Tag Archives: Mystery / Suspense

Carrion Virtual Book Tour

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A Byrd & Crowe Mystery Series, Book 1

Mystery / Suspense

Date Published: 10-15-2022

Publisher: New Atlantian Library

 

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A young woman with a questionable past…

A family struggling to find common ground…

A murder victim with no known enemies…

 

Determined to overcome the dark secrets she helped reveal three years ago
when she rescued a baby from a locked car and ran away, Xandra Byrd is now a
student in criminology at the local community college and an accepted part
of her biological family. Still, she struggles to escape the demons of her
dysfunctional childhood. But when the woman who helped put her family back
together is murdered, and she and her brother implicated in the crime,
Xandra must return to the dark side of human nature in search of a killer.
Will she solve the mystery and clear her name, or will she become the next
victim?

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EXCERPT

One 

 

Xandra Byrd stepped out the back door of the Buns N Fries and headed into the wind. Above the drive-thru lane, a vulture circled, its graceful swoop a contrast to the ugliness of its beaked face. Sunset streaked the sky in shades of red and purple, deepening the shadows as the bird hovered, then, joined by a companion, dipped lower. One of the lids on the garbage bins must have blown open, inviting the scavengers to feast on discarded French fries and half-eaten burgers. Goose bumps peppered Xandra’s arms. She inhaled sharply.

Along with the odor of grease emanating from the restaurant, the scent of decaying lilacs, now past prime bloom, drifted from the bushes separating the eastern half of the parking lot from the dinner theater next door. She gazed from the hedge to the screen of cedars hiding the trash enclosure and the prairie and the wooded land beyond. The forest called her. She wouldn’t mind disappearing into the cool darkness under the trees. A hike was preferrable to gathering used ketchup packets and nagging employees to bus tables. Dragging the trash, Xandra swallowed the unease that had dogged her since the argument with her parents earlier that day. Their suggestion that she return to counseling with Reverend Loving meant she wasn’t successfully hiding her unhappiness. But she didn’t need counseling. She needed to move on with her life, to leave the past behind for good. A discarded burger bag blew across the lot. When a stronger gust ripped the trash from her hand, she chased it down and trudged on.

Overhead, the raptors wheeled back. They often soared above the Hopewell-Springboro corridor, drawn to the fast-food joints and the Kroger Superstore. Vultures, Xandra recalled, could detect rotting meat up to a mile away. Yuck, and useless trivia. She scurried across the drive-thru lane, threading the queue of vans filled with soccer moms and their kids. Fumes from the idling vehicles made her eyes water. Her parents’ request echoed in her mind. They knew her previous years had not been easy, and they supported her decision to enroll in Sinclair Community College’s criminal justice program. What they didn’t know is she hoped that following in her real father’s footsteps, becoming a detective someday, would convince her she belonged in the Zetts family, that Joe and Leah, despite giving her up when she was born, did truly love her. She was trying to fit in. She did her fair share of chores and was paying her way through school, even though Joe and Leah insisted she didn’t have to. If her parents would just stop trying so hard to make things right. Screw the past and let it go. Yeah, if only she could do that, too. Shoving a loose strand of hair behind her ear, she unlatched the gate in the fence around the trash cans. 

Lost in thought, she yelped when the hasp pinched her thumb, then sucked at the blood blister. The wind caught the door and banged it against the enclosure. She stepped inside and paused, puzzled by a dark smudge on the concrete beneath her sneaker. She detected the faint odor of burning, then shrugged. Maybe one of the other employees had grabbed a smoke during their break. She inspected the bins. None of the lids stood open. The fence slammed shut behind her just as a third vulture glided past, wings spread to slow its descent. Still favoring the bruised thumb, she lifted the lid on the first bin, assailed by an unfamiliar odor. Fighting the urge to throw up, she deposited the garbage and turned to leave. Then she screamed.

A woman in a dark skirt and jacket lay splayed across the concrete apron, her face turned away from Xandra. Low-heeled black flats dangled from the woman’s feet. One arm curled around her waist. The other lay at a ninety-degree angle above her shoulder, the hand clutching a scrap of paper that rustled in the wind swirling through the openings in the wooden slats. Xandra clapped a hand over her mouth and swore. Pinching her nose against the smell, she crouched over the body. Blood had pooled beneath the woman’s head and neck, spreading around her like a large, malignant shadow. A last ray of twilight leaked between the slats, illuminating the concrete pad. Something metallic gleamed by the woman’s shoulder. Xandra leaned closer. A pin in the shape of a bird stared up at her, the beak smeared with crimson. Glancing over her shoulder, she snatched the pin and stuffed it in her pocket. 

“Xandra?” Her name drifted, tinny and remote, from the squawk box on the outside order kiosk. Reggie Lynx, one of the night shift workers, shouted again. “Hey, Byrd, you get lost out there?”

