Ron D. Voigts's Blog, page 6

Making a deal with the devil is never a good idea, but when it’s with a witch, it can be deadly.

Investigative reporter and recent widower, Cavendish Brown, is unemployed and floundering. Coerced into returning to his childhood home by the town's eccentric matriarch, Cavendish finds himself involved in murder, deceit, and a not-so-subtle attempt at matchmaking. Joined by Jane, a disturbed psychic, and Alexandra, a young Goth woman with uncanny abilities, they follow leads into the hills of West Virginia to catch the killer. A sheriff who shoots first and asks questions later makes solving the case difficult for the trio. Adding further complications is an ex-girlfriend with a mob hitman on her trail who seeks Cavendish’s help.

Immersed in a never-ending spiral of clues and secrets, he must unlock the darkness that surrounds the enigmatic Jane, stay ahead of the law, and come to terms with his own grief.



Excerpt from Book

I stood on the spot with the shovel we had found earlier, staring at the ground where Jane told me to dig. My heart pounded in my chest, and I considered whether this was a good idea. “If a body is here, it might have been buried a hundred years ago. People do die and are buried. It could be sacrilegious to uproot somebody. There are laws about doing things like that.”

Alex sat on the chopping block. She took a deep draw on her cigarette, exhaled the smoke and watched it linger in the still air. “I’m sure whoever it is won’t mind.”
How stupid would it sound to tell anyone I was in the woods with a chain smoking Goth girl and a psychic who could divine the past by touch, digging up a body? If one was buried here, it may lead to a story. The headlines would read: Editor, Goth Girl and Psychic Dig Up Civil War Hero.

I took a deep breath and scooped out the first shovel of dirt, paused and peered in the hole. No body. I dug and tossed a few more spades full. Nothing. I scooped out more earth, finding nothing. My pace became less ginger. Dig. Toss. Dig Toss. Dig. Thud!

Whatever I hit seemed solid. I worked the shovel more carefully, taking smaller bites of dirt. Something pale contrasted against the dark earth. Using the tip of the shovel, I removed more ground until I exposed something long and slender. I’d seen skeletons pictured on anatomy charts at the doctor’s office and more than a few body parts while in Afghanistan, doing a stint in the Army, but I was no expert on bones. “I found a tibia or maybe a femur.”

Alex tossed her cigarette, ran to the hole and stared into it. She knelt and brushed back dirt with her hand. “It’s a root.”

“Can’t be.”

She seized it, and what I had called a bone bent as she tugged on it. I knelt next to her and examined it closer. It sure appeared like a root.

Jane, who had been poking a stick at something in the grass, came over and pointed to a spot about two feet over. “Dig here. Not there.”

I repositioned myself and began digging again, wondering how many more roots I would excavate that resembled bones.

The air grew heavy and my clothing damp as I dug. The sounds of the forest became distant, and all I heard was the shovel striking the ground and my heart beating. The last time I’d worked up a sweat digging a hole was boot camp at Fort Jackson. I didn’t like it then, and my current sentiments were the same. I tossed another shovel full of dirt and spotted something.

Rather than shout for Alex and discover I had found another root, I took it and rubbed the soil away. Definitely, this had to be a bone. Picking through the dirt, I found more bones, like from a chicken.

Alex came over and gazed into the hole. “Phalanges or metacarpals.”

Surprised she’d know the correct names, I stared at her. “Really?”
“I took an anatomy class in college.”
I let Alex pick around in the hole. She found more small bones and sorted them on the ground until they began to form the arrangement of a hand. “I’d say a body is buried there.”

Alex took the shovel and removed dirt from the excavation. She took her time and paused occasionally to peer into the hole. Where I was a bulldozer plowing through the soil, she worked more like a seasoned archeologist on a dig.

As a reporter on the Gazette, I often teetered on the fine line separating legal from criminal. My informants were druggies, boosters and mechanics. I’d done interviews at crack houses, brothels and chop shops. When I came to Maiden Falls, I figured those days were behind me. Things here would be safe, mundane and predictable. Yet, here I was, digging up a dead body.

