C.A. Larmer's Blog, page 2

Get NINE brain-bending books for less

BOOK SALE #1 — MARCH 3-9 The Ghostwriter Mystery Series

Scoop up eBook copies of ALL SEVEN installments of my very first murder mystery series — THE GHOSTWRITER MYSTERIES — for less than $8! Yep, that's seven books for the price of two lattes. Mmmm…

I'm discounting the entire series as part of SMASHWORDS' massively popular annual "Read an eBook Week" promotion that runs from MARCH 3-9, and that's why it is ONLY available @Smashwords online, so don't hesitate to check it out. The sale includes:

$0.00: Killer Twist (Book 1) — that's FREE, folks!

$0.99: A Plot to Die For (Book 2) & Without a Word (Book 7)

$1.49: Last Writes (Book 3), Dying Words (Book 4), Words Can Kill (Book 5) & A Note Before Dying (Book 6)

SALE RUNS: March 3 — 9 BOOK SALE #2 — ON NOW!The Widow on the Honeymoon Cruise

Can't wait until March 3 or not a big fan of eBooks? Then head 

straight to your favourite online book store NOW and grab the fifth adventure in the MURDER MYSTERY BOOK CLUB series, The Widow on the Honeymoon Cruise.

This time, I'm joining forces with BOOKBUB to discount both the EBOOK and the PAPERBACK versions of this one, but only for FIVE days, so don't be a slouch! Sale includes:

$0.99 for the eBook (down from $4.99)

$12.95 for the paperback (down from $19.95)*

SALE RUNS: February 24 — 28

*NB: Paperback sale only available at Amazon online. Paperback price based on US$ and will vary in different territories and sites (soz!)

BOOK SALE #3 — ALL MARCH!Blind Men Don't Dial Zero

Finally, a very special sale for my fellow Australians! F

or the entire month of MARCH, Amazon Australia have chosen to p

romote the very first book in my newest murder mystery series, THE SLEUTHS OF LAST RESORT — Blind Men Don't Dial Zero.

And they're not just discounting it,  they're slashing it.

$1.49 for the EBOOK (down from $5.99)

Aussie readers can find it at Amazon.au online from March 1. For those just interested in learning more about the book and/or the series, check it out here.

AUSSIE SALE RUNS: March 1 — 31

Behind the Scenes of My New Train Mystery (Toot!)

ALL ABOARD FOR THE BEST JOB EVER

Those of you who follow me on Instagram and Facebook know I've been doing a lot of "boast posts" lately, and with good reason.

I'm just back from a four-day/three-night journey on the majestic Indian Pacific luxury passenger train that takes 240 lucky ducks across the width of Australia, from Sydney in the east to Perth in the west. It's a simply stunning way to see inland Australia, while being spoiled rotten with complimentary drinks, gourmet meals, super-friendly service, and some iconic Aussie stopovers (like mining town Broken Hill and the dusty Nullarbor).

And it was all in the pursuit of murder!

Well, my Murder Mystery Book Club, that is. Thanks to Giselle Whiteaker and the good folk at Journey Beyond Rail, who also run the iconic Ghan train (which goes from north to south of the country), I was given the chance to hop onboard to research my next crime novel which — surprise, surprise — is set on a luxury train.

I mean, why should Hercule Poirot have all the fun?

In this story, my Book Club are on a Hen's Party weekend, celebrating Alicia's upcoming nuptials, when — yep, another surprise! — they stumble upon a murder. But this time no one believes them and so they have to investigate on the sly.

And sly was exactly what I was being…

Without wanting to alarm my happy fellow travellers, I spent much of the time snooping about for the best place, time and way to kill someone on a luxury train without anyone noticing (no mean feat considering all the fun and frivolity). With help from the incredibly gracious staff, not to mention a few worryingly enthusiastic fellow passengers, I also got to tour the almost-kilometre-long train and ask frankly creepy questions like:

When's the best time to kill someone without getting caught? Where would one store a dead body if required? How can I throw someone from the train without alerting the driver?

Turns out there are some surprising answers to those questions, and you will discover them and so much more when the book comes out mid-2024.

Until then, stay aboard for more…

Over the next few newsletters, I'll be sharing more tidbits on the writing, the research, and the hard work behind the cover shoot, courtesy of my hubby/cabin buddy/photographer Christian (above). Big thanks also to my PR advisers/sisters Simone and Michelle Larmer who run Double Edge PR. That's Michelle, below, doing the hard job of farewelling us at Sydney's Central Station and then hanging around a little longer than was strictly necessary ;-). Thanks also to Greg and Allan who put us up pre-trip.

You all went above and beyond. Thank you.

Until my next newsletter, enjoy these happy snaps or learn more about the Book Club below.

Happy (safe!) travels, everyone.
xo Christina

3 Wise Mysteries for My Wonderful Readers

THREE BOOKS THAT BEND THE BRAIN CELLS

I often wax lyrical about my best-selling crime series—the Murder Mystery Book Club, the Ghostwriter Mysteries and the Sleuths of Last Resort—which are all fun, fast-paced and full of intrigue.

