Matt Hilton:The Joe Hunter Thrillers and More~ Sunday, Jun 7 2015 

Uncategorized , , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 12:02 am

Please welcome UK author Matt Hilton, here to introduce USA readers to his long-running exceptional Joe Hunter thriller series:

This year (2015) is a busy one for me, seeing the release of three novels and a short story, from various publishers throughout the world. Of course, it isn’t only the publications that will keep me on my toes; I’m also hard at the keyboard writing another two novels, along with everything else that goes with being a working author these days. I’m not complaining. I like busy. I love writing. I also enjoy meeting and speaking with readers, both old and new, so I think this will be a good year.

For anyone unfamiliar with my name, I’m best known for my Joe Hunter thriller series. Hunter is an ex-soldier from England, now working in the USA as a PI, bodyguard, and sometimes vigilante. Sometimes Hunter can be uncompromising when it comes to dealing with the bad guys of the world, but he’s a good guy at heart. He has been compared to Jack Reacher, Travis McGee and Joe Pike, but he’s also his own man. To date in the UK there have been nine Joe Hunter books published by Hodder and Stoughton, and number 10 is just a few short weeks away from hitting the shelves on June 4th.

The Devils Anvil Cover

In The Devil’s Anvil – Joe Hunter 10 – Hunter accepts the task of protecting Billie Womack. The job is a no-brainer for the ex-counterterrorist soldier, but it comes with its own set of complications. Billie’s husband, Richard, stole thirty million dollars from some violent people. He apparently died in a car crash with Billie’s daughter, Nicola, during a desperate attempt to elude his pursuers.

But his enemies don’t believe him dead. They think he escaped the plunge into the icy river that killed Nicola and has now decided to come back for the money. If he’s alive, they believe he’ll contact Billie. It doesn’t take long for the bad guys to arrive at her remote farmhouse. Soon she and Hunter are fugitives. Dead or alive, Richard’s fate means nothing to Hunter, but he promises to do everything in his power to protect the grieving mother. Even if it means taking a bullet for her, it’s a price he’ll pay. It’s a price he will come to regret.

Publication of the Hunter series in the USA is a little behind the UK, and to date six novels have been published by William Morrow and Company (Harper Collins), with book 7 recently published by Down and Out Books. This June also sees the publication by Down and Out Books of book 8 called Rules of Honor.
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When Rink’s father is murdered, Joe Hunter vows to help his friend avenge his brutal death. Rink’s mother Yukiko isn’t talking, her silence governed by the Bushido tradition of giri, or moral obligation. But other people known to Yukiko are also dying, all due to a shameful secret from their past that Hunter must uncover if he hopes to end the murders. To do that rules must be broken, and Hunter doesn’t care what he must break to stop the killer.

Here’s a brief excerpt from Rules of Honor:

My friend Jared Rington moved along the carriage with an easy pace, but even from this end I could see the muscles working in his jaw, an old knife scar standing out as a white slash against his tawny skin. Rink hadn’t gone to the trouble I had. He wasn’t disguised, and didn’t see the need. He wanted Chaney to know who was coming for him, and who his executioner was going to be. The only compromise to his usual colourful attire was a pair of black leather gloves. Chaney had his back to Rink, but my friend isn’t the type to do a hit from behind. Rink’s voice was muffled, but I still heard his sharp command: ‘Stand up you piece of shit.’
Chaney dropped his phone and went for his gun, already turning as he rose.
Rink struck him with the edge of his hand, a chop to the side of the big man’s neck. Uncontrolled the blow could kill, but Rink had tempered the force. It was still enough to stagger Chaney and while he was weakened, Rink took the gun from him with a practiced twist of the wrist. Chaney grunted something, continued his turn and tried to grapple for the gun. Rink hit him again, a sweeping elbow strike that contacted with Chaney’s face and knocked him back a few steps. Rink followed him, bringing up the Glock he’d liberated to point it directly at Chaney’s forehead.
Time I did something.
I hit the button and the door swept open.
As I entered the carriage my view of Rink was slightly obscured by Chaney’s thick body. I had a horrible feeling that Rink would shoot, and the bullet would go directly through Chaney’s skull and hit me. I sidestepped, placing myself in the open next to the exit doors. Rink was taller than Chaney, and I knew he’d seen me from the slight narrowing of his eyes. That was all the notice he gave me, though, because his attention was on the man he was about to kill.
I brought up my SIG Sauer P226 and pointed it at Chaney’s back. My other hand I held open to Rink. ‘Don’t do this, brother,’ I said to him. ‘Chaney’s a piece of shit, but he doesn’t deserve this.’
Rink didn’t even look at me. Nausea squirmed a passage through my gut.
‘Don’t,’ I said again.
‘What’re you going to do, Hunter?’ Rink’s eyes never left Chaney. ‘Shoot me?’
‘I don’t want to,’ I said.
‘That’s something, at least.’ Rink ignored me then and took a step nearer Chaney.
The enforcer reared back on his heels, bringing up his hands in a placating motion. ‘Whoa! What’s this all about?’
‘I’m about to kill you,’ my friend snarled.
‘Rink. Don’t do it.’ I hurried towards him. ‘Don’t cross the line, brother.’
‘It’s too late for that, Joe.’
I knew then that there was less than a heartbeat to spare.
I fired.

