Lies and secrets pile up in this chilling next installment of Willow Rose’s bestselling series about FBI profiler Eva Rae Thomas.
Rest in Peace
An Eva Rae Thomas Mystery #15
by Willow Rose
Genre: Suspense, Thriller, Mystery
Sarah Chapman is angry at her husband. She’s also drunk… very drunk as she drives down their street, ready to face him.
When a neighbor hears the commotion and rushes to help, he finds her inside, gun still in her hand, and her husband, Steven, dead in the bed.
Sarah is arrested and taken away but claims to be innocent.
The only one who believes her is FBI profiler, Eva Rae Thomas.
She knows Sarah personally, and as she looks at the evidence in the case, she is convinced that Sarah is telling the truth, even though she was highly intoxicated when the event occurred.
But the detective on the case is determined to have her convicted for the murder.
As more bodies turn up, only Eva Rae Thomas sees the connections and soon starts a race against time to prove Sarah is innocent and to catch the real murderer before it’s too late and her own family is targeted.
Lies and secrets pile up in this chilling next installment of Willow Rose’s bestselling series about FBI profiler Eva Rae Thomas.
Willow Rose is a multi-million-copy best-selling Author and an ALL-star Author of more than 90 novels.
She has sold more than six million books that are translated into many languages.
Willow’s books are fast-paced, nail-biting pageturners with twists you won’t see coming.
That’s why her fans call her The Queen of Plot Twists.
Willow lives on Florida’s Space Coast with her kids, two cats and her Goldendoodle. When she is not writing or reading, you will find her surfing and watching the dolphins play in the waves of the Atlantic Ocean.
Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None meets The Gilded Age in this delicious, suspenseful murder mystery.
When Lady Emma Grace Hastings receives a much-coveted invitation to the most auspicious Christmas party of the season—one that comes with a 10,000 pound prize for the winner of a mysterious game—she cannot believe her good fortune.
But as the guests are assembled at Mistlewaithe Manor, the chilling intent of the game is revealed. Each guest has cause for alarm, because all of them have secrets, and to win the prize money, those secrets must be exposed.
Things take a sinister turn when Emma Grace finds herself caught between her old love and her soon-to-be betrothed. Suspicions abound, and old wounds are opened. The dead body in the study does not help. Nor does the raging winter storm that prevents escape from the manor. Emma Grace must battle her heart, use her wits, and put her sleuthing skills to the test to survive the weekend alive.
AJ Skelly is an author, reader, and lover of all things fantasy, history, and fairy-tale-romance. And werewolves. She has a serious soft spot for them. As an avid life-long reader and a former high school English teacher, she’s always been fascinated with the written word. She lives with her husband, children, and many imaginary friends who often find their way into her stories. They all drink copious amounts of tea together and stay up reading far later than they should.
for if you trouble Trouble, Trouble’s sure to trouble you.
Hidden in the Shadows
by A.D. Vancise
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Mystery
“All I can ever think about is murdering her.” -C.B.
Twenty-three-year-old Evie Day never dreamt she’d be back in Woodsville Arkansas, a small town in the middle of nowhere, after having left five years earlier, but the death of her grandfather called for her return. After discovering a photo from 1933 of a mysterious woman standing next to a tiny wooden box, a strange vial of blood wrapped up in a handkerchief in the pocket of her grandfather’s overalls, and a key hidden in his desk drawer that belongs to a secret safety deposit box, Evie is unwittingly thrown into a world of evil where those closest to her are the ones to be the most feared and danger lurks around every corner.
Hidden in the Shadows by A.D. Vancise shines a light on the darkness and reveals the underlying players that have been hunting in plain sight.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
The survivors of satanic rituals and child trafficking inspired this book, along with a photo I found in my grandfather’s family photos of a mysterious woman standing beside a tiny box. My grandfather died with the real story of what happened. He was a police officer.
I knew I had to take this story down a dark path once I heard the victims’ stories and those who never believed them. The killer’s POV is based on true testimonials of survivors. These horrific acts happened and continue to happen to kids worldwide.
Having said that, I feel the importance of noting a trigger warning for intense graphic material such as child trafficking, sadism, occult rituals, sexual and physical abuse, violence, and murder. If reading this material evokes memories of or PTSD from abuse, please contact professionals or a safe person immediately. This novel is in no way meant to sensualize or exploit these serious events. It requires courage to read this story meant to bring awareness to these heinous acts and give a voice to the children who no longer have one. It’s to shed light on a darkness that has plagued this world for far too long. I am awed by all those who can receive this information and want to help the children. We all need to give them a voice. Thank you for being brave enough to read this story.
Sincerely,
A.D. Vancise
Reviews for Hidden In the Shadows
“Writing with crisp efficiency, mordant wit, and bursts of searing terror, Vancise whets the novel’s escalating puzzles and portents with an edge of queasy uncertainty.” -Editors Pick, Booklife.
“If you’re looking for a spine-tingling read that will leave you wondering who to trust, what dangers are lurking beneath the surface and when the next twist will come, then Hidden in the Shadows is the book for you.”-Booktrib.
“Hidden in the Shadows by A. D. Vancise is a thrilling mystery that keeps readers in suspense from the first clue until the end.” – Five Stars. Literary Titan.
“A.D. Vancise excels in crafting a dark, atmospheric story.” -D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
“If you are a reader who is tired of reading the same old books that are lackluster and forgettable, then take a chance with this one…you will not be disappointed.” -The Red-Headed Book Lover.
