Category: Mystery Readers Only

Read about new mysteries from the authors who write them!

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Mystery Readers Only

I See Murder

Fox Goes Hunting by Paty Jager

By Paty Jager

Okay, I don’t really SEE it. But in my mind when I travel or go about my day, if I see a potential for a body to be hidden or an unusual death, my writer mind starts going over the what if’s. It must be something genetic because my younger brother is always texting or calling me and saying, “Hey, I found a great place to hide a body.” LOL We’ve always been siblings who helped each other…hmmm… I just thought of an idea for another book! Sibling murderers. I know it’s been done before, but I haven’t written a book like that. I’ll add it to my list of book ideas.

A year ago June, I went on a once in a lifetime trip to Iceland through The Authors Guild. When I received the information about the trip and discovered it was during my birthday week, I asked hubby if I could go on the trip as my birthday present. He said yes. Points scored for hubby! 

The trip was 6 days of packed tourist and literary events. There were ten of us on the tour. The perfect size to have gathered for meals and riding around in a small bus. The other authors wrote mostly non-fiction and here was little ole me, looking for a place to hide/murder a body so I could set a book in Iceland.

I’d read several of Yrsa Siguroardóttier’s crime fiction books set in Iceland before I went because we had an afternoon with her. While other author’s in the group had read her books, Yrsa and I actually started talking about the craft of writing a mystery. That was so much fun talking with an international author about the craft we loved to write. However, I felt like I was taking up all of her time and apologized to the others. One author told me she enjoyed watching us talk about the genre we both loved writing. That was the second best thing about that day!

On the day of my birthday, we loaded up into the bus and headed for Lake Kleifarvatn. It had been used in a couple of movies as the surface of the moon. It is an extraordinary landscape void of vegetation and in most places solid rock. My writer brain said, “This would be a challenge for Hawke to track someone. But why would he be here?” Which was a question that had been going around and around in my mind the whole time. How do I get Hawke to Iceland and make it realistic?

I asked our guide if they had a strong Search and Rescue organization in Iceland. He said yes. Very active. We continued down the road from the lake and discovered Kŕysuvik. This is a tourist site where you inhale sulfuric steam from boiling mud pools. As I walked among the pools, staying on the trails and bridges, I knew the body would be found half in and half out of one of these pools. I took lots of photos of the area and wrote my reactions to the landscape in my little research book.

Back home, I looked up Iceland’s Search and Rescue and discovered they hold a worldwide SAR (Search and Rescue) conference every two years. Bingo! I had my realistic way to get Hawke to Iceland. He is teaching a 2-day pre-conference tracking workshop. And that is how I came up with Fox Goes Hunting Book 5 in my Gabriel Hawke novels.

Fox Goes Hunting can be pre-ordered at all ebook venues and releases June 1st.

About Fox Goes Hunting:

While teaching a tracking class at a Search and Rescue conference in Iceland, Oregon State Trooper Gabriel Hawke discovers a body in a boiling mud pool. The body is the young man Hawke’s class is tracking.

Unable to walk away from the gruesome death without helping to find the killer, Hawke follows the clues and discovers the victim had few enemies, and all of them have alibis. The killer is cunning like the fox, but Hawke is determined to solve the homicide before the conference attendees head home in five days. 

Universal buy link:  https://books2read.com/u/3yEjKv

Mystery Author Paty Jager

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 44 novels, 8 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters.

You can connect with Paty at any of these social media sites:

Website: http://www.patyjager.net

Blog: https://writingintothesunset.net/

FB Page:  https://www.facebook.com/PatyJagerAuthor/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Paty-Jager/e/B002I7M0VK
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/patyjag/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/patyjag

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1005334.Paty_Jager

Newsletter- Mystery: https://bit.ly/2IhmWcm

Bookbub – https://www.bookbub.com/authors/paty-jager

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Mystery Readers Only

The Beginning Isn’t Where You Begin Reading

Jeannette de Beauvoir's Matinee Murders

By Jeanette de Beauvoir

Jeannette de Beauvoir’s Matinee Murders to debut June 1

A lot of mystery readers will tell you they don’t care about history. For them, reading is all about experiencing a fast-paced modern thriller, a whodunit, a crime drama. Figuring out where the red herrings have been scattered, trying to beat the protagonist to the solution.

But what I’d like to suggest is that mysteries really are, at their core, all about the past.

