Man-Killer: Gina Cototi Cases Book 1 by Lawrence Kelter ISBN: 9781685133528 (Paperback) ASIN: B0CHR2MH2P (Kindle edition) Page Count: 260 Publication Date: January 11, 2024 Publisher:Black Rose Writing Genre: Fiction | Women Sleuths | Mystery & Crime
Gina Marie Cototi is a feisty Sicilian sparkplug, a Brooklyn-based PI with a fondness for family, friends, and one roguishly handsome Casanova named Rocco Benelli. Hey, nobody’s perfect.
This headstrong sleuth drives a split-window ’63 Corvette coupe and never, I mean never, misses Sunday dinner with Ma, Dad, and her sister Theresa.
Broke, brooding, and breathtaking, Benelli, an out-of-work parole officer is cursed with more charm than any man deserves. Deep down, Gina knows she shouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole, but she’s got more cases than she can handle, and Benelli’s ready, willing, and able-bodied, the perfect partner to help her get the goods on Vlad “The Scud” Rzhevsky, a disreputable boxer running point on dirty deeds for Luca Mura, a mobster as evil as he is dangerous.
Gina must somehow close the case without losing her life to Mura or her virtue to Benelli, but a moth working alongside a flame is always in danger of catching fire.
For fans of Janet Evanovich. Think of Man-Killer as Stephanie Plum meets Moonstruck.
Lawrence Kelter is the bestselling author of the Stephanie Chalice Mystery Series. A resident New Yorker, born and raised in Brooklyn and residing on Long Island. He often uses Manhattan and Long Island as backdrops for his stories. He is the author of three novels featuring street-savvy NYPD detective, Stephanie Chalice: Don’t Close Your Eyes, Ransom Beach, and most recently, The Brain Vault. Early in his career, he received direction from bestselling novelist Nelson DeMille, who put pencil to paper to assist in the editing of his first book. He was also a member of a private writing workshop led by the late soap opera legend and AFTRA president, Ann Loring. His novels are quickly paced and routinely have a twist ending.
The Great Escapes Team is happy to share with you the cover of Anna St. John’s new Josie Posey Mystery. It will be released on February 6, 2024
Clocked Out - A Josie Posey Mystery Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series Level Best Books (February 6, 2024) ASIN: B0CRFY4R6P (Kindle edition) Setting: A small town in Sunflower County, Kansas, named English Village Purchase Link #CommissionEarned: Amazon Kindle
Josie Posey and her posse of Mahjong Mavens are at it again, in this cozy mystery where the retired big-city crime reporter turned small-town crime solver uncovers another murder in picturesque English Village.
When the clockmaker’s daughter returns home for a visit, reporter Josie Posey is assigned the task of interviewing the talented watch designer. That very afternoon the young woman falls from a ladder while inventorying antique clocks.
At first, Josie is certain the fall was an accident. Everyone loved Ella McGregor Benjamin. But Ella’s deathbed statement is a mysterious riddle that can’t be ignored. With her Old English Sheepdog Moe by her side, and an ever-growing list of suspects, Josie scrambles to identify the killer before anyone else gets hurt.
The local police chief wants Josie to help solve the puzzle, but stay out of his murder case. The editor of The Village Gazette wants an in-depth story for the next edition. And somebody wants Josie to stop asking questions. Deadlines loom.
In this fast-paced rollercoaster ride of a mystery, the clock is ticking as Josie vows to find the killer before time runs out.
About the Author
Anna St. John writes cozy mysteries featuring a mature, yet feisty, former crime reporter, Josie Posey, as the amateur sleuth.
Her debut novel, DOOMED BY BLOOMS, was released by Level Best Books in February 2023. CLOCKED OUT is the second book in her Josie Posey Mystery Series. It is scheduled to release Feb. 6, 2024.
A former journalist, award-winning advertising copywriter, and ad agency owner, Anna is married to her high school sweetheart. She writes from her home office in Kansas, with her Old English Sheepdog by her side.
Anna is represented by Cindy Bullard, of Birch Literary Agency. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the Kansas Authors Club.
Good day, book people, and Happy New Year! I look forward to the beginning of each day, week, month, and year. Every new day brings the possibility of something new, especially a new adventure taken via the pages of a new book. Whether it’s romance, fantasy, science-fiction, mystery, or thrillers, I don’t expect the story line to be wholly realistic but I do expect the characters to be reasonably realistic (well, except for characters in science-fiction or fantasy). I’m pleased to welcome back R.G. Belsky, author of Broadcast Blues to the blog today. Mr. Belsky will be discussing the inherent realism, or lack thereof, in his writings. I hope you’ll enjoy what Mr. Belsky has to share and will add Broadcast Blues to your new year’s reading list. Thank you, Mr. Belsky, for returning to visit with us. The blog is now all yours.
MAKE IT REAL? WELL, NOT TOO REAL…. By R.G. Belsky
Make your book real. Make sure your story is believable. Your characters authentic. And do lots and lots of research so you can back it all up with plenty of real-life facts.
That’s the advice given many times to aspiring mystery authors when they’re starting out - and some of them follow it throughout their careers.
Not me.
Because I’ve found out that being too realistic and believable and authentic in a mystery novel can sometimes be…well, boring.
I write the Clare Carlson mystery series, about a woman TV journalist in New York City who solves murder cases. The latest one is called BROADCAST BLUES. I’m a longtime journalist myself - who worked as a top editor at the New York Post, New York Daily News, Star magazine and NBC News. So a lot of the reactions to my books are along the lines of: “Belsky uses his real-life experience in the media to show what a big city newsroom is really like.”
Except my career in a newsroom - or working with the people there - was never anything like Clare’s.
For example, in all of my years in the media, I never once saw or heard of a reporter solving a murder on their own. Not one time. And yet Clare somehow solves at least one murder in every book of mine. She also finds her life in danger constantly; encounters romance in every story she covers; and does whatever she wants to do no matter what her bosses tell her. I did not do any of these things. But then Clare’s story is a lot more interesting than mine. Or any other real-life journalist who goes through the day-to-day drudgery without all the excitement in Clare’s world.
I think Raymond Chandler said it best a long time ago when someone criticized his iconic Philip Marlowe character as not being a very realistic private investigator. “Real PIs don’t get hit over the head every time they walk into a room or meet gorgeous blonde clients all the time in their office,” the critic pointed out. Chandler replied: “You’re absolutely right. But if I wrote about what a real private investigator does all day (going through court records etc.) no one would ever read me!”
That’s how I feel about me and Clare.
But the truth, of course, is that most of our most popular mystery characters aren’t very realistic or authentic or believable either.
The classic example has always been Jessica Fletcher of Murder She Wrote and her town of Cabot Cove. There are only 3500 people in the entire tiny town of Cabot Cove, and 274 of them have been murdered. It’s become a running joke about how dangerous it is to live in Cabot Cove with Jessica! But it sure has never hurt the popularity of her or the series.
It’s called suspension of belief, and pretty much every murder mystery story in books or on TV or the movies has it.
Do you actually think there could be a real-life homicide detective like Columbo wearing a tattered raincoat and solving murders on his own? Or a PI like Jim Rockford living in a trailer and getting beat up each week? Or Spenser? Or Harry Bosch? Or Kinsey Millhone. Or Jack Reacher…well, you get the idea.
I will tell you one more story about me and my writing career to make the point.
Many years ago, long before Clare, I was asked to write a mystery novel about another woman TV reporter. At the time, I had never worked in a TV newsroom. Never even set foot in one. My research for the book consisted of visiting a TV news studio for less than an hour and learning a few key phrases like “Give me some B-copy (file footage)” and “we need to do a crash and burn on this video (fast edit)”. I sprinkled these phrases throughout the book in the hope of convincing readers I knew what I was talking about. Sure enough, the reviews talked about “my exhaustive expertise and knowledge of how a TV newsroom really works.” Go figure.
Just to be clear, sometimes you have to be real. If you’re dealing with actual people, you have to use real-life facts about them. Same with specific locations - you can’t put the Empire State Building in Queens or anything like that. And any references to real-life events fall into that category too.
But most of the time I want my Clare Carlson character to live in the same fictional world as Jessica Fletcher and Columbo and all the rest.
Is that world a real world?
No, it’s not.