“The author vividly informs your mind’s eye.” – Five Stars. Readers’ Favorite.
“Dark, disturbing, and gripping.” -Five Stars. Bookview Review.
“A grim but exciting and compelling mystery even in its most disconcerting moments.” Kirkus Review.
A D Vancise lives in Canada. When she’s not writing, she’s taking care of her three dogs, her cat, two ducks and some chickens. Her daughter is her inspiration for all things wonderful in the world.
Last Seen in Havana Teresa Dovalpage (A Havana Mystery, #4) Publication date: February 6th 2024 Genres: Adult, Mystery, Thriller
A Cuban American woman searches for her long-lost mother and fights to restore a beautiful but crumbling Art Deco home in the heart of Havana in this moving, immersive new mystery, perfect for fans of Of Women and Salt.
Newly widowed baker Mercedes Spivey flies from Miami to her native Cuba in 2019 to care for her ailing paternal grandmother. Mercedes’s life has been shaped by loss, beginning with the mysterious unsolved disappearance of her mother when Mercedes was a little girl. Returning to Cuba revives Mercedes’s hopes of finding her mother as she attempts to piece together the few scraps of information she has. Could her mother still be alive?
Thirty-three years earlier, in 1986, an American college student with endless political optimism falls deliriously in love with a handsome Cuban soldier while on a spontaneous visit to the island. She decides to stay permanently, but soon discovers that nothing is as it seems in Havana.
The two women’s stories proceed in parallel as Mercedes gets closer to the truth about her mother, uncovering shocking family secrets in the process . . .
Sarah stood under a blue pendant lamp in the middle of a huge living room. The faded grandeur of the place still impressed her as it had the first day. She approached an upright piano and played the first chords of “London Bridge.”
Though the piano needed tuning, it had a rich, warm sound. There was a blue vase on top, next to the portrait of a dark-haired woman with a pearl necklace. The frame, heavy and ornate, looked like tarnished silver. The wall behind the piano was covered in paintings. The landscapes of marinas and countryside scenes didn’t impress the blonde, but she examined the portraits trying to discover a resemblance between their faces and Joaquín’s. If there was any, it eluded her.
Through the picture window, she saw people waiting in line across the street—the same people who had stared at her when she passed them. Her new neighbors. In due time she would join them at the grocery store queue, and they would get to know her.
She smiled and two dimples appeared on her cheeks. How fast things had moved! Less than a month ago she had been a guest at Hotel Colina in El Vedado, thinking of the handsome lieutenant who had swept her off her feet after the Triumph of the Revolution parade on January first, but not believing that their relationship (if you could call it a relationship) had any future. After all, she was an American—a “Yankee,” as they said here—who had come to Havana for eight days. But the days had turned into weeks. And the weeks would turn, hopefully, into months, and the months into years . . .
The sound of footsteps downstairs made her jump. She ran down the marble staircase, being more careful this time.
“Joaquín!”
A tall man with angular features, almond eyes and a big smile had just come into the living room. He was wearing the green olive uniform of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, which, in Sarah’s opinion, fit him amazingly well. The fact that she had fallen for a military guy still surprised her. Her father, with whom she had argued for years about everything under the sun, from politics to fashion, had been in the Navy, and she thought that was why he was so pig-headed. But she loved him and was closer to him than to her mother.
“¡Mi amor!”
Joaquín handed her a bouquet of white lilies, mariposas, which by now Sarah knew were the Cuban national flower. They hugged each other and kissed so passionately that a few mariposas were crushed in the process.
“They smell amazing!” Sarah said, pressing the bouquet against her face. “Thanks!”
“And here’s this too.” He offered her a small package wrapped in fancy tissue paper.
She tore it open and discovered a perfume bottle with the cap shaped like a dome. When she opened it, the scent of bergamot blended with the mariposa fragrance. She tried to decipher the name, written in Cyrillic characters.
“It’s called Red Moscow,” Joaquín said.
“It’s lovely! But you didn’t need to—”
“Don’t you know what day is today?”
She did. She had thought of it early in the morning, but he hadn’t mention it. She assumed Cubans didn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day because that would imply a religious reference to Saint Valentine. Joaquín had told her that religion was considered an “ideological deviation.” It made sense to her. The opiate of the masses and all that.
“El Día de los Enamorados,” he said.
A day for lovers. Sarah liked that. She was enamorada, no question about it. And so was he. No, wait, he was enamorado—she still, sometimes, got her endings mixed up. They laughed, embraced again and hurried to the second floor. The mariposa bouquet and the Red Moscow bottle were left on top of the piano, between the blue vase and the silver-framed portrait.
A truck drove at high speed in front of the house. The piano shook slightly, and the ghost of a melody came from under the closed lid. The vase and the portrait stayed put, but the perfume bottle fell to the floor and shattered. A potent aroma filled the room and snuck upstairs, passed by the master bedroom and reached the library, where the lady in the painting wore an expression of disgust.
Author Bio:
Teresa Dovalpage was born in Havana and now lives in Hobbs, where she is a college professor at New Mexico Junior College. She has a PhD in Hispanic Literature from the University of New Mexico with a specialization in Latin American literature.