When you open a mystery, you’re not coming in at the first act. You’re seeing the result of something that happened even before you picked up the book; the beginning of a mystery story always deals with the end of something else. In murder mysteries, that tends to be a human life. So mystery readers and mystery writers are all—in a sense—archaeologists, delving back into the past to see what possibly insignificant detail drove the victim along a certain path to meet their death.

And maybe that’s important. Maybe we always need to find the path from the past in order to get to the future. Maybe history isn’t all that uninteresting.

I’ve been exploring the past in one way or another for most of my life. When my friends in primary school wanted to be astronauts or rock stars or fashion designers when they grew up, I wanted to be an archaeologist. When I started writing (at age ten) I began with a novel set in the middle ages. And I think that a lot of what I write now, present-day mysteries with causation rooted in the past—is a natural development for someone who believes the past never really goes away.

We all have skeletons in our closets, whether the “we” refers to us as individuals, as communities, as families, or as countries. There are things we’ve all done we’d prefer stayed buried. So even as we identify with the detective in a mystery, there’s also a part of each of us that understands the fear or need that drove the killer to act.

And remember that there’s a reason why genealogy is so popular. Uncle Ernie may have had crooked teeth and Grandma could have been something of a drinker—but they’re part of your past, part of your family, part of who you are.

Part of your history. Every story has a beginning, whether it’s the story of your life or the story in a mystery novel, and that beginning can have its roots well in the past. And as a culture, as readers, as writers, we’re imperfect at understanding why we do what we do. We can’t set up experiments to see how situations will turn out, so looking at the past has to be our most vital evidence as we try and figure out why our complex species does what it does.

Like murder.

Jeannette de Beauvoir didn’t set out to murder anyone—some things are just meant to be! Her mother introduced her to the Golden Age of mystery fiction when she was far too young to be reading it, and she’s kept reading those authors and many like them ever since.

Jeannette de Beauvoir

She wrote historical and literary fiction and poetry for years before someone asked her what she read—and she realized mystery was where her heart was. Now working on the Sydney Riley Provincetown mystery series, she bumps off a resident or visitor to her hometown on a regular basis.

Jeannette is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the Author’s Guild, and the National Writers Union. Find out more (and read her blog or sign up for her newsletter) at her website. You can also find her on Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, Patreon, and Goodreads.

The Matinée Murders to Début June 1

Sixth Book in Provincetown Mystery Series Showcases Film Festival

Provincetown, MA, May 21, 2020: HomePort Press is delighted to announce the release of bestselling author Jeannette de Beauvoir’s latest novel, The Matinée Murders. Set against the backdrop of the iconic Provincetown International Film Festival, this cozy mystery captures the energy and vitality of one of the town’s most celebrated events.

Wedding planner and local sleuth Sydney Riley has scored a festival coup: her inn is hosting the wedding of the year between movie star Brett Falcone is to marry screenwriter Justin Braden. But when Sydney opens a forbidden door in the mysterious Whaler’s Wharf, she discovers the body of a producer and a legion of unanswered questions, which she sets out to answer in her usual, tenacious fashion.

The Provincetown mystery series highlights Provincetown’s festivals and theme weeks, and The Matinée Murders was in the pipeline well before the pandemic forced the cancellation of several summer events. “It’s ironic, of course,” says de Beauvoir. “Here I have a murder happening, but at a festival that isn’t happening! It’s a little like the tree falling in the forest question—if you kill someone during a festival that doesn’t take place, are they still dead?”

HomePort Press publisher Arthur Mahoney leaves that problem to the reader, though he’s confident the book will help sustain the spirit of the event. “People come from all over the world for the film festival’s superb programs and celebrity appearances,” he points out. “And we’d planned a launch while they were here. Though that won’t happen, I’m hopeful the Provincetown mystery series may fill some small portion of the void for those who attend any of our theme weeks. Jeannette’s stories always deliver an intriguing mystery from a local perspective. Her readers have frequently expressed how the series conjures fond memories, which is why we decided not to delay this release. After all, reading may well be the next best thing to being here!”

Most of what typically celebrates a book’s release—launch parties, personal appearances, book readings, and signings—is personal and high-touch. “It’s challenging to do lots of things right now, and releasing a new book is no exception,” de Beauvoir explains. “For now, everything is virtual. I’m doing a blog tour, visiting mystery groups and book clubs, filming videos, writing articles, and fielding Q&As. Still, nothing compares to meeting readers in person, which is what I love most about my job. You can be sure we’ll be having an in-person launch for this book as soon as it’s safe to do so.”

