Amanda Lester Series by Paula Berinstein Book Blitz, Guest Post and Giveaway

This is my stop during the book blitz for the Amanda Lester Series by Paula Berinstein. This book blitz is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The book blitz runs from 30 January till 5 February. You can see the tour schedule here

About the Amanda Lester series
The Amanda Lester series is a Middle Grade/ Young Adult Mystery series.
The series contains 5 books so far and at least 2 more books are planned. The first four books are also available bundled in a box set. And the first book is also available in audiobook format. The currently published books are:
- Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy (Amanda Lester, Detective #1)
- Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis (Amanda Lester, Detective #2)
- Amanda Lester and the Purple Rainbow Puzzle (Amanda Lester, Detective #3)
- Amanda Lester and the Blue Peacocks’ Secret (Amanda Lester, Detective #4)
- Amanda Lester and the Red Spider Rumpus (Amanda Lester, Detective #5)

The First book in the series:
Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy (Amanda Lester, Detective #1)
by Paula Berinstein

Blurb:
Amanda Lester wouldn't be caught dead going into the family business. Her ancestor, Sherlock Holmes colleague Inspector G. Lestrade, is a twit. Nevertheless her parents refuse to see his flaws, and she's going to a secret English school for the descendants of famous detectives whether she likes it or not.

When Amanda arrives at the dreaded school, she considers running away—until she and her new friends discover blood and weird pink substances in odd places. At first they're not sure whether these oddities mean anything, but when Amanda's father disappears and the cook is found dead with her head in a bag of sugar, they're certain that crimes are taking place.

Now Amanda must embrace her destiny and uncover the truth. The only snag is that arch-villain Blixus Moriarty, a descendant of Holmes’s nemesis Professor James Moriarty, might be involved, and he doesn’t like nosy little girls interfering in his business.

You can find Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy on Goodreads

Get the e-copy for free!
The e-copy of Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy is free now on all vendor sites! Grab your free copy here:
- Amazon
- Barnes & Noble
- Kobo
- Smashwords

Get the Audiobook!
You can buy the audiobook of Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy here:
- Audible
- Amazon
- iTunes

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here on Soundcloud.

All five books in the series

Buy the whole series on Amazon!
The first Amanda Lester book is free and book 2, 3, 4 and 5 are only 0.99$ per book or can be bought as part of a box set. Links to each book on Amazon are below:
- Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy (Amanda Lester, Detective #1)
- Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis(Amanda Lester, Detective #2)
- Amanda Lester and the Purple Rainbow Puzzle (Amanda Lester, Detective #3)
- Amanda Lester and the Blue Peacocks’ Secret (Amanda Lester, Detective #4)
- Amanda Lester and the Red Spider Rumpus (Amanda Lester, Detective #5)
- Amanda Detective box set Books 1-4
- The Amanda Lester series page

The Amanda Lester books on other vendors
The Amanda Lester series is also available on other vendor sites. Get the books on B&N, Kobo, iTunes and Smashwords.

Post 1: Why I gave Amanda Lester so many flaws

“Amanda Lester was so tired of hearing about the great Sherlock Holmes she could scream. Mr. La-di-da boring detective, whoop-de-doo. Night and day, day and night, he was all her parents talked about. ‘It’s time to get serious, Amanda. When I was your age, I had already memorized Sherlock Holmes’s complete memoirs.’ ‘Darling, that will never work. You must do it like Sherlock Holmes.’ ‘Did I tell you what Mergatroyd Thumbwhistle said about Sherlock Holmes?’ She loved her parents but they were so clueless.”

Amanda’s ongoing battle with her parents lies at the heart of Book 1 of the Amanda Lester, Detective series. They want her to become a detective like her father’s ancestor, Inspector Lestrade. She wants to be a filmmaker—passionately. So when they force the issue by sending her to a secret school for detectives, you can imagine that she’s just a teensy bit upset. How is she going to be able to achieve her dreams from some dusty old manor house in the English Lake District?

As you probably know by now, she does come around to embrace her destiny, although not without resistance. What changes Amanda is love—love for her new friends and for the father who is suddenly placed in jeopardy. It is these people and the situations they face together that transform her from a self-involved one-man band to something deeper and more mature: a rounded, caring human being. By the end of the book she is reborn—still a filmmaker at heart because that’s who she is, but now a detective as well—one who uses her filmmaking skills to solve crimes. Thus is the Amanda Lester, Detective series launched.

Amanda is a deeply flawed character. I made her that way because I like seeing what imperfect characters will do in sticky situations. How do they recover from their mistakes? What do they do when people attack them? What happens when they’re betrayed . . . or they betray someone, as much as they may not want to? Amanda goes off in the wrong direction more times than I can count. That’s because I find a detective’s mistakes so much more human than the straight line the usual literary sleuth draws from crime to solution. Amanda messes up in her personal relationships too for the same reason. And boy, does she embarrass herself. But don’t worry: it’s okay to laugh at her. You’re supposed to.

If you like surprises I think you will enjoy Amanda’s story. As you read you will discover that very little is as it appears, sometimes because the truth is purposely hidden, sometimes because things and people change from the way they’re first presented. It’s all because a detective’s world is full of secrets and twists. But you will find joy here as well, and thank goodness, because it takes more than principle to keep fighting crime.

In tomorrow’s post I will talk about the upside-down fantasy technology of Amanda’s world.

About the Author:
Paula Berinstein is nothing like Amanda. For one thing, she's crazy about Sherlock Holmes. For another, she's never wanted to be a filmmaker. In addition, compared to Amanda she's a big chicken! And she wouldn't mind going to a secret school at all. In fact, she's hoping that some day she'll get to build one.

You can find and contact Paula here:
- Website
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Goodreads
- Paula's blog on Goodreads
- The Writing Show podcasts
- Newsletter

Giveaway
There is a tour wide giveaway for the book blitz of the Amanda Lester series. These are the prizes you can win:
- One winner will win all 5 Amanda Lester books in paperback.
- Two winners will win a set of all 5 Amanda Lester books in e-format.

For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway