A Christmas Mystery

The Westwood Strangler is dead. Or so everyone believes.

Ann Malone Kern is busy preparing for her favorite holiday. She’s especially looking forward to her sister’s annual Christmas visit. But, several things threaten to ruin her festive mood.

The National Weather Service issues a severe winter storm warning for the Cincinnati area, predicting blizzard conditions, and Ann worries that her sister and her new boyfriend won’t be able to make the drive from South Carolina. 

Then, a woman is found strangled in Ann’s neighborhood and everyone, including the police, assumes it’s the work of a copycat killer. However, when two more women are murdered in their homes, the police announce their conviction that the Westwood Strangler is responsible. 

When Ann hears the news, the sense of safety and security she’s worked so hard to recapture since her attack on Halloween night, shatters. If the intruder who died in her apartment wasn’t the Westwood Strangler, who is?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JC9M3HQ/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i6

"The Notorious Noel Caper" by Sally Carpenter

Bowling for all abilities

By Sally Carpenter

Within cozy mysteries, all the characters seem to be in perfect health. They never get colds or sore throats or headaches or break their arms or suffer any maladies. They have 20/20 vision and good hearing. Occasionally a grandparent might use a cane. Characters who use wheelchairs are showing up more, but are still the exception.

In my Sandy Fairfax Teen Idol series, I added a major secondary character who is blind. I have poor vision, so this type of character hits close to home. Celeste Farmington, Sandy’s sister, first appeared in the third book. “The Cunning Cruise Ship Caper.”

It’s fun to view the world through her eyes, so to speak, and be aware of how she moves, speaks and reacts. I had a blind friend in college, so I use him as a reference to how Celeste acts.

She has a fold-up cane, but she doesn’t always use it. She isn’t at all like the blind character in the W.C. Fields movie who swung his cane around inside a store and breaks the merchandise. Celeste has darks glasses, but doesn’t always wear them.

Celeste feels uncomfortable in crowds, and hasn’t fully mastered good social skills. As a result, she can be blunt and demanding. But she’s sweet and her family loves her.

Despite her challenges, I’ve tried to find ways to work her into the stories. My latest book, “The Notorious Noel Caper,” opens with Sandy taking part in a celebrity charity bowling tournament. I couldn’t work Celeste into the scene—could I?

A little research proved that blind people can indeed bowl.

The American Blind Bowling Association Inc. was established in 1951. It’s open to legally blind individuals, including those with limited vision. The association maintains teams, leagues and tournaments with prizes.

Blind bowlers use the same standard lanes as sighed people, same rules, balls and scoring. The only difference is the use of a handrail, comprised of metal tubing, that stands about waist high and runs the length of the floor from the approach to the foul line. The rail is moveable, and is weighed down with bowling balls at the base.

The blower holds the rail with one hand and the ball in the other. The rail serves as a guide to keep the bowler in a straight path as she takes her steps to the foul line.

A sighted person assists by keeping score, calling out the numbers of the fallen and standing pins, and sometimes giving suggestions on how to throw the ball. However, the assistant never touches the bowler while she’s bowling or throws the ball for her.

Videos of blind blowers can be found on YouTube; simply type in “blind bowlers.” Bowling is one of the few sports in which blind people can participate, and those who do love it.

So, Celeste accompanies her brother to the tournament and joins her blind team mates, the Bowler Babes. Her presence adds a nice touch to the scene, gives Sandy someone to talk to, and demonstrates that blind people can live full, rich lives.

I’m giving away a free story to readers who sign up for my mailing list. Go to sandyfairfaxauthor.com and scroll down to the “Get My Story” button.

Sally Carpenter is a native Hoosier living in Southern California. She’s worked as an actress, college composition instructor, jail chaplain, movie studio page and is now with a community newspaper. She’s the author of two cozy mystery series, Sandy Fairfax Teen Idol (five books) and the Psychedelic Spy (two books), both with Cozy Cat Press. “The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper” was a 2012 Eureka! Award finalist for best first mystery novel. She has short stories published in three anthologies. You can reach her at facebook.com/sally.carpenter.54. 