However! For those of you who like their mysteries particularly mind-bending, their settings a little off-beat, and their stories utterly original, you might prefer one of my lesser-known crime novels (see pictured above).

And this year I've chosen THREE loyal subscribers to win a set of all three, in whichever format they prefer—paperback or eBook! If you've already subscribed to my newsletter, you could be a winner. Just check your email inbox for my latest newsletter to see if your name is listed.

If you are not a regular subscriber, make sure you sign up in 2024 so you don't miss out next time. My newsletters come out every month or so and often feature free book giveaways. I also offer free quick mystery reads as well as news on my own books and  writing, and the work of other crime writers I adore. To sign up, just return to the home page or click here and add your email address in the box provided on the right.

Otherwise, read on for more on my…

THREE "WISE" MYSTERIES • AFTER THE FERRY

It's the 1990s, pre-mobile phones, and a young traveller must make a terrifying choice: jump ship with a seductive stranger or stay cocooned on the Greek Islands ferry with friends, and miss the chance of a lifetime.
One choice will lead to true love, one to murder.
But which is which?
@Amazon @iBooks @nook @kobo

• AN ISLAND LOST

When Vilia Lea’s estranged mother dies she leaves her an intriguing inheritance—a remote island on the tip of remote Papua New Guinea, and a series of tantalising clues to the disappearance of her father there 30 years ago. Thus begins an enthralling family mystery that sweeps Vilia from the streets of Manhattan to the wilds of the Pacific. Along the journey she discovers what true love and family really mean...
@Amazon @nook @kobo

• DO NOT GO ALONE

"There's a bullet in my head and it's messing with my hairstyle!"
Maisie May should not be dead. Her party's still pumping and she's missing all the fun. As she hovers over her corpse she begins to wonder—who shot her in the middle of her own party and can she work it out before the creepy dead people convince her to cross?
@Amazon @iBooks @nook @kobo

Meanwhile…

I want to say a very MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of you, and an enormous THANK YOU for your wonderful contributions and support in 2023.

I write because I love making up stories for others to enjoy, and by buying and reviewing my books, you ensure I can keep the stories coming.

May your festive season be full of light, laughter and bloody good reads!

xo Christina

Hola Spain! Update on My Books Down Under & Overseas

SPAIN JOINS THE CLUB AT LAST

There is a very good reason why I have been so quiet of late (or, three reasons, in fact, but I'll get to the other two in a minute), and one has been the launch, at last, of my MURDER MYSTERY BOOK CLUB in Spain.

From today, El Club del Crimen is available through Lumen/Penguin Random House Spain, or you can check it out at Amazon here. It's the first in the series, translated into Spanish (thank you Mª del Puerto Barruetabeña Díez), and will be followed by book 2 (Danger on the SS Orient) in 2024.

So, if you know anyone whose first language is Spanish, please don't hesitate to send the message along. And, while it's certainly not mine, might I say a big BIENVENIDA to my new Spanish friends. (Ooh, I hope I got that right!)

MEANWHILE, BACK DOWN UNDER

What else has been keeping me busy? Well, while I can't give too much away at this stage, I can say I've been madly working on, not one, but TWO new fictional projects.

One, unsurprisingly, is book 7 in the Murder Mystery Book Club series which, I'm delighted to report, takes place on a luxury train this time. Sound deliciously familiar, anyone?

The second project is a stand-alone mystery with a heavy sprinkle of magic. I'm particularly excited by this one and I know you will be, too. There'll be more on that in future newsletters.

For now, all I can say is that both books are set to be released in 2024.

Until then, you can catch up on my latest cozy mystery — Gone Guest— at all good book stores now. It's available as both an eBook and a paperback. Or read on for more info…

MURDER MYSTERY BOOK CLUB 6: Gone Guest

When a guest goes missing at an isolated Gothic mansion, bang in the middle of a glamorous birthday party, the MURDER MYSTERY BOOK CLUB abandon their champagne flutes and start searching.

What begins as a fun game of hide-and-seek quickly turns into a horror story as first one body, then another shows up, but NOT the missing man. He's the beloved nephew of book club member Ronnie Westera, and she's adamant he's a victim, but the police think otherwise.

As their attention turns to the missing man's twin brother, the book club look elsewhere for answers, like Ronnie's disgruntled in-laws, her gossipy BFF, a secretive CEO and — gasp! — Ronnie herself (because even their resident socialite is hiding something behind her chiffon and pearls).

In their latest closed-circle thriller at a Knives Out-style manor, our crime fiction aficionados can't help seeing similarities between this whodunnit and two modern murder mysteries they've been reading. Can you guess both books and what they have in common?

Available now as an eBook and paperback:

@AmazonUS I @B&N nook I @Apple iBooks I @kobo

It’s My Book’s Birthday + A Hot New Release

HAPPY BOOK(CLUB) BIRTHDAY!

For me, launching a new book — in this case, Gone Guest: Murder Mystery Book Club 6 — is a lot like having a birthday. It's a heady mix of excitement, relief (whoop! I made it!) and trepidation, because now I have to let it go and get on with the next one!