The short story I have upcoming is called After the Red Rain Fell and is a complete left-turn from my Joe Hunter output. I was chuffed to bits when Geoff Brown, editor in chief at Cohesion Press asked me to contribute to their SNAFU anthology series, and I jumped at the chance to exercise my horror-writing muscles again. Anyone who has been following me will probably know that I also write horror and supernatural tales and have published various novels in these genres as well. I was also the creator of the webzine Thrillers, Killers ‘n’ Chillers and you can probably tell from the name that I’m comfortable writing in the various genres it encompasses, and love nothing more than mixing the genres up when I’m allowed. After the Red Rain Fell is probably best described as a military-horror with a Spec-Ops team coming up against a nightmarish extraterrestrial terror loosely inspired by ‘The Blob’, ‘The Thing’ and ‘Aliens’. It is also firmly based on a true event from a few years ago where Indian scientists discovered bacterial life forms living in our outer atmosphere where I’ve pondered the age old question: What if? My tale will feature in SNAFU: Survival of the Fittest.

Taking another step away from Joe Hunter, I’ve a new series starting this year, with November as the launch month for Blood Tracks. It’s the first in a new mystery series featuring Tess Grey and Nicolas ‘Po’ Villere, and sees the mismatched pair – one an ex-cop, the other an ex-con – attempting to trace a witness in the steamy bayous of Louisiana, before a murderous killer can get to him first. My readers can expect the same level of excitement as they’re used to from Hunter, but also stories that are more whodunit in nature. Severn House will publish Blood Tracks for the UK market this November as I said, but the US editions will not hit shelves until Spring 2016.

So, there you are. I’m going to be busy, busy, busy. But in between all the business, I’ll still be busy writing too, with “Joe Hunter 11” and “Tess and Po 2” both vying for my attention.
snafuc

BIO:
Matt Hilton quit his career as a police officer to pursue his love of writing tight, cinematic American-style thrillers. He is the author of the high-octane Joe Hunter thriller series, including his most recent novel The Lawless Kind – Joe Hunter 9 – published in January 2014 by Hodder and Stoughton, and the upcoming The Devil’s Anvil – Joe Hunter 10 – coming in June 2015. His first book, Dead Men’s Dust, was shortlisted for the International Thriller Writers’ Debut Book of 2009 Award, and was a Sunday Times bestseller, also being named as a ‘thriller of the year 2009’ by The Daily Telegraph. Dead Men’s Dust was also a top ten Kindle bestseller in 2013. The Joe Hunter series is widely published by Hodder and Stoughton in UK territories, and by William Morrow and Company and Down and Out Books in the USA, and have been translated into German, Italian, Romanian and Bulgarian. As well as the Joe Hunter series, Matt has been published in a number of anthologies and collections, and has published novels in the supernatural/horror genre, namely ‘Preternatural’, ‘Dominion’, ‘Darkest Hour’ and ‘The Shadows Call’. He is currently working on the next Joe Hunter novel, and editing a new thriller novel called Blood Tracks, soon to be published by Severn House.
http://www.matthiltonbooks.com
@MHiltonauthor
http://www.facebook/MattHiltonAuthor

 

Edith Maxwell: Farmed and Dangerous Sunday, May 31 2015 

Uncategorized , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 12:43 am

FARMEDANDDANGEROUS
Auntie M thoroughly enjoyed Edith Maxwell’s newest Local Foods mystery, Farmed and Dangerous.

The mystery follows the latest adventure of organic farmer Cameron Flaherty. Moran Manor Assisted Living is now home to the man who raised her, Great-Uncle Albert, and his new romantic interest, Marilyn. But it’s much more to Cam, trying to establish herself as an organic farmer. She’s hoping to get the contract to provide produce for the Manor and to that end has dropped off some of her delicious greens, root veggies, squash, herbs and even homemade pesto for a trial meal. With her rescued chickens, including the recalcitrant TopKnot slow to lay eggs in the cold weather, Cam works hard alone at her farm with only occasional help.

With her detective beau Pete Pappas making her a fabulous Greek meal that night, Cam’s fingers are crossed that dinner at Moran Manor is going well. Then Pete gets a call that changes everything: one of the Manor’s patients has died, poisoned after eating the meal based on Cam’s produce. And Pete must step back from their relationship until she’s cleared.

