Mystery Author of the Month: Anna Celeste Burke

 Anna Celeste Burke

Life is an extravaganza! Figuring out how to hang tough and make the most of the wild ride is the challenge. On my way to Oahu to join the rock musician and high school drop-out I had married in Tijuana, I was nabbed as a runaway. Eventually the police let me go, but the rock band broke up. Our next stop: Disney World, where we trained to be chefs. More education landed us in academia at The Ohio State University. For decades I researched, wrote, and spoke about a number of gloriously nerdy topics. Retired now, I’m still married to the same sweet guy and live with him near Palm Springs, California. The Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery series is set here in the Sonoran Desert, a spectacular place to ponder life’s mysteries while relishing the delights of the desert resort cities.

Jessica Huntington’s privileged life is turned upside down by the ruthless betrayal of a faithless husband. While she’s wallowing in self-pity, an even more unthinkable thing happens—her best friend’s husband is murdered. Soon she and her friends are stalked by lowlifes in pantyhose, stilettos, Bruno Magli shoes, and bespoke suits. All the murder and mayhem occurs in the most sublime setting in and around Palm Springs, California. The playground of movie stars, moguls, and presidents it’s quite clear that, even in a desert paradise, life is full of unpleasant surprises, like A DEAD HUSBAND.

This series of ‘whodunits’ explores why bad, sometimes horrific, things happen to good people—or as my heroine, Jessica, puts it in A DEAD SISTER, “to ordinary, average, everyday, humdrum people trying to get by the best they can.” My wealthy protagonist is proof that even a member of the 1% isn’t immune to life’s challenges. She’s got some ‘issues’ too. Not only self-pity, but a shopping jones and, because of her privileged upbringing, she’s surprisingly naïve in many ways. As it turns out she’s tougher than she imagines. Jessica Huntington is a flawed, but resourceful heroine. What helps get her through some unthinkable situations are the things that we can all use when it gets tough out there. Not just money and professional expertise, although those things do matter. I’m talking about grit and determination, quick thinking, friendship, and a great sense of humor that are resources we can all rely on to pull us through difficult situations. In A DEAD DAUGHTER, due out by the end of the year, murder and mayhem take Jessica Huntington to new heights. There’s more to come in 2015 with book 4, A DEAD MOTHER

LINKS RE ANNA CELESTE BURKE & THE JESSICA HUNTINGTON DESERT CITIES MYSTERY SERIES

JOIN ME AT...

TWITTER:                             https://twitter.com/aburke59

FACEBOOK BOOK PAGE:   https://www.facebook.com/annacelesteburke

WEBSITE:                              http://www.desertcitiesmystery.com/

BLOG PAGE:                         http://www.desertcitiesmystery.com/#!blog/c1dh1

ABOUT.ME:                          http://about.me/annaburke/#

GOODREADS:                       https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7553558.Anna_Celeste_Burke

AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE:  http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00H8J4IQS

BUY A DEAD HUSBAND:

AMAZON KINDLE SMARTURL: http://smarturl.it/ADEADHUSBAND

AMAZON PAPERBACK U.S.:   http://ow.ly/yFnyH

BARNES & NOBLE PAPERBACK:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-dead-husband-anna-celeste-burke/1117656215?ean=9781494413514

BUY A DEAD SISTER

AMAZON KINDLE SMARTURL:  http://smarturl.it/ADEADSISTER

AMAZON PAPERBACK U.S.:   http://ow.ly/yFnRm

BARNES & NOBLE PAPERBACK:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-dead-sister-anna-celeste-burke/1119210596?ean=9781497473973

Celeste will be giving away a copy of "A Dead Husband" to someone who leaves a comment on her post. Be sure to check back late Saturday to see if you're the winner.
Celeste has decided to send copies of her book to the six people who left a comment and have not yet read her book:

Marja McGraw

Lesley Diehl

Barbara T

Debbie Carney

Diana Febry

Claire Hill
Congratulations! Celeste will be contacting you.

Mystery in history - New Release: Guns of the Texas Ranger

When Texas Ranger Ygnacio (“Nacho”) Ybarra slips across the border into Mexico, he is surprised by bandits and taken to confront an old acquaintance, Pancho Villa. The revolutionary leader charges Nacho to assist in corralling a rogue outlaw, Chulo Valdez. But that bandit lures Nacho into an attack on his own Ranger Company.

Guns of the Texas Ranger, volume one in the Border Trilogy, is a tale of Rangers Whitey Wilson and Red Regan and the girl they both love. And their search justice during the border wars, when only a small Ranger Company stands in the way of bandit raids. And how Ranger Nacho Ybarra prevented a war.
  

From the author: 

My novel started out as a mystery but it got carried away into action. Indeed there is a mystery - who shot the lieutenant that Nacho's son-in-law is accused of shooting? Nacho must find the real killer to save his son-in-law from the firing squad. But that all takes a back seat to Nacho's run-in with Pancho Villa and the bandit Chulo Valdez and plans to invade Texas.

Buy my western novels from the publisher (Oak Tree Press) or from Amazon. Or from me directly, for autographed copies.

www.daccrossley.typepad.com or dacxley@gmail.com.

 Dac Crossley

I grew up on a lonely road outside the lonely little town of Kingsville, Texas. I roamed the brush country and enjoyed the seasonal changes in scrub and animals, horned toads and red ants. Learned to hunt and fish with friends from the King Ranch, where I enjoyed Hispanic culture. I’m steeped in Texas history and traditions from my old pioneer family.

My genre is historic fiction set in South Texas, where the old west persisted into the 1920’s with undeclared border wars and Mexican bandits.  My grandfather fought bandits, his father fought Indians.  I grew up with sons of Texas Rangers and spent hours listening to their fathers.  I am well versed in South Texas history and culture.  I enjoy bringing that history and background to life in my fiction.  My settings are real and my characters drawn from experience.

I write about tales from my childhood, of Texas Rangers and Mexican bandits, fast horses and quick pistols, sheriffs and posses, lost trails and trains, and señoritas and Buffalo Gals. Of that arid land between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, where trees and women have thorns, and water is good to find.

Dac is offering a copy of his novel to one lucky person who leaves a comment! 
And the winner is Nancy LiParti! Congratulations, Nancy! Dac will be getting in touch with you for your mailing address.