Alex found more small bones and placed them with the first ones. “Hey, we keep this up we’ll have a complete Mr. Bones in no time.”

A chill passed through me. This was a Frankenstein movie, and we were the grave robbers. We’d take the body parts to the mad scientist and get a bag of coins. Things could not be creepier, and I didn’t want to see a dead body, even if the flesh had already gone to the worms.

We took turns digging, and I worked more cautiously. Alex did the detailed stuff like cleaning the dirt off the bones and arranging them with the others. She named them as she found them. Humerus. Ulna. Clavicle.

“Were you pre-med at college?”

“No.”

Jane sat in the grass nearby and watched. She seemed indifferent about the body we unearthed, and I speculated about what conditions had molded such a strange being.

I pulled back a tattered shirt and pointed to a broken rib. “Someone shot him.”

Alex looked closer. “Maybe.”

“Do you have a better explanation?”


The trauma of seeing exposed human bones no longer seemed as threatening. I stepped back and let Alex continue the exhumation. I feared the moment when we’d get to the head. The idea of a grinning skull with hollow eyes gave me a chill.



Coming March 2nd!!!

"Here I was, talking to someone who was ready to give my soul to a witch."

The count down continues to release of my next book, The Witch's Daughter. Just finished the ARC and some final edits this weekend. The book is due out March 2.  Yay!!!!

In a sentence, the story is about a down and out reporter, who lost his wife recently, a Goth woman, who may be a witch, and a mentally disturbed psychic on the trail of killer. In the first chapter, the town's matriarch offers to get charges dropped after he beats the crap out of some guy if he heads up the town newspaper.  He recalls as a youth, kids believed old lady Marbella Wellingway was a witch. As the story progresses, he begins to think the references to her as a witch may not be so metaphorical.

The Witch's Daughter is a paranormal mystery that's a who-done-it which will leave you guessing until end.  The story is littered with clues along the way. But can you figure out who did it?

The Witch's Daughter Watch for it!!! March 2nd

Fire in the hole!

My favorite TV show came back on the air this week. Yay! Okay, it’s one of my favorites. Justified. US Marshal Raylon Givens, shoot first and ask questions later. Dewey Crowe, idiot redneck. Boyd Crowder, a bank-robbing white supremacist. Ava, widow, Boyd’s former fiance.  This is grunge southern fiction at its best.
The show is based on characters by writer Elmore Leonard. Some may remember his other well-known books, made into movies:  Get Shorty, Pulp Fiction, Three-ten to Yuma, Kill Shot to name a few. Leonard was brilliant. Gritty realism. Strong language.  He wrote ten rules for writing good.  He summed up the ten rules in one sentence.
If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.  The TV show got its name from the opening scene. Raylon gives a gangster type an ultimatum. Get out  of town or be shot.  Heck. Watch it for yourself.



Ron D. Voigts writes dark mysteries. His latest book Strigoi, The Blood Bond is available on Kindle.

Daphne: Dr. Crane, your Glockenspiel has sprung to life!

Daphne Moon makes a great study of how to develop a great character.  She’s earthy, funny, and easy to love.  When she first makes her appearance on the Frasier TV show, she comes across as Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady, needing refining and direction from Professor Henry Higgins. At other times she is sophisticated and luscious. She tells stories laced with humorous metaphors and may be a bit psychic, according to Granny Moon.  Through out the first seven seasons a romance develops between her and Frasier’s brother Niles.
When she and Niles dance the tango:Daphne: There’s only one rule when dancing the tango.  Our bodies must me in constant contact without a sliver of daylight between us.Niles: I can do that.
Daphne talking about her love life with Niles, and at this point she doesn't know his true feelings for her.Daphne: I have been keeping myself on the shelf lately. I’m feeling a little like the good china.Niles: Someone should be eating off of you every day.
When Niles and Daphne chop some vegetables for a salad.Daphne: When I was little I actually thought celery was the meanest vegetable. Radishes were the smartest. Beets were the policemen.Niles: What sort of personality do carrots have?Daphne: I try not to think about that when I’m chopping them.
Here are more scenes from a YouTube clip.