Since no one else at the Manor who ate the same meal was poisoned, the question soon becomes: Who would want Bev Montgomery to die? Surely not the handsome opera singer/farmer Richard Broadhurst, seen taking Bev out to dinner recently. Could it be her own daughter, Ginger, who wants to use Bev’s farmland for luxury condos? And what is Cam’s friend’s ex husband doing at the Manor? Ruth Dodge’s husband, Frank, hasn’t been seen or heard from in months, yet it suddenly appears his photographs are being featured at the Manor.

You’ll learn about the intricacies of organic farming while Cam unearths a killer in this second Local Foods mystery. But wait–there’s more!

Auntie M had the pleasure of interviewing fellow Sister in Crime, author Edith Maxwell. This is not the only series Edith writes. Let’s hear from her in her own words about how she juggles writing.

Auntie M: Edith, you have such an interesting background. Could you tell readers how you came to write crime fiction?

Edith Maxwell: I love reading mysteries, especially cozy and traditional mysteries. It just made sense that I would write in that genre, too. I started my first book when my younger son went off to kindergarten while I was home with the kids for a few years and being an organic farmer. It was the first time I’d had every morning to myself since my older son was born, and I jumped into mystery writing feet first, knowing nothing much about creative writing except my urge to do exactly that.
Flippedcover

AM: You juggle writing FOUR different mystery series! It boggles my mind how busy you must be with The Local Foods Mysteries; The Quaker Midwife Mysteries; The Country Store Mysteries; The Lauren Rousseau Mysteries. What made you decide to go in these very different directions?

EM: It was a pretty organic process. I will say that, for now, I have no plans for additional Lauren Rousseau books after Bluffing is Murder, which came out last November. Three series is enough to keep me more than busy, even though Speaking of Murder was my very first completed mystery novel and dear to my heart.

The Local Foods series was my first contract with a major publisher. After I turned in the third book, I wasn’t sure if they were going to extend the contract, so I created the Country Store series set in southern Indiana, where I used to live. Lo and behold, my editor at Kensington bought it, AND continued the Local Foods series for at least two more books. Delivering the Truth, the first in the historical Quaker Midwife Mysteries, which is set in my town in 1888, was a book I simply had to write, combining my love of local history with the legacy of independent and courageous Quaker women. I feel so privileged that Midnight Ink acquired it and awarded me a three-book contract. I’m just starting to write the second book now.

AM: How do you keep four different series straight? Talk about juggling—what’s your routine for writing and keeping things straight and organized?

EM: I write every morning, starting by seven. I do my very best to be working on only one book at a time. While I’m working on the first draft in one series, a draft in a different series might be sitting. Seasoning, as Quakers call it, and giving me some distance before I plunge into revisions. Sometimes, of course, the system blows up a little, like when copyedits come in on one book, a synopsis is due for a different book, and all I really want to be doing is creating the story of a third. But usually it works pretty well. Mind you, I am a complete failure at juggling actual balls.

AM: And while we’re on the subject of juggling, you also have a short story that was nominated for an Agatha –how did you fit that in?

EM: Once I get the idea for a short story, it doesn’t take me that long to write. Short works also go through their own seasoning and polishing process, but it’s all so abbreviated I can fit it in around the edges of my other work. I took Amtrak to Bethesda for the Malice Domestic conference, for example, and most of my work time down and back was working on a Poe-themed short story.

AM: Could you compare writing short fiction to a full-length novel for readers?

EM: Sometimes a short story plot just isn’t big enough for a novel. And the complexity of a novel-length work would overwhelm a 4000-word short. For example, the seed of Delivering the Truth was a short story I wrote, “Breaking the Silence,” which was published in a Level Best Anthology (and which I have reissued as an ebook called “Fire in Carriagetown”). But its story of malicious arson wasn’t big enough for a book, and the protagonist, a seventeen-year old mill girl, wasn’t strong enough to carry a series. So I invented her midwife aunt, Rose Carroll, who is the sleuth in the books, and added a couple of murders.

AM: When you have down time, which I suspect there isn’t much of, what else besides writing interests you?

EM: I love gardening, once the snow has stopped. Which took a long time this year! I cook, I read, I go for long walks, and we love to see movies on the big screen at our local Screening Room.

AM: When you squeeze in reading time, what’s waiting on your To Be Read Pile?

EM: I still pretty much read only in the genre. Right now next up is two of the Wicked Cozy authors’ new releases: The Icing on the Corpse by Liz Mugavero, and Musseled Out by Barb Ross. Then I’m dying to read Catriona McPherson’s new thriller, Come to Harm, and Victoria Thompson’s latest Gaslight Mystery, Murder on Amsterdam Avenue, also an historical featuring a midwife-sleuth. But I’ve also agreed to blurb a collection of short stories by fabulous Quaker author Chuck Fager, so that’s going to bump the novels. So many books, so little time!
FireinCarriagetownCover
AM: Finally, what’s one thing readers would never guess about Edith Maxwell?