But it is sure a lot more interesting! ♦
BROADCAST BLUES
by R.G. Belsky
January 1-26, 2024 Virtual Book Tour
Synopsis:
Wendy Kyle took secrets to her grave— now, Clare Carlson is digging them up
New York City has no shortage of crime, making for a busy schedule for TV newswoman Clare Carlson. But not all crimes are created equal, and when an explosive planted in a car detonates and kills a woman, Clare knows it’ll be a huge story for her.
But it’s not only about the story—Clare also wants justice for the victim, Wendy Kyle. Wendy had sparked controversy as an NYPD officer, ultimately getting kicked off the force after making sexual harassment allegations and getting into a physical altercation with her boss. Then, she started a private investigations business, catering to women who suspected their husbands of cheating. Undoubtedly, Wendy had angered many people with her work, so the list of her suspected murderers is seemingly endless.
Despite the daunting investigation, Clare dives in headfirst. As she digs deeper, she attracts the attention of many rich and powerful people who will stop at nothing to keep her from breaking the truth about the death of Wendy Kyle—and exposing their personal secrets that Wendy took to her grave.
Book Details:
Genre: Mystery Published by: Oceanview Publishing Publication Date: January 2, 2024 Number of Pages: 320 ISBN: 9781608095315 ISBN10: 1608095312) Series: Clare Carlson Mystery Series, 6 | All of the novels in the Clare Carlson Mystery Series stand on their own and can be read in any order Purchase Links #CommissionEarned: Bookshop.org | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads | Oceanview Publishing
Author Bio:
R.G. Belsky is an award-winning author of crime fiction and a journalist in New York City. His newest mystery, BROADCAST BLUES, was published on January 2 by Oceanview. It is the sixth in a series featuring Clare Carlson, the news director for a New York City TV station. The first book, Yesterday’s News, was named Best Mystery of 2018 at Deadly Ink. The second, Below the Fold, won the Foreward INDIES award for Best Mystery of 2019. Belsky has published 20 novels—all set in the New York city media world where he has had a long career as a top editor at the New York Post, New York Daily News, Star magazine and NBC News. He also writes thrillers under the name Dana Perry. And he is a contributing writer for The Big Thrill magazine and BookTrib.
Happy Holidays and Seasons Greetings Y’all! Once again, I spent way too much time this year re-reading as well as reading. As with previous years, this year’s “best of…” list will cover a variety of genres. This list includes books read with online and local book groups, a few books that I read and reviewed, and other books I’ve had the pleasure of reading over the year. Not all of the titles listed here were released in 2023, but all were read in 2023.
If you haven’t read any of the books on this list, it is my most sincere hope that one or two will stand out and you’ll want to grab a copy to read for yourself (or to gift).
For those of you who love Southern noir, crime fiction, mysteries, or thrillers, I strongly encourage you to grab a copy of every book written by S.A. Cosby, including his latest, All The Sinners Bleed.
A Black sheriff. A serial killer. A small town ready to combust.
Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, Charon has had only two murders. After years of working as an FBI agent, Titus knows better than anyone that while his hometown might seem like a land of moonshine, cornbread, and honeysuckle, secrets always fester under the surface.
Then a year to the day after Titus’s election, a school teacher is killed by a former student, and the student is fatally shot by Titus’s deputies. Those festering secrets are now out in the open and ready to tear the town apart.
As Titus investigates the shootings, he unearths terrible crimes and a serial killer who has been hiding in plain sight, haunting the dirt lanes and woodland clearings of Charon. With the killer’s possible connections to a local church and the town’s harrowing history weighing on him, Titus projects confidence about closing the case while concealing a painful secret from his own past. At the same time, he also has to contend with a far-right group that wants to hold a parade in celebration of the town’s Confederate history.
2. I read and reviewed this one earlier this year (and recommended it to y’all). The subject matter touched me because I have a close family member who was a victim of identity theft and currently has a federal court case pending against the perpetrators. Identity theft causes emotional and psychological trauma and Identity by Nora Roberts touches on all of those traumas and more (romance, intrigue, and murder).
Identity by Nora Roberts ISBN: 9781250284112 (hardcover) ISBN: 9781250284327 (ebook) ISBN: 9781250897626 (digital audiobook) ISBN: 9781250893345 (audiobook on CD) ASIN: B0BH9BBTZM (Audible audiobook) ASIN: B0B9KSW9JN (Kindle edition) Page Count: 448 Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Release Date: May 23, 2023 Genre: Fiction | Romantic Suspense | Suspense Thriller
A new thriller about one man’s ice-cold malice, and one woman’s fight to reclaim her life.
Former Army brat Morgan Albright has finally planted roots in a friendly neighborhood near Baltimore. Her friend and roommate Nina helps her make the mortgage payments, as does Morgan’s job as a bartender. But after she and Nina host their first dinner party—attended by Luke, the flirtatious IT guy who’d been chatting her up at the bar—her carefully built world is shattered. The back door glass is broken, cash and jewelry are missing, her car is gone, and Nina lies dead on the floor.
Soon, a horrific truth emerges: It was Morgan who let the monster in. “Luke” is actually a cold-hearted con artist named Gavin who targets a particular type of woman, steals her assets and identity, and then commits his ultimate goal: murder.
What the FBI tells Morgan is beyond chilling. Nina wasn’t his type. Morgan is. Nina was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. And Morgan’s nightmare is just beginning. Soon she has no choice but to flee to her mother’s home in Vermont. While she struggles to build something new, she meets another man, Miles Jameson. He isn’t flashy or flirtatious, and his family business has deep roots in town. But Gavin is still out there hunting new victims, and he hasn’t forgotten the one who got away.
3. Horror isn’t usually one of my go-to genres, but now and again there’s a horror read that pulls me in. Lone Women by Victor LaValle was one such read. An intriguing mixture of horror, historical fiction, magical suspense, and the American West, this was a story that kept me enthralled from the first page through to the very last.
Lone Women by Victor LaValle ISBN: 9780525512080 (hardcover) ISBN: 9780525512097 (ebook) ISBN: 9780593611050 (digital audiobook) ASIN: B0B648K358 (Audible audiobook) ASIN: B0B4R7NMQ7 (Kindle edition) Page Count: 304 Publisher:One World Release Date: March 28, 2023 Genre: Fiction | Historical Fiction | Horror | Western | Fantasy
Blue skies, empty land—and enough wide-open space to hide a horrifying secret. A woman with a past, a mysterious trunk, a town on the edge of nowhere, and an “absorbing, powerful” (BuzzFeed) new vision of the American West, from the award-winning author of The Changeling.
Adelaide Henry carries an enormous steamer trunk with her wherever she goes. It’s locked at all times. Because when the trunk opens, people around Adelaide start to disappear.
The year is 1915, and Adelaide is in trouble. Her secret sin killed her parents, forcing her to flee California in a hellfire rush and make her way to Montana as a homesteader. Dragging the trunk with her at every stop, she will become one of the “lone women” taking advantage of the government’s offer of free land for those who can tame it—except that Adelaide isn’t alone. And the secret she’s tried so desperately to lock away might be the only thing that will help her survive the harsh territory.
Crafted by a modern master of magical suspense, Lone Women blends shimmering prose, an unforgettable cast of adventurers who find horror and sisterhood in a brutal landscape, and a portrait of early-twentieth-century America like you’ve never seen. And at its heart is the gripping story of a woman desperate to bury her past—or redeem it.
4. I know, I said that horror wasn’t one of my go-to genres, but The Reformatory by Tananarive Due is so much more than horror, and another book you won’t want to miss reading (in my not so humble opinion). This historical fiction read is part horror, part thriller, part mystery, and just a darn fine read!
A gripping, page-turning novel set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephens Jr. as he’s sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead.
Gracetown, Florida June 1950
Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory, for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie’s journey further into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory.
Robbie has a talent for seeing ghosts, or haints. But what was once a comfort to him after the loss of his mother has become a window to the truth of what happens at the reformatory. Boys forced to work to remediate their so-called crimes have gone missing, but the haints Robbie sees hint at worse things. Through his friends Redbone and Blue, Robbie is learning not just the rules but how to survive. Meanwhile, Gloria is rallying every family member and connection in Florida to find a way to get Robbie out before it’s too late.