To purchase “The Notorious Noel Caper,” go to https://www.amazon.com/Notorious-Caper-Sandy-Fairfax-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B09CN1W7V1/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2MBYN26X5IDY7&keywords=notorious+noel+caper&qid=1634786090&sprefix=notorious+noel+%2Caps%2C194&sr=8-2

A Halloween Mystery

It was the week before Halloween, shortly after I'd moved into a new apartment. I went for a walk in the neighborhood and spotted an old Victorian. I've always loved old houses so I stopped, gazing up at it. And I wondered what those walls would say if they could talk.

Intrigued, I wanted to find out more about the house and the area so I went to the Cincinnati Historical Society and immersed myself in research. The more I learned, the more certain I was that I wanted to write a mystery novel that took place there. 

I continued to take walks in the neighborhood, always with my camera. Little by little, I began to come up with plot ideas and the characters who would live in my fictional version of the house.

So, that's how I came to write Mixed Messages, my first Malone mystery. Proof that you never know where an idea for a book (or a series) will come from.

Once Upon A Time

 When I was a little girl, my mother used to read bedtime stories to me. Every time she read “Once upon a time,” I knew I was about to be drawn into a good story. I settled back against my pillow, confident that, no matter what happened to the characters in the course of the book, at the end all would be resolved and I would hear the words “And they lived happily ever after.”

Those were fairy tales but they made a lasting impression on me. Starting with Mixed Messages, the first book in my Malone mystery series which takes place at Halloween, I put my characters in some dangerous situations and gave them lots of problems, but I’m confident readers will be satisfied when they finish each book. Because it is a series, some things carry over to the next book but, by the end of Marnie Malone, the fifth and last book in the series, all loose ends are tied up. 

Once upon a time, a family of four lived in an old Victorian on the west side of Cincinnati - where a serial killer is attacking women in their homes.

It’s the week of Halloween and, in addition to worrying about a maniac on the loose, Ann Malone Kern struggles with several personal issues. Her primary concern is her marriage which, like her west side neighborhood, is in jeopardy. Her husband is drinking heavily and his behavior toward her is erratic. One minute, he’s the kind, loving man she married and, the next minute, he’s cold and cruel.

Ann dismisses a psychic’s warning that she is in danger. But, when she receives a series of ominous biblical quotes in addition to the love poems someone has been sending her, she grows nervous and suspicious of everyone, including her own husband.

As the bizarre and frightening events unfold, Ann discovers a handmade tombstone marked with her name, pushing her close to the edge.

          Will Ann be the Westwood Strangler's next victim?  

If you enjoy character-driven, family-oriented mysteries, you can read about and/or order the Malone mysteries at: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B007VDDUPQ or you can click on a book cover on the right side of this page. Happy Reading!

The Trash Harem by Marilyn Meredith

ABOUT THE COVER FOR THE TRASH HAREM

 

Deciding what should be on a cover is always something the author and/or the publisher must decide.

Since the title of my new Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery is The Trash Harem, yes, it does refer to trash containers, the idea of one on the cover didn’t appeal.

One of the threads in the plot involves an old oak tree on property belonging to the Pechanga Indians. If you’ve never heard of this tribe of native people, they are located in the Temecula area (very southern California) and own the very popular, Pechanga Resort and Casino.

The Great Oak, called Wi’aasal, is over one-thousand years old making it the largest naturally grown, coastal live oak tree. The huge trunk is over twenty-feet around, and the largest branches touch the ground, and it is over one-hundred feet tall. This oak tree still produces acorns.

The native people revere this oak tree whose canopy sheltered many generations. It is legendary and holds spiritual significance.

At one time, the land this magnificent tree grew on belonged to the author Erle Stanley Gardner. Both the tree and Gardner play significant roles in this mystery.

The editor, Lorna Collins, and I felt a depiction of this special oak tree would be the perfect choice for the cover—and Larry Collins did a great job creating it.