And, as always, I'm really proud of this one. It's got all the usual ingredients you expect from the Book Club series, like fun, intrigue, humour and a dash of romance, but it's also set in a very mysterious Gothic mansion — think Knives Out on a Cluedo board.

That means the gang get to dress up in their spangliest gear, sup the finest French champagne, and nibble sushi as they scurry around the board — I mean, mansion — trying to solve a crime.

What could be more fun than that?

If this one sounds like your cup of tea, click on any of the links, below. Or scroll on for more on the story.

@AmazonUS I @AmazonAu I @AmazonCA I @AmazonUK

@B&N nook I @Apple iBooks  I @kobo

Speaking of Joy…

It can't ALL be about me and my books (*sigh*). This month I'd also like to give a shout-out to another terrific writer, Amy Vansant who has a new book out and on sale right now.

The Girl Who Found Joy is part of the Shee McQueen Mystery Thriller series but reads perfectly well as a stand-alone, so don't hesitate to grab your discount copy by clicking on the image below.

More on Gone Guest: The Murder Mystery Book Club 6 (out now!)

When a guest goes missing at an isolated Gothic mansion, bang in the middle of a glamorous birthday party, the MURDER MYSTERY BOOK CLUB abandon their champagne flutes and start searching.

What begins as a fun game of hide-and-seek quickly turns into a horror story as first one body, then another shows up, but NOT the missing man. He's the beloved nephew of book club member Ronnie Westera, and she's adamant he's a victim, but the police think otherwise.

As their attention turns to the missing man's twin brother, the book club look elsewhere for answers, like Ronnie's disgruntled in-laws, her gossipy BFF, a secretive CEO and — gasp! — Ronnie herself (because even their resident socialite is hiding something behind her chiffon and pearls).

In their latest closed-circle thriller at a Knives Out-style manor, our crime fiction aficionados can't help seeing similarities between this whodunnit and two modern murder mysteries they've been reading. Can you guess both books and what they have in common?

Intrigued? Grab your eBook copy now!

@AmazonUS I @AmazonAu I @AmazonCA I @AmazonUK @B&N nook I @Apple iBooks  I @kobo

~ PAPERBACK ON SALE Friday 13th OCTOBER ~

 

Until then, thanks once again for all your support and happy (celebratory) reading everyone!

xo Christina

PRE-ORDER NOW: Murder Mystery Book Club 6 (whoop!)

Those of you who love a game of CLUEDO (or CLUE to my US readers), are really going to enjoy my latest whodunnit, the sixth MURDER MYSTERY BOOK CLUB — Gone Guest.

In this one, a guest has gone missing at a Cluedo-style Gothic mansion during a fancy birthday party, and so the book club must abandon their champagne flutes and start searching.

As they dash from the PATIO to the LIBRARY, the GUEST HOUSE to the OBSERVATORY trying to locate the missing man, they quickly stumble upon a dead body — but it's not who they expect…

This is a fun, fast-paced mystery with all the usual twists and turns, but there's also lashings of French bubbly, gourmet sushi, glittery frocks, and enough red herrings to baffle even our expert amateur sleuths.

Pre-Order Your Copy Now

If you like the sound of that, you can pre-order your eBook copy so it arrives in your eReader bang on publication day. Just head to your fave online book store, or click @Amazon now.

~ ON SALE TUESDAY OCTOBER 3 ~

CATCH UP ON THE STORY NOW… Murder Mystery Book Club 5

Four couples set sail on a luxury honeymoon cruise. Only two will survive. Luckily for the victims, one of the newlyweds happens to be a member of a very nosey book club…

It’s supposed to be Claire Hargreaves’ dream honeymoon, cocooned on a superyacht with a handful of couples and six crew, exploring the Great Barrier Reef. But when a passenger is found floating lifeless amidst the coral, romance soon plays second fiddle to murder.

The killer HAS to be one of the group, and Claire couldn't be more exhilarated (just don’t tell her new hubby, Simon!). He owns the vessel and is so worried he winches in Detective Liam Jackson, followed by the MURDER MYSTERY BOOK CLUB, masquerading as newlyweds.

In this gripping, closed-circle thriller, the gang are back on the high seas, but this time they're drawing inspiration from a modern murder mystery. There are ten secretive suspects to choose from, a stalled engine that may have been sabotaged, and nothing but their sleuthing skills—and some rather fabulous cocktails—to see them through.

For your eBook or paperback copy, click below or @ Amazon

~ ON SALE NOW ~

Who’s the Arsonist? Solution to Quick Mystery #3

Last blog, I shared yet another of my quick mystery reads and gave you a chance to deduce for yourself, whodunnit. Subscribers to my newsletter also got a chance to win a prize.

I've now awarded the free eBook — congrats, this time, to KATIE MYERS — but if you'd like to be part of future fun and receive these mysteries direct to your inbox, just sign up for my monthly newsletter by adding your email to the link on the homepage: calarmer.com.