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Ron D. Voigts is the author of dark mysteries. His novel Strigoi, The Blood Bond is available on Kindle.

Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs

I'm usually a day late and a dollar short.  Missed the boat.  Didn't see the big picture. Didn't get it. Trying to figure out what the big deal was.  TV show Frasier was like that.

Here's a show about a psychiatrist doing a talk show on Seattle radio. Yawn! Boring. Well, so I thought and didn't bother giving the show a chance. Then a few months back I caught the last few minutes of the final show and thought it sounded sorta interesting.  Maybe I should catch an episode.

Lucky me.  Netflix had the whole series. No surprise.  Netflix is gaining the corner on the old television shows market. Yeah. I know what you're thinking. What about Hulu Plus and that other streaming service? But I don't subscribe to them, so Netflix it is.

I watched the first episode and it caught my eye.  I already mentioned Frasier's part in the show, but he has a brother Niles who is also a head shrink.  Put them together and you have a Lucy and Ethyl. Kinda.  Niles tricks Fras into taking in their Father, Martin Crane, an ex-cop who retired after taking a bullet to the hip.  Fras is not happy and gets more unhappy when Marty brings along his beat-up old recliner. The chair is obviously an eyesore among Frasier's tasteful decorating. But then Fras learns that Eddie is still around.

"Oh, no, dad, no, not Eddie."

"But he's my best friend."

"But he's weird. Gives me the creeps. All he does is stare at me."

"Aw, it's just your imagination."

Then we learn that Eddie is a dog! Here is a cut from YouTube.




Ron D. Voigts is the author of dark mysteries. His novel Strigoi, The Blood Bond is available on Kindle.

I Want A Red Ryder Carbine Action Two-hundred Shot Range Model Air Rifle

The last movie for this holiday season is Christmas Story.  Mmmmmm! 24 hours non-stop on Christmas day.  Channel TNT.
When the movie first came out, everyone jumped on the tag lines.
“You’ll shoot your eye out.”
“Oooooh, fudge!” (Only I didn’t say “fudge.” I said THE word, the big one, the queen-mother of dirty words, the "F-dash-dash-dash" word!
“Ho, ho, ho!” (You must say it with the same emphasis as the Bad Santa does. See clip below.)
“He looks like a deranged Easter Bunny.” (Ralphie wearing the Aunt Clara’s bunny suit gift.)
“Over the years I got to be quite a connoisseur of soap. My personal preference was for Lux, but I found Palmolive had a nice, piquant after-dinner flavor - heady, but with just a touch of mellow smoothness.” (Ralphie getting his mouth washed out with soap after saying the “fudge” word.
For your enjoyment, here is the Evil Santa scene from You Tube.


And Merry Christmas to all!
Ron D. Voigts is the author of dark mysteries and the Penelope Mystery Series.  His novel Strigoi, The Blood Bond is available on Kindle, and for the holidays check out Penelope and The Christmas Spirit.

Kevin Will Come Out and Play

The count down to Christmas continues. Today is wrapping day.  My wife applies the paper and bags them. I'm the bow and tag man. This is my favorite part of Christmas.  NOT! Hours and hours we labor.  Long into the night. Bleary eyed we retire hoping something did not get missed, mis-tagged, and everyone is covered.  Then in a blink on the morning of Dec 25, the paper comes off and the gifts are revealed. Poof! Days of work gone in a heart beat.

For the Holidays, Strigoi, The Blood Bond is on a Kindle Countdown Deal.  Stop by and check it out.

Finally for the season, I offer yet another movie--Home Alone.  I found this trailer for the movie with a new spin on the old flick.  Happy watching!





Ron D. Voigts is the author of dark mysteries and the Penelope Mystery Series.  His novel Strigoi, The Blood Bond is available on Kindle, and for the holidays check out Penelope and The Christmas Spirit.

What a splendid idea! This Christmas sounds like fun. I fully endorse it.

