Author: Frankie Bow

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#MidweekMystery: Better than Nun (A Giulia Driscoll Mystery) by Alice Loweecey

Ghosts for Mardi Gras!

Giulia Driscoll used to say running a detective agency was the busiest job she’d ever had. Then the ghosts showed up, and she figured now she’s the busiest ever. This of course challenged the Universe to say, “Hold my beer.”

 
Today she’s running the agency, sleuthing on behalf of the ghosts, and being the mother of a two-month-old. At last she understands those 5-Hour Energy commercials.
The Universe then dropped two clients in her lap for Mardi Gras: a family greedy to find hidden money and the son of her least-favorite person, Ken Kanning of The Scoop. The positive: a date night! The not-so-positive: it’s a working date night. Driscoll Investigations is joining the big Mardi Gras costume charity gala to search for potential thieves. Kanning Junior will be at the party showing off his tame ghost.
The Scoop, a few hundred drunk revelers, a mercenary family, and a ghost who isn’t as tame as the kid thinks. What could possibly go wrong?
Did someone just hear the Universe say, “Hold my beer”?

About the Author

Alice Loweecey is a baker of brownies and tormenter of characters, Alice Loweecey recently celebrated her thirtieth year outside the convent. She grew up watching Hammer horror films and Scooby-Doo mysteries, which explains a whole lot. When she’s not creating trouble for her sleuth Giulia Driscoll or inspiring nightmares as her alter-ego Kate Morgan, she can be found growing her own vegetables (in summer) and cooking with them (the rest of the year).
Website: aliceloweecey.net
Facebook: facebook.com/GiuliaDriscoll
Twitter: @AliceLoweecey
Goodreads: Alice Loweecey

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Southern Sass and Killer Cravings, #MidweekMystery with giveaway

Life has always been sweet on Georgia’s Peach Cove Island, but a case of murder has Marygene Brown down in the pits . . .

For generations, the women of the Brown family on Peach Cove Island have been known for their Southern sass and sweet homemade desserts at their beloved Peach Diner. Since their mother’s passing two years ago, Marygene has been stuck in Atlanta while her sister Jena Lynn has been running the family business. Now Marygene has left her husband and returned to her hometown, where she can almost feel Mama’s presence.
But all is not peachy back home. Marygene has barely tied on an apron when a diner regular drops dead at the counter. When it turns out the old man’s been poisoned, Jena Lynn is led away in handcuffs and the family eatery is closed. Now, to save her sister and the diner, Marygene must find the real killer. With some startling assistance from her Mama’s spirit, Marygene will be serving up a special order of just desserts . . .
Includes Seven Recipes from Marygene’s Kitchen! Enter the giveaway here. (Void where prohibited)
 

About The Author  

Kate Young writes humorous southern mystery novels. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and the Guppy Chapter. Kate lives in a small town in Georgia with her husband, three kids, and Shih Tzu. When she is not writing her own books, she’s reading or cooking.

Author Links

Website – https://www.kateyoungbooks.com

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKateYoung/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/KAYoungBooks

GoodReads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6527572.Kate_Young

BookBub – https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kate-young-b3339e9c-d2e4-482d-a637-5afd7b064d73

Purchase Links — Amazon  B&N  Kobo Indie Bound  ibooks  BAM 

 

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Vampire Billionaire of the Bayou #SampleSunday

Vampire Billionaire of the Bayou

The Sinful Ladies’ Detective Agency has just scored a cushy gig: Doing surveillance for a businessman who claims business rivals are after his trade secrets. But just as Fortune, Gertie, Ida Belle, and Mary-Alice are deciding how to spend their easy money, the unthinkable happens. The Sinful Ladies find themselves teaming up with the bewildered Sheriff Robert E. Lee…only to find that what looks like a ritualistic murder is far from the strangest thing about this case.

