Tag Archives: mystery
The Legend of Deputy Jim Blitz
The Last Enemy Series, Prequel
Crime / Action / Mystery
Date Published: September 2019
Jim Edwards always thought he’d join the military when he graduated from high school. But then he snuck off and married his high school sweetheart the middle of their senior year and his wife Linda got pregnant right away. Jim did not want to leave his new family and get deployed halfway around the world, but he still wanted to serve his country. That’s when he decided to go into law enforcement. He talked to his dad about it and he reached out to and old friend for his son. Sheriff George Manning of Sheridan County Wyoming told him that if Jim went to Junior College and got an associate’s degree in criminal justice he would give him a chance in his department. Jim worked nights and weekends for two years at a local restaurant to support his young family and also got his degree at Sheridan Community College. Jim was also a damn good heavy weight amateur boxer in Wyoming and even tied the State Champ in a local match before joining the department.
Jim rescued Sheriff Manning and a couple of civilians from a bunch of bikers that had them cornered on a mountain road just before he joined the Department. Later when one of them threatened his wife and child in retaliation Jim’s temper got the best of him and he throws the biker a beating he won’t ever forget. That starts a series of events that pits Deputy Jim Edwards against the notorious Wild Wolves’ Biker Gang and its two leaders. Now Jim has a big problem and even though Sheriff Manning and his top Lt. Al Freeburger think that Jim is the best Deputy they’ve ever had they don’t know if Jim can survive the Wolves vendetta against him. Jim finds himself pitted against not only a notorious biker gang but South American cartels, and corrupt politicians. Jim is smart and good, but he is also young and inexperienced. When it comes to his family’s safety he won’t compromise and he won’t back down. His enemies know this and will try to use this against him. They are going to lure the young Lawman into a death trap and all Jim has is his grit and his wits to see him through.
But this all happened back in 1974, and Jim Edwards is alive and well. He has just recently returned from helping rescue his son, Commander Jacob Edwards from Maximillian’s prison down in Central America. Captain Tommy Williams the leader of the rescue has known for a long time that there is something very interesting about Jims past service in the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Department. So he uses and opportunity to visit that town with the Edwards family to go there and find out for himself why some “old law dogs” around Sheridan still call it “The Legend of Deputy Jim”.
Other Books in the The Last Enemy Series:
The Good Fight
The Last Enemy, Book 1
Published: December 2018
Danielle Edwards is no damsel in distress, she’s got some big shoes to fill. Being the daughter of the hero of Cozumel Commander Jacob Edwards of the United States Coast Guard put a target on her back. Now she is in the fight of her life. Her parents have been gone for three years. Can she rise up and be what she needs to be. It’s going to be a good fight.
The Cartel Crusher
The Last Enemy, Book 2
Published: December 2018
Marnia Gonzalez, oldest daughter of one of Mexico’s most popular Presidents, is rescued at sea from being raped and killed by a cartel connected Caribbean pirate, Dominik Thrace. Her rescuer, Commander Jacob Edwards of the U.S. Coast Guard, known as the “Hero of Cozumel” in Mexico, befriends her. The Cozumel incident causes Marnia to abandon her destiny of becoming a well-connected, high-society powerful woman in politics. Once content with being a member of Mexico’s influential, elite upper-class, she decides instead to be like her hero and fight against evil no matter the cost. Her sights are set on the cartels that terrorize people and breed ruthless monsters like Thrace. She fights against expectations of female roles as she graduates from Mexico’s Heroic Military Academy and becomes an officer in the newly formed Anti-Cartel Task Force. Not allowing anyone or anything to hold her back for being a woman, she takes on the ruthless cartels in their own backyards and proves herself capable, becoming called by the people, “The Cartel Crusher”. While investigating cartel child sex-slave trafficking, she comes face-to-face with the reality that her own mother’s family is the more significant secret power behind the cartels. As she turns her attention to Mexico’s most powerful Santiago cartel, a rising power in the secret society orders her death. As the remaining cartels unite to take her down, will she be able to trust her relationship with the son of one of the South American rival crime bosses? Will he help her, as promised, or betray her? She needs to dig deeper than ever before to withstand the combined onslaught. Will Santiago prevail yet again, or will Marnia survive the mass assassination? The future of her hero’s family depends on her more than she yet knows.