She shoved her shoulders against the gate, which rattled but refused to open. When the door slammed shut, the latch must have fallen into place. She backed away from the body and stood on tiptoe to peer over the fence. “Reggie? Help! I’m locked in.” 

Laughter echoed from the speaker before a car drove by, cutting off the sound. Xandra snaked her hand over the pickets to slap at the latch until it slid free. When the gate swung open, she braced her leg against the wood to prevent it from reclosing. Then she took out her phone.

“911. What is your emergency?” A dispatch officer answered on the second ring.

“Hello? This is Xandra Byrd. I manage the night shift at the Buns N Fries.”

“What’s your emergency, Ms. Byrd?”

Xandra closed her hand around the bird pin in her pocket. The vultures circled lower. “I’m at the Buns N Fries, 728 Hopewell-Springboro Pike. There’s a dead body in the trash shed.”

“Did you check for a pulse?”

“No, but I don’t have to. The woman’s dead.” Xandra paused when the sound cut off. “Hello? Are you there?”

“An officer is on his way to your location. Stay on the line, Ms. Byrd.”

Xandra gripped the phone so tightly her hand shook. “Hurry, please. I’m not positive, but I think it’s Reverend Loving.”

About the Author

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J.E. Irvin is the author of five mystery/thriller novels, a two-time winner
of the Whodunit Award, and a member of SistersinCrime, Central Ohio Fiction
Writers, Buckeye Crime Writers, and the Ohio Writers Association. Irvin, her
husband, and their two cats reside on the edge of a nature park which serves
as inspiration for her work. For more about the author, check out
www.janetirvin.com and sign up for her newsletter as well as updates on
future Byrd& Crowe mysteries.
 

 

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A Byrd & Crowe Mystery Series, Book 1

Mystery / Suspense

Date Published: 10-15-2022

Publisher: New Atlantian Library

 

photo add-to-goodreads-button_zpsc7b3c634.png

 

A young woman with a questionable past…

A family struggling to find common ground…

A murder victim with no known enemies…

 

Determined to overcome the dark secrets she helped reveal three years ago
when she rescued a baby from a locked car and ran away, Xandra Byrd is now a
student in criminology at the local community college and an accepted part
of her biological family. Still, she struggles to escape the demons of her
dysfunctional childhood. But when the woman who helped put her family back
together is murdered, and she and her brother implicated in the crime,
Xandra must return to the dark side of human nature in search of a killer.
Will she solve the mystery and clear her name, or will she become the next
victim?

About the Author

 J.E. Irvin

J.E. Irvin is the author of five mystery/thriller novels, a two-time winner
of the Whodunit Award, and a member of SistersinCrime, Central Ohio Fiction
Writers, Buckeye Crime Writers, and the Ohio Writers Association. Irvin, her
husband, and their two cats reside on the edge of a nature park which serves
as inspiration for her work. For more about the author, check out
www.janetirvin.com and sign up for her newsletter as well as updates on
future Byrd& Crowe mysteries.
 

 

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads

Instagram

 

Purchase Link

Amazon

 

 

 

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Darkness Hides Tour

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Mystery-Suspense

Date Published: Apr 27, 2021

Publisher: Milford House Press, Inc.

 

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A former Fish & Wildlife Officer conducts an off-the-book investigation
when a murder appears to have a connection to her deceased nephew, just as a
hurricane hits her Florida beach town.

 

 

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Exclusive preview of DARKNESS HIDES 

Meet Kate Parks, a former Fish & Wildlife Officer who is now working as a boat safety inspector for the Sienna Key Police Department. In this chapter, she is hunkered down in her childhood home with her sister, Elise, as Hurricane Sebastian makes landfall.

Meet Elise Tyler, Kate’s younger sister who is still grieving the loss of her son Noah. She refused to evacuate, and Kate had hoped to convince her to leave before it was too late. 

Read the sample chapter before the storm hits and escape routes are blocked.

SAMPLE CHAPTER

Kate found a battery-operated Coleman lantern discarded on the kitchen floor and flipped it on. It lit up the room, and she carried it upstairs, where Elise sat alone in Noah’s bedroom.

“I want to be alone,” Elise said, sitting in the rocker.

Kate didn’t respond, listening to the rain and wind pummel the house. The walls creaked so eerily in the gale-force winds that she wondered if they could collapse around them. Stuffed animals above the bed trembled. Her pet squirrel, Doc, raised up on her shoulder, swishing his bushy tail. The lantern cast a pale glow around the bedroom. With the windows boarded up, any area outside the lantern light was lost in thick, inky blackness. Though she couldn’t see the lightning, she could hear the angry thunder compete with the rain beating the roof.

The bookcase rattled, keeping her on edge. She glanced at Elise, huddled in the rocking chair. Her sister wrapped the afghan tighter over her shoulders and locked her arms around her knees.