My third offering of a a movie for the holiday season is Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.  It's a delightful tale of Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, a skeleton character dressed in a black pin striped suit.  His love interest is Sally, a rag doll who frequently falls apart and must sow herself back together. Her creator is Dr. Finkelstein, a mad scientist with a hinged skull that can open to reveal his brain.

Yeah, your saying (unless you've seen the movie) so what does this all have to do with Christmas?  Well Jack and the other characters of Halloween Town decide to invade Christmas Town, kidnap Santa Claus  and make Christmas their own. Jack drives Santa's sleigh with his dog Zero, whose nose glows, leading the reindeer. Shades of Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer! Of course, the grass is always greener in someone else's holiday as Jack soon learns.

Danny Elfman did the music score; of course Elfman's music credits include myriad of movies and TV shows, including Edward Scissorhands, Charlie Brown and the Chocolate Factory, American Hustle and Frankenweenie.

The concept for Nightmare came to Burton while still working for Walt Disney Animation Studios. Here is the poem on YouTube.


So, Happy Halloween, er, Merry Christmas, I mean.

Ron D. Voigts is the author of dark mysteries and the Penelope Mystery Series.  His novel Strigoi, The Blood Bond is available on Kindle, and for the holidays check out Penelope and The Christmas Spirit.

Do you honestly think I'd check thousands of tiny little lights if I wasn't sure the extension cord was plugged in?

In my family if you took a vote for favorite Christmas movie, the tally would be unanimous.  Without a doubt it would be National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  At least once during the season we all gather around the TV, pop the DVD in the player, and watch the familiar scenes of a man and his family trying to have a traditional family Christmas.

The fascination here is identifying with the scenes and the characters. Who has not had Christmas lights go out or fail to light?  Annoying family over for the holidays? Disappointing gifts? Disastrous turkey dinners? The quest for the perfect tree?

Some have said the movie was Chevy Chase's greatest comedic role, playing Clark Griswold, a man struggling for a merry Christmas. Here is a cut from YouTube of the tree lighting. The first attempt was a disaster as family looked on at the failure of 25,000 lights to burn.  Only his wife, Ellen, remains behind to offer advice and understanding.


Hope your holiday is as bright!

Ron D. Voigts is the author of dark mysteries and the Penelope Mystery Series.  His novel Strigoi, The Blood Bond is available on Kindle, and for the holidays check out Penelope and The Christmas Spirit.

I don't mind you hitting me, Frank, but take it easy on the Bacardi.

For me Christmas begins with Black Friday, though the real reason is the day after Thanksgiving. My daughter doesn’t want to think of Christmas until December 1st arrives, and for many retailers and advertisers, it begins right after Halloween when the jack-o-lanterns are tossed into the garbage, haunted houses close, and black cats become family pets again, not harbingers of evil.  O, Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum, how green are your leaves.Traditions kick in. Decorations go up. Carolers sing and revelers revel.  
One of my little things is to deck the halls, er I mean the house, and decorate the tree while playing Scrooge movies on the DVD player. I have a collection and have enjoyed many more when they show up on the cable roundup.  A Christmas Carol starring Patrick Stewart, George C. Scott, Jim Carrey, Reginald Owen, and Kelsey Grammar. Scrooge  with Alistair Sim, Albert Finney, Seymor Hicks, H. V. Esmond, Warren Graves, and Bransby Williams. And perhaps one of the more unusual twists is Scrooged with Bill Murray, playing the part of Frank Cross, a modern day Scrooge.
One my favorite scenes is when Frank’s old boss, Lew Hayward, arrives as the equivalent Jacob Marley to tell Frank he will be visited three ghosts. Of course, Frank (Scrooge) doesn’t want to hear it.  Well, here is cut from YouTube, via MovieClips.com.


I got more tree trimming to do so gotta run.  “Bah, humbug!” and “God bless us one and all.”

Ron D. Voigts is the author of dark mysteries and the Penelope Mystery Series.  His novel Strigoi, The Blood Bond is available on Kindle, and for the holidays check out Penelope and The Christmas Spirit.