The Last Enemy
The Last Enemy, Book 3
Published: July 2019
Danielle Edwards and Marnia Gonzalez have one huge thing in common. They both adored, loved, and looked up to Commander Jacob Edwards. Although Jacob is Danielle’s real father and not Marnia’s she still looks to Jacob as a father figure. Danielle was raised by the Hero of Cozumel and Marnia had her life saved by him. He has deeply impressed both of these young women with a high moral compass and a passion to do what is right no matter the cost. Now, after three years of believing he is dead Marnia has found proof of his being alive. Not only Jacob, but his wife, and mother somehow survived the tragic plane crash over the pacific ocean three years earlier. In book three, The Last Enemy, these two incredible women will join forces and along with the help of family, friends, and one of the most formidable Seal Team commanders alive embark on a quest to rescue The Hero of Cozumel.
About the Author
Dan Hendrickson was born in Sheridan Wyoming near the rustic Big Horn mountain range in 1962 to Carl and Helen Hendrickson. Dan went to school in the Sheridan School District graduating from Sheridan High School in 1981. He spent his athletic time participating in boxing, martial arts, wrestling and a little track. His father Carl owned a small eight lane bowling alley that he ran until Dan was 12 years old. After losing the business to the bank he was forced to go back to school and finish his masters in English. Dan picked up on his father’s love of the written word and enrolled in Casper Community College in 1982 majoring in journalism. Although he found that he had an aptitude for investigative reporting he decided that his desires lied in other areas. He went on to do much volunteer Christian ministry work throughout the United States most of his adult life and continues to pursue those endeavors to this day. During that time he gained another degree in Practical Theology and throughout his many ministry assignments work several secular jobs. Most notable were his auto detailing endeavors. He and his wife Cheryl have owned three different detailing businesses throughout the country the last of which they still run to this day. Recently he has returned to his passion of telling stories and has several books in the process of being published.
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Monster on the Moors Blitz
Young Adult Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Date Published: November 15, 2019
Publisher: Top Publications, Ltd
Bobby Holmes, his cousin Brenda Watson and friends are embroiled in a deadly mystery in the North York Moors of England. An old beggar warns Bobby to stay away, and another stranger appears to be at the center of it all.
Bobby and his mates travel to the seaside town of Whitby, where a puzzling tattoo on the stranger is revealed to mean Wolf Slayer. Their goal, to track him down, leads them to baffling clues: the appearance of a group of gypsies and a librarian attached to Her Majesty’s Government, who is researching a group of super wolves. His research dates as far back as King Edward and his ally, Peter Corbet, who is charged with ridding the country of these beasts.
Searching for his mates, friend Michael gets attacked and captured by the monster, then taken to the witches who control the creature.
Seeking their friend, Bobby and the others locate the gypsies, discover their leader is the beggar who initially warned Bobby, and receives aid and information. They learn that the mysterious stranger they’ve hunted is a descendent of Corbet, named Alex. Their new friend takes them to the Red Lion Inn for help in finding the cottage of the Witches of Westerdale.
They find it, burn the cottage along with the witches, rescue Michael, and return to the Inn. Here they find the beast, waiting. It is killed by Alex, who then leaves to help another in New Zealand.
About the author:
J.M. Kelly has been a middle school teacher, a vice-principal, a principal, a Co-Director of the New Jersey State History Fair, a consultant for the New Jersey Foundation for Educational Administration, a current Board member of the Global Learning Project (a non-profit) and Past-President of the Morris County Association of Elementary and Middle School Administrators. He has been the recipient of numerous education awards such as the New Jersey Governor’s Teacher Award, two Geraldine Dodge Foundation Grants, and by acclamation of his school staff, received the New Jersey Principal’s and Supervisor’s Association Principal of the Year Award for Visionary Leadership in 2007. He has authored two professional books: Student–Centered Teaching for Increased Participation and In Search of Leadership.