She has published twelve novels and three collections of short stories. Her Havana Mystery series published by Soho Crime started with the culinary mystery Death Comes in through the Kitchen (2018), set in Havana and featuring Padrino, a santero-detective. It is loaded with authentic Cuban recipes like arroz con pollo (rice with chicken) and caldosa (a yummy stew). The second novel, Queen of Bones (2019) was chosen by NBC News as one of the top 10 books by and about Latinos in 2019. The third is Death of a Telenovela Star (2020). Set on a Caribbean cruise, it showcases the dark—sometimes deadly—side of celebrity, as well as the shenanigans that often happen abroad a cruise ship. Death under the Perseids (2021) also happens on a cruise ship, at first, and later in Havana, taking readers from the streets of La Habana Vieja to the botanical garden La Quinta de los Molinos. Upcoming is Last Seen in Havana, a sequel to Death under the Perseids.
She also wrote A Girl like Che Guevara (Soho Press, 2004) and Habanera, a Portrait of a Cuban Family (Floricanto Press, 2010).
In her native Spanish she has authored the novels Muerte de un murciano en La Habana (Death of a Murcian in Havana, Anagrama, 2006, a runner-up for the Herralde Award in Spain), El difunto Fidel (The Late Fidel, Renacimiento, 2011, which won the Rincon de la Victoria Award in Spain in 2009), Posesas de La Habana (Haunted ladies of Havana, PurePlay Press, 2004), La Regenta en La Habana (Edebe Group, Spain, 2012), Orfeo en el Caribe (Atmósfera Literaria, Spain, 2013), and El retorno de la expatriada (The Expat’s Return, Egales, Spain, 2014).
Her short story collections are The Astral Plane, Stories of Cuba, the Southwest and Beyond (University of New Orleans Press, 2012), Llevarás luto por Franco (Atmósfera Literaria, 2012) and Por culpa de Candela (Floricanto Press, May 2009).
When Jesse Bolger ran into an old acquaintance from his high school days,
Robert Gleason, he wondered if the man still had an imagination that was
unencumbered by reality. His question was answered in the affirmative that
evening. After insisting they talk inside his homemade, electronically
shielded room so no one could listen to their thoughts—no tinfoil hat
was good enough for Robert—he confided that he’d stumbled onto
two KGB-era Russian spies intent on destroying the United States. And he
wanted Jesse’s help to stop them.
Jesse was certain, of course, that it was just a hoax, but he played along.
It didn’t prove to be one of his better decisions, however, as the
next thing he knew, he was being detained by the FBI under suspicion that he
was a double agent. And where was Robert Gleason, the man who had started
this whole fiasco, the unemployed eccentric who lived in his
grandmother’s basement in a retirement community while he was learning
to talk to self-aware computers? He was nowhere to be found.
Knowing he was out of his league to investigate a missing persons case,
Jesse hired private investigator Rebecca Marte, hoping she could unravel a
case that one minute looked like a spy spoof and the next, a terrorist plot
that would plunge the United States into financial pandemonium.
Excerpt from the first night Jesse Bolger went to Robert Gleason’s
home
“… a cone of silence, of a sort, is why I wanted you to come
over here tonight. We need to talk and I’ve got the perfect
place.” Gleason raised a hand toward a cube of about six feet on a
side. It was covered with a shiny fabric. “That’ll keep our
brain waves safe from prying sensors.”
Jesse could feel himself scowling as he tried to make sense of the words.
“Is that supposed to be something like a tinfoil hat?”
Now, it was Gleason’s turn to look perplexed, but his confusion only
lasted a moment. “Oh, yeah. Like people wear so the aliens won’t
listen in on their thoughts. That’s pretty funny, but don’t be
ridiculous.”
“Yeah, I didn’t—” started Jesse.
“A tinfoil hat would only protect you from aliens who were directly
overhead. I’m not too worried about them if they’re still in the
air. But on the ground ….” He slowly shook his head.
“Now, that would be bad news. Really bad.”
Jesse was struggling for a reply when Gleason continued. “Anyway,
that’s a SCIF, giving us protection on all sides.”
“A SCIF?”
Gleason nodded.
SCIF stood for Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, a fact that
Jesse knew from his job. They were acoustically and electronically shielded
rooms in which classified discussions could be held, and Ruger-Phillips West
had several for their government projects. But Jesse had never heard of a
private citizen owning one. “Where on earth did you find the stuff to
build a SCIF?”
Gleason got one of those you’ve-got-to-be-kidding smirks on his face.
“If you’re not running cables in and out—and I’m
not—then acoustic and EMF radiation shielding are all you need. For
the latter, just type ‘EMF radiation shielding fabric’ into any
search engine and you’ll find lots of it. I split my orders among a
half-dozen stores so I wouldn’t call attention to myself.”
“Someone would care if you bought it in bulk?”
“Are you kidding? They care about everything you look at, everything
you buy, and even what you don’t buy. Sure, eventually they may piece
it all together, but why make it easy on them? With a small purchase, they
probably think I lined my billfold to keep someone from reading the data on
my credit cards.”
Jesse wasn’t sure who “they” referred to, but that
question only came in second. “So, you think whatever it is you have
to tell me is so sensitive that you built a SCIF to discuss it?”
“Hardly,” Gleason said with a laugh. Jesse started to return
the chuckle when Gleason added, “I already had it before any of this
came up.”
Jesse figured his puzzled expression asked the question for him as Gleason
explained, “I came to Denver because of that state representative who
wanted to start the center for extraterrestrial communications. And, as he
pointed out, the brain emits electromagnetic radiation in the form of brain
waves. They are faint, and we have to put electrodes on the scalp to pick
them up. But with more advanced civilizations …?” Gleason held
out an empty hand in a shrug. “Who knows?”