Excerpt

“I must say, Miss Gertie,” Mary-Alice ventured during one of their tedious nights of surveillance, “I felt nothing but sorry for Mr. Fosca when I met him, and you may laugh at me if you like, but I feel even sorrier for him now.”
Mary-Alice glanced at the passenger seat in time to see Gertie’s head fall forward.
“Miss Gertie, you’re falling asleep again!”
“What?” Gertie snapped her head upright and lifted the binoculars to her eyes.
Mary-Alice reached over and gently turned the binoculars around the right way.
“They turned the light out half an hour ago, Miss Gertie. May I pour you a cup of coffee?”
“No, I promise I’ll stay awake. If I drink any more coffee I’ll be prowling around in the bushes all night looking for a place to pee. Now what were you saying, Mary-Alice?”
“I was saying I feel terrible for Mr. Fosca. He’s a very lonely man.”
“Don’t feel sorry for him,” Gertie retorted. “He’s a creepy control freak, and he has way too much money to deserve anyone’s pity. And he’s using a fake name, so he probably has a criminal background. How much do you want to bet he’s got bodies buried all over that house?”
“Do you really think so?” Mary-Alice gasped.
“Nah, not really. Well, there was that body that turned up on the property right after he moved in, but it was just some poor hobo who probably died of alcohol poisoning.”
“I read the book he got his name from,” Mary-Alice said quietly. “It’s called All Men are Mortal. In the book, there’s a man named Raymond Fosca who is cursed to live forever. He’s doomed to witness humanity’s failures and disappointments, one after another, through history. And he only wants to make the world a better place, but it never works out.”
“I don’t see how spying on a pair of newlyweds is making the world a better place,” Gertie retorted. “All it’s doing is reminding me how long it’s been since I’ve had any action.”

Vampire Billionaire of the Bayou is available on these platforms

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This story is a licensed work in Jana DeLeon’s Miss Fortune world.

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Mother's Day: The Novella #SampleSunday

Mother’s Day

It’s the start of the semester, and Professor Molly is dealing with the joys of being department chair: The last-minute scramble to hire adjunct instructors, the confused students caught between payment deadlines and late financial aid checks, and the mountain of paperwork required by the administration’s latest half-baked “student success” initiatives. With her round-the-clock morning sickness (along with “helpful” pregnancy advice coming in from every direction), Molly can’t wait for the registration rush to be over so she can settle into teaching her classes.
But then Mahina State’s powerful fundraising office tasks her with a special assignment: she is to serve as the personal tutierge (that’s tutor-concierge) to Jeremy Brigham, whose mother happens to be fabulously wealthy and gravely ill.
But once inside the Brigham House, Molly realizes something is very wrong. And she has to decide whether to mind her own business and keep her job, or risk everything to prevent a murder.

Excerpt

Russian Road wasn’t far from campus, and I would have been happy to meet Victor Santiago there. But he clearly didn’t trust me to find my own way.
And he insisted on driving. I believe he would have preferred to commit seppuku rather than show up at a donor’s house in my turquoise-and-white 1959 Thunderbird.
I sat in the passenger seat of Victor’s Lexus and checked my email as he drove. Then I texted Donnie:
ME: With Victor from marketing. On my way to be a “tutierge.” That’s a combination of tutor and concierge.
DONNIE: I know you’ll do a great job. Darlene brought in a book for you.
ME: Who is Darlene?
DONNIE: the shift manager
ME: Is it what to expect etc.?
DONNIE: Yes how did you know?
ME: My mother sent me a copy already
DONNIE: I’ll keep this one then. If your mother recommends it must be good. BTW she called me, would like you to call her back. Have to go. Love you.
Then I texted my friend Emma Nakamura. Between her paddling practice, her teaching schedule, and some book project she was working on, I hadn’t seen much of her since the semester began.
ME: With Victor from marketing. On my way to be a tutierge. That’s a combination of tutor and concierge.
EMMA:
As much as I loved my husband, sometimes Emma understood me better.

Mother’s Day is available on these platforms

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Fair Game, a Zoe Chambers #MidweekMystery by Annette Dashofy

Paramedic Zoe Chambers hoped a week at the Monongahela County Fair, showing her horse and manning the ambulance, would provide a much-needed diversion from recent events that continue to haunt her.

An old friend, a bossy nemesis, and a teenage crush from her 4-H days fail to offer the distraction she had in mind. But ever the caregiver, she soon bonds with a troubled teen and a grieving father.