The Lost Treasure, available on Amazon.com, is his first novel. His love of mysteries, adventures and everything about Sherlock Holmes, helped in the creation of Bobby Holmes and his cousin Brenda Watson. Jim’s most current novel is a sequel to The Lost Treasure, entitled Monster on the Moors. It involves the same characters in a pulse pounding thriller that takes place in the North York Moors of England. Tommy Ails: Good For What Ails You, also available on Amazon, is a humorous off-beat mystery, and his first novel for adults.
Jim’s non-fiction book, In Search of Leadership, or Sailing With Roland, (also on Amazon) takes him to the Maine coast and aboard the sailing craft of one of the most preeminent educators of our time, Roland Barth, to discuss educational leadership in particular and the field of education in general. The results are, what Roland in the Foreword calls, “timeless nuggets of wisdom for himself and for the rest of us who would venture aboard a boat and into a schoolhouse.”
Jim divides his time between Sea Girt, New Jersey and Sarasota, Florida, with his wife Bronwen. They have three children.
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Power Lies Reveal
Mystery / Thriller
Publisher: Elite Online Publishing
Date Published: 12-10-2019
Power Lies is a captivating thriller about power lines that kill and a corrupt industry that knows it. Follow Sterling Barrington, Public Relations Vice President for The Franklin Energy Institute, as she investigates this cover-up from within the bowels of the beast. The Institute’s archives lead Barrington to a retiree ready to reveal the industry’s lies. But he ends up dead before confessing. Sterling’s continued hunt for proof results in her being accused of murder, arrested, threatened, assaulted, and nearly assassinated. Despite these tribulations, she remains determined to expose the corruption and reveal the truth.
About the Author
Jana Laird Phillips is a native Texan, who has lived and worked in Dallas, Washington DC and Houston. She is a BBA graduate of Baylor University with a double major in Marketing and Journalism. Ms. Phillips worked in the Energy Industry for several years, and has numerous articles published in Energy trade journals. She is currently the publisher/owner of an online magazine, www.houstonhipandhaute.com
Ms. Phillips enjoys travel and resides with her husband in Houston, TX.
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Autumn Countdown Blitz – Cursed Collectibles, an anthology
Jace lives in Arizona with my family,
wife and five kids and a little dog. He writes fiction, thrillers and soft
sci-fi with a little short horror on the side. He holds an MBA and work sin
finance for a biotechnology firm.Jace volunteers with the Boy Scouts, plays and writes music, and enjoys
everything outdoors. He’s also a novice photographer.
wife and five kids and a little dog. He writes fiction, thrillers and soft
sci-fi with a little short horror on the side. He holds an MBA and work sin
finance for a biotechnology firm.Jace volunteers with the Boy Scouts, plays and writes music, and enjoys
everything outdoors. He’s also a novice photographer.
Spend an afternoon antiquing and it’s
not hard to figure out why picking has become one of America’s fondest
pastimes. It’s treasure hunting while connecting with history. But what if
those treasures hunt us back?
not hard to figure out why picking has become one of America’s fondest
pastimes. It’s treasure hunting while connecting with history. But what if
those treasures hunt us back?
From old books, to vinyl records, antique mirrors, vintage figurines, or a
Bob’s Big Boy piggy bank, curses have no limits.
Guernsey, John D. Payne, Jen Bair, Karen Pellett, Steve Ruskin, Tanya Hales,
Lauren Lang, Frank Morin, Mike Jack Stoumbous, Kelly Lynn Colby, Jace Killan,
Jo Schneider, Gama Ray Martinez, Martin Greening, Chris Abela, A.J. Mayall,
Heidi A. Wilde, Shannon Fox, Lauryn Christopher, and Mark Leslie Lefebvre.
All proceeds of this book go to the Don Hodge
Scholarship Fund for writers
Scholarship Fund for writers
Q & A With the Author:
1. When did you write your first novel?
a. 2017
2. What drove you to write / why did you become an author?
a. Always wanted to be an author. Meeting a tribe of writers helped it
along.
along.
3. How do you create your characters?
a. I use those around me for inspiration.
4. What is one thing you love about Fall / Autumn?
a. It’s almost not hot.
5. Who is the person or group of people that most support you in your
writing?
writing?
a. The Superstars Tribe.