Before we get to the culprit, here's the mystery one more time. Otherwise, just scroll on…

THE MYSTERY: The Office Fire

“This is an emergency,” came a muffled voice over the office intercom, barely audible above the whirring of the alarm. “There is a fire in the building. Do not panic. Please proceed as swiftly as possible to your nearest exit and vacate the building.” And then in a, frankly, panicked voice, added, “Whatever you do, do not panic!”

Janine groaned and glanced at her colleagues around her, expecting everyone to groan along. They’d had a fire drill only last week, complete with real-life firefighters who gave them a tedious lecture about the simple ways a fire could start in an office building, and how to protect themselves.

Surely it wasn’t time for another?

But no one else was groaning. Instead, they had their noses in the air and were smelling what she was trying hard to ignore — smoke. And lots of it.

“No, no, no!” Janine said as she watched them all grapple for their bags and bolt for the exit stairs. She didn’t have time for a blasted fire. She had an extremely important research project to present to the board of directors in the morning, and she still had one final chapter to finesse!

Janine had been working on the report for months, and the Board had all flown in for her presentation. It was to be her one chance to impress her patronising boss, Jake Motion, and his fellow cronies, perhaps earn herself a long-awaited promotion, one that she and her colleague Mattius were both vying for.

And now it was quite literally going up in smoke.

“You coming?” asked Mattius, frowning at her as he dumped some papers onto his desk and scooped up his phone.

“I just need to print a copy of this report,” she told him, madly tapping away at her keyboard. “If the computers get destroyed, we’ll lose all our hard work.”

“No time!” Mattius shot back. “Come on, Janine! This is serious. Let’s go.”

And with that he grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her away.

Watching it burn

The office workers were all huddled in a group out on the street, watching with awe as a contingent of firefighters charged into the building to douse the fire.

“Crikey you two, you gave me such a scare,” said the young receptionist, Sherry, when Janine and Mattius finally joined them. “The boss was wondering where you were. We were worried sick. Are you okay?”

“We’re fine,” said Mattius. “No thanks to Miss Conscientious over here.” He gave her the evil eye.

“I’m sorry,” Janine said, “but I was trying to save our report. I hadn’t even got to the section you did for me, Mattius, and now—”

“Who cares about that?” he said. “We can redo it all, but we can’t replace our lives, can we? I swear, the lengths you'll go to, to get that promotion…” He shook his head.

That’s when a handsome young firefighter approached. “Everyone okay?” he asked, causing Shelley to turn and offer him a wide, flirty smile.

“We’re all fantastic now that you’re here,” she purred, giving him anything but the evil eye.

"Glad to be of service," he replied, just as flirtatiously, before returning to his work.

Janine scoffed at Shelly. “Isn’t he the guy you were chatting up at the back of the office, last time we did that fire safety drill?”

Shelly’s smile dropped. “I don’t know what you mean,” she said, her skin blushing red.

“Somebody’s got a crush,” laughed Mattius just as their boss Jake Motion approached.
“Oh, hello Mr Motion. How is everything going?” he asked.

“What do you think, Matt?” he grumbled. “Come on, you're smarter than that. This could be a bloody disaster! Let’s hope they can contain the fire and we don’t lose everything.”

Good news and bad

The following day the workers all gathered at a temporary, makeshift office where Mr Motion filled them in.

“The firefighters did an extraordinary job yesterday and managed to stop the fire at its source, which luckily for us was in the storage room.”

“They can work that out?” asked Shelley, her cheeks ruddy. "What else did they find in there?"

“Not sure yet," he replied. "They're in there now, investigating. But the really good news is, the computers in the main office were all spared." He turned his eyes upon Janine and added, "Which means you can now give your report.”

Janine blinked rapidly. “Oh, okay… it’s just… well, I hadn’t quite finished it.”

Now his eyes were rolling, like he wasn’t surprised. “Well my dear, I suppose I can ask the Board to tap their toes in their hotel rooms for a bit longer. What about after lunch? Is that enough time? Or should I hand the whole thing over to Mattius this time?”

"No, no," she said quickly, but her confidence was all blown. Despite her hard work, Janine felt like her grand plans for a promotion were about to go into storage as well.

Janine needn’t have worried about her research presentation. She would not be giving it today. By lunchtime, the investigators had discovered that the fire had been deliberately lit, and someone who was present at the fire was under arrest for arson.

SO, WHODUNNIT?Was the office arsonist a stressed out Janine? Her competitive colleague Mattius? Their patronising boss Jake Motion? Or was it Sherry, trying to hook up?

If you guessed Mattius, you are on fire! Here's how it went down…

We know from the text that Janine and Mattius had been working together on a research report. We also know they're vying for an upcoming promotion. While Janine is worried about the presentation she is clearly proud of her work because she tries so hard to print it out before the fire destroys the computers, even putting her life at risk.

Meanwhile, the only part of the report she was yet to "finesse" was the part her colleague, Mattius, did, and we can assume that he IS nervous about his work because he pulls her away before she can print it. Sure, he might have done that to save her life, but it's our first small clue that their might be a motive behind the fire. Mattius is also not worried or stressed, as Janine is, that they will need to start all over again.