The Reformatory is a haunting work of historical fiction written as only American Book Award–winning author Tananarive Due could, by piecing together the life of the relative her family never spoke of and bringing his tragedy and those of so many others at the infamous Dozier School for Boys to the light in this riveting novel.
5. One of the many pleasures I derive from reading is learning about different cultures and cultural practices. I strongly believe that books are windows and mirrors. This next book provided a glimpse into a facet of Indigenous American culture and beliefs that I hadn’t previously seen. Shutter by Ramona Emerson was an amazing read that combined bits of horror with paranormal, crime fiction, and mystery. I read this one in print AND listened to the audiobook, and thoroughly enjoyed both experiences.
This blood-chilling debut set in New Mexico’s Navajo Nation is equal parts gripping crime thriller, supernatural horror, and poignant portrayal of coming of age on the reservation.
Rita Todacheene is a forensic photographer working for the Albuquerque police force. Her excellent photography skills have cracked many cases—she is almost supernaturally good at capturing details. In fact, Rita has been hiding a secret: she sees the ghosts of crime victims who point her toward the clues that other investigators overlook.
As a lone portal back to the living for traumatized spirits, Rita is terrorized by nagging ghosts who won’t let her sleep and who sabotage her personal life. Her taboo and psychologically harrowing ability was what drove her away from the Navajo reservation, where she was raised by her grandmother. It has isolated her from friends and gotten her in trouble with the law.
And now it might be what gets her killed.
When Rita is sent to photograph the scene of a supposed suicide on a highway overpass, the furious, discombobulated ghost of the victim—who insists she was murdered—latches onto Rita, forcing her on a quest for revenge against her killers, and Rita finds herself in the crosshairs of one of Albuquerque’s most dangerous cartels. Written in sparkling, gruesome prose, Shutter is an explosive debut from one of crime fiction’s most powerful new voices.
6. I was introduced to the writings of John Scalzi a few years back when he was a guest at the West Virginia Book Festival. I can’t say that I’ve read a ton of his books, but everything I’ve read thus far I’ve enjoyed (The Lock In Series, Kaiju Preservation Society, Redshirts, and The President’s Brain is Missing). I’ve spent most of this year encouraging folks to read this next book. The cover for Starter Villain made me wonder what the…? Then I read the book, multiple times. I then listened to the audiobook, twice! The first audiobook listen was during a trip to an infusion appointment and my youngest brother had tears in his eyes from laughing so hard. Neither one of us wanted to leave his truck to go into the hospital for my treatment. (Although it isn’t prohibited in most places, I find it annoying to hear videos, music, or cell phone conversations via someone else’s cell phone speaker. Needless to say, I don’t use this function when in public. Hey, I’m tacky but not that tacky.) My brother and I were anxious for the treatment to end just so we could get back to this book. Starter Villain combines a lot of humor with science fiction and a nod to the villains from the world of James Bond. To say this was one of my favorite reads for 2023 is a massive understatement. Seriously, I LOVED this book and will probably end up reading or listening to it again before the year is over.
Starter Villain by John Scalzi ISBN: 9780765389220 (hardcover) ISBN: 9780765389237 (ebook) ASIN: B0C6FR3JN1 (Audible audiobook) ASIN: B0B9KVXCQ6 (Kindle edition) Page Count: 264 Publisher: Tor Books Release Date: September 19, 2023 Genre: Fiction | Science Fiction | Humor | Thriller
Inheriting your uncle’s supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who’s running the place.
Charlie’s life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan.
Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie.
But becoming a supervillain isn’t all giant laser death rays and lava pits. Jake had enemies, and now they’re coming after Charlie. His uncle might have been a stand-up, old-fashioned kind of villain, but these are the real thing: rich, soulless predators backed by multinational corporations and venture capital.
It’s up to Charlie to win the war his uncle started against a league of supervillains. But with unionized dolphins, hyperintelligent talking spy cats, and a terrifying henchperson at his side, going bad is starting to look pretty good.
7. One of my local book clubs was blessed and received a book club set of The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb earlier this year. The timing was quite fortuitous as this became our February group read and perfect as a Black History Month read. After reading my print copy I ended up purchasing a digital copy of this book and even ordered a print copy for my elderly mother to read (yes, she also enjoyed it).
GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK! • Ray McMillian is a Black classical musician on the rise—undeterred by the pressure and prejudice of the classical music world—when a shocking theft sends him on a desperate quest to recover his great-great-grandfather’s heirloom violin on the eve of the most prestigious musical competition in the world.
“I loved The Violin Conspiracy for exactly the same reasons I loved The Queen’s Gambit: a surprising, beautifully rendered underdog hero I cared about deeply and a fascinating, cutthroat world I knew nothing about—in this case, classical music.” —Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Flight Attendant and Hour of the Witch
Growing up Black in rural North Carolina, Ray McMillian’s life is already mapped out. But Ray has a gift and a dream—he’s determined to become a world-class professional violinist, and nothing will stand in his way. Not his mother, who wants him to stop making such a racket; not the fact that he can’t afford a violin suitable to his talents; not even the racism inherent in the world of classical music.
When he discovers that his beat-up, family fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius, all his dreams suddenly seem within reach, and together, Ray and his violin take the world by storm. But on the eve of the renowned and cutthroat Tchaikovsky Competition—the Olympics of classical music—the violin is stolen, a ransom note for five million dollars left in its place. Without it, Ray feels like he’s lost a piece of himself. As the competition approaches, Ray must not only reclaim his precious violin, but prove to himself—and the world—that no matter the outcome, there has always been a truly great musician within him.
8. The next book isn’t a sequel, but it is another fascinating musical mystery by Brendan Slocumb. Symphony of Secrets interweaves the story of a renowned composer from the early 20th century with a hidden figure mystery being uncovered in the early 21st century.
A gripping page-turner about a professor who uncovers a shocking secret about the most famous American composer of all time—that his music was stolen from a young Black composer named Josephine Reed. Determined to uncover the truth and right history’s wrongs, Bern Hendricks will stop at nothing to finally give Josephine the recognition she deserves.
Bern Hendricks has just received the call of a lifetime. As one of the world’s preeminent experts on the famed twentieth-century composer Frederick Delaney, Bern knows everything there is to know about the man behind the music. When Mallory Roberts, a board member of the distinguished Delaney Foundation and direct descendant of the man himself, asks for Bern’s help authenticating a newly discovered piece, which may be his famous lost opera, RED, he jumps at the chance. With the help of his tech-savvy acquaintance Eboni, Bern soon discovers that the truth is far more complicated than history would have them believe.
In 1920s Manhattan, Josephine Reed is living on the streets and frequenting jazz clubs when she meets the struggling musician Fred Delaney. But where young Delaney struggles, Josephine soars. She’s a natural prodigy who hears beautiful music in the sounds of the world around her. With Josephine as his silent partner, Delaney’s career takes off—but who is the real genius here?
In the present day, Bern and Eboni begin to uncover more clues that indicate Delaney may have had help in composing his most successful work. Armed with more questions than answers and caught in the crosshairs of a powerful organization who will stop at nothing to keep their secret hidden, Bern and Eboni will move heaven and earth in their dogged quest to right history’s wrongs.
I had a difficult time keeping this list short. My initial list of “top reads of 2023” had over 25 titles on it. I consider myself incredibly blessed to have read a host of great books this year. I’m grateful to the authors, publishers, publicists, virtual book tour companies, and book clubs that have afforded me the opportunity to read so many wonderful titles. I’m looking forward to all of the releases coming out in 2024 and I’m sure I’ll be raving about them around this time next year.
If you have a moment, tell me a few of your favorite reads from 2023.
Death in the Holler, Luke Ryder Book #1, by John G. Bluck ISBN: 9781685493073 (Paperback) ASIN: B0C7K9Z7F1 (Kindle edition) Page Count: 336 Publication Date: July 2023 Publisher:Rough Edges Press Genre: Fiction | Mystery | Thriller
MURDER, ADDICTION, AND REDEMPTION COLLIDE IN THIS ENTHRALLING SMALL-TOWN MYSTERY.
Kentucky Game Warden Luke Ryder is an alcoholic on the verge of losing his job. But when a Louisville gangster is found dead in rural Kentucky—on the first day of muzzle-loader hunting season—a chance for Luke to prove his worth strikes.
Asked to help with the investigation by County Sheriff Jim Pike, Luke works on the case while also confronting his addiction and using his innate detective skills to uncover clues and track down the killer.