Jesse recognized the story about the state representative. It had been all
over the news a few years ago with his potential re-election
opponents’ comments ranging from “it’s a waste of the
taxpayer’s money” to “you can bet Uranus he’s after
the little green man vote.” The representative had lost his seat in a
landslide in the next election—extraterrestrial communication
wasn’t a platform that sat well with Colorado voters. “Well,
I’m not sure—” Jesse started.
“Oh, I know he was a kook,” said Gleason. He paused, his nose
wrinkling a bit. It took a moment before the odor reached Jesse.
“Jeez, Charlie. I’m going to stop giving you those stuffed
mushrooms,” said Gleason. “It’s either that or break out
the gas masks.”
Surprisingly, Charlie looked like he had been chastised as he whined once,
then laid his head down on his paws and looked up at us with eyes that
looked even sadder than before. If the stench hadn’t been so bad,
Jesse thought he might have laughed at the dog’s expression.
“Anyway,” continued Gleason, “you don’t need to
tiptoe around that guy. His ideas sounded good at first, but they never
panned out. So, after a bit of this and that, I got started on my current
gig, talking to the other sentient beings in our world.”
“Animals? You’re working on some type of job that involves
communicating with animals?” Jesse glanced at Charlie, who, though he
had seemed to understand before, now seemed as confused as Jesse felt.
Gleason paused a beat, then said, “Yeah, I suppose animals are
sentient … in a way. But I meant computers. Computers with artificial
intelligence.”
Jesse could feel himself sit back in the chair as if another half-inch of
distance between them would change his perspective. It didn’t, and he
wasn’t sure what to say other than, “Oh, look at the
time!” But Gleason spoke first.
“Yeah, not everyone thinks that machines are aware of the world
around them. I think they are and that other people just haven’t spent
the time necessary to get to know these beings. But if AIs aren’t
aware yet, I’m fine with being ready to meet them when they are. And
that’s why I’m studying prompt engineering.”
It was the last two words, “prompt engineering” that pulled
this conversation back from the brink of irrationality for Jesse. Prompt
engineering had been a growing technical discipline since the introduction
of AI Large Language Models in late 2022. At its heart, the discipline
involved designing and testing inputs that would get these systems to
produce useful outputs for a given purpose.
“So, getting these LLMs to give you what you want is tricky?”
Jesse asked. He was pretty sure he knew the answer but wanted to keep the
conversation moving away from the question of machine sentience.
“It can be,” replied Gleason. “They always produce
answers that sound factual, but sometimes, they are just making stuff up.
Those are called hallucinations. But more often, they just don’t
understand what you want.”
Gleason paused a moment rubbing his chin. “You work on a lot of
training projects, right? Enough that you know a lot of the
principles?”
“I work the procurement end of them, but you can’t do that
without picking up a bit about the technology.”
Gleason nodded. “So, suppose you wanted to know the best way to teach
pilots the steps of an emergency procedure so they don’t forget them
in a pinch? If you ask an AI system that, I’d expect …. Better
yet, let’s ask and find out.” He grabbed a laptop from the
workbench and started to power it up.
“Do we need to go into the SCIF for this?” Jesse asked.
Gleason gave him a quizzical look, followed by, “No, why would we?
And besides, I need the Wi-Fi, and it won’t work in
there.”
After a moment, he opened an application on the laptop that Jesse
recognized as part of a publicly accessible large language model. Gleason
typed in a prompt about training pilots on emergency procedures, and in a
second or two, the system responded.
Jesse skimmed the answer, somewhat surprised by what he saw.
“You’re right. The question you asked seemed right on the mark,
but the AI took it to be something about getting information into human
long-term memory. It covers things like breaking the procedure into small
steps or using visual aids. I thought the real issue was more about how to
make sure people can perform under stress and time pressure. That would get
into making the pilot’s reaction nearly automatic, something that he
or she doesn’t need to think about to do.”
“I can’t say that I understood everything you just said, but it
seems I made my point,” replied Gleason. “You gotta know how to
talk to these beings.”
As for his beliefs that machines were or would soon be sentient, Jesse
couldn’t decide if that made Gleason the perfect prompt engineer or
perfectly wrong for the job. Would the belief that he was talking to a
sentient being make his prompts better or taint them with a touch of
delusion … assuming his belief was delusional? But getting to the
bottom of that issue wouldn’t answer what the heck Gleason was so
anxious to tell him, and it was time to move on to that question.
“So, your grandmother thinks we’re down here saving the world.
Or was that just a figure of speech?”
About the Author
Bruce Perrin has been writing for more than twenty-five years, although you
will find much of that work only in professional technical journals or
conference proceedings. After receiving a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational
Psychology and completing a career in psychological research and development
at a major aerospace company, he’s now applying his background to
writing fiction. Not surprisingly, most of his work falls in the
techno-thriller, mystery, and hard science fiction genres, examining the
intersection of technology and the human mind now and in the future. Besides
writing, Bruce likes to tinker with home automation and is an avid hiker.
When he is not on the trails, he lives with his wife in Aurora, CO.
Sometimes, the most dangerous thing . . . is the truth.