The eBook version of The Matinée Murders is available now for pre-order on Amazon.

About Jeannette de Beauvoir: Jeannette de Beauvoir is an award-winning novelist whose work has appeared in 15 countries and has been translated into 12 languages. She’s the author of mystery novels and historical/literary fiction. More at http://www.jeannettedebeauvoir.com

About Homeport Press: Homeport Press is a growing collaborative that promotes and publishes the work of Provincetown authors. More at http://www.homeportpress.com

Press Contact: Arthur Mahoney: publisher@homeportpress.com

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Mystery Readers Only

Something new for thoniehevron.com

By Force or Fear, Intent to Hold, and With Malice Aforethought
By Force or Fear, Intent to Hold, and With Malice Aforethought
By Force or Fear, Intent to Hold, and With Malice Aforethought

By Thonie Hevron

Thanks for stopping by ThonieHevron.com! There are a few changes coming up that should have a positive effect on your reading experience. My blog on WordPress will soon by my website/home as I say good by to the attractive but less than efficient site I’ve had for the past five years. The new address will be www.thoniehevron.com–the same as before. Information from the old site will transition over so you’ll see “Books By Thonie,” “News and Events,” “About Thonie” and a Contact page.

As for my blogs, they’ll be a combination of weekly guest blogs from authors writing about their new books (Mystery Readers Only) or their craft (Writer’s Notes). I’ll be posting news about my mystery series, Nick and Meredith Mysteries as it becomes available.

Thonie Hevron 2002 Bishop, Ca.

In the “new” site, you’ll find all the previous years’ posts under Street Stories from LAPD alums Hal Collier (Ramblings), Ed Meckle (The Call Box), Mikey Diaz (Roll Call), and Ron Corbin (When Pigs Fly). There are additional stories from Gerry Goldshine (Petaluma, Ca. PD), John Schick from Calif. Department of Corrections, and several other law enforcement veterans who share their career exploits.

To kick things off, tomorrow’s post is from Ramblings’ Hal Collier, a 30-plus-year veteran of Los Angeles Police Department. Hal talks about First Responders’ Heroes in Street Stories.

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Mystery Readers Only

Old Murders Inspire Mystery Author

By Anne Da Vigo

Bakersfield Boys Club

Forty-two years ago, a gardener working in a Bakersfield yard spotted blood creeping under his client’s back door. Police discovered the beaten and stabbed body of Tommy Tarver, owner of an exclusive beauty salon.

Investigation revealed Tarver led a sordid secret life, sexually abusing Robert, a thirteen-year-old boy. Law enforcement knew Robert—an alcoholic mother had pushed him into prostitution. He’d been an early suspect, but eventually police arrested a college student.

As reporter for the local paper, I covered the trial. The collegian was found guilty of burglary but acquitted of murder. Robert never testified although he may have attended an all-male party at Tarver’s that night.

Questions gnawed at me. Why wasn’t the thirteen-year-old called to testify? Why hadn’t child services rescued him from exploitation?

The murder began a decades-long scandal. Subsequent cases would reveal sex trafficking, cover-ups, and murders involving vulnerable boys and abusive men dubbed the Lords of Bakersfield. Among the “Lords” were the police commissioner, a top prosecutor, and the newspaper executive who’d hired me.

Soon after the trial, I moved to Sacramento. Two years later, a former colleague called. Robert and a friend had killed a prominent man who coerced the boys for sex.

Robert was tried and convicted. His sentence: thirty to life.

I’d never met Robert, but couldn’t forget him.

Years passed, and a child sex abuse scandal rocked the Catholic Church. Powerful financier Jeffrey Epstein was alleged to have abused thirteen-year-old girls flown to his island retreat.

In these cases as well as the Lords scandal, some people knew about the abuse but kept silent or blamed the victims. In Bakersfield for example, court testimony by Robert’s probation officer revealed that rather than helping him, she scolded him for “using” his abusers.

Guilt nagged at me. I should have followed up. Had I had adopted the “blame the victim” mindset?

Robert’s story turned personal. I began writing a thriller, the fictional story of a woman’s struggle against abuse of power.

Bakersfield Boys Club creates Suzanne, a widow, who discovers the body of her stabbed and beaten neighbor. While at the scene, she conceals evidence her teenage son Danny may have attended the all-male party that night.

Police investigators target Danny until members of The Club shield him to hide their secrets. As more murders occur, he becomes a victim of exploitation by men whose power gives them immunity.