Along the way, he discovers that the murdered man came to the Holler for a specific reason—a reason that might connect to a larger conspiracy. Suddenly, solving this murder is the perfect opportunity for Luke to turn his life around and become a deputy sheriff.
The true question is…can Luke Ryder find the killer before something more menacing comes to the Holler?
Murder at NASA, Luke Ryder Book #2, by John G. Bluck ISBN: 9781685493097 (Paperback) ASIN: B0C83KK25B (Kindle edition) Page Count: 332 Publication Date: July 2023 Publisher:Rough Edges Press Genre: Fiction | Mystery | Thriller
UNCOVER THE TRUTH BEHIND A COLD CASE MURDER AT NASA IN THIS THRILLING INVESTIGATION.
By the year 2030, the investigation into the brutal murder of NASA Space Plane Test Manager Scarlet Hauk has grown cold. In a last-ditch effort to solve the case and give an up-and-coming agent experience, the FBI assigns Agent Rita Reynolds with the impossible—find a lead.
To assist in her investigation, Rita enlists the help of Kentucky Deputy Sheriff Luke Ryder, known for his acute detective skills, who must go undercover in California where he will work in public affairs at NASA.
Given the access he and this cold case so desperately need, Luke interviews potential suspects and employees who were involved in a classified project the deceased was managing—in the name of feature articles for an employee newspaper—while secretly trying to uncover the murderer’s identity.
An honest man, can Luke maintain his covert identity and finally close the books on this cold case?
Mayhem at Sea, Luke Ryder Book #3, by John G. Bluck ISBN: 9781685493110 (Paperback) ASIN: B0C9VMB3CN (Kindle edition) Page Count: 288 Publication Date: August 2023 Publisher:Rough Edges Press Genre: Fiction | Mystery | Thriller
AN ACTION-PACKED, HIGH SEAS THRILLER FULL OF UNEXPECTED TWISTS AND PAGE-TURNING ADVENTURES.
Kentucky Deputy Sheriff Luke Ryder is on a heart-stopping mission to save the lives of 5,000 passengers aboard the luxury cruise ship, Sea Trek. When pirates hijack the ship—and demand a jaw-dropping ransom of $350 million—Luke finds himself in a nail-biting game of cat and mouse. Luke enlists the help of FBI Agent Rita Reynolds to outsmart the pirates and protect his girlfriend, Layla, from danger. But when the pirate captain threatens to set off the bomb in the engine room, the mission becomes even more urgent.
As the clock ticks down and the fog rolls in, Luke must act fast to prevent disaster. Armed with a Soviet-era grenade launcher, he faces off against the pirates in a thrilling attempt to save the lives of everyone on board.
Will Luke be able to stop the sea raiders in order to protect his loved ones and everyone else before it’s too late?
John G. Bluck is a mystery/thriller novelist. He was an army journalist during the Vietnam War. Then he became the daytime crime newsreel photographer for WMAL-TV (now WJLA-TV) in Washington, DC.
Finally, he worked thirty years for NASA and retired as a public affairs officer. He recently signed a contract with Wolfpack Publishing / Rough Edges Press.
The first three novels in Bluck’s Luke Ryder series were published in July and August 2023 by Rough Edges Press. Death in the Holler was re-released with a new cover. This novel is the story of how Ryder, a Kentucky deputy sheriff, solves a murder that takes place on a farm’s food plot. In the second book, Murder at NASA, Ryder goes undercover at NASA to investigate a cold case murder. The third book,Mayhem at Sea, is a thriller. While on an Alaska vacation cruise, Ryder deals with pirates who hijack his ship.
How Does She Know by Diane M. Sylvester and Andrea Rubinowitz ISBN: 9781662936760 (Paperback) ISBN: 9781662936777 (eBook) ASIN: B0CN4ZX4YQ (Kindle edition) Page Count: 372 Publisher: Gatekeeper Press Publication Date: December 11, 2023 Genre: Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Mystery & Suspense Thrillers
The ability to foretell events and connect with people in the afterlife is a unique gift-but can it also be a horrible curse?
In the page-turner How Does She Know, Anna Mavrides has been burdened her whole life by the violent visions she had as a young girl. As an adult, she decides to write a book about those visions and her family’s connection to the spirit world. It is an instant bestseller.
But her book’s publication ultimately triggers a chain of events that sees her charged with the brutal murder of a childhood friend. As Anna wrestles in her prison cell with the fractured memories and tangled relationships of her youth, her determined supporters dig to expose the motives of the spiritualist community leader and the district attorney who charged her with murder.
Their efforts could exonerate her and provide some answers about Anna’s distant past. All her life people have asked, “How do you know?” Can she finally answer that question?
As Anna rummaged through her bureau drawer for a hairband, the teapot whistled, Boots purred insistently and rubbed against her ankles, and the old digital clock in front of her flipped to 8:15. To say she was frazzled was an understatement. Anna threw her hands in the air and yelled, “Help!”
Her first TV interview, and here she was, on the verge of showing up late. In her mind, she had choreographed this morning to run like clockwork: after a deep, refreshing sleep, she’d wake up early, eat breakfast, meditate, calmly gather her thoughts, and then show up at the TV studio as an engaging, self-assured author.
So far, nothing had gone to plan and she was due there in forty-five minutes. Instead of feeling rested, she was exhausted after tossing and turning most of the night. Instead of feeling self-assured, she felt riddled with self-doubt. Instead of feeling witty and articulate, she felt dull and tongue-tied.
She ran a brush through her thick, shoulder-length auburn hair as she looked in the mirror. It was the first time in as long as she could remember that she felt the need to scrutinize herself. What would the TV audience see? A tall, big-boned woman in her late fifties with deep lines etched in her face and bags under her dark brown eyes that seemed to only accentuate her fatigue.
She pulled her hair through the hairband and sized up her outfit: an outdated but barely worn eggplant-colored knee length dress; brown mid-calf boots that she polished and buffed before she went to bed to conceal their age; a colorful silk neck scarf that she found buried in the back of her closet; and an ivory-colored sweater in which she found a ticket stub from a Merrill Auditorium concert she went to on an ill-fated, one and done date over a decade ago.
Anna smoothed the front of the sweater, adjusted the scarf, and took inventory of her big hoop earrings, necklaces, and multiple bracelets. “You’re a duck out of water,” she said to her face in the mirror. “Quack, quack.”
With a raw bagel clenched in her teeth, she was halfway out the front door when she turned abruptly and ran back to the kitchen table to grab a copy of her book. The cat whipped his tail back and forth as he looked at her accusingly. She ripped off a piece of the bagel, tossed it on the floor, and patted his head. “I’m sorry, Boots. Mama’s late for her self-implosion.” A short while later, as a studio assistant did her makeup, her mother spoke to her as clearly as if she were sitting right in front of her: You’ll do fine, darling, trust me. I’m so proud of you.
Anna’s reaction to her mother’s message showed in the mirror; she saw the fatigue that clouded her eyes lift and the tension in her face dissipate.
She took a deep breath and inhaled her mother’s voice into her lungs. She felt it seep into her bloodstream and wind its way through her body. She could smell her musky sweetness, feel her hand stroking her hair and her arms wrapping around her. When she opened her eyes, all the obstacles that presented themselves in front of her that morning faded. Just like the fog that enveloped the Portland waterfront as she raced to the studio. The sun had emerged, and everything was vividly sharp and bathed in golden promise.
“How Do You Know? That’s such an appropriate title. How do you know?” the TV host asked, with a cock of her head. Anna smiled. She was ready for that question.
“You see my lips moving and you hear corresponding words coming out of my mouth, right?”
The host agreed she did.
“So you just know that I’m the one who said those words. You don’t question whether that’s the case at all, do you?” “Well, no, I’ll give you that. I mean, I can’t refute that, can I?” “You could try, but—”
The host raised a finger and cut her off. “But then, you’re alive, aren’t you?”
Anna pinched her sides playfully.
“I think I am. I didn’t feel like it this morning when I woke up, though,” she chuckled.
But the host wasn’t in a lighthearted mood.