The Other Murder
by Kevin G. Chapman
Genre: Mystery, Suspense
“A sleek, gripping thriller that raises important questions about truth and justice.” ~Kirkus Reviews
FINALIST — 2023 CLUE AWARD
Sometimes, the most dangerous thing . . . is the truth.
For disgraced cable news producer Hannah Hawthorne, covering the shooting of a pretty NYU sophomore is a chance for redemption. When the story snowballs into a media circus, Hannah’s reporting fans the sensationalistic flames and earns her acclaim. The tragic murder, seemingly the result of random urban gun violence, prompts protests and vigils that further magnify the story.
Meanwhile, Paulo, a reporter for a small online neighborhood newspaper, is following the other murder in Washington Square Park that same night – a Hispanic teen. He discovers an unexpected connection that is political dynamite. When Hannah and Paulo team up, they uncover disturbing facts, leading them to question everything they thought they knew. Their reporting also leads them to the man who might be the killer.
When the story is ready to explode, the truth may be hotter than anyone can handle. Breaking the next scoop could ruin Paulo’s paper and wreck Hannah’s career – and it could get them both killed.
If you like David Baldacci’s page-turners, Michael Connelly’s cops, and Sara Paretsky’s quirky characters, you will love The Other Murder.
What readers are saying:
“With intelligent characters and believable dialogue, Chapman has managed to create a riveting whodunit that also speaks volumes about social issues plaguing the justice system. . . . The social issues are skillfully woven into the narrative, making readers seriously consider these problems even when they’re immersed in conversations with possible snitches and the chaos of climactic shooting scenes.” ~Kirkus Reviews
“Haunting, chilling, and heroic . . . a must-read novel.” ~Chanticleer Book Review (5-star “Best Book”)
“Chapman once again knocks it out of the park.” “The author did a superb job of developing all the essential players.” ~Feathered Quill Book Reviews
“Chapman’s attention to building a fast-paced story filled with satisfyingly unpredictable twists and turns creates a memorable, compelling saga. . . .
Worthy of a top recommendation.” ~Midwest Book Review
“The Other Murder will grip you from the start and keep you reading through all the twists and turns until the surprising end.” ~ReadorRot.com
“Magnificent.” “An excellent story, it is a must read for mystery-suspense/thriller lovers!”
~InD’Tale Magazine
“The story is a mystery that kept me involved as the different pieces of the whole story came to light. But there is also a side story that sent my thoughts off on tangents, pondering the press, what we can and should expect from them. Chapman’s story ought to get us all thinking.”
~Big Al, Big Al’s Books & Pals (5-stars)
“The writing is gorgeous, the narrative is filled with realism and mystery, and the action moves in unexpected directions.” ~The Book Commentary (5-stars)
“Absolutely chilling. It’s a gripping and harrowing storyline! A great story to follow and try to figure out what will happen next. This is one of those books that grabs you from the start and pulls you in.”
~Amy’s Bookshelf Reviews (5-stars)
“A captivating story with a thought-provoking premise.” ~Bookpleasures.com
“Fans of a ‘whodunit?’ mystery will love trying to piece together this mystery. . . . With its suspense, mystery, and twists, this book is a must-read.” ~ Georgia Lyonhyde for Reedsy Discovery
Interviewer: How did you develop the idea for The Other Murder, and what inspired you to explore the intersection of media, law enforcement, and personal biases in the narrative?
Kevin: I’m a lawyer who works for a media company and writes crime thrillers, so the three most significant elements of my professional life all come together in The Other Murder. The story sprang from my non-original observation that pretty, affluent White girls who are missing or killed tend to dominate the news cycles. We often hear statistics about the number of murders and violent crimes in a particular city, but seldom (if ever) see significant media coverage given to a minority victim who isn’t rich and famous. This phenomenon, could be called “unconscious bias,” but is likely more a conscious choice by producers and media executives to feature stories that will tend to get the biggest ratings. Particularly in broadcast news, including 24-hour cable news networks, getting eyes on your story is the most important thing. The story that can be made sensationalistic and which involves a victim that your viewers will sympathize with and relate to is the story you feature. That’s good economics, but leads to a slanted presentation of the world. I wanted to make this murder mystery a story that gets inside that culture and lets my readers see all sides of the story as it unfolds.
Interviewer: The story involves two journalists and two homicide detectives. How did you approach developing these characters, and what challenges did you face in creating complex relationships between them while navigating the intricacies of the murder mystery?
Kevin: The real “leads” of this story are the two journalists. Each of them has positive and negative attributes and each makes choices that are both selfish and noble – the two being not mutually exclusive. I wanted my cable news producer to be understood in the context of her job, her bosses, and her ambitions. I wanted the print journalist to be understood as someone who could have a “better” job, but who has a calling both to journalism and to his community. Their interactions disclose their similarities and differences as well as the nature of the business in which they work. And, of course, it’s a murder story so there must be cops. Here, the cops don’t have all the information and need the help of the journalists. The two partners have their own problems, including a recent incident that set them at odds. Through their eyes, the reader learns things the journalists don’t know and sees the way the media coverage affects the police investigation. Making the characters the focus of the story lets me tell the mystery story through interesting eyes.
I have always loved the mysteries of Sara Paretsky, whose characters are the heart and soul of her books. In the Mike Stoneman Thriller series, I had a fixed set of main characters to be my narrators. They, and their minor-character companions, gave me a universe of backstories to weave into the mysteries. Here, in this stand-alone story, I had to create brand new characters and get my readers to relate to them and care about them. My goal, like Ms. Paretsky, is to make my readers as interested in the stories of the players as they are about the underlying “main” plot. The plot needs to hold them together, but the characters need to behave in a way that is both realistic and interesting.