Back in Vance Township, a missing woman turns up dead, leading Police Chief Pete Adams into a journey through her mysterious final hours. With each new clue, the tragic circumstances of her death grow increasingly muddied.

A cryptic phone call leads Pete to join Zoe for an evening at the fairgrounds where the annual school bus demolition derby concludes with a gruesome discovery and a new case that may or may not be connected to the first.

Pete’s quest for the motive behind two homicides—and Zoe’s stubborn determination to reunite a family—thrust them both onto a collision course with a violent and desperate felon.

About The Author  


Annette Dashofy is the USA Today best-selling author of the Zoe Chambers mystery series about a paramedic and deputy coroner in rural Pennsylvania’s tight-knit Vance Township. CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE, published by Henery Press, was a finalist for the Agatha Award for Best First Novel and for the David Award for Best Mystery of 2014. LOST LEGACY, was released in September 2014 followed in April 2015 by BRIDGES BURNED, which has been nominated for the Agatha for Best Contemporary Novel.
Keep up with Annette

Blog  | Facebook  | Website | Twitter | Henery Press | Amazon | B&N | Kobo

 

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The No-Tell Motel #SampleSunday

The No-Tell Motel

When a young woman vanishes from a roadside motel, Mary-Alice and the gang leave Sinful and head across the border to find her. They soon find that the unprepossessing McCully Inn holds some Texas-sized secrets, which the influential McCully family would prefer to keep hidden.
But with the missing woman’s life at stake, the ladies decide to keep poking around the McCully family closet and let the skeletons fall where they may. And with their technical know-how, decades of experience, and relaxed attitude about rules and procedures, they might just get to the truth.

Excerpt

Their new “command center” (as Mary-Alice liked to think of it) was an unused room on the second floor, a few doors down from where Solange had been staying when she disappeared.  Inside were two double beds and a couch. Fortune immediately volunteered to take the couch, and no one argued with her. That was one of the advantages of age, Mary-Alice thought. No one expects you to sleep on the fold-out.
While Mary-Alice got ready for bed, Fortune and Ida Belle went to work. They disconnected the room telephone and in its place plugged in a tan plastic box about the size of a deck of cards. Then they pulled out a similar box and hooked it to a laptop.
“Are those little hard drives y’all are setting up?” Mary-Alice asked.
“They’re listening devices,” Fortune explained. “This one is an International Mobile Subscriber Identity-catcher. It’s like its own little cell phone tower. If Solange’s kidnapper calls someone in the area, we can not only hear the call, we can trace the location of the phone.”
“We should be able to hear anything that comes through the switchboard too,” Ida Belle added.  None of it’s admissible in a court of law, and might not even be legal, but this setup’s pretty useful.”
Mary-Alice came over to take a closer look. Fortune slid under the desk to do something with wires and cables.
“Are there headphones?” she asked. “Will we be listening and taking notes?”
Mary-Alice imagined herself wearing big studio-style headphones for hours on end and wondered whether her ears would get sore.
“Thankfully, no,” Ida Belle said. “That’s how they did it back in my day. I mean, in spy movies. But now they can record and transcribe the conversations.”
“That way we can actually get some sleep,” Fortune said from under the desk. “And the voice recognition has some problems south of the Mason-Dixon Line. It can’t tell the difference between ‘oil’ and ‘all’.”

The No-Tell Motel is available on these platforms

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This story is a licensed work in Jana DeLeon’s Miss Fortune world.

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Deadly Southern Charm: A Sisters in Crime Anthology #MidweekMystery

Deadly Southern Charm is a cozy mystery anthology from Sisters in Crime – Central Virginia

This volume collects original tales by Frances Aylor, Mollie Cox Bryan, Lynn Cahoon, Judy Chalkey, Stacie Giles, Barb Goffman, Libby Hall, Bradley Harper, Sherry Harris, Maggie King, Kristin Kisska, Samatha McGraw, K.L. Murphy, Genille Swope Parente, Deb Rolfe, Rod Sterling, S.A. Warwick, and Heather Weidner.

Buy it on Amazon|Facebook |Twitter | Website

Featured photo: Detail from the cover of Holland’s, a Magazine of the South. 1926.