EM: I’ve said before publically that I hold a long-dusty black belt in karate as well as a long-unused doctorate in linguistics, so those won’t work. Okay, here’s one. When I was twenty-two, traveling cross- country on a Greyhound pass for a month, I sometimes climbed up and stretched out in the overhead luggage rack on long nighttime rides between far-flung western cities. No, I didn’t tell my parents. And if you actually know me, this won’t surprise you all that much. Also, see the last line in my answer to question 4…

MaxwellCrop Agatha-nominated and Amazon-bestselling author Edith Maxwell writes four murder mystery series, most with recipes, as well as award-winning short stories. Farmed and Dangerous is the latest in Maxwell’s Local Foods Mysteries series (Kensington Publishing). The latest book in the Lauren Rousseau mysteries, under the pseudonym Tace Baker (Barking Rain Press), is Bluffing is Murder. Maxwell’s Country Store Mysteries, written as Maddie Day (also from Kensington), will debut with Flipped for Murder in November, 2015. Her Quaker Midwife Mysteries series features Quaker midwife Rose Carroll solving mysteries in 1888 Amesbury with John Greenleaf Whittier’s help, and will debut in March, 2016 with Delivering the Truth.

A fourth-generation Californian, Maxwell lives in an antique house north of Boston with her beau and three cats. She blogs every weekday with the other Wicked Cozy Authors (http://wickedcozyauthors.com), and you can find her at http://www.edithmaxwell.com, @edithmaxwell, on Pinterest and Instagram, and at http://www.facebook.com/EdithMaxwellAuthor.

 

Ausma Jehanat Khan: The Unquiet Dead Sunday, May 24 2015 

Uncategorized , , , , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 12:07 am

Unquiet Dead
Rarely is Auntie M affected by a book so much that she has to let time go by to give it a fair review.
But that’s what happened after closing the last page of this disturbingly powerful novel, The Unquiet Dead by Ausma Zehanat Khan.

When the Bosnian War was ongoing, Auntie M was aware of the situation, but for a mother, nurse and new wife without relatives there that were directly affected, it became something noted on the nightly news. Khan removes that distance by bringing war atrocities and their aftermath directly to the reader in the form of lasting affects on several characters who managed to escape.

At the same time, it’s also a police procedural of the strongest kind, set in Toronto with a Muslim veteran police detective, Esa Khattak, and his partner, Detective Rachel Getty. As head of Toronto’s Community Policing Section, Khattack’s team handles sensitive minority cases all the time. They are tasked with investigating the death of Christopher Drayton, a successful businessman who has fallen off a cliff near his home.

What first appears to be a straightforward accident of a fall from the cliffs overlooking Lake Ontario in the dark turns out to be so much more. Khattak soon comes to believe that Drayton was really Drazen Krstic, a war criminal responsible for the slaughter of thousands of Muslims during what has come to be known as the Srebrenica Massacre. Then it comes to light that Drayton has been receiving letters that contain quotations from war survivor’s testimony. Could his death be a revenge killing by relatives of survivors who’ve settled in Canada?

The case has personal ramifications for Khattak, and with Getty carrying her own secrets, the duo are learning to trust each other. Yet even as they build respect and trust in each other, they are learning from each other about the different cultures they represent. As their investigation continues, it will bring them more questions than answers that center on the conclave where Drayton lived and the small neighborhood there. Drayton was due to be married shortly, and his fiancee and her two daughters are several of the interesting characters Khan has created. There is also the question of a large donation he was to give to a museum in the same area and his participation in it.

Khan alternates the investigation against the background of the war, with several survivors stories representative of the horrific experiences of many. Without harping on political issues but with the travesty of war atrocities the focus, the novel stays firmly in the realm of a police investigation, with well-drawn characters, as the threads of the past and the present become woven into a chilling climax.

It is revealed after reading the novel, and there is not really a spoiler alert needed here, that the letters Drayton received contain lines from actual testimony from war crimes trials. In a lengthy and well-documented addendum, the author explains the origins of the quotes, showing the horror of ethnic cleansing that occurred at the time when a culture and its followers were attempted to be rubbed off the face of the earth.

This is an outstanding debut, meticulous in its research, compelling in its characters, and Auntie M can only hope this is not the last we’ve seen of this detective duo. Highly recommended.

 

Madeleine Mysko: Stone Harbor Bound Sunday, May 17 2015 

Uncategorized , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 12:23 am

Please welcome author Madeleine Mysko and her new release: Stone Harbor Bound

SHB_cover.jpg2

Confessions of Wannabe Mystery Writer

Unlike many of Auntie M’s guests and readers, I’m neither a writer of mystery novels nor a lifelong reader of them. I guess you could call me a wannabe—a “literary” novelist who occasionally hangs out in the mystery genre, hoping to pick up a few tricks of the trade from the respected practitioners.

Among writer friends, I make a joke of my addiction to re-runs of Masterpiece Mystery—Inspectors Morse, Lewis, and Lynley . . . Miss Marple, Wallander—but then, turning serious, I muse that watching mysteries can be a good thing for those of us interested in plot development. I expect my friends to believe what I’ve made myself believe—that an afternoon of watching murder mysteries (when I ought to be writing) isn’t really procrastinating, not as long as I’m “studying” in what order the writer makes things happen on the screen.