I’m always disappointed in a book when the characters are stupid, make irrational decisions (for the sake of advancing the plot), and where the logic of the story doesn’t hold together. I want my plots to make sense – in the context of the fictional facts. This past year I read a best-seller called Just the Nicest Couple, by Mary Kubica, who has a big publisher and whose new book sold a zillion copies based on her stellar reputation. But the plot was a mess, the characters made nothing but bad decisions, the key bits of information made no sense, and the ending was entirely unsatisfying. And, along the way, none of the characters were likable. I didn’t care whether they all ended up dead or in jail because they were all idiots. I’m hoping nobody thinks that about The Other Murder.Interviewer: How did you handle the portrayal of racism in the novel, and what message do you hope readers will take away from this aspect of the story?
Kevin: The main plot here involves the subtle racism that permeates the media and, to some extent, the police and the city officials, who are driven by publicity (positive or negative) and public perception. When the media tells the public that a situation is a horrible tragedy and an example of a huge problem that needs to be fixed, crowds gather, memorials are created, politicians and activists make speeches, and the media feeds on itself to amplify the story. Government officials like the mayor and the police commissioner react by making that crime a priority and devoting resources to solving it. Catching that killer matters because everyone is watching. In this story, the second murder involves a Latino boy with a history of gang membership. It garners no media attention and would have generated minimal police interest – until the cops discover that Javier Estrada’s murder may be connected to the White girl, Angelica Monroe. The immediately reported story is that Angelica was an innocent victim of urban gun violence. She becomes a saint. Javier Estrada is ignored.
Meanwhile, the two detectives on the cases are a White man and a Hispanic woman. Mariana is the only character involved in the police investigation who cares about Javier’s story. Similarly, only Paulo Richardson, the local newspaper reporter, cares about Javier’s portrayal in the press. Paulo wants to make people see the truth about Javier. Mariana wants her colleagues to see that the White girl isn’t always the victim and the Latino boy is not always the criminal. The investigation also lays bare the recent rift between Mariana and her partner, Dru Cook, arising from an incident of police brutality. Was that incident racially motivated? Dru didn’t think so. Mariana saw it differently.
In the end, once the reader has all the facts (or, at least all the different versions of the facts), the question of who is a little bit racist and where motives and biases get mixed together makes things a lot less clear cut. My hope is that the reader not only enjoys the story and cares about the characters, but that the tale makes them think a little bit about their own perceptions.
Interviewer: The story involves two murders on the same night—one garnering intense media attention and the other mostly ignored. How did you balance the narrative between these two cases, and what narrative choices did you make to ensure both stories were effectively told?
Kevin: It was fun weaving together the four points-of-view in the story. Through each one (and the two detectives are one joint POV), the reader has more information than any of the individual characters. I had to deconstruct the story at one point and separate out each POV into its own sub-story to make sure that all the events and facts stayed straight. When the POVs collide at different points in the book (and all of them together in the climax), it was a juggling act to make each story compelling while allowing the reader to “view” the action in a coherent way so that it all made sense. It was even more of a challenge when narrating the audiobook, where I was jumping back and forth between the voices!
Part of the challenge was making sure there was enough of a mystery for the reader to try to figure out, and how to keep them guessing.
Interviewer: The novel challenges readers to guess what happened, indicating mystery and suspense. How did you craft the tension in the narrative, and what techniques did you employ to keep readers engaged in solving the mystery?
Kevin: In the first draft of the story, chapter one gave the reader a view into all the events that happened leading up to and including the murders of Angelica and Javier. I’ll be publishing that chapter as a “deleted scene” on my website after the book has been out for a while. I realized after the first draft was done that letting the reader know what happened and then following the investigations by the police and the journalists with that knowledge was not fully satisfying as a mystery. The story was: “how are they going to figure it out?” rather than “what happened?”
So, I went back and deleted most of that first chapter and re-wrote the story so that the journalists and the police (along with the reader) are piecing together the facts, without knowing for sure who is giving them good information, which of their assumptions are correct, and what information they are missing. This allows the reader to guess where the characters have it right, and what might be wrong. Even at the end, nobody (including the reader) can be 100% sure they know the whole truth.
Elements of the plot changed to the point that I sometimes got confused about what had happened in the earlier chapters of the current version. I had two of my typokiller readers point out where one of the characters made an important observation – that was not true in the version of the facts that they could have known. (Thank you to all my typokillers and Beta readers!)
Interviewer: The novel highlights the danger of the truth. Can you elaborate on the significance of this theme and how it plays into the challenges faced by the characters, particularly Hannah and Paulo, as they uncover disturbing facts?
Kevin: The tag line of the book was one of the first things I wrote after outlining the basic story. “Sometimes, the most dangerous thing . . . is the truth.” It is a common observation that humans are significantly influenced by what is called in psychology “recency bias.” Your strongest memories and emotions are attached to the things that happened most recently. It is also true in media that the first story is the one that gets imprinted in people’s memories, particularly if it sparks strong emotions. When asked whether one of two things is true, the one you heard first is the one you are more likely to believe.
