Tag: crime fiction

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Book Quote Wednesday!

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In celebration of the February 11th trade paperback release of THE ANTIQUITIES HUNTER (Pegasus Books), I post this quote from the novel. (Oh, and BookViewCafe.com is offering the companion novelette prequel, “Tinkerbell On Walkabout” for a mere buck 99 during the month of February.)

I lay down to sleep with the sound of water lapping at the keel of my houseboat. Far and away, there was an underscore of pounding surf, like a mother’s heartbeat. Somewhere along the path to sleep, I stumbled into a world in which the heartbeat became my own, and the hiss of surf became the hiss of traffic. There were odors here too—oil, wet concrete, something frying.

Sight was slow to register. I was swaddled in moist, cool darkness that clung to my skin. My eyes finally caught up with my other senses and informed me that I was in an alley. Before me was the opening to the street. Neon flashed blue, then red on the glistening concrete, and infused the mist with color—hot then cold. On my left and right were brick walls that seemed to go up into infinity. There was graffiti on them.

Behind me was darkness; I instinctively edged away toward the untrustworthy light.

That’s when a voice spoke my name. It was a man’s voice, crooning sweet slime. I knew it well. It filled me with disgust and desperation.

I ran.

—Gina Miyoko from Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff’s, The Antiquities Hunter

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Whence Gina Miyoko?

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Before I had quite finished writing the manuscript that became THE ANTIQUITIES HUNTER (Pegasus Crime 2018), I penned detective Gina Miyoko’s genesis story, Tinkerbell on Walkabout, and posted it as a novelette on Book View Cafe.

Some of Gina’s backstory changed in the writing of the novel, so I reworked parts of the novelette, re-imagined the cover to be more in line with the one Pegasus gave to the novel and re-released it in anticipation of THE ANTIQUITIES HUNTER’s trade paperback release in February.

The novel is also available in eBook format from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks and just about any other online outlet.

If you want to know how Gina “Tinkerbell” Miyoko came to be a private eye, Tinkerbell on Walkabout (also available from Amazon), is my telling of that harrowing tale.

I’ll let you in on a secret: The original working title of my Gina novel was TINKERBELL AND THE FOURTH GOD FROM THE LEFT, which is a reference to an important work of ancient art Gina comes across in her adventure down among the Mayan ruins. Yeah, I can totally see how hard that would be to squeeze onto the cover of a book.

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Breaking News! Booklist Review of THE ANTIQUITIES HUNTER is in!

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I am tickled pumpkin by this review from Booklist that I just received this morning from my delightful publisher.

Booklist says:

An entertaining debut introducing PI Gina “Tinkerbell” Miyoko. At five foot nine and 94 pounds, she is a Harley-riding, San Francisco Bay houseboat–dwelling powerhouse who is met with frank amazement by most people. When her best friend, Rose, an undercover Park Service agent, is gravely injured, Gina takes her place, going undercover in Mexico in the company of archaeologist Cruz Veras, a Mexican Indiana Jones, to ferret out who is trafficking in looted artifacts. The gamin-like Gina adopts a teasingly glamorous persona looking to spend, spend, spend, and attracts a mysterious antiquities dealer in Cancun. She ultimately ends up, after an unexpected betrayal, trapped in the pitch-black guts of a Mayan temple where she must fight for her life, armed only with her wits and an odd assortment of lucky charms. Gina is a unique series lead, but she sweeps across the pages like an adrenalin-fueled soul sister of Janet Evanovich’s flamboyant characters, presented in an equally biting and outrageous narrative that turns on a dime. A promising start to an exciting new series with plenty of crossover YA appeal. — Jane Murphy, Booklist

Wow! “Adrenalin-fueled soul sister of Janet Evanovich’s flamboyant characters . . . .” I am thrilled. Thank you, Jane Murphy for such a terrific review—and thank you, Pegasus, for taking a chance with my diminutive detective.

Stay tuned for more about Gina’s adventures.

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The Advanced Copies Are Out—Reviews Are Coming In!

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The ARCs (Advanced Review Copies) of The Antiquities Hunter have gone out to other mystery and crime writers and reviewers and I got a look at some of the reviews that are posted on the Pegasus website.

So SQUEEEEEEE!

Here’s one….

“Bohnhoff’s The Antiquities Hunter is a wild, breathless ride, a true pager turner. The plot alone, although full of exciting and unexpected turns, isn’t what makes it so compelling. Rather, it’s the energy, humor, and no-nonsense of its lead detective, Gina “Tink” Miyoko, an absolute original, that grounds the story, pulls us in, and makes us care.” —John Copenhaver, author of Dodging and Burning

And here’s another….

“A witty and thoroughly engaging page-turner that would make Lara Croft’s head spin. Gina Miyoko is a unique, sassy and very welcome addition to the top rank of fictional private eyes.” — Zoë Sharp, author of the Charlie Fox thriller series

YESSSSSSS! (as they say in the olde countrie)

Counting down to October!

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It’s Official! I Am Now a Mystery/Crime Writer!

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Yes, it’s true. I have sold my first ever mystery / crime novel to Pegasus Books—or rather my amazing and inestimable agent has. So, I have now stopped pinching myself and am ready to squee loud and long.

My first Gina Miyoko Mystery—THE ANTIQUITIES HUNTER—will release on October 2, 2018 in hard back.

Let me tell you a little about Gina Suzu Miyoko. She’s five-foot-two, gamine, and weighs eighty-nine pounds in a soggy trench coat. The nickname “Tinkerbell” (or “Tink” for short) has followed her from high school. It’s hard to imagine her riding a Harley named Boris, or packing a baby blue Taurus .357 Magnum. She does both. She’s Gina Miyoko, private eye.

Gina’s is a highly functional if quirky family. Her Japanese-American father, Edmund, is a retired police detective. He’s also the chairman of a Bay Area Sherlock Holmes Society, chews the stem of a Meerschaum pipe that he never lights, and wears a deerstalker cap while reading the mystery novels to which he is addicted. Her mother—a professor of Slavic culture and folklore at SFSU—carefully maintains a thick “moose and squirrel” accent (thicker, Ed Miyoko claims, than when he met her) writes tragic poetry, directs a local theatre group, and collects materia magica from all over the world. This includes a vast collection of obereg (Russian for good luck charms) one of which she insists Gina carry whenever she embarks on a case.  

From these two characters, Gina has inherited a curious mixture of cultural and religious influences, a passion for law enforcement, and a penchant for Russian and Japanese arcana that gives her a unique slant on reality. Styling herself a Russian Orthodox Buddhist, Gina tells herself she’s purely pragmatic, but when it comes to pursuing a case, she hedges her bets—there is always an obereg somewhere on her petite person. Oh, and she wears a signature tattoo on her right hip—a Russian Orthodox Buddha.

She may look like a doll, but his exotic, Hog-riding, pistol-packing young woman is not to be judged by her stature.

Next time—more on Tink’s first major adventure.