Read about new mysteries from the authors who write them!
I’m happy to announce that Rough Edges Press is running a $0.99 Kindle Countdown Deal for By Force or Fear!
The promotion will run from 6/14/23 to 6/20/23, so if you’ve been interested but not gotten around to purchasing, now’s the time to buy!
Buy below:
Now available!
Today is publishing day.
Felony Murder Rule, Book 4 in the Meredith Ryan Mysteries promises mystery, adventure, and twists and turns as you follow Meredith Ryan while she chases down a killer from the past.
After Deputy Sheriff Meredith Ryan is unable to apprehend an intruder leaning over her baby’s crib one horrifying night, she launches an investigation to protect her family.
When she uncovers her father’s hidden involvement in a robbery and homicide years ago, she begins to put the pieces of a long-thought-dead puzzle back together. But vicious criminals are desperate to find the infamous hidden loot, and they are eager to use Meredith and her family as bargaining chips.
With just 24 hours before the criminals close in again, Meredith and Nick must find a way to safeguard their family—before it’s too late.
Felony Murder Rule is a police procedural thriller about a brave, young deputy who identifies and faces her enemies—both within herself and the real world.
Felony Murder Rule eBook for $3.49
Felony Murder Rule paperback for $14.99
Rough Edges Press has re-released the Meredith Ryan Mysteries
| This is the bulletin from Redwood Writers Club (a branch of the California Writers’ Club) June 2023 newsletter. Rough Edges Press is re-publishing the Meredith Ryan Mysteries following a brave Sonoma County deputy detective, all set in Sonoma County (Intent to Hold veers off into Mexico for some of the story). By Force or Fear tells of an obsessive judge who stalks a deputy and is the first in the series. Intent to Hold follows Meredith as she helps her partner free his kidnapped relative in Mexico. With Malice Aforethought finds Meredith Ryan investigating a homicide in the Sonoma County hills but is hindered by a dangerous white supremist militia with a deadly agenda. Felony Murder Rule available for pre-order on Amazon here Without Due Caution available for pre-order on Amazon here Learn more at thoniehevron.com. |
Last week, I sent out what I thought was a newsletter from my publisher, Rough Edges Press. It featured my article about why writing With Malice Aforethought was so creepy. However, the link didn’t actually go to the site. The correct link is below. If you click on it, you’ll see the three releases from last Tuesday (this includes two other authors’ works) and links to my first book, By Force or Fear. My article is below the three featured new releases in the Author’s Corner section.
By Thonie Hevron
I feel fortunate to have landed such a pro-active publisher. Jake Bray at Rough Edges Press makes all the years of “backyard publishers” worth it. I thought I’d share the promotional email they sent out for With Malice Aforethought (published 5/16/2023) that includes an author article from me about how creepy it was to write this novel. Be sure to scroll down the newsleter for the two other just published Rough Edges Press mysteries as well as blurbs about my first two books. You can sign up for the weekly newsletter and/or sign up to be an advance reader and read new books free!
By Thonie Hevron
Last spring, I sent out word that I would be contracting with Indies United (IU) to publish my books. In May, I put out a post to that effect. Indies United is a fabulous resource for indie authors to publish their own work. Lisa Orban heads up a small cadre of professional help to facilitate that. She and IU have instrumental in getting many superlative indie authors into the market.
However less than a month after signing a contract with IU, I was offered a deal with Rough Edges Press (REP), an imprint of Wolfpack Publishing. I’d pitched my work to them before but got no result (hence signing up with IU). I really thought this house was the perfect home for my work. Turns out they thought so, too. The contract with IU was cancelled (IU includes a lovely escape clause for this type of circumstance) and I signed with Wolfpack Press.
My first assignment was a contract job for three novels written under their Christian Imprint, CKN Christian Publishing. In July, after the first manuscript was submitted, I signed a contract to have Rough Edges Press re-edit, re-cover, and re-publish my four previous novels, the Nick and Meredith Mysteries. They will all be re-branded as the Meredith Ryan Mysteries with a fifth book to follow.