6. What is your favorite Halloween Memory?
Binging
Season 1 of Stranger Things.
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Autumn Countdown Blitz – Death at the Dakota
Marni Graff writes two award-winning mystery series: The Nora Tierney English Mysteries and The Trudy Genova Manhattan Mysteries. She teaches writing workshops and mentors the Writers Read program, and is Managing Editor of Bridle Path Press.
Graff also writes the crime review blog Auntie M Writes, www.auntiemwrites.com.
Nurse Trudy Genova is making plans to
take her relationship to NYPD detective Ned O’Malley to the next level, when
she lands a gig as medical consultant on a film shoot at the famed Dakota
apartment building in Manhattan, which John Lennon once called home. Then star
Monica Kiley goes missing, a cast member turns up dead, and it appears Trudy
might be next. Meanwhile Ned tackles a mysterious murder case in which the
victim is burned beyond recognition. When his investigations lead him back to
the Dakota, Trudy finds herself wondering: how can she fall in love if she
can’t even survive?
take her relationship to NYPD detective Ned O’Malley to the next level, when
she lands a gig as medical consultant on a film shoot at the famed Dakota
apartment building in Manhattan, which John Lennon once called home. Then star
Monica Kiley goes missing, a cast member turns up dead, and it appears Trudy
might be next. Meanwhile Ned tackles a mysterious murder case in which the
victim is burned beyond recognition. When his investigations lead him back to
the Dakota, Trudy finds herself wondering: how can she fall in love if she
can’t even survive?
Readers of Death Unscripted, the first
book in the Trudy Genova Manhattan Mystery series, will find the same pleasures
in this sequel: fast pacing, engaging characters, twists and turns on the way
to a satisfying close. From the award-winning author of The Nora Tierney
English Mysteries, this second series is a winner. Once again M.K. Graff
reveals her talents in crafting this delightful mix of amateur sleuth and
police procedural.
book in the Trudy Genova Manhattan Mystery series, will find the same pleasures
in this sequel: fast pacing, engaging characters, twists and turns on the way
to a satisfying close. From the award-winning author of The Nora Tierney
English Mysteries, this second series is a winner. Once again M.K. Graff
reveals her talents in crafting this delightful mix of amateur sleuth and
police procedural.
Part procedural, part cozy, Death at
the Dakota is a well-crafted and highly entertaining mystery.- Bruce Robert
Coffin, #1 bestselling author of the Detective Byron mysteries.
the Dakota is a well-crafted and highly entertaining mystery.- Bruce Robert
Coffin, #1 bestselling author of the Detective Byron mysteries.
I fell in love — not only with
co-protagonists, Trudy and Ned, the richly detailed and historic setting of The
Dakota, and the unique cast of characters, but with the unusual plot of Death
at the Dakota. Sherry Harris, Agatha Award nominated author of the Sarah
Winston Garage Sale Mysteries
co-protagonists, Trudy and Ned, the richly detailed and historic setting of The
Dakota, and the unique cast of characters, but with the unusual plot of Death
at the Dakota. Sherry Harris, Agatha Award nominated author of the Sarah
Winston Garage Sale Mysteries
Q & A With the Author:
1. When did you write your first novel? I wrote my first novel when
we were still living on Long Island, a mystery set at the Frick Museum in NYC.
Unfortunately, our house burned down and I lost the entire manuscript, as well
as my first computer and all the files. I have not rewritten that one. Instead
after our move to NC, I set about writing a series set in England, being a real
Anglophile and lover of all things British. That became The Blue Virgin and was
published in 2010.
we were still living on Long Island, a mystery set at the Frick Museum in NYC.
Unfortunately, our house burned down and I lost the entire manuscript, as well
as my first computer and all the files. I have not rewritten that one. Instead
after our move to NC, I set about writing a series set in England, being a real
Anglophile and lover of all things British. That became The Blue Virgin and was
published in 2010.
2. What drove you to write / why did you become an author? I’ve always
loved to read and written poetry and stories since in junior high. I thought at
one point in high school I might go into acting but realized pretty quickly I’d
rather be the person who wrote the words and story the actors performed. That
led to me learning screenplay format and writing a few of those, but my drive
was to entertain readers with a book the way I’d loved reading since a child.