My brother (not a writer but an audiologist) has long been an avid reader of mystery novels. For years now, he’s been saying he and I should collaborate—that he could come up with the story line, drawing from his familiarity with detectives and police procedurals and all sorts of formulae for whodunits. And of course I would do the writing. There’s something wistfully half-serious about my brother’s proposal. He really loves mystery novels. He really loves me. Maybe he thinks I could actually deliver on my half of the bargain.

Once, out of the blue and without my brother’s help, I came up with an idea for a mystery novel. I was very pleased with myself. I had what seemed the necessary ingredients: setting (contemporary Baltimore), sleuth (somewhat jaded nurse about my age), and murder (or what appears to be murder to the nurse-sleuth, but to no one else.) I wrote the first chapter of my first mystery novel in a glow of self-satisfaction. Then right after I typed “Chapter Two” I was in trouble.

Determined to follow through, I ordered several manuals with bold, no-nonsense titles like “How to Write a Mystery Novel.” I devoured these manuals with pleasure, as though they were novels themselves, the heroine a person just like me who crafts a gem and finds both agent and publisher to adore her. This was ten years ago. I still have Chapter One of my first mystery novel on my computer. As for the how-to books, I think they may have left the house last fall, in a box headed for the Hospital Auxiliary Sale.

I’ve recently launched my second novel, Stone Harbor Bound (Bridle Path Press). Already, much to my surprise, I’m happily working away at a third. I’ve got the setting (contemporary Baltimore) and the main character (a somewhat jaded nurse about my age). I’ve even raided Chapter One of my first mystery novel for some of those details that delighted me the first time around.

But the main character of my third novel isn’t actually a sleuth. Turns out she’s just a wannabe, like me.

* * * * *
Madeleine Mysko’s poetry, fiction, and essays have been published widely in journals that include Smartish Pace, The Hudson Review, Shenandoah, Little Patuxent Review, and Bellevue Literary Review. She is the author of two novels, Bringing Vincent Home and Stone Harbor Bound. A graduate of The Writing Seminars of The Johns Hopkins University, she has taught creative writing in the Baltimore area for years, and presently serves as contributing editor at American Journal of Nursing.

Stone Harbor Bound is available from Bridle Path Press: http://www.bridlepress.com
and from Amazon.com

 

James R. Callan: On sidekicks and Over My Dead Body, a Father Frank Mystery Sunday, May 10 2015 

Uncategorized , , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 12:05 am

Happy Mother’s Day! While Auntie M is visiting her Minnesota Grands, please welcome author James Callan, talking about sidekicks with a brief excerpt of his new release, OVER MY DEAD BODY:

OverMyDeadBody-julie final front cover 2S

The Sidekick Is Not an Afterthought

All writers know the importance of a good sidekick to the protagonist. The protagonist is the leading character, the one on a mission, the person charged with the task of changing the course of things. As such, the main character is somewhat limited.

The sidekick, on the other hand, is not encumbered by such. Oh, yes, she (or he) is going to help the protagonist. But she is not the main driving force. As a result, she has a much wider range of what she can do. She can be funnier, crazier, can engage in things far afield from the main quest the protagonist must follow. The sidekick has a great opportunity to be more interesting.

In Over My Dead Body, a Father Frank Mystery released the first week of May, the sidekick is Georgia Peitz. Here’s an example of her free spirit: (Mike is the detective delivering the information that Syd committed suicide.)

Georgia jerked her hand up and stabbed a finger toward the detective. “Right. Angry. Not depressed. Not suicidal. Angry. He was planning to fight it.” She tilted her head and gave Mike an angelic smile. “He did not commit suicide.”

“Maybe he finally saw he couldn’t win.”

“I suppose some people might end it all if they couldn’t win something that was important to them,” Georgia said. The frown lines on Mike’s forehead began to disappear. “But,” she continued, “that was not Syd. Did you know him, Mike?”

“No.”

“Then, you’re not qualified to say what he would do in such a circumstance.” Again, the angelic smile. “I am.”

Don’t overlook the power of the sidekick to enliven your book and keep your reader engaged.

James R. Callan

After a successful career in mathematics and computer science, receiving grants from the National Science Foundation and NASA, and being listed in Who’s Who in Computer Science and Two Thousand Notable Americans, James R. Callan turned to his first love—-writing. He wrote a monthly column for a national magazine for two years. He has had four non-fiction books published. He now concentrates on his favorite genre, mystery/suspense, with his sixth book releasing in 2015.

http://www.jamesrcallan.com
Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/1eeykvG
Click http://amzn.to/1BmYQ0Q to see Over My Dead Body.

Cleansed by Fire (paperback & e-pub) NOW in audio, narrated by five-time Emmy winner Jonathan Mumm.