“So you’re equating talking to the dead and having visions of events that supposedly happened many years after to a conversation between two living human beings? Pardon me for saying, but that’s kind of—well, it’s a stretch, isn’t it?” “When you present it as a logical equation like that, of course it’s a stretch. So is the concept of God when you think about it, but your TV station has Reverend Peter—I forget—” “Reverend Paulson?”
“Right, Paulson, holding a prayer service every weekday at 6:00 a.m. called Talks With God. Which, by the way, is fine with me. I watch him sometimes when I wake up. He talks about events that are recorded in the Bible that are pretty unbelievable too. The creation of our universe, Jesus’s ascension to a place called heaven, to name just a couple. Do you question those?”
The host gave Anna a tight smile and then held up Anna’s book.
“We’re talking to Anna Mavrides, a Portland resident and author of the newly released How Do You Know?, a book with startling claims about her lifelong visions and ability to communicate with the dead.”
She looked from the camera to Anna, briefly, and then back. “After the break, we’ll shift gears from talking about the fundamentals of religion to some of the more . . . well, bizarre events the author claims have happened over her lifetime. We’ll be right back.”
She nodded to the cameraman, shuffled some notes in front of her, and then leaned back in her chair and looked at Anna. “We have about three minutes,” she said matter-of-factly. “Then we’ll have a ten-minute segment. More water?” Anna had her eyes closed. She heard the host’s voice coming from a distance. Susan was her name. Susan Cook, she reminded herself. She felt a familiar tingle in a spot right between her eyes and then a buildup of pressure in her temples.
“Ms. Mavrides. Are you all right?”
Anna saw long white translucent window curtains billowing sensuously. She saw a buttery, soft light filter in through a window. She heard the whisper of a breeze and saw distant treetops sway in response. Then she heard a woman’s voice. “Tell Susan it’s her aunt Lynette. Ben is with me. We’re together and we’re fine. We miss her and we love her. Tell her not to cry. She can go on and be happy.”
Anna felt a hand grip her arm and the host’s voice, sharper now.
“Ms. Mavrides. Can you hear me? Do you need some help?” Anna opened her eyes and blinked. A trickle of sweat rolled down her neck.
“May I have a tissue, please?”
The host stepped back a pace and turned over her shoulder to the studio assistant. She came back, handed Anna a box of tissues, and then she sat back down in her chair.
“You made me a little worried there. Will you be all right to continue?”
Anna wiped her neck and forehead before looking at the host.
“I’m fine. Should I tell you now that I had a message from a relative of yours, or do you want to wait until we go back on camera?”
The host was taking a sip of water. Her arm stopped halfway, then she put the glass down.
“You what?” she asked sharply.
“I received a message from one of your relatives to give to you.”
The host rolled her eyes.
“Oh, cut it out. Is this some kind of gimmick? Part of your routine?”
Anna smiled.
“I know you’re a skeptic. Don’t worry, you’re not the first I’ve met, and definitely won’t be the last.”
“I’m trying to be open-minded and nonjudgmental. I am a journalist. That’s my job.”
“Well, okay, whatever you say. It’s pretty clear you’ve got your mind made up about me. So why not let me fall flat on my face on camera in front of everyone? Then you can be proven right.”
The host chewed on her lower lip while she looked long and hard at Anna. Then she looked at her watch and got up. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
Anna nodded.
“We have ninety seconds. I’ll go talk to the producer.” Anna watched as the host huddled with the TV staff. They had an animated conversation, each glancing over at Anna. Then they broke apart and the host came back, sat down, and smoothed her skirt.
“Well, this should make for interesting live TV. I’ll call your bluff.”
Anna felt her throat constrict. She swallowed and took a deep breath. She noted the host looked combative as she shuffled her papers, as if Anna had delivered her a personal challenge. The producer pointed at the host and then at Anna. The cameraman swung the camera toward them, and Anna watched the producer count down with her fingers—three . . . two . . . one.
“This will be a first for me, and I’m sure for many in our studio. Our guest, author Anna Mavrides, told me during the break that she received a message from a family member of mine who has passed.”
She hesitated, then nodded emphatically.
“Yes, that’s what I said. She has a message for me from a family member of mine who has passed. She asked if she could reveal this on camera as a validation of her claim to be able to communicate with the dead. And I’ve agreed. Isn’t that right, Anna?”
“That’s correct.”
“I should point out that we have never met before today. And as far as I know, you don’t know anything about my family. I need to ask, have you researched my family and me prior to the show? Have you Googled my family or me?”
“No, I have not. Googling is not my thing,” Anna replied with a nervous laugh.
“Well, we’ll have to trust your word. Go ahead and share that message with me and our television audience, if you will.” Anna recited the message. Susan Cook looked shocked to the core when she heard it. Then her face crumpled and she buried it in her hands and started sobbing. In her peripheral vision, Anna saw the stunned looks of the producer, the cameraman, and the assistant. Then the producer stepped in and said that they would go to break.
Later, Anna would look back on this moment and wish it never happened. She would give back the cathartic release she felt after decades of doubt and anguish. She would give back the fame, the adulation, and the money that came with it. She would trade all that back and tell Aunt Lynette to find someone else to talk to.
But that would require a crystal ball, wouldn’t it?
Diane M. Sylvester was raised in Portland, Maine, and continues to reside in this beautiful state known as Vacationland. Born into a generation of fortune tellers not by choice; this pedigree cannot guarantee a lifetime of happiness. She longed to tell her story of her lineage, physic abilities, and paranormal experiences that she cannot ignore. How Does She Know is Diane’s first book regarding her amazing gifts.
Andrea Rubinowitz was born and raised in a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and from the age of six years old fascinated with the paranormal world. From chasing ghosts before impending thunderstorms, racing home after school to watch Dark Shadows, seeing every horror movie with Vincent Price, and finally as an adult, the urge of knowing more never ceased; in fact, it grew. Upon meeting Diane M. Sylvester, born into a generation of fortune tellers not by choice certainly cannot guarantee a lifetime of happiness.
Connect with Andrea Rubinowitz: Amazon | Goodreads
Good day, book people. Like most avid readers, I have favorite authors, along with favorite characters. Some characters begin to feel like friends over time, especially if they reappear in a series. I’m pleased to welcome Priscilla Cummings, the main character from Sniffing Out Murder by Kallie E. Benjamin. Thank you, Priscilla, for stepping off the pages of Sniffing Out Murder and joining us today. I’ll now turn the blog over to you.
I may not be a prophet, but I could relate completely to the Biblical scripture that read, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown…” When Joe Kelley called me “Prissy,” memories of my former self raced through my mind. The image of a chubby kid with glasses getting teased by the cool kids while I pretended the names didn’t bother me was still painful. “Sissy, Pissy, Prissy.” Kids can be cruel. Twenty years later, I had dropped the baby fat, exchanged the glasses for contact lenses, and am now a bestselling children’s book author. My first book, Bailey the Bloodhound, Pet Detective, had made it onto a prominent bestsellers list. Still, back in my hometown of Crosbyville, Indiana, I was, and would always be, chubby Prissy Cummings.
Bailey lifted his head from the ground, turned his gaze back to me, and watched. His expressive brown eyes seemed to ask, Hey, are you okay?
“I’m fine, buddy.” I forced a smile.
I’m sure he didn’t believe me, but he let it go and returned his nose to the ground and the trail he’d been following.
Bailey was my three-year-old bloodhound and the inspiration for my books. Like all bloodhounds, he had an excellent nose. He was able to pick up a scent that had been left days earlier. Bloodhounds had been bred to track deer, wild boar, and rabbits. Since the Middle Ages, the breed’s remarkable ability has even been used to track people. Once he was on a scent, Bailey could be stubborn. He also had an uncanny knack for getting me into trouble.
“Who are you talking to?” Joe Kelley asked.
“Bailey.”
Joe glanced around. Then he tilted his head to the side and squinted. Eventually, he glanced down and took a look at the nearly one-hundred-pound dog on the end of the leash I was holding. “You talk to your dog?” He said it as if talking to my dog was something for which I should be ashamed. Bailey wasn’t a rock or some other inanimate object. He was a living, breathing, sentient being. He understood far more things than Joe Kelley.
“Yes. I talk to my dog.”
Bailey sat by my leg and stared up at Joe as though he couldn’t believe anyone could be quite that dense. I had to agree with Bailey. Joe Kelley had never been the sharpest knife in the drawer. It was clear that while I’d changed over two decades, Joe Kelley had not.