About the Authors

Frances Aylor, CFA combines her investing experience and love of travel in her financial thrillers. MONEY GRAB is the first in the series.  www.francesaylor.com
Mollie Cox Bryan is the author of cookbooks, articles, essays, poetry, and fiction.  An Agatha Award nominee, she lives in Central Virginia.  www.molliecoxbryan.com
Lynn Cahoon is the NYT and USA Today author of the best-selling Tourist Trap, Cat Latimer and Farm-to-Fork mystery series. www.lynncahoon.com
A. Chalkley is a native Virginian. She is a writer, retired public safety communications officer, and a member of Sisters in Crime.
 

Stacie Giles lived many places before settling in Virginia where she is returning to ancestral Southern roots, including a grandfather who was a Memphis policeman.
Barb Goffman has won the Agatha, Macavity, and Silver Falchion awards for her short stories, and is a two-time finalist for US crime-writing awards.www.Barbgoffman.com
Libby Hall is a communication analyst with a consulting firm in Richmond, Virginia.  She is also a blogger, freelance writer, wife, and mother of two.
Bradley Harper is a retired Army pathologist.  Library Journal named his debut novel, A KNIFE IN THE FOG, Debut of the Month for October 2018.  www.bharperauthor.com
Sherry Harris is the Agatha Award-nominated author of the Sarah Winston Garage Sale mystery series and is the president of Sisters in Crime.www.sherryharrisauthor.com
Maggie King penned the Hazel Rose Book Group mysteries. Her short stories appear in the Virginia is for Mysteries and 50 Shades of Cabernet anthologies. www.maggieking.com
Kristin Kisska is a member of International Thriller Writers and Sisters in Crime, and programs chair of the Sisters in Crime – Central Virginia chapter. www.kristinkisska.com
Samantha McGraw has a love of mysteries and afternoon tea. She lives in Richmond with her husband and blogs at Tea Cottage Mysteries.www.samanthamcgraw.com
K.L. Murphy is a freelance writer and the author of the Detective Cancini Mysteries.  She lives in Richmond, Virginia, with her husband, four children, and two dogs.www.Kellielarsenmurphy.com
Genilee Swope Parente has written the romantic mystery The Fate Series with her mother F. Sharon Swope. The two also have several collections of short stories. www.swopeparente.com
Deb Rolfe primarily writes mystery novels. This is her first published short story. She and her husband enjoy life in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.
 
Ronald Sterling is the author of six books and draws upon his colorful and varied life experience as a U.S. Airman, saloonkeeper, private detective, realtor, and New Jersey mayor.
S.A. Warwick, in the last century earned a bachelor’s degree in American Studies. Ever since, she has been trying to decipher the American enigma.
Heather Weidner is the author of the Delanie Fitzgerald Mysteries.  She has short stories in the Virginia is for Mysteries series, 50 SHADES OF CABERNET and TO FETCH A THIEF.  She lives in Central Virginia with her husband and Jack Russell terriers.  www.heatherweidner.com

The Editors

Mary Burton is a New York Times, USA Today and Kindle best-selling author.  She is currently working on her latest suspense. www.maryburton.com
Mary Miley is a historian and writer with 14 nonfiction books and 5 mystery novels to her credit. www.marymileytheobald.com

 

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Mother's Day Mysteries

Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 12 or thereabouts (depending on what country you live in). There’s no better time to treat yourself to a Mother’s Day-Themed mystery.

Margaritas & Murder by Cece Osgood

In honor of Mother’s Day, meet Marsha, Sunny Truly’s mom. Marsha doesn’t like her daughter’s new job as a rookie private eye. She was so proud of Sunny being a history teacher but then that awful You Tube “incident” got Sunny fired.
Now, Marsha has a lot more to worry about — like her daughter’s penchant for solving mysteries and encountering creepy killers.

Filigrees, Fortunes and Foul Play by Emily Selby

Katie is busy enough as a single mom with a series of dead-end jobs. She barely has time for her passion-paper crafting.
But when one of her housecleaning clients turns up dead, stabbed with a paper crafting tool, Katie is in trouble.
She has her own ideas about who the real murderer is, but the lead inspector won’t listen.
Can she dig up evidence before another victim drops dead? Or will she take the fall for a crime she didn’t commit?