Suzanne and the father of a teen murdered at one of The Club’s parties collaborate to shatter the group’s stranglehold. She puts everything at stake—home, job, and love—to save her son.

In real life, more Bakersfield youths struck back, killing a millionaire businessman and a prominent lawyer, among others. The final case occurred in the early 2000s, when a distraught father stabbed the assistant district attorney, convinced the obsessed prosecutor had fostered his son’s drug addiction.

Here’s a link to an update on the Lords cases–the release of the boy from prison after 38 years. 

https://www.bakersfield.com/news/robert-price-powerful-gay-men-vulnerable-teenage-boys-murder-justice-and-now-for-newly-freed/article_3a84de40-6acc-11e9-8f82-23781941febd.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share

Anne Da Vigo is a California journalist and mystery writer. Her thriller, Bakersfield Boys Club, is available on Amazon.

Anne Da Vigo
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Mystery Readers Only

Visiting Cliffhangers

By Marian Lanouette

Good morning, Thonie, and thank you for hosting me.

I hope this post finds you all well during these trying times. To help fill in the hours between my writing, I’m making masks and donating them for the cause, plus I took up knitting again. How are you filling up your hours during this quarantine?

I’m visiting cliffhangers today and how readers feel about them. Personally, as a reader of mystery/thrillers, I don’t mind a secondary thread being left open for the next book. But I just closed a novel where the resolution of the main murder didn’t happen. At one in the morning after sitting up all night to finish the book, it left me cold. I felt cheated.

How do you feel about a hanging ending?

The author is an exceptional writer, who draws you into her books from the first paragraph. I felt the cliffhanger unnecessary, as I would’ve order the next book upon finishing this one. Now, I’m debating if I want to continue to read the series.

Would you continue to read to get to the conclusion or would you walk away?

As a writer I’m really curious about your take on them. When I write and research a book, I plot out clues for the reader to follow. At the end I want you, the reader, to feel satisfied with not only the resolution, but that you were able, or not (surprised), to solve the crime.

As I invest my time in a book, I get lost in the story. I search out the clues to the crime and the idiosyncrasies for the villain. I want to learn what makes them tick—why they demonstrate abnormal or unacceptable behavior then what society agrees is the norm. How are their brains wired differently than ours? Is it physiological or is it psychology that shapes us into who we are today? Are we all born with a clean slate or are the criminals behavior inherent from birth?

All those questions keep me writing and researching. I love the research that goes into a book. It broadens my horizon, gets me thinking in a new a direction. It gives me ideas or new premises I’d have never considered without the time spent digging through the piles written on human behavior.

Though I have to admit that sometimes the research can put you in a dark spot. As I was culling out traits, characteristics and crimes of serial killers for my nominated Daphne Du Maurier Award book, All the Pretty Brides, the Jake Carrington Thriller series, I found myself in the darkest of mindset. I had to stop my research and start writing the character. If you want to dig deeper into the minds of a serial killer, a good place to start is The A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers by Harold Schecter. Creepy but informative.

In the end, I believe it’s a little bit of everything that shapes the criminal/murderer. But there is no one to blame for their action but themselves. They are the ones who have committed the unspeakable acts, no one else. And it’s the intrigue, the crime, I believe that keeps us reading murder mysteries and thrillers. I especially like stories where a normal person in a second in time just snaps. I have to read on to find out what pushed them over the edge.

Synopsis: All the Pretty Brides, A Jake Carrington Thriller

Homicide Lieutenant Jake Carrington has an engagement that can’t wait—with a killer.

Haunted by the murder of his sister, Lieutenant Jake Carrington struggles to control his personal demons as he stands over the brutalized body of a young woman found dead on the railroad tracks. The victim disappeared on July 6th, the fifth woman in as many years to go missing on that date. The fifth happy bride-to-be.

The only one whose body has turned up.

Soon the Killer is sending personal messages to Jake. They refer to an unidentified brother he believes Jake hates as much as he does.

With his partner distracted by turmoil at home, Jake is on his own.

Drawn deeper and deeper into a murderous family feud, his mission is to find out who the killer’s brother is—stop him before another innocent woman’s life is cut tragically short.

Happy Reading!