Marilyn Meredith

Official Blurb for The Trash Harem:

Deputy Tempe Crabtree has retired from her job in Bear Creek when friends, who once lived in Bear Creek and attended Pastor Hutch’s church, ask her to visit them in Temecula. The husband, Jonathan, is a suspect in what might be a murder case. The retirement community includes many interesting characters, any of whom might have had a better motive than Jonathan. There is also a connection to Earle Stanley Gardner as well as the Pechanga Old Oak. What is a trash harem? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

To purchase The Trash Harem

https://www.amazon.com/Trash-Harem-Tempe-Crabtree-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B096KZDPH8/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=The+Trash+Harem+by+Marilyn+Meredith&qid=1622899167&s=books&sr=1-1

Marilyn Meredith’s Bio:

She is the author of over 40 published books including the Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, and writing as F. M. Meredith, the Rocky Bluff P.D. series. She’s a member of two chapters of Sisters in Crime and the Public Safety Writers Association.

Webpage: http://fictionforyou.com/

Blog: https://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marilyn.meredith

 

The Writing Process

The writing process fascinates me. I recently published my ninth mystery novel and I’m still in awe of how bits and pieces from my life and lots of other sources come together to form a book. Sometimes, it’s easy to figure out where ideas come from; other times it’s not. When an idea comes to me seemingly from “out of the blue,” I look up and say, “Thank You,” because I believe in giving credit where credit is due.

My favorite part of writing is creating characters. People and psychology have always fascinated me. My Malone mysteries have been described as “character driven” and my  Small Town mystery series is also character driven. A house may have been the inspiration for both series but the characters quickly became the most important element to me.

So, how did I come up with the characters for my four-book series? Like all of writing, it was a process. 

Kate, my main character, is based on someone I once knew who was the single mother of a young daughter. But that’s where the similarity ends. The two women are nothing alike in appearance or personality.

The rest of the characters are figments of my imagination but I know they each include characteristics of people I've known.

In Secrets in Storyville, Kate’s parents and grandmother are hiding a secret. They, Kate's daughter, the people Kate works with, several of the town’s residents and the man Kate meets and falls in love with all play a role in the mystery.

 (If you'd like to read more about one of my books and/or you'd like to purchase it, click on the book cover on the right of this page.)

I hope you enjoy getting to know the characters in Secrets in Storyville, the first book in the series, as much as I enjoyed creating and writing about them and that you will go on to read the rest of the series.

Until next time, Happy Reading!

An Easter mystery

https://tinyurl.com/ydbvjzq5

As Ann Kern starts her new business as an interior decorator, the temperatures have risen, tulips and daffodils are in bloom and there’s a feeling of endless possibilities in the air. 

She has no idea that her world is about to be turned upside down.

Ann is terrified when she wakes up the day before Easter to find her young son, Davey, gone. Another local child, Kelly Kramer, has been missing since December. Where are the children? And what, if anything, can Ann do to get her son back?

Where are the Children?

As Ann Kern starts her new business as an interior decorator, the temperatures have risen, tulips and daffodils are in bloom and there’s a feeling of endless possibilities in the air. She has no idea that her world is about to be turned upside down.

When Janis Riley, a woman for whom money is no object, contacts her to redecorate her house, Ann is elated. But the initial visit with her first client leaves her with mixed emotions. Why did Janis react so strangely to seeing a photo of Davey, Ann’s six-year-old son?

But Ann has bigger problems. Her husband, David, a recovering alcoholic, has lost both his mother and his job and Ann worries that he’ll start drinking again. To add to her concerns, their next-door-neighbor, Dorothy Baker, is severely depressed but Ann’s efforts to help her are rebuffed.

Ann is terrified when she wakes up the day before Easter to find Davey gone. Another child, Kelly Kramer, has been missing since December. Where are the children? And what, if anything, can Ann do to get her son back?

https://tinyurl.com/ydbvjzq5

A Valentine's Day Mystery

Excerpt from Marnie Malone

"A sudden realization hit her like one of the bolts of lightning that continued to streak through the room every few minutes. Oh, my God! The gun! How could I have forgotten about it? Relief surged through her body. She was going to get through this alive! 

But she had to hurry. She knew her intruder would be back any second and she needed to be ready. She quickly turned to her left, stretched out her hands and burrowed them under Sam’s pillow, expecting to find the revolver she had hidden there. 

But she couldn’t find it. Her heart raced. Oh, my God! What if he found it while I was unconscious? 

The gun was her only hope. Without it, she was as good as dead. She pictured Sam coming home in the morning and finding her mutilated body. The word “mutilated” sent a shiver down her spine. But she knew her attacker was so full of rage he would take it out on her. It wouldn’t be an easy death. He would make sure she suffered first."

https://tinyurl.com/yc87jjec

Someone is stalking Marnie.