The second and biggest clue is the fact that Mattius dumps "some papers" on his desk just after the fire begins and before he pulls Janine from her computer. Paper makes a very good fuel to start a fire inside a storage room. And Mattius would have learned that at last week's fire drill when firefighters gave them "a tedious lecture about the simple ways a fire could start in an office building".

Many of you thought the culprit was Sherry, and with good reason. Sherry was also at that earlier fire drill and hooked up with a handsome fire fighter. So it made sense that she might have started a real fire to get him back. But, sorry folks, that was just a red herring. (Yes, she was nervous, but that was because she knows the fire chief is searching the storage room and may find proof of their daliance.)

A small numer of you thought Janine had sabotaged her own work, or that the boss set the fire to thwart her efforts to score the promotion. But no, it was all Mattius's doing!

Did you work it out?

Give yourself a big clap if you also worked it out. Don't forget, you can receive these Quick Reads direct to your inbox simply be adding your email on the home page link.

Happy sleuthing fellow readers!

xo Christina

3-Minute Mystery #3 (Can YOU Name the Office Arsonist?)

Want to fire up the 'leetle grey cells'? Here's another quick DIY mystery to keep you guessing…

QUICK DIY MYSTERY: The Office Fire

“This is an emergency,” came a muffled voice over the office intercom, barely audible above the whirring of the alarm. “There is a fire in the building. Do not panic. Please proceed as swiftly as possible to your nearest exit and vacate the building.” And then in a, frankly, panicked voice, added, “Whatever you do, do not panic!”

Janine groaned and glanced at her colleagues around her, expecting everyone to groan along. They’d had a fire drill only last week, complete with real-life firefighters who gave them a tedious lecture about the simple ways a fire could start in an office building, and how to protect themselves.

Surely it wasn’t time for another?

But no one else was groaning. Instead, they had their noses in the air and were smelling what she was trying hard to ignore — smoke. And lots of it.

“No, no, no!” Janine said as she watched them all grapple for their bags and bolt for the exit stairs. She didn’t have time for a blasted fire. She had an extremely important research project to present to the board of directors in the morning, and she still had one final chapter to finesse!

Janine had been working on the report for months, and the Board had all flown in for her presentation. It was to be her one chance to impress her patronising boss, Jake Motion, and his fellow cronies, perhaps earn herself a long-awaited promotion, one that she and her colleague Mattius were both vying for.

And now it was quite literally going up in smoke.

“You coming?” asked Mattius, frowning at her as he dumped some papers onto his desk and scooped up his phone.

“I just need to print a copy of this report,” she told him, madly tapping away at her keyboard. “If the computers get destroyed, we’ll lose all our hard work.”

“No time!” Mattius shot back. “Come on, Janine! This is serious. Let’s go.”

And with that he grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her away.

Watching it burn

The office workers were all huddled in a group out on the street, watching with awe as a contingent of firefighters charged into the building to douse the fire.

“Crikey you two, you gave me such a scare,” said the young receptionist, Sherry, when Janine and Mattius finally joined them. “The boss was wondering where you were. We were worried sick. Are you okay?”

“We’re fine,” said Mattius. “No thanks to Miss Conscientious over here.” He gave her the evil eye.

“I’m sorry,” Janine said, “but I was trying to save our report. I hadn’t even got to the section you did for me, Mattius, and now—”

“Who cares about that?” he said. “We can redo it all, but we can’t replace our lives, can we? I swear, the lengths you'll go to, to get that promotion…” He shook his head.

That’s when a handsome young firefighter approached. “Everyone okay?” he asked, causing Sherry to turn and offer him a wide, flirty smile.

“We’re all fantastic now that you’re here,” she purred, giving him anything but the evil eye.

"Glad to be of service," he replied, just as flirtatiously, before returning to his work.

Janine scoffed at Sherry. “Isn’t he the guy you were chatting up at the back of the office, last time we did that fire safety drill?”

Sherry’s smile dropped. “I don’t know what you mean,” she said, her skin blushing red.

“Somebody’s got a crush,” laughed Mattius just as their boss Jake Motion approached.

“Oh, hello Mr Motion. How is everything going?” he asked.

“What do you think, Matt?” he grumbled. “Come on, you're smarter than that. This could be a bloody disaster! Let’s hope they can contain the fire and we don’t lose everything.”

Good news and bad

The following day the workers all gathered at a temporary, makeshift office where Mr Motion filled them in.

“The firefighters did an extraordinary job yesterday and managed to stop the fire at its source, which luckily for us was in the storage room.”

“They can work that out?” asked Sherry, her cheeks ruddy. "What else did they find in there?"

“Not sure yet," he replied. "They're in there now, investigating. But the really good news is, the computers in the main office were all spared." He turned his eyes upon Janine and added, "Which means you can now give your report.”

Janine blinked rapidly. “Oh, okay… it’s just… well, I hadn’t quite finished it.”

Now his eyes were rolling, like he wasn’t surprised. “Well my dear, I suppose I can ask the Board to tap their toes in their hotel rooms for a bit longer. What about after lunch? Is that enough time? Or should I hand the whole thing over to Mattius this time?”

"No, no," she said quickly, but her confidence was all blown. Despite her hard work, Janine felt like her grand plans for a promotion were about to go into storage as well.