Marian Lanouette

A self-described tough blonde from Brooklyn, Marian grew up as one of ten children in a five room apartment. As far back as she can remember, Marian loved to read and would lock herself in the closet with a flashlight and her books and read for hours on end. When she ran out of her library books she’d grab the newspaper so she could keep reading. She was especially intrigued by the Daily News crime reports. Her Jake Carrington thrillers are informed by her admiration for police work, her experience as office manager of a crematorium, her thirst for life, and her desire to write books where good prevails, even in the darkest times.

She’s worked in many fields throughout her life—as an office manager for a cemetery/crematory, a bank teller, retail salesgirl, and many years as an accounting manager for a mid-size law firm. But the career she loves the most is writing.

Marian lives in New England with her husband.

Here’s where to buy Marian’s books:

THE PRETTY BRIDES, A Jake Carrington Thriller, A 2019 DAPHNE du MAURIER Award of Excellence in Mystery/Suspense Finalist (book three) https://www.amazon.com/Pretty-Brides-Jake-Carrington-Thriller-ebook/dp/B07BPKWCMR/

ALL THE DIRTY SECRETS, A Jake Carrington Thriller, (book four) https://www.amazon.com/Dirty-Secrets-Jake-Carrington-Thriller-ebook/dp/B07GMVT7SS/

ALL THE HIDDEN SINS, A Jake Carrington Thriller (book two)https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Sins-Jake-Carrington-Thriller-ebook/dp/B0776H64W1/

ALL THE DEADLY LIES, A Jake Carrington Thriller (book one) https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Lies-Jake-Carrington-Thriller-ebook/dp/B06VXQBR8B/

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Mystery Readers Only

Sleight of Hand in Mystery

By Paty Jager

I have to confess, while I’m not a huge fan of magic, that is, watching a magician hide and then reveal an item and I don’t try to figure out how he/she does the tricks, I love using that technique when writing a mystery.

My favorite part of writing a mystery is coming up with a sentence here or there that is a clue but I bury it in information that directs the reader in a different direction.

My Shandra Higheagle mysteries have two elements that help the reader discover who the killer is. One is the story, the 50,000+ words that show the characters, reveal the clues, and give red herrings, and hide the clues. The other way is through the dreams Shandra’s deceased grandmother appears in when Shandra is sleeping. These clues are more subtle with hidden meanings.

And I play fair. I always give the killer away in the dreams if the reader can decipher them. And I always make sure the killer, even if it turns out to be someone other than I started out with as the killer, has been in the story a majority of the time and the clues to the killer have been salted throughout.

There is nothing worse than getting to the end of a mystery and wondering where the character the cops arrest came from and what obscure motive did they have?

I love making my killers either vile enough that the reader believes they are the killer then showing why they couldn’t have done it, or taking a person who no one would think of and carefully lacing the why and how through the story.

My new release, Abstract Casualty, takes place in Kaua’i Hawaii. I recently vacationed there. I went to the island with the idea to make it work for a setting for a Shandra book. I was lucky enough to find an event that would bring Shandra to the island.

The fun part was twisting and turning the characters, their reactions, actions, and untold truths into the mystery that evolved. I was pleased when one of my first readers said: “…a tricky, intricate plot.” That was what I was going for. With each book, I feel I need to up the mystery and keep the reader intrigued enough to keep reading.

I’m currently working on a Gabriel Hawke book set in Iceland. Another place I visited last year.

Thank you for having me on this blog. If you have any questions about writing a mystery or keeping a series going- this is book 14 in the Shandra Higheagle series, ask away.

Abstract Casualty

Book 14 in the Shandra Higheagle Mystery series

Hawaiian adventure, Deceit, Murder

Shandra Higheagle is asked to juror an art exhibition on the island of Kauai, Hawaii.

After an altercation at the exhibition, the chairwoman of the event, Shandra’s friend, arrives home with torn clothes, scratches, and stating she tried to save an angry artist who fell over a cliff. Shandra and Ryan begin piecing together information to figure out if the friend did try to save the artist or helped him over the edge.

During the investigation, Shandra comes across a person who reminds her of an unhealthy time in her past. Knowing this man and the one from her past, she is determined to find his connection to the dead artist. When her grandmother doesn’t come to her in dreams, Shandra wonders if her past is blinding her from the truth.

https://books2read.com/u/4XXLke

Paty Jager is the award-winning author of the Shandra Higheagle and Gabriel Hawke Mystery series. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it. You can follow her at the following places:

blog / website / Facebook / Paty’s Posse / Goodreads / Twitter / Pinterest / Bookbub

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Mystery Readers Only

CSI in Space: A Futuristic Mystery

Into the Black By Beth Barany
Into the Black By Beth Barany

 

Coming Soon…

by Beth Barany

 

I love writing about adventure and about strong women having adventures. A few years ago, I decided to write mysteries set on a space station hotel casino because I thought it would be an exotic location, especially if I set my story in the future and especially if I wrote it from the point of view of my detective, Janey McCallister.