It’s Marnie’s last week at the law firm of Cliburn & Reeves and she feels like she’s riding an emotional roller coaster. Up when she wins the divorce and custody battle for Callie Jackson against her abusive husband, Jed. And plummeting down when one witness after another decides not to testify against Mark Hall, an attorney at another Charleston firm and an “alleged” serial rapist.

Marnie receives one threat after another and she constantly feels the need to look over her shoulder, convinced that someone is stalking her. With Sam out of town on business, she’s alone in the big, old farmhouse and strange things are happening. Noises in the attic, creaking floorboards and someone watching her from the woods.

As she tries to determine the identity of the stalker, the list of men who have grudges against her grows longer each day. In her line of work she’s made enemies. Is the stalker someone from the past or one of the men on her list? And, how far will he go?

Christmas Memories

We all have lots of Christmas memories, some happy, some sad. Some we remember more than others. And, some teach us a lesson.

There’s a scene in my mystery novel, Unfinished Business, where Ann and her older sister, Marnie, are remembering a Christmas from their childhoods: the year they decided to search their parents’ house, looking for their presents. 

More than anything, Ann wanted a Cabbage Patch doll for Christmas that year and, in a hidden compartment in the closet of the master bedroom, she found it. At first, she was thrilled but, as you can imagine, finding the doll put quite a damper on her Christmas. She ruined her own surprise.

That scene was a fictionalized version of what happened to me when I was a child. I wanted a Patty Play Pal doll so badly and, like Ann, I searched our house and found the doll hidden in my parents’ closet. On Christmas Day, I had to pretend to be surprised when I unwrapped the doll but I’m pretty sure my mom and dad knew the truth. 

Needless to say, that was the first and last time I ever went looking to see what Santa or my parents had gotten me for Christmas. (By the way, since my name is Patricia, I named the doll Cathy.) 

My parents, my brother, me (with Cathy) and my maternal grandfather

I hope each of you has a very Merry Christmas and that you make some wonderful Christmas memories this year!

Unfinished Business

The Westwood Strangler is dead. Or so everyone believes.

Ann Malone Kern is busy preparing for her favorite holiday. She’s especially looking forward to her sister’s annual Christmas visit. But, several things threaten to ruin her festive mood.

The National Weather Service issues a severe winter storm warning for the Cincinnati area, predicting blizzard conditions, and Ann worries that her sister and her new boyfriend won’t be able to make the drive from South Carolina.

Then, a woman is found strangled in Ann’s neighborhood and everyone, including the police, assumes it’s the work of a copycat killer. However, when two more women are murdered in their homes, the police announce their conviction that the Westwood Strangler is responsible.

When Ann hears the news, the sense of safety and security she’s worked so hard to recapture since her attack on Halloween night, shatters. If the intruder who died in her apartment wasn’t the Westwood Strangler, who is? 

https://tinyurl.com/ycqahvl6

Word of Mouth

Everyone knows the best promotion is word of mouth. One person tells another person who tells another person who tells someone else and the word is out. 

Although I’m sure the BIG NAME authors rely on word of mouth too, it’s crucial to those of us who are lesser known authors. You see, we don’t have a staff of promoters and an unlimited advertising budget. For many of us, it’s just us. We do what we can to get the word out about our books but without readers to help us do that, we’re not going to sell many books. 

And, let’s face it, that’s why we write. We spend long hours at our computers telling our stories in order to get our books in the hands of as many readers as possible. Because we believe that what we write will help other people. That, through our books, they can escape into another world where they'll be entertained and possibly enlightened.

In addition to being a mystery writer, I’m an avid mystery reader and many of my friends are too. They’re very supportive of my books, which I greatly appreciate, and they frequently ask me for suggestions on other books to read. I love to pass along the names of authors whose books I’ve enjoyed and I encourage my friends to spread the word to their friends.

I hope you’ll do the same.

Anywhere you want to go

Whenever I travel to a new (to me) place, I search for a local bookstore where I scan the shelves, looking for mystery novels by local authors. I do this for two reasons. First, I think it's important to support writers everywhere and second, because when I come home and return to my daily life, I can open the pages and escape to the place I've just visited. It's a way to hang on to the "vacation" mode.