Janine needn’t have worried about her research presentation. She would not be giving it today. By lunchtime, the investigators had discovered that the fire had been deliberately lit, and someone who was present at the fire was under arrest for arson.

CAN YOU NAME THE OFFICE ARSONIST?

The fire chief has found evidence of who it was that started the fire, and has learned it is one of the people mentioned in the story above.

Who do you suspect of starting the fire and why?

I'll reveal the arsonist in my next blog. Until then, sign up for my newsletter here or catch one of my longer, novel-length whodunnits at your favourite online book store or click:

@Amazon   @apple   @nook   @kobo   @smashwords

xo Christina

Bonjour! An Exciting Update on My Murder Mystery Book Club

FRENCH KISSING IN THE WWW

I have a delightful morning ritual I'm going to share with you, my beloved readers. Each morning I rise around 7:30, give or take. I jump off the bed … well, drag myself out of the covers, and I wander into the kitchen where I prepare two coffees. I add some frothed milk then I pad back to bed where my husband and our cheeky Bluey are usually still snoring happily away.

And I'm happy, too, because over the past few months, after I leave the gift of coffee on my hubby's beside table, I prop up my pillows, pop open my Instagram account and find a few treats of my own. Every morning, almost without fail, as I sip my brew, I delight in the gorgeous reviews my French readers have been posting on the first book in my Murder Mystery Book Club series, retitled They Were Seven (or: Ils Etaient Sept).

And they really are a treat!

As I've mentioned before, I'm now published in Japan and France (and have a fresh new territory I'm set to sign on with soon—more on that next newsletter). But it's the French who seem the most passionate about this book. Je ne sais pas pourquoi!

And it's not just the positive reviews that French cozy mystery lovers have been leaving me. It's how they leave those reviews—always with the most elegant of images that they've created around my book (as you can see from a selection of the posts, below).

If you'd like to check them out yourself, just head to Instagram and use any of the following hashtags: #IlsEtaientSept #CALarmer #ChercheMidi

Otherwise, stay tuned for more on future publishing deals coming up. And, as my French friends would say, merci for all YOUR support, too.

Plus there's a French Audiobook!

Also, a quick heads-up for those of you who do speak French. My French publisher is set to release the audio book of the first in the series. Check it out online or head to amazon for a copy.

MEANWHILE, ON TO BOOK SIX…

Fans of this Murder Mystery Book Club series on all continents will be happy to hear I'm midway through writing the SIXTH exciting adventure for this motley crew of amateur sleuths. As always, I can't give too much away at this early stage, except to say it's set in a "Knives Out"-style location (think: massive luxury mansion, high on a cliff top) and is due to be released in September.

I'll share more on the plot in future newsletters as well as a title and cover reveal. Until then, meet the characters or catch up on the story through any of the links below. And happy sleuthing, mystery lovers, no matter where you are or what langauge you speak.

xo Christina

MEET THE BOOK CLUB FOR YOURSELVES

"Bored to tears with her literary book club, Alicia Finlay and her sister Lynette start a club to die for—a Murder Mystery Book Club, that is! No sooner have they gathered six crime buffs together, a real-life mystery lands in their lap. Then another, and another… If you love closed-circle thrillers, unexpected twists and deliciously dark humor, you're going to love this eclectic group of friends who must draw on their knack for solving puzzles—and the wisdom of the world's most famous fictional sleuths—to work out whodunit and why. Can you solve these mysteries before the Murder Mystery Book Club do?"

Click here to get your copy at Amazon!

Or catch up on the latest installment

"Four couples set sail on a luxury honeymoon cruise. Only two will survive. Luckily for them, one of the newlyweds happens to be a member of a very nosey book club…"

If you’re a fan of isolated whodunnits, dark humour, shocking twists and a cracking pace, the 5th MURDER MYSTERY BOOK CLUB is the ideal read for you. Order your copy of The Widow on the Honeymoon Cruise today:

@Amazon @iBooks @nook @kobo @SmashwordsAvailable as an eBook and paperback

So What Happened? Solution to Quick Mystery #2

Last blog I shared another quick mystery and gave you the chance to work out what happened. Those of you who had already subscribed to my monthly newsletter also got a chance to win a prize.

I've now awarded the free eBook — congrats SUSAN JOHNSON — but if you'd like to be part of future fun and receive these mysteries direct to your inbox, just sign up for my monthly newsletter by adding your email to the link on the homepage: calarmer.com.

Before we get to that, here's a recap of the mystery. Otherwise, just scroll to the bottom…

THE MYSTERY: The Nosey Neighbour

My elderly neighbour was missing and I had a hunch I knew why—and where to find him. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning...

My name is Olivia. My husband, Jonas, and I had moved into the shady suburb of Greensly about five years ago, and while our shoebox of a house was just a stepping stone to a bigger, better place one day (we had dreams of starting a large family), I took an instant liking to our next door neighbour, a widower called Harvey.