The walls trembled with another thunderclap, shaking the bookcase, and knocked the worn copy of Where the Darkness Hides to the floor. Kate jumped at the loud thump. Doc jumped too and leaped to the floor to investigate. She raised the lantern and looked around the room. Many of the stuffed animals had fallen onto the small bed. A model airplane dangled from the ceiling, swaying violently from the turbulence. A toy box sat positioned under the window.

Letting out a breath, she shut her eyes and focused on the rain thumping the roof. It intensified, then quieted. The sound was hypnotic, and she didn’t even hear Doogie enter the bedroom. He shined a flashlight in her direction and paused in the doorway.

“Sebastian made landfall”—his voice rose above another loud boom of thunder—“south of Sarasota.”

Kate couldn’t see him behind the blinding light in his hands, and when he lowered the flashlight, it still took a moment for her eyes to adjust. She sensed him stepping beside her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Doc dash across the floor toward him.

“We’ve just got to make it through the night.” He walked over to the rocking chair and put a hand on Elise’s shoulder.

Doc followed, cautiously investigating the cuff of his right pant leg.

“It’s about to get worse,” Kate said.

A corner of Elise’s mouth turned upward, but her smile was without humor. She turned to Doogie. “Why didn’t you sell her to gypsies or leave her in the woods somewhere?”

The wind howled at the window, and a sudden gust ripped the plywood from the casing. The glass shattered. Wind and rain blew into the room.

Elise screamed. The rocker overturned, spilling her to the floor. Kate and Doogie rushed to the bed, flipped the mattress off it, and forced it to the open window. They fought the incoming wind. The force bent the mattress, folded it like a sheet of paper, and pushed them back. Doogie shoved the mattress against the window and held it there. He yelled at Kate to move the bookcase. She got to one side of it and scooted it across the carpet to the front of the mattress.

The mattress shuddered in front of the broken window. The wind squealed and screamed like a dying thing. Kate and Doogie were silent for a couple of minutes, staring at each other.

“It’s not going to hold,” Kate yelled to him over the wind.

“We need to go downstairs.” He pointed toward the bedroom door. “It’s not safe in here.”

Elise turned the rocker right side up and sat down. “I’m not leaving Noah’s room.”

Doogie stepped to her, knelt beside the rocker. “C’mon, kid. It’s not safe.”

Kate watched her sister look up at him.

“I’m not leaving.” Gripping the edges of the afghan and pulling it taut against her back, she sank deeper into the cradle of the rocking chair. Her voice sounded raspy and tired, and a clap of thunder tapped her willpower.

The wind grew louder. It sounded like a howling wolf for a second and then a train. The roar became deafening. Debris hit the house. The roof rattled and banged.

Kate looked up.

Doogie moved the box spring and bedframe to the window, struggling to position them against the mattress. He looked back at Kate.

Elise picked up the weathered copy of Where the Darkness Hides from the floor. With the soft lantern light illuminating her face, she set the book in her lap and opened the cover.

Doogie looked puzzled. “We don’t have time for this.”

Elise read out loud, raising her voice over the shrieking wind.

“We don’t have time for this,” Doogie yelled. He turned to Kate. “Do something.”

Kate listened to the roar of the wind. Something massive hit the side of the house. The impact was loud and shook the walls. What could she do? If their number was up, she couldn’t possibly do anything to prevent it. And at least they’d be going as a family, together. She dropped to the floor, next to Elise. Doc scurried to her, his tail raised high, and hopped onto her thigh. He stood on his hind legs and pawed at Kate with his single arm.

Thunder rocked the house, and Elise stopped reading. She turned toward the bedroom door. Doc let out a series of warning chirps and clicks. Kate heard it too. A pounding that seemed separate from the rain beating the exterior of the house. BAM! BAM! BAM! Intense. Determined. It sounded different from the wind.

It was coming from downstairs.

The hairs on the back of Kate’s neck rose. Another BAM! BAM! BAM! She definitely didn’t imagine it. She turned to Doogie. His eyes widened.

“That’s the front door,” he said. “Someone’s at the door.”

About the Author

JC Gatlin

JC Gatlin is a Mystery Suspense author living in Tampa, Florida. He
self-published three mystery novels, including 21 DARES–which topped
Amazon’s Mystery-Suspense chart in 2016. Milford House Press published his
next mystery, H_NGM_N: MURDER IS THE WORD, and it won the Royal Palm
Literary Award for Best Mystery-Crime Fiction in 2019. His new mystery,
Darkness Hides, is scheduled for release on April 27, 2021.