I believe the timeline will take us through 2023. REP does rapid releases to keep the audience interested so stay tuned for updates here and on Facebook ThonieHevronAuthorPage!
Nancy is a wonderful author. Even this post about about her new book is fun to read. All about Bushwhacked in the Outback is right here. Enjoy!
–Thonie
By Nancy Raven Smith
If you’re buying a house or opening a new business, you’ll hear location, location, location constantly. For me, it’s an important choice to consider when I write a cozy mystery. I love finding unusual, interesting sites as the stage for my characters to explore. It’s my hope that those places will make the stories more interesting for the reader.
I chose Lexi Winslow as the protagonist for my Land Sharks series. She’s a bank fraud investigator for a small private bank in Beverly Hills. When the bank’s wealthy and international traveling customers have money problems, it’s often her job to fix things. That lets me send her all over the world.
My newest book in the series, Bushwhacked in the Outback, takes Lexi to Coober Pedy in the Australian outback.
I learned about the area from my husband who’s an international jewelry design instructor and some of his friends who live and work there.
Here are some of the things that drew me to choose Coober Pedy and are included in my book. World wide, it’s considered the opal mining capital of the world. Opals can be worth more than diamonds per carat. You can even find opals on the surface of the ground. Large deposits of both gold and oil have also been discovered there recently.
The town has a population of approximately 1,762. Not a big number, but because it is a rich mining area, it includes people from over forty-four different countries.
Coober Pedy sounds like a great place to make your fortune. The only problem is that most people wouldn’t want to live there. It’s located in the middle of the continent of Australia and in the middle of the desert. It’s mid-February as I write this and the temperature is 105 degrees. Temperatures there range from 122 F to sub zero. Because of the extremes, most people choose live underground in homes called dugouts. Dugouts are literally old mines converted into homes because the median temperature underground is a steady 73.4 degrees Fahrenheit. There are even stories about people enlarging the rooms in their homes and discovering rich veins of opals.
Another problem with living in Coober Pedy are the critters. Australia is famous for its venomous animals. Many of them live in the outback. One of the biggest dangers of the Outback is venomoussnakes. Multiple snakes lurk in the desert bushes and rocky areas, including the inland taipans, Stimson’s pythons, orange-naped snakes, mulga snakes, curl snakes, desert death adders, and speckled brown snakes. Then there are the venomous spiders, etc.
All of these things, even the snakes, made Coober Pedy a fascinating place to use as the setting for my book. If you read Bushwhacked in the Outback, I hope you’ll enjoy the location, too.
Lexi loves her job as a Beverly Hills bank fraud investigator. It lets her pursue scam artists and con men – known in the business as land sharks.
Sadly, one crook left her with a broken heart and a destroyed reputation. And the bank’s president is looking for any excuse to fire her.
Yet she risks everything when she follows a dead embezzler’s casket to Coober Pedy in the Australian outback. She knows it’s a gamble, but it’s her last hope to recover the bank’s stolen money. Unfortunately, she’s persona non grata in that country. She needs to get in, find the money, and get out before the Australian police discover her presence. But will the unexpected appearance of an ex-lover make her linger too long?
Nancy Raven Smith grew up in Virginia, where she ran and participated in horse sport events. On their farm, she rescued horses, dogs, and cats and is an advocate for animal rescue. Later in California, she traded her event experience for film work. Her screenplays and novels have won numerous major awards. When not writing, Raven Smith enjoys her family and friends, travel, art, movies, and white water rafting. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Women in Film.
Visit her at:
Http://Facebook.com/NancyRavenSmith.com
Http://TheReluctantFarmerOfWhimseyHill.com
Buy links for
Bushwhacked in the Outback available on Amazon.com at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09PJTPVWR/
Swindle in Sumatra available on Amazon.com at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0794M2Q3M/
This just dropped on Kindle! I’m honored to be in such illustrious company. My Australian cop-writing colleague, Andrew Patterson’s long-awaited short fiction anthology is finally out!
If you like crime stories written by the good guys, this book is right up your alley. Thanks for suggesting me, fellow Public Safety Writers Association member Michael O’Keefe!