Mother’s Day (A Professor Molly Novelette)

Pregnant Professor Molly is battling morning sickness, a meddling mom, and the unwanted “help” of the Student Retention Office.
The last thing she needs on her to-do list is a murder.
But here we are.
 

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Black Widow Valley #SampleSunday

Black Widow Valley

Young men have been disappearing in Black Valley, New York–which now has the misfortune of being known as “Black Widow Valley.” As it happens, Mary-Alice Arceneaux has a personal connection with the tiny community, and is called in to help. Mary-Alice is thrilled to be a part of the investigation–but by the time she arrives at the forbidding Kilmer House where she will spend the night, she realizes she may be in over her head.
This modern retelling of Lost Man’s Lane takes the action from the sultry bayous of Southwest Louisiana to upstate New York’s remote Black Valley. Mary-Alice is challenged to keep her wits about her when she gets herself invited to stay in the forbidding old mansion that appears to hold the key to a string of unspeakable crimes. Fortunately (or not), Sinful’s Sheriff Robert E. Lee is on the case too!

Excerpt

Logan and Lucetta excused themselves after dinner, leaving Mary-Alice alone in the dismal dining room. Just as she was considering whether to get up and snoop, or try to find someone who would show her to her room, Hannah entered the dining room.
“Oh, Hannah, darlin,” Mary-Alice said, “I wonder if you could show me where I’ll be staying tonight.”
“Room’s not ready yet, Ma’am.” Hannah made no attempt to clear the table quietly; the plates and saucers clattered as she stacked them. “Miss Kilmer sends her apologies, and says she understands if you’d like Logan to drive you down to the hotel in town. She’s already called ahead and gotten a room for you.”
“Well, that’s ever so kind, I’m sure,” Mary-Alice parried, “but I rather did have my heart set on staying the night here.”
“Means you have to wait a while,” Hannah replied. “There’s no room ready.”
“Why, I’d like nothing better than to wait,” Mary-Alice declared. She squared her dainty shoulders and followed the larger woman back to the gloomy sitting room. Althea’s children had known of her arrival, and there must be dozens of rooms in this old house.  What were they hiding?

Black Widow Valley is available on these platforms

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This story is a licensed work in Jana DeLeon’s Miss Fortune world.

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#MidweekMystery: Wed, Read, and Dead by V. M. Burns

Bookstore owner Samantha Washington sells and solves mysteries in North Harbor, Michigan—including the murder of her mother’s wedding planner . . .

Sam’s mother can’t wait to wed her wealthy beau, Harold Robertson. The big mystery is how they’re going to pull off a lavish wedding in three weeks. Harold’s snobby sister-in-law proposes a solution: engage flamboyant wedding planner Lydia Lighthouse. But their beacon of hope quickly sends everyone into a blind rage, most of all the groom-to-be. So when the maddening micromanager is strangled with her own scarf, it’s a shock, but not a surprise.
It’s a case of art imitating life as Sam pens her next historical mystery set in England between the wars. Lady Daphne Marsh insists on marrying Lord James Browning on Christmas Eve, three weeks hence. But when the fop planning their wedding ends up with a knife in his back, she vows to nab the backstabber before she walks down the aisle.
Meanwhile, when she’s not writing, Sam and her beloved and boisterous Nana Jo rush to shine a light on Lydia’s killer—so her mother’s new husband won’t spend his honeymoon behind bars . . .
Enter to win a gift card!

About the Author

V.M. Burns was born in Northwestern Indiana and spent many years in Southwestern Michigan on the Lake Michigan shoreline. She is a lover of dogs, British historic cozies, and scones with clotted cream. After many years in the Midwest, she went in search of milder winters and currently lives in Eastern Tennessee with her poodles. Her debut novel, The Plot is Murder was nominated for a 2017 Agatha Award for Best First Novel. Valerie is a member of Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, and a lifetime member of Sisters in Crime. Readers can learn more by visiting her website at vmburns.com

Author Links:

Website: http://www.vmburns.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vmburnsbooks/
Twitter: @vmburns
Purchase Links:

Amazon – Barnes & Noble – IndieBound: – Books-A-Million – Hudson Booksellers