Over My Dead Body at: http://amzn.to/1BmYQ0Q
Character: The Heartbeat of the Novel – Second Edition at: http://amzn.to/19l69jd
How to Write Great Dialog Second Edition at: http://amzn.to/1yHx0uK
Cleansed by Fire at: http://amzn.to/1fqgWee

 

Dorothy Hayes: Broken Window, the second Carol Rossi Mystery. Sunday, May 3 2015 

Uncategorized , , Auntie M Writes Crime 12:37 am

Please welcome Dorothy Hayes, premiering her second Jerry and Rossi Mystery

Hayes2

Jerry and Rossi are at it again in Broken Window.
They’re married for three months when the story opens and living on Jerry’s farm and animal rescue reserve, Peaceable Kingdom. Jerry is a detective on the Wilton Police Force and Rossi is an investigative reporter in her new job at the The Norwalk Daily News. They met when Rossi covered a police strike, in Murder at the P&Z, the first book in the Carol Rossi Mystery Series.

She was working for the town newspaper, The Wilton Weekly News. At that point, Rossi had lost both parents in a years time, and with them was gone that feeling that she was the most important person in the world to someone, until Jerry came along.

Rossi is a local hero. Her expose’s resulted in ousting some politicians and better environmental protection. She proved time and time again that she was at late night meetings representing the public’s interests. Then when the recently retired town planner’s secretary is found dead on School Road, in Murder at the P&Z, it is Rossi and Jerry who solve that murder, but to everyone in town, it seemed like Rossi did it singlehandedly. The murder case brought the two closer together.

In Broken Window, in August 1984, a Wilton High School graduate goes missing off a number six subway train in New York City, and the parents turn to Rossi and Jerry for help. The city is dangerous, its crime rate at an all time high, it is in a financial crisis, ten thousand fewer cops are on the streets, the NYPD won’t care about a missing Wilton girl, the parents tell Rossi and Jerry.

Rossi is much more on her own walking the city streets looking for clues, and riding the graffiti marred, old and failing subway trains searching for a witness to the girl’s kidnapping. With frequent muggings, and gangs openly roaming the trains wearing their gang colors, the subway trains had become a symbol of the declining city. Life is more complicated, now as well; she’s a 47 year-old newlywed. Both she and Jerry must adjust, but adjustments don’t come easy in the middle of a missing person’s case.

Rossi’s main objective is to find the missing girl before she’s killed; she’s racing against the fatally ticking clock, so everything else is on hold. She can’t do it any other way. Jerry’s objective is to watch over their farm, his job, and keep it all afloat, and he’s not getting much help from Rossi. Will Rossi find her missing girl in time? Will she pay the price of a failed marriage? ~~~

New Release: Broken Window published March 1, by Mainly Murder Press, http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Window-Dorothy-H-Hayes/dp/0990510336, Murder at the P&Z, 2013,http://www.amazon.com/Murder-at-Dorothy-H-Hayes-ebook/dp/B00BHHSLTC

Broken Window:
The New York City subway was dangerous, the parents told the three Wilton High School graduates, but the girls weren’t taking no for an answer. Kelly Singleton, soon to be an NYU freshman, and her two friends board the hazardous subway train. Several stops later, her two friends get off, but Kelly is nowhere to be found. It is the torrid August of 1984, and crime is at an all-time high. Kelly’s desperate parents turn to reporter Carol Rossi and police detective Jerry Stevenson to find their missing daughter.

Praise for Broken Window:

“From the first sentence to the last, Dorothy Hayes takes you on a pulse-pounding journey into the heart of darkness … With flowing prose that won’t let go, impeccable research, and characters that breathe life on the page, do not miss Broken Window.”
–Racine Hiet, author, Stanley Park: A Novel; radio host, Party 934;
and publisher/editor, Thrive in Life Magazine

“Hayes captures the danger of New York City in the 1980s and the nightmare of a girl gone missing … This suspenseful story rings so true, I couldn’t put it down.”
–Garry Rodgers, retired homicide detective, forensic coroner and best-selling crime writer

“Wow, another great book! … Hayes continues the fast-moving mystery thriller technique of Murder at the P&Z as we follow Rossi in her search for a missing 18-year-old girl in New York City.”
–Frank Hoffman, Co-founder, All-Creatures.org

“Over her head, professionally and romantically.” Scratch the surface of a small town planning and zoning department, and you’ll uncover a story. That’s what Carol Rossi counts on in the winter of 1983, and she’s right. A former teacher, age 47 and romantically involved with a much younger police officer, she needs a big story to make a success of her new career as a reporter for a Wilton, Connecticut, weekly newspaper, but murder isn’t what she had in mind. When the victim turns out to be a woman on Rossi’s beat, writing a story no longer seems enough, and she vows to find the killer. Stalked and terrorized, Rossi soon finds herself in over her head, professionally and romantically. Published by Mainly Murder Press: February 17, 2013

Hayes headshot
Dorothy Hayes, a staff writer for local Connecticut newspapers for five years, received and honorary award for her in-depth series on Vietnam Veterans from the Society of Professional Journalists. Prior to that she was a Language Arts teacher. A staff writer for a national animal protection organization, for six years, she wrote Animal Instinct, 2006. Dorothy lives in Stamford, CT with her husband, Arthur. She also raised four children, and is the mother-in-law to three, grandmother to fourteen, and is GN to Bella. She writes for WomenofMystery.Net, CriminalElement.Com, and is a member of Sisters-in-Crime-Tri-State Chapter, and Mystery Writers of American. Visit her at DorothyHayes.com for more information.