 

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South Pointe – Book Tour

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Mystery & Suspense
Date Published: February 6, 2018
Publisher: RedBird Books
 
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Paige Carson never expected that both a handsome sheriff and a charismatic newcomer would be vying for her affections. The choice isn’t an easy one, as she’s now responsible for raising her orphaned goddaughter, Jess.
Sheriff Sam Wallace didn’t lose at love. He got kicked to the curb. Hopeful that courting the feisty Paige will end differently, he can’t help but feel suspicious about his romantic rival. Is Ben Hampshire the man he seems—or is Sam’s jealousy clouding his perspective?
Sam’s determined to win Paige’s and Jess’s love, but he also has to keep Providence Island safe. More than just Sam’s heart is at risk if he fails to find the killer who walks the streets of PI—a killer with more than one agenda.
About the Author

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Dianna Wilkes is an award-winning contemporary romance author, known for the Providence Island mystery series.
Reading has always been an important part of her life. “I learned to read when I was four years old,” she said. “Writing my own stories seemed a natural progression.”
Dianna holds a B.A. in Visual Communication and a M.Ed. in Instructional Technology. She worked as an Education Consultant for a medical technology company before leaving the corporate world to write full time. Despite all that nerdy stuff, she loves creating stories of romance and mystery with touches of humor.
When she isn’t writing, Dianna is deep in researching various twigs and branches on her family tree or fulfilling entries on her travel bucket list.
Contact Links
Purchase Links

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South Pointe – Blitz

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Mystery & Suspense
Date Published: February 6, 2018
Publisher: RedBird Books
 
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Paige Carson never expected that both a handsome sheriff and a charismatic newcomer would be vying for her affections. The choice isn’t an easy one, as she’s now responsible for raising her orphaned goddaughter, Jess.
Sheriff Sam Wallace didn’t lose at love. He got kicked to the curb. Hopeful that courting the feisty Paige will end differently, he can’t help but feel suspicious about his romantic rival. Is Ben Hampshire the man he seems—or is Sam’s jealousy clouding his perspective?
Sam’s determined to win Paige’s and Jess’s love, but he also has to keep Providence Island safe. More than just Sam’s heart is at risk if he fails to find the killer who walks the streets of PI—a killer with more than one agenda.
Excerpt
Dana locked the door after Ben departed and set the Closed. Please call again sign in place.
She’d lied to Ben about the reason for her fainting. Yes, she’d skipped breakfast. Yes, it was hot, and yes, she’d become dizzy. But the truth was she’d panicked when Ben had passed by the front windows.
A shadow fell across the front windows, and she caught a glimpse of blonde hair. The front door opened, spilling sunlight into the lobby.
Maisie was right when she’d described the young man as “a charmer.” His kind humor and gracious manners had put Dana at ease, despite her embarrassment.
One thing was certain. She had to break this cycle of panic every time she came to the office. Her gaze shifted to the area where Kyle Lansing had stood.
She grabbed the cast-iron hummingbird from the side table and swung the metal statue in a sharp arc. The blow slammed against Lansing’s upraised arm. He howled, and the gun fell from his hand. She swung again, this time catching the detective in the chest. Lansing stumbled backward. She dropped the sculpture and snatched up the gun.
That’s when the shadow had swept past the windows. The glimpse of blonde hair had frightened her that it was Jamie returning to the building, and she wouldn’t be able to protect the both of them.
The entry wall blocked the newcomer from her sight. She stepped back. There wasn’t much room to retreat, but each inch might make a difference in saving her life.
Lansing cast a glance over one shoulder. “What are you doing here, Ham—”
The first two shots hit Lansing in the torso. A third shot struck his head. Blood sprayed as he dropped to the floor. She gripped the gun, waiting for the stranger to step forward. Sunlight spilled once more in the lobby entrance. A rush of air and sounds from outside drifted inward as the shadow of the shooter moved away. The door closed, cutting off the sunlight.
Dana gripped the edge of Jamie’s desk as Lansing’s final words echoed in her ears.
“What are you doing here, Ham—”
Hampshire.
A chill rushed through her body, and she closed her hands into fists to keep them from shaking. She dared a glance at the front door as if expecting a face to be staring back at her. “Was it you, Ben?”
And if the shooter had been Ben Hampshire, how long was he willing to keep her and her loved ones safe?
About the Author

 photo DiannaWilkes_zpsbnv4sncv.jpg

Dianna Wilkes is an award-winning contemporary romance author, known for the Providence Island mystery series.
Reading has always been an important part of her life. “I learned to read when I was four years old,” she said. “Writing my own stories seemed a natural progression.”
Dianna holds a B.A. in Visual Communication and a M.Ed. in Instructional Technology. She worked as an Education Consultant for a medical technology company before leaving the corporate world to write full time. Despite all that nerdy stuff, she loves creating stories of romance and mystery with touches of humor.
When she isn’t writing, Dianna is deep in researching various twigs and branches on her family tree or fulfilling entries on her travel bucket list.
Contact Links
Purchase Links

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