One of the core messages of The Other Murder is that people need to be careful about believing the first narrative they hear. But the reality is that, once a set of facts is in your head, it is hard to push it out. This is especially true when the original narrative reinforces your personal views and political objectives. Telling people who are emotionally, financially, and politically invested in one version of a story that the story they heard and want to believe is really a false narrative – is a dangerous thing to do.
In the media world, once you have established your narrative and “hooked” your audience, it’s hard to switch gears and retain your viewers if you suddenly try to tell them that what you had been telling them is false and that there’s a new truth they should switch to. They are likely to switch – to a different news source that will reinforce their belief in the original story. That is part of the challenge facing Paulo and Hannah.
Interviewer: Where can our readers learn more about you and The Other Murder?
Kevin: The Other Murder is now available (as of February 29th) as an ebook for your Kindle via Amazon.com at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJN6W5NJ. Amazon can also sell you a paperback or a hardcover. Paperbacks and hardcovers are also available through select independent bookstores and via Bookshop.org, which supports local bookstores. The audiobook version is available via CHIRP, iTunes, Googleplay, Roku, Nook (Barnes & Noble), LIBRO.FM (which also supports independent bookstores) and on Audible. All my other titles are also available at all the same retailers. Readers can contact me and see all my content at https://www.KevinGChapman.com.
Kevin G. Chapman is an attorney specializing in labor and employment law. In 2021, Kevin finished the first five books in the Mike Stoneman Thriller series: Righteous Assassin (CLUE Award finalist), Deadly Enterprise (Kindle Book Award semi-finalist), Lethal Voyage, (Winner of the 2021 Kindle Book Award, CLUE finalist, RONE finalist), Fatal Infraction (Best Police Procedural of the year – CLUE Award), and Perilous Gambit. In late 2022, Kevin published a stand-alone mystery/thriller titled Dead Winner (CLUE Award – Best Suspense/Thriller of the year). Kevin is a resident of Central New Jersey and is a graduate of Columbia College and Boston University School of Law. Readers can contact Kevin via his website at www.KevinGChapman.com.
Art of the Chase Jennifer Giacalone Publication date: October 9th 2023 Genres: Adult, LGBTQ+, Mystery, Romance
When a notorious art thief surfaces, warring detective exes reunite for the hunt. A second-chance lesbian romantic suspense that fuses the fine line between love and hate.
Six years ago, the “Fabulous Gustave” slipped the grasp of Agent Fleur van Beekhof, making off with a priceless artwork…and Fleur’s beautifully ordered life. Suddenly the cool, pragmatic Europol detective lost her detective partner and wife, her rising career, and her control, thanks to the addictive lure of cards.
When a new Italian art theft bears all the markings of Gustave’s taunting style, Fleur is put back in the field, because no one knows him better. She jumps at the chance to correct the mistake that ruined her life. The hitch? She has to work with her fiery ex-wife.
Where Fleur is by the book, Renata skirts the rules, leaps into danger, and looks frustratingly hot while doing it.
As Fleur and Renata chase flamboyant Gustave around Europe, will their case push them back into each other’s arms, or shatter what’s left of Fleur’s heart?
“It really is odd that Gustave went for this painting, isn’t it?” Fleur said.
She closed her laptop and stretched her long frame out on the bed, allowing herself to relax into nostalgia despite herself.
“It did occur to me.” The sound of a lighter flicking and Renata taking a drag off a cigarette followed. “It seems like something he’d take if he specifically wanted us to chase him, you know? It’s easy enough to find out that I have a particular relationship with Artemisia’s work.”
“You’re saying it feels personal?”
“I guess I am, yes. But didn’t it always with him?”
Fleur and Renata had spent nearly a year chasing him all over Europe. Four thefts in that time, and each time the games grew more byzantine, more public. He had found in Fleur and Renata some sort of favorite adversaries and would often leave taunts aimed squarely at them.
“I suppose it did. Like the typewritten note he sent after the Cezanne in Amersfoort?”
“He complimented my jacket.” Renata sounded newly annoyed by it.
“The cashmere Prada? It was beautiful.”
“Of course it was, because I don’t wear shit. But it was very creepy, you know?”
“Don’t worry. When we do catch him, I’ll rough him up a bit for you.”
Renata chuckled again. “You would deny me the pleasure of doing it myself?”
Fleur was still feeling a little loose from the wine. “Oh, forgive me. I would never want to deny you pleasure.” It slipped out sounding suggestive, and she hadn’t intended it to, but a stubborn little voice in her said Don’t youdare apologize.
Author Bio:
Jen Giacalone is a former rock star, a graphic artist, a parent, a baker, amateur plumber and a timelord. She toured much of the east coast of the U.S. as a musician in her 20s, spent her 30s in corporate boardrooms of fortune 500 companies as a graphic artist, and in her 40s, became a published author.
She’s the author of the novel “Loud Pipes Save Lives,” published by Carnation Books, about a damaged detective pursuing a gang of vigilante lady bikers, and the current romantic suspense, “Art of the Chase,” a tale of a divorced detective couple thrown back together to pursue a notorious art thief who has come out of retirement. She writes whenever she can and when she can’t, she’s thinking about writing: novels, screenplays, poetry with clever heroines, ill-advised romance, arts, and usually some weaponry.
We’re celebrating the release of Shadows of Memory by Abigail Hammond! Read on for more details!
Shadows of Memory
Publication Date: January 5, 2024
Genre: Sci-Fi Mystery/ Romance
A scientific breakthrough. A twisted motive. A chance to regain everything that was lost.