 

Janey is very concerned about justice and righting wrongs. She also needs her job at the hotel-casino to help her mom who is sick with an incurable disease. Yes, they have those in the future.

 

She had a tragedy in her past that changed her from a hopeful young woman who wanted to work as a scientist on a space station around Saturn, to a serious person who just wanted to leave the company town she grew up in to make a better life for herself a few thousand miles away.

 

When she got there, she thought she had it made: a boyfriend, a great job, and all her needs met. Then tragedy struck. Her best friend went missing. Then she turned up dead, and Janey was the one to discover the body.

 

The cops shut her out of the investigation, but she couldn’t go back to the way things were. Janey returned home, lived with her mom again, and then got a job in Space Wing Command. She soon found herself in Investigative Services traveling to the military and civilian space stations around planet Earth. Four years later when her commission was up, Janey was faced with a decision: re-up with Space Wing or get a better paying job to help pay for her mom’s expensive experimental medication.

 

That’s when Janey applied for and got the job as Lead Investigator at Bijoux de L’Étoile, the world’s trendiest and most expensive getaway, a fabulous hotel-casino in high earth orbit where a night’s stay could pay for a whole town’s food for a year.

 

After a five day journey in StarEl, the space elevator like a train, Janey and a few dozen other station workers arrived at the Jewel in the Sky.

 

Our story opens… excerpt from Into The Black (A Janey McCallister Mystery, Book 1):

 

Her implant flagged a quick movement in the crowd. Out of place, a shadow shifted. She clicked on her video. She’d get irrefutable evidence this time. Hope and determination fluttered in her chest.

 

A short, grey-haired man wove his way through the crowd, shoulders hunched, barely jostling people. Her implant flashed an ID: Mortimer Xang. His hotel record showed he’d arrived via space jet a week ago and he had a room in the mid-priced level. No others in his party. He was leaving on the next transport Earthside in a few hours. Payee: Xang Enterprises.

 

One minute left.

 

He looked innocent enough, except for how one corner of his mouth quirked up in a faint smirk even though his gaze was downcast. And how his arms seemed pasted to the side of his body. He took tiny steps, as if to make himself even smaller.

 

Classic moves of a thief. Suspicious, though not evidence.

 

Her vid was recording, but all the other thefts had happened under the casino cameras and not been detected.

 

She’d always trusted her intuition and her ability to read body cues before. But since she’d come to the station, she’d gotten it wrong twice. Should she wait for another sign that Xang was guilty? No, her gut told her he was up to something. She trusted that.

 

Pre-Order Into The Black (A Janey McCallister Mystery, Book 1) here: https://books2read.com/intotheblackbarany.

 

ABOUT INTO THE BLACK

She wanted to make her mark. How hard could it be?

 

In 2130, at Bijoux de L’Étoile, a high-end casino orbiting Earth, you can get anything you desire.

 

Newly-hired as an investigator, Janey McCallister wants to solve her first big case—the theft of a priceless gem.

 

When her case of theft escalates to murder and points to the seedy underbelly of world affairs, Janey has to rely on her new team and trust the mysterious insurance investigator, Orlando Valdez—before the killer escapes into the black.

 

ABOUT BETH BARANY

Award winning author, Beth Barany writes in several genres including young adult adventure fantasy, paranormal romance, and science fiction mysteries. Inspired by living abroad in France and Quebec, she loves creating magical tales of romance, mystery, and adventure that empower women and girls to be the heroes of their own lives.

 

For fun, Beth enjoys walking her neighborhood, gardening on her patio, watching movies and traveling with her husband, author Ezra Barany. They live in Oakland, California with a piano and over 1,000 books.

 

Sign up here to be notified when her new mystery series goes live: http://bethb.net/itbnews.

She loves hearing from her readers and answers all her emails from readers, though it may take a while!

 

Chat with Beth on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/bethbarany) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/bethbarany) and Instagram (http://instagram.com/bethbarany).

 

Follow Beth on BookBub (https://www.bookbub.com/authors/beth-barany) and Amazon (amazon.com/author/bethbarany).

 

Beth Barany
Categories
Mystery Readers Only

Whose Story Is It ?