He was an old man even then, but he was fit as a fiddle and it probably had a lot to do with his fondness for gardening, which kept his heart ticking better than any medicine I knew of. He could spend hours digging about in his sprawling vegie patch at the back of his lot. It was here that he spent most of his time, toiling away from dawn to dusk and even reappearing at night with torch in hand to fend off any critters that dared to devour his precious produce.

“He’s at it again,” I would inform Jonas as the torch sent splashes of light across our bedroom wall.

“He’s wasting his energy, fussing about with all that,” Jonas would reply. “If he spent half his time painting that dingy old house and clearing up some of the clutter out the front, we’d all be better off.”

Jonas did have a point. Harvey was a massive hoarder and had let his house run down. Badly. And, to be frank, it was bringing the whole neighbourhood into disrepute. But I didn’t like to tell the old guy that. After all, I was usually the beneficiary of all that toiling — Harvey would regularly leave handfuls of spinach or punnets of cherry tomatoes at my doorstep, and, in Spring, lush bouquets of flowers. In return, I took his bins out on garbage night and brought his washing in when it rained, along with his mail, which usually just consisted of letters from a distant niece and real estate brochures.

Jonas snatched the mail from me one day and said I was wasting my time—“you’d be better off helping him paint!”—but I liked the old geezer. I really did…

Missing In Action

One week, as I prepared a pot roast in my kitchen, I realised I had not seen Harvey in a while and was just wondering what he was up to when I noticed a young man in a shiny suit standing to the side of Harvey’s house, issuing orders to a group of guys in white overalls.

“Hello!” I called out through the open window. “Harvey finally sprucing the old place up, hey?”

The man looked across to me with surprise, then smiled. “And about time, too, hey?” He winked. “This place is a goldmine, just waiting to be tapped.” Then he snatched a business card from his pocket and held it out. “I’m Ace Finnegan. Local realtor.”

I gasped. “Harvey’s selling?”

“Surprised me, too. The last time I dropped in, just a week back, Harvey sent me packing with a few choice words.” He chuckled. “Took a swing at me, too. He’s just lucky I’m a lover not a fighter.” Then he chuckled again.

“You got into a fight with the old man?” I said and he blinked rapidly.

“No! I mean, not really. He was fine when I left him. And you should know. Didn’t I see you watching us through that very window? Anyway, I must’ve got through to him because he’s changed his tune, and wants to sell, which is fantastic news for me. That’s why I’m helping Melissa get the place ready. With a bit of a clean up and a fresh lick of paint, it’ll be good as new.”

“Melissa?”

“Harvey’s niece,” Ace explained. “She’s approved the sale.”

“Does she have the right to do that? Does Harvey know?”

He nodded, uncertainly now. “Yes… I believe so…” His eyes narrowed. “It’s all above board I can assure you. If you don’t believe me, speak with Melissa yourself. She’s just arrived from out of town. You’ll find her inside.”

That, too, left me gaping. I’d seen Melissa’s very occasional letters—knew from the back of her envelopes that she lived miles away—but had never seen her actually visit, and I was confused why she was suddenly here and taking over Harvey’s life.

I needed to hear it for myself, so I waved him goodbye then grabbed a wicker basket and made my way out of my house and up to Harvey’s front door, which was wide open.

The Prodigal Niece

After stepping inside, I found Melissa seated on Harvey’s bed, wading through what looked like a box of personal papers.

“Sorry to disturb,” I called out, catching the middle-aged brunette by surprise and she almost dropped the box. “I was wondering if I could grab some—”

“Who are you? What are you doing in here?” she demanded, wedging the papers back into their hidey-hole.

“I’m Olivia, from next door.” I glanced around. “Is everything okay? I was just checking in on Harvey. He’s your uncle, yes? Is he around?”

“What? Yes, I mean, no… um, Uncle Harvey’s been on holidays for the past week. Can I help you with something?”

I gaped again. Harvey never went on holidays. “How lovely for him,” I managed. “Where did he go?”

She shrugged. Frowned. “Bali I believe. He told me he was heading away and I should go ahead and get the house ready for sale.” Then she glanced around. “Finally! The local realtor says we’ll fetch a small fortune for this place, once we’ve made some improvements. In the meantime, I’ll find Harvey a lovely little nursing home…”

“Nursing home?!” I was gaping so widely my chin was almost scraping the floor.
There was no way the Harvey I knew would ever agree to a nursing home. The last time we spoke he told me he wanted to die in Greensly and be buried in his beloved garden. As for holidaying in Bali… It was absurd.

Melissa suddenly looked as defensive as the realtor and pushed her shoulders back. “Sorry, but I’m not sure this is any of your business. Now if you don’t mind, I have a lot to sort through.”

My lips snapped shut. “Of course,” I said. Then, remembering my purpose, I added, “I’m cooking a roast tonight. Do you mind if I help myself to some of Harvey’s vegies, from his back garden? I—”

“No!” Melissa’s shoulders were up to her ears now. “I mean… it’s a bit of a shambles. The realtor says some animals must have got into it recently and made a mess of everything. Doesn’t matter now. We’ll probably pave over it and put in a patio.”