Everyone in New Ancadium has been having the same dream. Nobody knows what caused it, or what it means. But the more time that passes, the more apparent it becomes that it was anything but ordinary.
Holly Beckett, an up and coming scientist, is pulled into the investigation against her will. In a desperate attempt to uncover the truth, she seeks help from trusted friends and dangerous criminals alike.
Oliver Cahill, an ordinary accountant, may be the key to solving the case—if Holly can help him before his brain, and his reality, is torn apart.
As the mystery unravels, new feelings blossom, old wounds are reopened, and reality is threatened.
My name is Abigail Hammond, but I always go by Abby. One of my thumbs is shorter than the other. I have absolutely no idea why, but it’s useful for those awkward times when you meet new people and you’re supposed to share a fun fact about yourself.
Thankfully, having unmatched thumbs in no way hinders my ability to write, so I’ll keep working on more books! My team consists of my amazing husband who handles the cover art and illustrations for my books, and my dog, who is my chief distraction officer. We live in sunny California and consume way too many tacos. Seriously, we eat tacos for dinner almost every day.
The Cat That Played Chess Catarrina Cummings Publication date: July 10th 2023 Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Mystery
Having received an eviction notice, Zapporah Leverne needs money fast. Her current job as a product tester will not meet the deadline. She believes her extraordinary cat named Rookie can fix this. This feline is so good at copying humans that she can move chess pieces on the chessboard.
Zapporah pulls ropes to land Rookie a part in a commercial. Her cat wows the director to the point he thinks she would be good in his reality television series. But Rookie is stolen from Zapporah’s apartment.
Although there are few clues to the thief’s identity, Sloth, Zapporah’s roommate, believes the landlady is the thief and attempts to prove it. When Zapporah receives a voice message with a cat meowing in the background from talent agent Gloria Stravos, her suspicions are confirmed. Whoever stole Rookie will put her in show business. Arriving at Gloria’s office, Zapporah discovers Gloria has been murdered. Things don’t look good for Zapporah when the homicide detective learns she and Gloria had a history of fighting.
Will Zapporah’s intuition and tech-savvy help find Rookie and save her from a cunning murderer hiding behind the cloak of a white nationalist organization?
Catarrina Cummings is an author from Baltimore, Maryland who now lives in San Diego. She is the creator of the Snooping While Black mysteries series, with the first book being The Cat That Played Chess. In addition to dedicated service to her feline overlord, Madam Scrunchka, she also hones her guitar playing under a master instructor.
Her love for chess began when she served in the U.S. Navy, traveling and engaging in tournaments. She’s thrilled that she found the chance to include it in her first novel.
Nowadays, Catarrina can be found solving chess problems and attending multiple book clubs. If she ever finds enough free time from these activities, she might wish to consider finishing the second installation of her mystery series.
Bewitched at the Bash J.C. Valentine (A Coffee Break Mystery, #1) Publication date: October 4th 2023 Genres: Adult, Mystery, Romance
Bakery owner Lucy is focused on growing her small business when her matchmaking best friend insists she attend the annual Halloween bash in their quaint town to meet some new romantic prospects. Although reluctant, Lucy dons her Day of the Dead costume and shows off her festive Halloween-themed cupcakes at the party. But when her signature treats vanish, Lucy switches to detective mode to uncover the confectionary thief.
Amidst the outrageous costumes, apple bobbing, and spooky decor, she finds an unlikely assistant in Sam, the handsome new firefighter in town. As they team up to solve the sweet mystery of the stolen cupcakes, Lucy wonders if she’s met her perfect match. Will brave Sam fan the flames of romance with shy Lucy, or disappear like her vanished cupcakes by the end of the kooky Halloween night?
I frantically checked every inch of the kitchen, high and low, even in the cool professional-grade oven that I briefly wished I’d had the opportunity to test out for this occasion, but there was absolutely no sign of my cupcake creations. Someone had clearly taken them. There was no other explanation.
Panic surged through me, and I spun around and punched open the door and called out for Marie right away. “The cupcakes are gone!” I shouted in panic and despair.
“Wait, what? Are you sure?” Marie responded, her head popping up from laying out the last of the cookies. She appeared baffled as she rushed to my side and saw for herself that the kitchen was empty of any more baked goods.
I recounted searching every possible place in the kitchen they could be, tears stinging my eyes. “I worked so hard on those.” Weeks of baking and freezing and crafting the flavors and planning. Now it was all gone.
Dismayed, Marie grabbed me up for a quick hug and set me free again, determination in her light eyes. “I’ll go ask the servers if any of them maybe moved them somewhere. They have to be around here. Cupcakes don’t just get up and walk away!” She was already gone, leaving the swinging door batting back and forth behind her.
It didn’t matter what she promised though. Like a mother’s sixth sense about the safety of her children, I knew, deep down, that the cupcakes were gone.
Author Bio:
J.C. Valentine is the USA Today and International bestselling author of the Night Calls and Wayward Fighters Series and the Forbidden Trilogy. Her vivid imagination and love of words and romance had her penning her own romance stories from an early age, which, despite being poorly edited and written longhand, she forced friends and family members to read. No, she isn’t sorry.
Living in the Northwest, she has three amazing children and far too many pets. Among the many hats she wears, J.C. is an entrepreneur. Having graduated with honors, she holds a Bachelor’s in English and when she isn’t writing, you can find her editing for fellow authors.