By Donnell Ann Bell

The craft of writing has always been a mystery to me. There are so many accepted “rules” among the writing community that people automatically accept and never question the premises.

Rules such as: Avoid omniscient point of view. Never write a prologue. Flashbacks are verboten. Never start a book with a dream or your protagonist taking a trip, and, God forbid, do not start your book with a funeral.

These are just a few of the “rules” I’ve heard handed down by agents and editors. And, if you’re a writer hanging on the words of one of these industry professionals, chances are their words contain more weight than any law passed through Congress.

Writers listen, which is an excellent trait. But sometimes paying too close attention can hamstring a story. Further, it prohibits authors from thinking outside the box and limits creativity. That’s why it’s important to know the so-called rules, while it’s just as important to know when to break them.

Some years ago, I belonged to a critique group made up of some very talented authors. During one session, a partner glanced up from my pages and asked, “Whose story is this?”

I was taken aback for a moment. But then I questioned the premises. My critique partner writes romance. When I read her books, which I enjoy, I know within the first pages who the stars of her books are. There’s only two of them and the cast of characters is small.

I write police procedure, which is made up of a task force of police and FBI. Lieutenant Everett T. Pope, Special Agent Brian DiPietro, Special Agent Devon Taylor and Officer Allison Shannon are each important to the book, although there is a pecking order.

Some authors give task force characters individual books to avoid confusion. Whereas I prefer the entire task force to work together to drive my plot. (Think Criminal Minds or NCIS.) Although I have only four points of view in the entire book, the reader is going to know what each member of the task force is doing to solve the case.

Neither scenario is wrong. There are audiences for both. But if I was a strident rule follower and didn’t understand the genre I’m writing, I might have gone back to the drawing board and made my newest release a much different book.

Which might have been a mistake as Black Pearl, A Cold Case Suspense is a finalist in the 2020 Colorado Book Awards Thriller Category.

I enjoy a larger ensemble of characters, a threat, and a ticking clock. Whose story is it? I’ll let the reader decide. As they say, after all, “Go big or go home.”

Can you break the rules? Authors do all the time. You can do anything if you tell a great story.

About Black Pearl

A cold case heats up when a 9-1-1 call puts police at a Denver murder scene pointing investigators to the abduction of a Colorado teenager fourteen years before. The connection? A calling card—a single black pearl—is found on the newest victim. Is the murder a copycat? Or has a twisted serial killer, thought dead or in prison, returned to kill again?

The hunt for a multi-state killer is on and brings together an unexpected team: a Denver Major Crimes police lieutenant; an FBI special agent who investigated the previous murders, a rookie FBI agent with a specialty in psychology; and the only living victim of the Black Pearl Killer is now a cop.

For Special Agent Brian DiPietro, the case is an opportunity to find answers. For Officer Allison Shannon, the case will force her to face down the town that blamed her for surviving when another did not. And for both DiPietro and Shannon, it’s a chance to find closure to questions that have tormented them both for years.

Order form: https://donnellannbell.com/books/black-pearl/

About the Author: Donnell Ann Bell is a multi-award-winning author. Writing around the theme SUSPENSE TOO CLOSE TO HOME, her novels have been Amazon e-book bestsellers. Before turning to fiction, she was an editor for a weekly business publication and a parenting magazine. You can find her through her website at www.donnellannbell.com

Categories
Mystery Readers Only

Book Research Gone Bonkers

By Jacqueline Vick

One of the questions I’m asked most often is how do you research your characters?

This is not a question asked loudly by the lady in the back row at a bookstore signing. Rather, the whispered query is most often made in a quiet spot far from witnesses, with the questioner wearing a distinctly uncomfortable expression—a combination of an honest desire to know backed up by the thought that there are things that, once known, might intrude on otherwise peaceful thoughts.

That’s because my characters include an exorcist and a pet psychic. I have to research their jobs so that I can make the character realistic. If he or she does something out of character, the reader must understand that this isn’t the usual behavior for a pet psychic or a priest.

And so must I.

So, I’ll answer the question here for those too embarrassed to ask.

There’s no substitute for hands-on experience

Let’s start with the pet psychic. Since I’m not an animal, I couldn’t be on the receiving end of a pet psychic’s reading, so I scheduled a couple of appointments for my dog and observed.

The first psychic, a woman, did her communicating over the phone. She told me that my dog would overcome his nervousness if he wore a scarf in his favorite color—forest-green.

