Mystery of the Month: Hunter's Moon

The wealthiest family in the Canaan Valley has several problems, which its members handle using discretion—or maybe secrecy is a better word.  But when one of their members is murdered, their secrets are revealed as sisters Andrea and Kathleen help Sheriff Ward Sterling investigate the murder.

The sisters feel it’s especially important to figure out who the murderer is, since their friend, Deputy Willard Hill, is the prime suspect. They know Willard couldn’t possibly be guilty, but finding out who is turns out to be difficult. Several people will profit from the death, and there are a few more who had reasons to dislike the deceased.

In spite of a serious threat from the murderer, Andrea and Kathleen persist, hunting for hidden diaries, reviewing security camera records, and interviewing members of the family.  Their friend Willard is scheduled to marry one of the daughters of this wealthy family, but the wedding has been postponed until the murder is solved. The sisters want Willard to be cleared so the wedding can proceed as planned. More important, they must solve the case before the killer silences them.

Buy link:
http://amzn.com/B00CQMF6B8

Helen Haught Fanick grew up in West Virginia and now lives in Texas, and both states provide settings for her novels. Her interests are wide-ranging, and her work includes cozy mysteries, suspense novels, a World War II espionage novel, and short stories, all available through Amazon for Kindle. The novels are also available in paperback.

A short story impressed Helen’s fifth grade teacher, and she’s been writing ever since. She has won several local and state awards and two national awards in the Writer’s Digest Competition. Moon Signs was a quarter-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards. She’s a graduate of The University of Texas at San Antonio and lives in San Antonio with her husband.

 

Three things to make you happy

I've heard it said that it takes three things to make a person happy: someone to love, something to do and something to look forward to. Makes perfect sense to me.

Of course, someone to love doesn't necessarily mean you have to be in a "relationship." It can be your spouse or significant other but it can also be your child, a close friend, a family member or a combination of any or all of them.

Although I'm divorced and not currently in a romantic relationship, I am blessed with so many wonderful people in my life, good friends and family, and I love them all.

Something to do can mean a job you enjoy, a cause you're committed to, a hobby or a passion. The important element is that it be something that gives you a reason to get out of bed in the morning and that it gives you a feeling of satisfaction and makes you feel you've been productive at the end of the day.

For me, that something is writing. Each morning, I look forward to some phase of my writing process. I'm either plotting, researching, writing, editing and/or promoting my Malone Mystery series. Writing is my passion and it's been my life-long dream to become a published author.

And now we've come to something to look forward to. That can be almost anything you're eagerly anticipating. A vacation, a visit from a friend, a promotion at work, anything.

Throughout the year, I try to schedule outings with friends, book signings and other events so that I almost always have something to look forward to. But, the highlight of the year is my annual vacation. I usually travel to the ocean but this year I'm doing something different. I just made my reservation for a trip to West Virginia in the Fall and I'm looking forward to a train ride through picturesque mountains, to meeting new people and, since a change of scenery tends to spark my imagination, to coming up with some ideas for future books.

I've shared the three things in my life that combine to make me happy and now I'd love to hear from you. If you leave a comment with your three things, you'll be automatically entered to win a signed paper copy of my most recent Malone Mystery, Desperate Deeds.

Mystery of the Month: Awkward Moments

What might happen if you tried to bury the body of a small bird, only to find a body already buried in the hole you’ve dug?  And what might happen if another body ended up in the same hole?

Join Chris, Pamela and Mikey Cross while they try to figure out why someone would be murdered during their vacation, on private property, during the middle of the night. Watch for Chris’s cranky brother to show up unexpectedly, searching for lost gold and running people off of his property.

The Cross family is at it again, just like the amateur sleuths they swear they never meant to be.

Buy link:

http://tinyurl.com/m8s6uux

Marja McGraw has past experience in both criminal and civil law enforcement, and she occasionally calls on this experience when writing her mysteries. She’s lived in California, Nevada, Oregon, Alaska and Arizona. She writes two series: the Sandi Webster Mysteries (female P.I.), and the Bogey Man Mysteries (amateur P.I. husband and wife team), both of which take place in Los Angeles. 

With her love of dogs, she’s included two yellow Labrador retrievers and a half Golden retriever/half wolf in her stories.

Her hobby is photography, and she says that writing as a job is the most fun she’s ever had. She and her husband now live in Arizona, where life is good.