“To each his own.” Joe shrugged.
“Okay, well we’re going to finish our walk.” I turned to go.
“Wait. What’s the hurry?” Joe reached out and grabbed my arm. “You’ve changed, Prissy.” He gave me an appraising glance and then winked. “You’re looking good.”
Ugh. Good manners required acknowledgment for a compliment, but I couldn’t force myself to thank him for looking me over like a prize heifer at the Elkhart County Fair. If I were a better liar, I might have tried to return the compliment with a compliment, but I was a terrible liar. Time hadn’t been good to Joe. As a teenager, he’d been an athlete with a nice physique and thick hair. Now, he had a beer belly, thinning hair, and a predatory smile.
Twenty years had elapsed since I’d talked to Joe Kelley. I’d changed both inside and outside. However, this conversation showed me that some things, and people, never change. I’d heard that Joe married former mean girl, Whitney Baxter. If that was the case, then honor was the last thing that I could expect to receive. In fact, I would consider myself lucky if I could be ignored and forgotten. Regardless, the one thing I never expected was to be accused of murder. ♦
Sniffing Out Murder (A Bailey the Bloodhound Mystery) by Kallie E. Benjamin
When a murder unleashes a widespread investigation through Crosbyville, children’s book author Pris and her trusty bloodhound, Bailey, must sniff out the truth before the whole town goes to the dogs.
After deciding that life as a teacher wasn’t right for her, Priscilla found inspiration for her first children’s book in her three-year-old bloodhound’s nose for truth, and so The Adventures of Bailey the Bloodhound was born. After the book’s massively pawsitive response led Pris to move back to her hometown of Crosbyville, Indiana, to continue the series, she’s surprised by how things have changed in the town, but even more so how they haven’t.
Pris is frustrated to discover that newly elected school board trustee Whitney Kelley—a former high school mean girl—is intent on making Crosbyville more competitive by eliminating “frivolous spending” on the arts and social programs, including Pris and Bailey’s beloved pet-assisted reading program. A minor altercation between them isn’t anything unusual, but after Bailey sniffs out Whitney’s body in a bed of begonias, locals start hounding Pris and Bailey as suspects for the crime.
With Bailey’s sharp senses and Pris’s hometown know-how, can they prove to the community that they’re all barking up the wrong tree?
Cozy Mystery 1st in Series Setting - Indiana Berkley (December 5, 2023) Paperback : 352 pages ISBN-10 : 0593547357 ISBN-13 : 9780593547359 (Paperback) Digital ISBN : 9780593547366 (eBook) Digital ISBN : 9780593746950 (Audiobook) Digital ASIN : B0C1Q7D3FX (Audible Audiobook) Digital ASIN : B0BXKHGG75 (Kindle edition)
Kallie E. Benjamin (Valerie Burns) is the author of the Bailey the Bloodhound Mystery series. The first book, Sniffing Out Murder releases on December 5, 2023. Valerie is an Agatha, Anthony, Edgar, and Next Generation Indie Book Award finalist. Writing as V. M. Burns she is the author of the Mystery Bookshop Mystery, Dog Club Mystery, and RJ Franklin Mystery series. Writing as Valerie Burns, she is the author of the Baker Street Mystery series. Valerie is also an adjunct professor in the Writing Popular Fiction Program at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA. Born and raised in northwestern Indiana, Valerie now lives in Northern Georgia with her two poodles.
This is a Rafflecopter giveaway for a $25 Amazon gift card courtesy of Kallie E. Benjamin via Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours. Please see the Rafflecopter form below to enter. Void where prohibited by law.
Coded to Kill: A Techno-Medical Thriller by Marschall Runge M.D. ISBN: 9781637589250 (Paperback) ISBN: 9781637589274 (Hardcover) ISBN: 9781637589267 (eBook) ASIN: B0C83Q9624 (Kindle edition) Page Count: 318 Publication Date: June 13, 2023 Publisher:Post Hill Press Genre: Fiction | Thriller | Mystery
Is medicine’s greatest breakthrough also the world’s most efficient killing machine?
After a decade of development, Drexel Hospital’s cutting-edge Electronic Health Records system is about to become the national standard and revolutionize health care. Housing the real-time medical records of every American, the EHR system will enable doctors to access records with a keystroke and issue life-or-death medical orders with a finger swipe.
No one wants the EHR to succeed more than Hugh Torrence, a former NSA honcho who sees the system as a tool for unimaginable and unaccountable power. The only thing standing in his way is a loose-knit group of Drexel employees with conflicting agendas and questionable loyalties—including Dr. Mason Fischer, a physician with a taste for intrigue and a shadowy past; a street-wise techie named RT; and an internal medicine resident, Dr. Carrie Mumsford, the daughter of the hospital’s president.
While they search for answers, the suspicious patient deaths keep mounting as the target on their back grows larger.
“A beautifully written, complex mix of medical drama, espionage story, and hi-tech skulduggery, Coded to Kill is a thrilling read under the guidance of someone who knows what he is talking about, and never fails to enthrall with its detail and deft plotting.” –Iain Pears, author of An Instance of the Fingerpost and The Dream of Scipio
“Dr. Marschall Runge gives us both a heart-stopping thriller and a searing indictment of the degree to which technology has sapped the soul of medicine and handed it to the technocracy.” –Holden Thorp, Editor-in-Chief, Science Family of Journals
An Interview with Marschall Runge
1. Where did the idea for Coded to Kill originate from?
Two words: aggravation and imagination. Like many physicians – I’m a cardiologist – I found the transition to electronic health records (EHRs) to be problematic because they increased our paperwork and diverted attention from patients. As a hospital administrator, I learned more about the power of EHRs – they do improve communication between healthcare providers and make previously illegible notes now legible. But there is little evidence that, overall, EHRs have reduced medical errors, which was their promise. And protected health information (PHI), which previously had to be obtained in written medical records, is now on-line and accessible both to all who have access to these records, as well as to nefarious characters cruising the internet for private information. With these ideas swirling in my mind, and having read too many thrillers, it occurred to me that a novel hinged on the promise and perils of emerging medical technologies would be a fun and effective way to share my concerns with the public.
2. What are your thoughts on recent ransomware attacks on hospitals and how does this phenomenon relate to Coded to Kill?
Ransomware attacks - where hackers steal or take control of vital systems and information – are a growing threat to public safety and health. Hospitals are an especially attractive target because we must maintain highly detailed and organized information on those we care far and because our work truly involves life and death stakes. Though the potential risks of online medical records are heightened in Coded To Kill, it is important that everyone who uses EHRs and/or have their information contained in them understand their vulnerabilities. In Coded to Kill, the action of my “heroes” provide a realistic hope that we can fight back.
3. How should the medical industry approach privacy concerns?
Hospitals have a sacred duty to safeguard Protected Health Information (PHI) even as we face challenges not just from malevolent hackers, but, ironically, from our own decision to improve patient care (and generate revenue). “Data aggregators” like Google offer tens of millions of dollars for access to large medical record databases and high quality information that can be used to devise new diagnostic tools and treatments. Coded to Kill illustrates a reality – that some of these arrangements become deals with the devil as “anonymous” patient records can, in some circumstances, be de-anonymized. I am proud to say that Michigan Medicine has become a leader in implementing programs to thoroughly evaluate and vet these requests.
4. In the medical field, do the pros of technological advancements outweigh the cons? Is there a clear path for mitigating the negative effects of progress?
I am convinced that medicine is on the edge of a golden age of innovation that will deliver lifesaving and life-enhancing results to patients around the world. Technological advances are already resulting in amazing therapies and many diseases that were untreatable when I began my career four decades ago can now be cured. A major problem, which Coded to Kill illustrates, is that technology can also be hijacked by bad actors. These vast changes also create another problem: the opportunity of fraudsters such as Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos to exploit this hope to peddle high-tech versions of snake oil that hurt those who need help.
5. In your opinion, does the future of medicine involve AI?
Absolutely. Generative AI and deep machine learning are already providing amazing advances in drug discovery, diagnosis and prevention. When I began my career, it took months or even years for advanced medicinal chemists to identify a small number of compounds they could modify and test to inhibit key disease pathways. Just within the last year, AI/ML algorithms have been developed that can generate more than one million new structures a day. But, like the advanced EHR featured in Coded To Kill, we never forget that machines are tools that must be used and controlled by human beings, who possess a conscience and morals. We are the secret sauce of innovation.