Then she turned back to her files but my mind was reeling. None of this made sense and I didn’t believe her for one minute. I sincerely doubted Harvey would want his niece rifling through his things and dragging in a realtor, let alone dragging him to an aged care home. And I absolutely knew he’d be furious to hear his precious garden was to become a patio!

Still, Melissa was right. It wasn’t really my business. I wasn’t family, right? What could I possibly do?

So I left her to it, sighing sadly to myself as I returned home, convinced something was not quite right.

Stewing Over Dinner

Jonas returned from work just as I was putting dinner on the table (sans the fresh vegies, of course), and as we ate in silence my mind returned to Harvey and my sighing resumed.

“What is it, Olivia?” my husband asked. “You’ve been quietly broody since I got home.”

“I’m worried about Harvey,” I replied. “Did he mention anything to you about going on holiday? Or selling his house?”

Jonas shook his head then frowned. “No, I haven’t seen him for weeks, why? How do you know all this?”

“I met his niece today — Melissa — and she says—”

“Hang on, Harvey has a niece? Wow, what’s she like?”

“Bossy and controlling! She just told me Harvey is on a beach holiday and she’s getting his house ready to sell, will then put him in aged care. Doesn’t that all sound odd to you?”

Jonas gave it some thought and shrugged. “Honey…” He took my hand and kissed it. “I love that you care for the old guy, I really do, but it really isn’t any of our business whether he chills on a Bali beach or goes into aged care or whatever. I know you care for him, but we have to think about ourselves now. We should also think about selling, hm? It’s time to get on with our lives.”

But it wasn’t our lives I was thinking about now. It was Harvey’s…

Digging Deeper

The next day I got up at the crack of dawn and made my way across to Harvey’s vegie patch, which was indeed a disaster zone. If a critter had got into this garden, it was a mighty big one.

“What are you doing here?” came a voice behind me and I swung around to find Melissa standing there, shovel in hand.

I took a step backwards. “I'm sorry to intrude again," I said, "but I have a really important question to ask you.” Everything depended on it. “Did your uncle tell you in person that he was going away?”

She stared at me oddly. “No, he… er… he sent me a letter, about a week ago. Why?"

"Do you have this letter with you?" I asked.

Her shoulders were high again. "No I do not." Then a scowl. "But I really don’t see how this is any of your business.”

“You’re right,” I said, my eyes filling with tears. “But I know exactly whose business it is.” Then I pulled out my mobile phone and rang the police.

THE SOLUTION: So, What Happened to Harvey?

Sadly Olivia knows that Harvey has been murdered and his body buried in his beloved vegie patch out the back of his house. But that’s not the saddest news.

Olivia also knows that the killer is her husband, JONAS. (No wonder she was teary!)

How did she work it out?

At first Olivia suspected the neglectful niece, Melissa, of foul play. She might have killed him to inherit the house—which she was quickly renovating and eager to sell to the realtor, Ace. Or perhaps she was working with Ace and they were in it together? Perhaps the realtor was working alone? After all, Ace was supposedly the last person to see Harvey, the week earlier, and admitted that they’d had a fight. Perhaps the fight had turned fatal and Ace was forced to bury the old man in the back yard? Remember, it was Ace who’d told both Melissa and Olivia to avoid the vegie patch (where we now know Harvey’s body lies).

But then Olivia had that fateful conversation with her husband over dinner, and realised that Jonas must have been the killer because he lied to her about two things. Firstly, he told her he hadn't seen Harvey "for weeks" yet the realtor had spotted one of them watching through the kitchen window when he was there the week earlier, fighting with Harvey. She knew it wasn't her, so it had to be Jonas.

Worse, Jonas knew something about Harvey that he should not have known—that Harvey was chilling out "on a Bali beach”. How did Jonas know that? Jonas had only just arrived home and Olivia certainly hadn’t told him (she’d been “quietly broody” remember?). And we know Jonas hadn’t spoken to Melissa because she’d only just arrived at the house, and he seemed genuinely surprised to hear she was there. So how did Jonas know Harvey was in Bali?

Jonas knew because he’s the one who made up the whole holiday story.

Here’s how it happened…

A week earlier, Jonas saw Harvey come to blows with the realtor (yes, it was Jonas watching through the window, not Olivia). This incident shows that Harvey could get feisty over the subject of his house, and so when Jonas approached him soon after Ace left, the fight continued. This time, however, it turned fatal, leaving old Harvey dead, and Jonas in a panic. He quickly buried the old guy under his vegie patch and then faked a letter to the niece telling her that “Uncle Harvey” was heading to “Bali”.
(Jonas got her address from one of the letters he’d “snatched” from Olivia previously.)
He was buying himself more time and building an alibi.

Jonas would go on to claim the death was accidental, but Olivia wass not so sure. She knew her husband was desperate to sell their “shoebox” of a house for a good price, and that Harvey’s rundown old house was not helping. He was clearly irritated by the old man.

What Olivia knows for certain, however, is that it’s a sad irony that Harvey had to be dug up for forensics. He would have loved his final resting place…

Did you work it out?

Give yourself a big pat on the back if you worked it out, too.

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Happy sleuthing fellow readers!

xo Christina