 

NEW in Paperback: Casey, Bolton, Haynes, Dahl, Margolin Wednesday, Apr 29 2015 

Uncategorized , , , , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 12:45 am

Auntie M reads so many books but that you’d think they’d all run together after a while …

But in the case of the following, these are new in paperback, already been reviewed in hardcover, but were some of my favorites. So in case you missed them then, for your consideration:

Stranger You Know pb cover

Jane Casey’s THE STRANGER YOU KNOW was chosen by the UK Times as one fothe top 10 crime novels of 2014. This is a terrific series with a strong female protagonist who has a frustrating relationship with her partner DCI Josh Derwent. The series delves into the interoffice relationships all detectives must face in a realistic manner. Here they face unraveling a series of three stranglings that point to a sadistic killer and right now, all of the evidence points right to Jane’s partner.

Dark and Twisted Tide pb cover

Sharon Bolton’s Lacey Flint series have the young detective with the secret past working on London’s marine unit in A DARK AND TWISTED TIDE. When Lacy finds the shrouded body in the river, it will lead her to investigate other murders that have their origins in Afghanistan and may include Lacey’s newest friend on the river.

SilentMoon
Elizabeth Hayne’s stand-alones (Into the Darkest Corner, Dark Tide, Human Remains) all earned Auntie M’s ‘highly recommended’ listing with good reason. Her first of a series, introducing DCI Louisa Smith and her team, was UNDER A SILENT MOON, a gripping police procedural that finally lets a female investigator have a private life while it doesn’t take a whit away from the strong and compelling plot. In this debut, Louisa is tasked with two murders of two woman in a horse and farm suburb outside London. Haynes’ use of graphs and charts as well as investigative reports, witness statements and call logs that are in use in real investigations give the books a sense of being plunged into the life of a working detective.

InvisibleCity

Julia Dahl’s debut, INVISIBLE CITY, was an instant hit and has been nominated for all kinds of awards. She brings the world of Brooklyn’s Hasidic Jews to life as a young reporter, Rebekah Roberts, tries to solve the mystery behind the death of a woman from the community whose life may have ties to Rebekah’s own mother. A strong mystery with a compelling narrator, it also gives readers a look into the world of tabloid journalism.

WorthyBrown
Phillip Margolin’s pioneer saga, WORTHY BROWN”S DAUGHTER, is a mix of Old West, legal drama, and racism in a portrait of small town justice. It’s 1860 in the new state of Oregon, and judges often held court in fields or taverns, and were often put up by families as they traveled their territory. The story was inspired by a real case from that era, when freed slaves tried to find and have their children returned to them. Raw in authenticity, Margolin’s years of research will bring you back to a forgotten era.

 

Frankie Y. Bailey: What The Fly Saw Sunday, Apr 26 2015 

Uncategorized , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 12:55 am

Wht Fly Saw
Frankie Bailey introduced Albany detective Hannah McCabe in last year’s The Queen Dies, set in the near future. Bailey’s sequel,What The Fly Saw, proves to be another strong entry in what promises to be a series with just enough quirkiness to attract a huge readership. And well it should.

It’s 2020 in a very cold Albany that has almost been ground to a halt by a blizzard. That white snow blanketing everything covers more than McCabe might have thought when she’s handed her newest case: investigating the murder of a funeral home owner, found dead in home’s basement with an arrow protruding from his chest. Kevin Novak might have been depressed over the death only months before of his best friend, who succumbed to a sudden heart attack, but Novak surely didn’t shoot himself in the chest with his own compound bow.

Assisting McCabe is her partner, Mike Baxter, whom McCabe has yet to fully trust. On the surface, Novak was a family man with a loving wife and two decent kids, and also an active member of a local megachurch. The suspects are easy for the detectives to spot: the church’s minister; a psychiatrist who counsels church members; even a Southern medium who’s transplanted herself to New York.

What’s less easy to define is a motive for any of these people to want to kill Novak. Complicating things for McCabe are political machinations that involve her family, and the fallout two previous cases, one which seems to impinge on this murder–or does it?