6. What’s next for you?
My experience writing Coded to Kill has convinced me that novels provide a great opportunity to bring important medical issues to life – to start meaningful conversations with the people we care for. I am working on a second novel that revolves around an extraordinary investigator using AI to discover secrets that seem to reverse aging. But shortcuts were taken, data was faked, and terrible outcomes in an illicit clinical trial involving prisoners were suppressed…. you get the picture. As with Coded to Kill, I will use real-life examples as a starting place for each of these themes.
Author Bio:
Marschall S. Runge, M.D., Ph.D., is the executive vice president for Medical Affairs at the University of Michigan, dean of the Medical School, and CEO of Michigan Medicine. He earned his doctorate in molecular biology at Vanderbilt University and his medical degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where he also completed a residency in internal medicine. He was a cardiology fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He is the author of over 250 publications and holds five patents for novel approaches to health care. As a Texas native who spent fifteen years in North Carolina and an avid thriller reader, Runge has experienced so many you-can’t-make-this-up events that his transition to fiction was inevitable.
Keeping Pepper by Scott Brody ISBN: 9798988851110 (Paperback) ASIN: B0CG51GQK6 (Kindle edition) Page Count: 252 Publication Date: September 15, 2023 Genre: Fiction | Psychological Fiction | Friendship
Beneath the weight of four long years in confinement, a story of liberation unfolds, igniting a whirlwind of love, fear, and even hope.
Ed and Stacey’s departure from San Clemente at daybreak would prove to be much more than the start of a simple road trip.
The motorhome’s tires kissed the asphalt of Orange County goodbye as they navigated towards the sprawling, glittery embrace of Las Vegas, and their friend Pepper.
That night, amidst the clinking of chips and shuffling of cards, Ed played at the $10 Blackjack table for hours, his thoughts swirling like the gin and tonic in his glass. His mind dances between the past and reconnecting with Pepper, a symphony of melancholy notes for the years gone by.
Their visit with Pepper the next day was supposed to be short. But his dementia had gotten much worse since being admitted, and Ed didn’t have the heart to leave him behind.
So Ed, Stacey, and Pepper embark on the next leg of their road trip together, to visit more old friends at Clear Lake near Santa Rosa.
At the reunion Pepper meets Sandy Martin, and sparks fly almost instantly, putting into motion a very different life than the hospital could offer him. Because facing the unknown together is better than being alone.
But when a local psychopath hears Pepper on a radio talk show and decides he wants Pepper to be his friend, things take a very dark turn.
In the end, twelve of them decided to make the trip. Several others begged off, leery of the trails and opting to take the day at the farm. They took three vehicles. A car and two SUVs, packed with lots of food, drinks, and gear in addition to the people. It took them about twenty minutes to get to the bottom of the mountain. The road goes through the village of Kelseyville, down some residential blocks, then the road slopes up through a series of farm fields and orchards, followed by open rocky hillsides. As they rose up on the hill, the tableau took shape - Clear Lake at the foot of the mountain with towns and suburban blocks in the distance. Going higher, the view got bigger, and the lake got both deeper in color, and silvery where the sun reflected off it. They all stopped talking and watched the view changing and developing with some awe as they drove. As they got higher, they disappeared into a cloud bank, then the road popped out of the cloud, and they were in a thick stand of Maul Oaks in a notch between two peaks rising on either side of them. The oaks were tall, 40 to 60 feet, with big heavy curving branches that looked like trees out of an old Disney cartoon. They drove a bit further through the woods until they reached a clearing with parking spaces near a trailhead. They got out, still surrounded by trees.
“That didn’t take long,” Stacey said, stretching her legs.
Richie was organizing their stuff. He had divided them up into small packs so people could carry them easily on their backs. By giving them to a few people, he figured nobody would have too much weight to carry.
“They call it Mt. Konocti, but it’s really not much of a mountain,” he said. “Just about 2,200 feet above the lake.”
“Looked a lot higher coming up,” Hubert said. “Beautiful views on the way up. Can’t wait to see them from here.”
“Yeah, it gets better from here on.” Richie said. He turned to speak to the group. “Everybody ready? Everything good? Anyone need to pee or anything before we get started?” Nobody said anything. “Anybody wanting to take a nap yet?” He laughed, as did a few in the group.
“A nap?” Pepper asked Ed.
“It’s a joke, Pepper.”
“Ah.”
Pepper was standing with Ed, Stacey, Sandy, and Franny. They had decided to stay together as a group on the hike. They looked like an aging tribe in plaids and jeans, shaggy hair and caps in the cool morning. Bits of fog lingered and drifted through the trees around them, cooling the air and filtering the sun.
“OK, well then let’s get started,” Richie said to them all, turning to walk. “The trail-head is over here.” And they were off. They hit the trailhead and followed the path into the trees. After a few minutes, Richie started talking to them about where they were.
“This is what they call the Black Forest because it’s a very dense wood of Douglas Fir and Maul Oaks. It’s a bit of a mystery, since it’s located on the north face of the mountain where it never gets direct sunlight. Nobody really understands how it got started here or why it grows just here.”
“Kind of spooky in here actually,” Sandy said to Pepper, sliding her arm around his. Pepper thought that was nice, but he wondered if she was thinking he needed propping up. He decided not to worry about it.
“Yes,” he agreed with her. “Keep your eyes open for witches.”
Richie kept going. “Truth is Mount Kon is really pretty exceptional. It’s not so big, as I said before, but it is a special place - both the mountain and the lake. It’s an old volcano. Part of what they call the Clear Lake Volcanic Field. It has been quite active in its history. They say it last erupted around 10,000 years ago, which is pretty recently.”
He stopped to help Cyn and Hubert over some rocks.
“I guess it was a fairly active volcano over the millennia, and through that time it created lots of caves and natural tunnels - old volcanic vents - into the interior of the mountain. Indians used to live here - lots of them. This was a large settlement of native Americans all around the lake. Mostly the Pomo tribe. They say thousands lived in the area in the 1800s before white men came and started killing them off.”
“God Bless America,” Eddie said.
“But the Pomo explored the area more than anyone since. Their stories about the mountain told about a huge open cavern in the center of the mountain. Probably this would have been the central magma chamber from when the mountain was an active volcano. They said their men used to crawl through the tunnels until they came to the edge of the openings, then they would drop things into the cavern to see how far they fell. Often, they never heard them land. Geologists mostly tend to believe these stories. They say this could be the tallest cavern in North America. But the soil is very unstable and many of the vent tunnels have collapsed. So, it is dangerous to explore - nobody has ever been able to find the central cavern, if it still exists. But one thing they do know about Konocti - the mountain breathes. All the vents around the sides, and the open cavern in the center creates wind drafts and thermal currents. The changing pressures and different temperatures create its own air system. They say when the weather is changing on the outside and it gets windy, that’s when you can hear it the most, kind of whistling or wheezing. Feel it too, since the air on the inside is a constant temperature it feels either warmer or cooler than the air outside. So you get little blasts of the mountain’s breath walking around.”
He stopped and walked with them for a bit. Walking and talking got him out of breath.
“Lots of people have reported strange breezes blowing right out of holes in the side of the mountain. Sometimes they smell like old decaying soil, sometimes people say they blow warm wet air. It breathes. In storms, especially. And lots of people report finding openings into the side. Sometimes big enough to call caves. Other times just holes. This mountain — it seems to have its own life, kind of. It’s unpredictable and kind of spiritual. One of the reasons I wanted to bring you all up here, just to see it and feel it. The Pomo felt it. This was a sacred place to them. They gave it the name Konocti which combined their two words for “mountain” and “woman.”
“Wow,” Sandy said. “You know, Richie - as long as I’ve lived in San Francisco, I never heard any of that before, and we’re so close. I’ve heard of Clear Lake, but never heard much about it. Never seemed to be anything that special.”
“I know, I don’t get that either, but people don’t seem to know much about it. I guess Napa steals our thunder, which I get. But this is a pretty amazing place. And really there’s much more. I haven’t even told you about the lake yet…”
And right on cue, as he said that they started to walk out of the trees into a more open section as they turned the corner to the eastern slope of the near peak they seemed to be heading towards, and the lake came back into view behind them. It was ringed by mountains. Now that they were near the top, they got the long view of the neighboring peaks and beyond.