Gritty and unflinching morsels of crime fiction rage across these pages. There’s nothing warm and cosy here, but then that’s not the reality of policing: cops deal with the darkest aspects of humanity and then have to live with that exposure. Some of those cops become writers.
When crime fiction is penned by authors who have worked and risked their lives as cops at the coalface, the stories that emerge deliver exquisite realism and brutally honest emotions.
The fifteen authors featured in this first-of-its-kind anthology have variously worn their uniforms and carried their badges across law enforcement in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, as they have served and protected their communities.
These short stories are as varied and vivid as the hard-earned experiences of their creators. The settings include the past, the present, and the future. The plots have murder aplenty, corruption, drugs, paedophilia, mental health, and suicide. The line-up of protagonists includes uniformed officers, detectives, and criminals, amongst others. The actions, the observations, the reminiscing, and the self-reflection of these fictional characters bring the reality of the police experience alive on the page. It is those brushstrokes of daily police life that bring a special and unique flavour to this assortment of crime fiction.
This will be my second in-person event in the past many months. The day after Thanksgiving, Nov. 26 and Nov. 27 (Black Friday/Saturday), I will be at the Rohnert Park Holiday Arts and Crafts Faire (admission is FREE!) signing books from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Faire is at the Rohnert Park Community Center on Snyder Lane. With over 75 vendors, this is a wonderful way to do your holiday shopping. Local handmade goods to choose from, light lunch fair will be available. I’ll have my new release, FELONY MURDER RULE, for sale. It features a wild chase scene set in Petaluma!
By Marilyn Meredith
The Trash Harem mainly takes place in the city of Temecula. I am fond of Temecula having family who live there and in the neighboring town of Murrieta. I’ve visited there a lot, but haven’t done many of the touristy things and there are plenty of them.
The biggie is the Pechanga Resort and Casino—but it’s not in my story, though there is mention of the Pechanga native people. The ancient oak tree, which also plays a big part in the mystery and decorates the cover, is real.
Old Town Temecula is full of intriguing shops and restaurants, including an Olive Oil tasting shop. The olive oil is mentioned, as is one of the restaurants, though I don’t use its correct name.
The Temecula Valley Museum is mentioned, especially the great Erle Stanley Gardner display. And yes, he does appear in this tale in a most unusual way.
Other tourist attractions are the Sunrise Balloon Flight, the Outdoor Escape Room, the Haunted Cable Car Tour, and the Old Town Scavenger Hunt, none of which are in this story.
Of course what Temecula is really famous for is its wine country with many beautiful wineries, a multitude of tasting opportunities including several wine tasting tours. Yes, the wineries do make an appearance in The Trash Harem—but the winery where Tempe, Hutch and their hosts have dinner with the murder victim’s son is not real.
Though there are many gated-communities for folks fifty-five and over, Moon Glow Village is strictly fictional, though I have borrowed bits and pieces from similar gated-communities.
Though the whole idea for this tale came from my daughter and son-in-law’s experiences living in their gated-community, very little is real except the trash containers and what happens with them.
Like most mysteries, there are always bits and pieces of real people and places woven alongside the made-up folks and places.
If you’ve never been to Temecula, it’s a great place to visit, plenty to do and see, and it has some restaurants with great food. You can get a taste of Temecula by reading The Trash Harem.
Marilyn
Official Blurb:
Deputy Tempe Crabtree has retired from her job in Bear Creek when friends, who once lived in Bear Creek and attended Pastor Hutch’s church, ask her to visit them in Temecula. The husband, Jonathan, is a suspect in what might be a murder case. The retirement community includes many interesting characters, any of whom might have had a better motive than Jonathan. There is also a connection to Earle Stanley Gardner as well as the Pechanga Old Oak. What is a trash harem? You’ll have to read the book to find out.
To purchase The Trash Harem
Marilyn Meredith:
She is the author of over 40 published books including the Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, and writing as F. M. Meredith, the Rocky Bluff P.D. series. She’s a member of two chapters of Sisters in Crime and the Public Safety Writers Association.
Webpage: http://fictionforyou.com/