It’s still what drives me to write: the idea of sharing my stories with a
reader, taking them into a fictional world that might closely mirror a real
place, but choosing the characters and what happens to them.
loved to read and written poetry and stories since in junior high. I thought at
one point in high school I might go into acting but realized pretty quickly I’d
rather be the person who wrote the words and story the actors performed. That
led to me learning screenplay format and writing a few of those, but my drive
was to entertain readers with a book the way I’d loved reading since a child.
It’s still what drives me to write: the idea of sharing my stories with a
reader, taking them into a fictional world that might closely mirror a real
place, but choosing the characters and what happens to them.
3. How do you create your characters? I spend a long time developing each
character. Those for a series, like Trudy Genova and her boyfriend, Ned
O’Malley, have entire backgrounds I’ve created for them, with aspects of their
childhood, where they grew up, went to school, etc. I always decide what my
characters’ needs and fears are, too. These things help me figure out how each
one will react in the circumstances I throw them into! In Trudy’s case, she’s a
nurse with a nose for murder, which often frustrates Ned. But she feels she’s a
good judge of people and has a natural curiosity that can put her jeopardy at
times. She also has a feel for wanting to help people, hence going into
nursing, and a sense of justice and fairness that equals Ned’s and is part of
their attraction. They ‘get’ each other on that level, even though they are
vastly different. I use the same technique for minor characters, maybe not just
in as much depth.
character. Those for a series, like Trudy Genova and her boyfriend, Ned
O’Malley, have entire backgrounds I’ve created for them, with aspects of their
childhood, where they grew up, went to school, etc. I always decide what my
characters’ needs and fears are, too. These things help me figure out how each
one will react in the circumstances I throw them into! In Trudy’s case, she’s a
nurse with a nose for murder, which often frustrates Ned. But she feels she’s a
good judge of people and has a natural curiosity that can put her jeopardy at
times. She also has a feel for wanting to help people, hence going into
nursing, and a sense of justice and fairness that equals Ned’s and is part of
their attraction. They ‘get’ each other on that level, even though they are
vastly different. I use the same technique for minor characters, maybe not just
in as much depth.
4. What is one thing you love about Fall / Autumn? Besides the cooler
weather, I love the feel that reminds me of going back to school with new
things on the horizon. It’s my favorite season–of course, my birthday is in
October so I’m prejudiced!
weather, I love the feel that reminds me of going back to school with new
things on the horizon. It’s my favorite season–of course, my birthday is in
October so I’m prejudiced!
5. Who is the person or group of people that most support you in your
writing? My husband is super-supportive, but the people who really help are my
writing group. We’ve been working together for 15 years now and the others are
novelists, too, so while we write different genres, we understand the rhythms
of a long term exploration of character, plot and setting. We meet yearly and
go over our entire draft novels for each other; in between, we are available on
email for checking scenes and running ideas past each other. I’d be lost
without them.
writing? My husband is super-supportive, but the people who really help are my
writing group. We’ve been working together for 15 years now and the others are
novelists, too, so while we write different genres, we understand the rhythms
of a long term exploration of character, plot and setting. We meet yearly and
go over our entire draft novels for each other; in between, we are available on
email for checking scenes and running ideas past each other. I’d be lost
without them.
6. What is your favorite Halloween Memory? I grew up with a friend whose
birthday is October 30th, so she always had a great Hallowe’en costume party,
bobbing for apples, other games, making popcorn balls, and eating caramel
apples, the whole nine yards. Great memories. We are still friends and when I
bring a new book on tour to my hometown library, she comes out to see me and
buys a book–and she always leaves a review! I’ll be there in October on tour
with Death at the Dakota and we’ve already set up lunch for our October
birthdays.
birthday is October 30th, so she always had a great Hallowe’en costume party,
bobbing for apples, other games, making popcorn balls, and eating caramel
apples, the whole nine yards. Great memories. We are still friends and when I
bring a new book on tour to my hometown library, she comes out to see me and
buys a book–and she always leaves a review! I’ll be there in October on tour
with Death at the Dakota and we’ve already set up lunch for our October
birthdays.
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