“Killer view, man,” Ed said.
Richie was focusing on one spot on the lake, pointing. “Look, you see that patch on the surface of the lake over there?”
“I guess so,” Ed said. He didn’t see much, but he thought he could see some ripples around one area out in the center of the lake.
“There’s not much to see from here, I know. But it’s interesting. Of course, all this - this whole landscape - was created by volcanoes. It’s called the Clear Lake Volcanic Field, like I said, and it is still active. There’s some kind of magma pool underneath the lake. That patch in the water sits above a volcanic vent at the bottom of the lake. Lots of people have explored it. They call it a thermal spring. They say there are a bunch of vents under the lake, but that one is the biggest. Some divers explored it, but the water got too hot to go very deep. The magma is supposed to be pretty close to the surface there, less than 10 miles.
“The bubbling water from the volcanic vents gave the lake a reputation for healthy water, like mineral springs. Back in the day, maybe the early 1900’s I imagine, this area was full of expensive resorts where people used to come to bathe in the waters. They say it was quite big back then.
“Here’s the other thing about Clear Lake - which by the way is not clear at all, very murky, nobody knows why they started calling it that - but Clear Lake is one of the oldest lakes in North America. It’s like half a million years old. Apparently, most lakes eventually get filled in with silt from runoff, but this one sits on some kind of plateau that has the ability to get pushed down as the weight from the silt increases. So, the bottom drops down as the silt comes in, which has kept the water in place all this time. Again, this is a function of the volcanic formation of the area. How cool is that?”
Scott Brody works in broadcasting and ad sales in Southern California. He’s married with a daughter, two sons, and two grandchildren. He also wrote The Org, available on Amazon.
Greetings fellow book lovers. I’m old enough to recall reading Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, and Encyclopedia Brown mysteries in the late 1960s. I didn’t know at the time that these books were my introduction to the world of “cozy mysteries.” I’m still reading (and enjoying) cozies, along with a host of other mystery and suspense books. I’m incredibly honored and pleased to welcome back V.M. Burns, author of Murder on Tour. Ms. Burns will be sharing with us some insight into her main character and her responses to becoming a “published author.” I hope you’ll enjoy what she has to share, grab yourself a copy of Murder on Tour, follow the blog tour to learn more about this book and its author, and enter the tour-wide giveaway. Thank you, Ms. Burns, for coming back to visit with us today. I’ll now turn the blog over to you.
Murder On Tour is the 9th book in my Mystery Bookshop Mystery series featuring Samantha Washington, bookstore owner and writer of British historical cozy mysteries. Up to this point, I always identified Sam as an “aspiring” writer. However, in this 9th book, Sam is finally able to declare herself as a published author. Her first book, Murder at Wickfield Lodge, has been published and is out in the world. Now, the fun begins.
For many writers, myself included, what comes after you write and publish a book, can be a bit hazy. Bestselling authors like Louise Penny, Stephen King, and J.D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts) travel around the world on book tours, and fans wait in line for hours to get a picture or have their books signed. However, for a debut author of cozy mysteries, the reality is somewhat different. Few people are willing to travel further than their living room sofa for a book by an unknown author. They certainly aren’t going to put on clothes and make their way to a bookstore to listen to a newly published author talk about their book. However, thanks to Sam’s publicist, she lands a seat at the prestigious North Harbor Book Festival. The fact that Sam is a local, means that she is a cheap, last-minute replacement when a “bigger-named” author backed out at the last minute. Still, she’s there and is intent on making the most of the opportunity, despite the fact that her author table is located around the corner from the headliners and in between the fire escape and the Men’s Room.
At a book festival that features nonfiction, literary, and genre fiction, Sam struggles with the idea that genre fiction is somehow inferior. Face to face with authors writing books that are saving the rainforest, dealing with weighty subjects like climate change, or drawing attention to the plight of the Amur leopard, Sam’s cozy debut may be entertaining, but it isn’t changing the world. Even within the crime fiction community, cozy mystery authors are often not taken seriously. Nana Jo may not be a doctor, but her diagnosis that Sam is suffering from Imposter Syndrome turns out to be spot on.
Despite her insecurities, there is one area where Samantha Washington excels—solving murders. So, when a publicist is poisoned during a cocktail reception at the festival, Sam wonders if the killer missed the intended target. Regardless of whether she feels worthy, Sam is an invited author, an insider. She has an opportunity that the police don’t have to be on the inside, and she is enlisted to use her skills to help find the murderer. Pushing aside her insecurities, Sam gets busy following the clues and sorting through the red herrings. It will take all of her knowledge and expertise to figure out Whodunit. ♦
Bookstore owner and Michigander Samantha Washington is thrilled to see her debut historical mystery finally on the shelves, but a killer seems determined to steal away the spotlight . . .
While Sam wraps up her first whirlwind book tour, Nana Jo has kept Market Street Mysteries running smoothly. The last stop is a prestigious book festival in Sam’s hometown of North Harbor, Michigan. But not everyone thinks the guest of honor, bestselling author Judith Hunter, deserves stellar reviews. Sam witnesses nasty arguments between Judith and two different authors—who accuse her of plagiarism and sabotage . . .
When a publicist is poisoned during a cocktail reception, Sam wonders if the killer missed the intended target. It’s a twist that echoes the plot of Sam’s mystery, Murder at Wickfield Lodge. But fact can be stranger—and deadlier—than fiction. How much collateral damage is the killer willing to risk? With feisty Nana Jo and the girls from Shady Acres Retirement Village lending a hand, Sam tries to solve the case before the festival delivers another fatality . . .
Cozy Mystery 9th in Series Setting - Michigan Kensington Cozies (November 28, 2023) Paperback : 256 pages ISBN-10 : 1496739485 ISBN-13 : 9781496739483 (Paperback) Digital ISBN : 9781496739490 (eBook) Digital ASIN : B0BZBPW627 (Kindle edition)
Purchase Links #CommissionEarned: Bookshop.org | Amazon | Amazon Kindle | Apple | Barnes and Noble | B&N eBook | Books-A-Million | Google Play | Hudson Booksellers | Kobo eBook | Target | Walmart
About V.M. Burns
Valerie (V. M.) Burns is an Agatha, Anthony, Edgar, and Next Generation Award Finalist. She is the author of the Mystery Bookshop, Dog Club, RJ Franklin, and Baker Street Mystery series. Valerie is a member of Crime Writers of Color, Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, Dog Writers of America, and Thriller Writers International. Valerie has a Bachelor’s Degree from Northwestern University, a Master’s Degree in Business from the University of Notre Dame, and a Master of Fine Arts from Seton Hill University. In addition to writing, Valerie works as a manager at a call center, and is also a mentor in the Writing Popular Fiction MFA Program at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA. Born and raised in northwest Indiana, Valerie now lives in Northern Georgia with her two poodles.
Enter to win a print copy of Murder on Tour by V.M. Burns. There will be three (3) winners. This giveaway is organized by Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours. Please use the Rafflecopter form below to enter. Void where prohibited by law.
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Andrea Rubinowitz was born and raised in a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and from the age of six years old fascinated with the paranormal world. From chasing ghosts before impending thunderstorms, racing home after school to watch Dark Shadows, seeing every horror movie with Vincent Price, and finally as an adult, the urge of knowing more never ceased; in fact, it grew. Upon meeting Diane M. Sylvester, born into a generation of fortune tellers not by choice certainly cannot guarantee a lifetime of happiness.
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Marschall S. Runge, M.D., Ph.D., is the executive vice president for Medical Affairs at the University of Michigan, dean of the Medical School, and CEO of Michigan Medicine. He earned his doctorate in molecular biology at Vanderbilt University and his medical degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where he also completed a residency in internal medicine. He was a cardiology fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He is the author of over 250 publications and holds five patents for novel approaches to health care. As a Texas native who spent fifteen years in North Carolina and an avid thriller reader, Runge has experienced so many you-can’t-make-this-up events that his transition to fiction was inevitable.
This interview brought to you by 
Keeping Pepper by Scott Brody
Enter to win a print copy of Murder on Tour by V.M. Burns. There will be three (3) winners. This giveaway is organized by Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours. Please use the Rafflecopter form below to enter. Void where prohibited by law.
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