One year, I visited Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, my favorite of the three. I found a bookstore there and purchased Murder on Martha's Vineyard by David Osborn, a local writer. Back at home, I read the book and enjoyed it so much that I looked up the author on Amazon and was pleasantly surprised to see that he'd written more books in the series. I read all of his books and was able to "stay" on Martha's Vineyard a lot longer than my vacation time allowed.

Another year, I went to Wilmington, North Carolina and I loved exploring the city. So much history! The old Cotton Exchange, which now houses several delightful shops, including a bookstore, intrigued me as did the horse drawn carriages and the theater where John Wilkes Booth once performed. I bought two mystery novels by Wanda Canada, Island Murders and Cape Fear Murders. When I got home, I read both books and felt as if I were still sitting on a pier, gazing out at the Cape Fear River, watching the boats go by. And, trying to solve a murder.

But I haven't always been able to find a book by a local author while on vacation. When that happens, I try to find one by someone who isn't local but who is very familiar with the area. For example, I purchased Folly by Bill Noel, a resident of Louisville, Kentucky, a couple of months after I got back from Folly Beach, South Carolina and, because the author had spent many summers in the area, it felt like a "local" had written the book.

I could give you many more examples but, in the interest of keeping this post shorter than one of my novels, I won't. Anyway, you get the idea.

Even if you don't travel or can't get away this year, you can still take a vacation in your mind. Although I've never been to Peru, I went on an archaeological expedition there when I read William Doonan's American Caliphate. I explored an old ghost town in Arizona with Old Murders Never Die by Marja McGraw. And, I journeyed to the New England coast with J.R. Lindermuth's The Limping Dog.

I've also visited Bariloche, Argentina with author Evelyn Cullet, seen the heather-covered moors of the Scottish Highlands thanks to Amy Reade and traveled Route 66 through the Mojave Desert with M.M. Gornell's novels. I could list hundreds more.

Books can take you anywhere you want to go at any time of the year and you don't even have to go through airport security or fill your gas tank.

February: the month of mystery and romance

Someone is stalking Marnie. 

As an attorney, Marnie Malone has made enemies through the years and she’s received her share of verbal threats. But no one has ever acted on them - until her last week at Cliburn & Reeves. However, in spite of the threatening phone calls, black rose on her desk and other ominous messages, Marnie refuses to be intimated.

But when it becomes apparent that the stalker knows where she lives, Marnie becomes nervous and apprehensive. Sam is out of town on business and she’s alone in the big, old farmhouse with strange noises in the attic, creaking floorboards and someone watching her from the woods.

As she tries to determine the identity of the stalker, the list of men who have grudges against her grows longer each day. Is the stalker someone from the past or one of the men on her list? And, how far will he go?

https://tinyurl.com/yc87jjec

5 Star Reviews:

“Marnie Malone by Patricia Gligor had me hooked before the end of the first chapter.

As Marnie prepares to leave the law firm she’s been with for years to step out on her own, someone has begun to stalk her. Between being a Family Law attorney and a strong woman, she’s made her share of enemies over the years.

Threats, notes and unsavory characters are dogging her steps. Her strength of character may be her best defense, but only time will tell. Someone wants her dead.

Who can save her, if not Marnie herself?

I highly recommend this book to those who love suspense and surprises. This one will have you on the edge of your seat.”

Marja McGraw

“Marnie Malone is being threatened by a stalker. But who is this person? Marnie practices family law for a firm in Charleston, South Carolina. She has made numerous enemies among wife and child abusers over the years by fighting for the rights of her clients. There are also several men in her firm who qualify as possible stalkers. In addition, a large land developer wants to buy her house which she won’t sell. He sees her as the only hold-out. One of her neighbors is also angry.

However, Marnie refuses to be intimidated. She is an independent woman of strong character. Still, the various actions of the stalker do frighten her. Marnie’s boyfriend, Sam Miller, is out of town and the stalker takes advantage of that. Marnie has to stand up for herself and she does so. She’s a well-developed, realistic character who readers will admire. When she makes mistakes, she learns from them.

This mystery novel is a page-turner, a thriller that readers will not want to put down until the last word is read.”

Jacqueline Seewald