The near-future aspect is compelling enough to be of interest but not a distraction from what is, at its heart, a good old-fashioned detective story. The kind of policing McCabe and Baxter carry out includes devices we can only imagine, but here, too, Bailey is astute and makes these implements an adjunct to policing in a totally believable manner. Bailey’s background includes teaching at the School of Criminal Justice in the U of Albany, where her interests explore the connections between crime, history and popular culture, and aspects of these are evident in the books and add a pleasing dimension, much as the futuristic aspects do.

The heart of the matter still revolves around very human relationships, from the victim and his family, to McCabe’s own, and form the strength of what is a compelling story and an addictive read.

 

Patricia Gulley: Brownstone Burial Thursday, Apr 23 2015 

Uncategorized , , Auntie M Writes Crime 12:33 am

Auntie M is excited. She’s navigating the rocky road to get her newest release, DEATH UNSCRIPTED into print. It’s the first of a new series set in Manhattan featuring nurse Trudy Genova. The cover is in progress and copyedits are done. There are no many steps to a new release, which for Auntie M, should find this book in print June 1st.

Here’s another author’s view of getting a book into print. Please welcome west coast author Patricia Gulley, talking about her newest project, based on her own work history–and let her know how YOU think she should have spelled pedalpusher:
BB cover 5 front

Brownstone Burial is a paranormal mystery that takes place in 1963, with my protagonist, Paulette Palinsky (note the PP initials that all my protags have) arriving in New York City after attending Airline school.

NO, not to be a stewardess, but to learn how to make reservations and work in a res office. At 27 years old, she is older than I was when I went off to NYC to work for Eastern Airlines, and she paid to go to school, which she and I both discovered wasn’t necessary.

We both fell in love with Brownstones, but needless to say, mine didn’t have any ghosts. We both worked in large bays, which sat over 100 agents during the day, and rotated shifts every hour on the hour 0600 to 2400. Knowing the twenty-four hour clock and memorizing hundreds of codes for cities, airports, airlines, fares, status and class of service was mandatory.

This was my first attempt at self-publishing and I so wanted to learn to format. That didn’t happen, or I may have a lot of info in my brain, but not enough to give me the confidence to do it myself. I need visual, not written instructions. So, I hired a formatter and started last September, thinking it would all be done and ready for pre-Thanksgiving sales.

NOT! After editing with two readers, and my formatter going over it, and then putting it up for edits on the main platform, and more edits, and catching odd little problems, and approving the art, front cover and whole book cover, and getting blurbs, it was finally ready. But then I had to go to Left Coast Crime and my formatter had his own conference to attend and teach at, so we made March 31, 2015 our publication date.

AND, it went up with the controversy over peddlepusher, peddle pusher, pedal pusher unresolved. But that’s another story…

Patricia Gulley is a retired travel agent from a world travel company, and did time at two airlines as a res and fares agent. Born in Pennsylvania, she escaped to New York, then headed to Oregon, where she lives in a floating home on the Columbia River. She is a member of Sisters In Crime National. Her favorite vacation is cruising.

 

Paula Brackston: The Silver Witch Sunday, Apr 19 2015 

Uncategorized , , , Auntie M Writes Crime 12:53 am

With last year’s third novel, The Midnight Witch, now available in paperback, Paula Brackston’s reputation became firmly set infixing historical fiction with fantasy. She returns with this year’s offering, The Silver Witch, and fans won’t be disappointed.
SilverWitch
Tilda Fordwells loves to run as much as she fears deep water, the stuff of childhood nightmares. After the death of her husband, Mat, she has come to the Welsh cottage meant to be their home to grieve and to find new purpose for her life. Ty Gwyn, despite it’s view of the lake with its island called a crannog, might seem a humble farmhand’s cottage, but Tilda imagines the garden she will resurrect even as she maintains routines and repetitive tasks like those of her newd pottery to keep her mind occupied. She’s still unpacking and setting up her new barn kiln and pottery, tasks to keep her busy.

The albino woman, used to strange reactions to her appearance, rescues a sickly lurcher, names it Thistle, and tries to ignore the strange things happening around her, like electricity, clocks, and watches stopping when she is near.

Seren Arianaidd is a prophet some call a witch, who sees things that frighten and dismay the villagers. She has the love of the prince but not his confidence in her visions when she tries to warn him of the vipers in his midst.

The woman have more than their strange looks in common: they each have a sensitivity to their surroundings and the ability to see things in the past or the future.

The worlds of these two unusual women are destined to collide, with spectacular consequences for both women after Tilda has a vision and that vision is Seren and her world, just as an archeological dig starts at the crannog.

Both women tell their stories so each one’s world comes alive. When Tilda meets the white-haired Professor Williams, he introduces her to the history of her new home. He also introduces her to his handsome nephew and the equally entrancing archeology student, Lucas. But it will take Seren to keep Tilda safe from the dark forces that wish to surround her.

Nicely done, with intriguing history woven into the story, this is a story of power, love and redemption.

AND for a lucky reader leaving a comment, there will be a FREE COPY of this compelling and imaginative book on its way to your direct from the publisher.

 

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