The second animal communicator came in person and “listened” to my dog. Buster responded to him well, stretching out at his feet and periodically woofing. This man also consented to an interview, and it is from this interview that much of my information comes.

I also attended a pet fair that featured a psychic, and it’s my belief she was doing the same “cold reading” Frankie Chandler does in the same situation in Barking Mad at Murder…at least until Frankie begins hearing from her furry friends.

When all else fails, read.

It should come as no surprise that I did not experience or observe an exorcism. Instead, I turned to the many books out there written by experienced exorcists. One of the most fascinating is Possessed, which is taken from the diary of a Jesuit priest who assisted in an exorcism beginning in 1949. For those interested in the book, be prepared. It is dry reading, as its purpose is not to entertain.

I also listened to recordings of talks given by exorcists and deliverance teams. Not surprisingly, people who asked what I was working on tended to back away with frozen smiles when I told them.

My Harlow Brothers mysteries feature an etiquette author who writes under the pseudonym Aunt Civility. The archives of the Miss Manners column were a good place to start.

Double-check Everything

Remember the pet psychic who said my dog favored forest-green? I researched and found that dogs are essentially colorblind. As far as the spooky details about possessions, obsessions, infestations and attachments? I’ll have to just take the priests’ word for it. And I wouldn’t dream of questioning Miss Manners.

When you get down to it, pet psychics, exorcists, etiquette authors and readers are all human and experience the same joy, fear, and guilt. Only the circumstances differ.

Why don’t you judge for yourself? Leave a comment and I will draw a random winner to receive eBook copies of An Unhealthy Attachment, Barking Mad at Murder, and the latest Harlow Brothers mystery, Bad Behavior, which will be released on April 1. The winner will be announced on my website, jacquelinevick.com on Saturday, March 21.

~~~

Short bio:

Jacqueline Vick spent her childhood plotting ways to murder her Barbie doll. Writing provided a more productive outlet. She is the author of over twenty humorous novels and short stories. You can find out more at www.jacquelinevick.com or join her Mystery Buffs here.

Categories
Mystery Readers Only

What Tickles and Irks You When Reading a Mystery?

By Kathy McIntosh

My experience in book clubs tells me that indeed, readers’ tastes and preferences vary widely . . . and wildly.

My current book club focuses on mysteries, but we all read and recommend outside the genre. What draws me and the readers in my group?

A strong, compelling hero or heroine. Usually we prefer those we can identify with and like, but if the character is evil but fascinating, we keep reading. Flawed characters are in vogue, but when the character has so many problems, they get in the way of solving the mystery, well, that’s a problem for the readers I know. They also get peeved when a formerly wimpy character suddenly exhibits powerful skills never hinted at to save themselves or others.

A problem or conflict that needs to be solved, and it really ought to come up pretty dang soon in the story. In a mystery, the problem’s generally a crime, but it might start out with a minor problem that kicks our main character into action.

A great setting, with a big BUT. Establishing the setting is important, but the story is more important. We recently read a book where we all thought the writer excelled at writing setting with great accuracy, but when the setting became more important than the story, our interest waned.

Details add authenticity, but too many intricate details—perhaps about an autopsy or about how to create a craft item—can get boring.

Too much preaching irks the readers in my book group. Readers are there for the story, not to be lectured.

If it’s too easy to figure out “whodunit,” that can be a problem. A bigger one is when the killer/bad guy is introduced way too late or only for an instant, so the reader can’t conclude that their guilt is obvious once all the clues are in.

So what about you? What do you love—or dislike—about the mysteries you read? What causes you to fling a book across the room, or figuratively fling a Kindle?

~~~

A reformed high-tech marketer and former columnist on words and business writing, Kathy transformed her love of words and nature into her fiction. After many years in Idaho, she and her husband moved to southeastern Arizona a few years back.

Kathy’s first two novels, Mustard’s Last Stand and Foul Wind, are humorous romps in the wilds of north Idaho. Her newest mystery, Murder, Sonoran Style, portrays death in the heat of the desert, with a light touch and lots of laughter. Murder, Sonoran Style won honorable mention in the 2019 PSWA writing contest.

Mustard’s Last Stand, Kathy’s first, award-winning novel is free on Amazon today through Sunday.

LINKS:

Murder, Sonoran Style https://amzn.to/2IIwBrw

Mustard’s Last Stand https://amzn.to/33rMZEK

Foul Wind https://amzn.to/2B6Hq2m