mar 21 – fundinmental – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / giveaway
Mar 22 – My Reading Getaway – book review of ICE / giveaway
Mar 22 – Book Corner News and Reviews – book review of WINTER FROST / giveaway
Mar 23 – My Reading Getaway – book review of WINTER FROST / giveaway
Mar 23 – Book Corner News and Reviews – book review of THE LAST THING SHE SAID / giveaway
Mar 24 – Gina Rae Mitchell – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / guest post / giveaway
Mar 24 – Book Corner News and Reviews – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / giveaway
Mar 24 – Pause for Tales – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / giveaway
Mar 27 – My Reading Journeys – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / giveaway
Mar 27 – Nighttime Reading Center – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / giveaway
Mar 28 – Jazzy Book Reviews – book series spotlight / guest post / giveaway
Mar 28 – My Reading Getaway – book review of THE LAST THING SHE SAID / giveaway
Mar 29 – inspired.j.reads – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER
Mar 30 – My Reading Getaway – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / giveaway
Mar 31 – Adventurous Jessy – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / giveaway
Mar 31 – Just Another Reader – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / giveaway
TBD – Leels Loves Books – book review of CHRIS CROSSED MURDER / giveaway
Giveaway Details:
Come to the Geezer Squad (We Have Cookies!) as Chris Matheson figures out this latest cold case mystery! Enter to win $75 Paypal & Grandma Bellas Cookies!
(ends Apr 7)
To Enter the Giveaway click on the Rafflecopter link below:

Thank you so much, Lu Ann! I am thrilled and honored that you have enjoyed this new Chris Matheson Cold Case Mystery. Good luck to everyone in the giveaway!