Saturday, March 2, 2019

The Watch on the Fencepost by Kay DiBianca Blog Tour


About the Book


Book: The Watch on the Fencepost  
Author: Kay DiBianca  
Genre: Christian Mystery / Suspense/ Romance  

A WATCH THAT REVEALS MORE THAN JUST THE TIME . . . A mysterious gold watch propels 27-year-old Kathryn Frasier into a quest to prove her parents’ recent deaths were not an accident. Following a trail of cryptic clues, she encounters a remarkable cast of characters, including an actress with a talent for disguises, a politician with a dark secret, and a handsome businessman who shows a sudden romantic interest in Kathryn. Can she solve the mystery before she becomes the next victim?

Click here to purchase your copy.

My Review

I was pleasantly surprised by this debut novel. It contains a pretty good mystery. DiBianca did a good job of leading me astray in thinking I knew who the bad guy was. It contains some romance, though it did go a bit fast for me. There was a side story about youthful indiscretions of a state representative adding interest to Kathryn's life in the aftermath of the death of her parents.

My favorite part of the novel was the puzzle Kathryn's father left for her, leading to her birthday present. I appreciated the way Kathryn became aware of the meaning of the clues. That was a clever addition to the novel.

This is a good Christian romantic mystery. The plot and character development will keep you reading, as will trying to solve the birthday puzzle.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

About the Author

Kay DiBianca holds an MS degree in computer science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has worked in the IT departments of several major organizations, including IBM, UNC Chapel Hill, International Paper, and FedEx. She has an instrument rating in single-engine aircraft and competes in the Senior Olympics track events. She is a U.S. representative for Bridges for Peace, an international organization whose mission is to serve the people of Israel. She and her husband, Frank, live in Memphis, Tennessee. For more information, visit kaydibianca.com.

Guest post from Kay


WHY I WROTE THE WATCH ON THE FENCEPOST I’m a runner. I spend a lot of time on the treadmill, at a local track, or running in a park near my home. When I’m outdoors, I usually listen to podcasts or audio books to keep my mind occupied. Several years ago, I was listening to a mystery novel while running on a trail, and I began to put together a story in my own mind. Over the following weeks and months, I had created the characters of Kathryn and Cece, and I could see them in my mind’s eye. On another long run, I passed an old fence post and a plot began to form itself. Other characters seemed to materialize out of nowhere, and soon I had the basic outline of the book in my head. Before long I was ignoring the audio book voices coming through my earbuds and just adding to my own story. That’s when I decided to write it down. In the next few months, my story grew from a general outline to a narrative that stretched to over 60,000 words, and I loved the little surprises that popped up along the way. Although I had intended the book to be a straight mystery, I found some of the characters writing their own scenes, and soon there was romance! As I chiseled away the extraneous parts and added detail and nuance, the important story elements of love, faith, and family rose to the surface. I delighted in Kathryn’s discovering more about herself and Cece’s unfailing wisdom and humor. I spent over a year working with an editor to revise and strengthen the book. With every change in a word or addition of a plot twist, the story got better. It’s been three years since that first run in the park that got me thinking about the story. Now Kathryn, Cece, Phil, Mike, Tommy, and all the others are ready to tell their stories to the world. I think I’ll go for a run tomorrow to see what Kathryn and Cece are going to be up to next.

Blog Stops

Mary Hake, March 4
Emily Yager, March 8
Pause for Tales, March 9
Older & Smarter?, March 14
By The Book, March 14
Bigreadersite, March 15
The Becca Files, March 15

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book through Celebrate Lit. My comments are an independent and honest review. The rest of the copy of this post was provided by Celebrate Lit.

6 comments:

Susan C said...

This book sounds interesting. Adding to my TBR

Emma said...

This sounds like a fun story to read!

Dianna said...

I like finding debut authors. It's neat to get to see the beginning of a writer's career!

Kay DiBianca said...

Joan, Thank you for reviewing The Watch on the Fencepost on your blog. I really appreciate the kind words.

Angela Saver said...

I enjoyed learning of this author and this book! Sounds great!

James Robert said...

Thank you so much for taking time to bring to our attention another great read. I enjoy these tours and finding out about many terrific books.