P.D. Workman's Blog, page 45

A Fateful Plateful

by P.D. Workman
Coming Soon!
Series: Auntie Clem's Bakery #16
Genres: Cozy Mystery

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Coming Soon!

+ About A Fateful Plateful

From USA Today Bestselling Author, P.D. Workman!Was Pa poisoned?

Everything is just fine in Bald Eagle Falls. Auntie Clem’s Bakery is stable and making good money.

It seems like ages since anyone was murdered or kidnapped. And it seems like just yesterday.

But things are not so rosy in Moose River. When Vic gets the call that her father is on his deathbed, she isn’t sure what to do. Erin takes the trip with her and it soon becomes clear to both of them that all is not right with the Jackson family.

Something dark and dangerous is going on in Moose River, and Erin Price is about to get her fill.

The author has the ability to pull you into her story and keep you firmly rooted there until the end. Her characters are interest and have depth. She isn’t afraid to explore the areas of our society that many would rather sweep under the rug.

Like baking mysteries? Cats, dogs, and other pets? Award-winning and USA Today Bestselling Author P.D. Workman brings readers back to small town Bald Eagle Falls for another culinary cozy mystery to be solved by gluten-free baker Erin Price and her friends.

Have your gluten-free cake and eat it too. Sink your teeth into this sweet treat now!

+ Praise for Auntie Clem's Bakery Series

—This lady knows how to write!! I read this during hurricane Irma on my Kindle so I didn’t care the power was out!

—It was very good! But made me hungry!

—Oh my goodness I loved it! The murder mystery was so awesome… I couldn’t put this book down. Props to you again for another amazing read!

—I really enjoyed this book … Would make a great Hallmark movie.

—This very enjoyable story with uncomplicated characters and a sweet and easy storyline was well done.

+ Author's Note

Coming soon

+ Book Club Resources Gluten-Free Pinterest BoardMore coming soon

+ Praise for P.D. Workman

“Every single one of [P.D. Workman’s] books has spoken to me in ways no one or almost anything else has. And I have found strength in the books I’ve read.”

“The way that P.D. Workman writes just flows amazingly and allows the reader to get really invested in a book.”

“This is one author I certainly will be looking out for, I can’t recommend her enough.”

“I’ll read anything by P. D. Workman that I can get my hands on.”

“Every book by PD Workman that I’ve read has been a gripping one, however different the genres are, going from lighter mysteries to really dark ones… this is one of my favourite, most dependable authors.”

“P.D. Workman is an incredibly versatile writer. No matter which of her books I read I am drawn into a great story and honestly, I don’t think I’ve followed another author that could go from cozy mystery to YA to a PI series dealing with mental health issues. Really enjoy her books!”

“[P.D. Workman’s] stories are so believable and you can’t help but feel like you know these people. You find yourself crying, laughing and feeling the characters emotions. Now if an author can make you cry and feel every emotion in a story, she is one hell of an author.”

+ A Fateful Plateful on my Blog A Fateful Plateful #pt-cv-view-7e4f13eayf .pt-cv-title a, #pt-cv-view-7e4f13eayf .panel-title { font-family: 'Arial', Arial, serif !important; font-size: 14px !important; line-height: 1.3 !important; color: #be1e2d !important; font-weight: 600 !important; }#pt-cv-view-7e4f13eayf .pt-cv-title a:hover, #pt-cv-view-7e4f13eayf .panel-title:hover { color: #000000 !important; }#pt-cv-view-7e4f13eayf .pt-cv-specialp { background-color: #be1e2d !important }#pt-cv-view-7e4f13eayf .pt-cv-specialp * { color: #ffffff !important; }#pt-cv-view-7e4f13eayf .pt-cv-readmore { color: #ffffff !important; background-color: #be1e2d !important; }#pt-cv-view-7e4f13eayf .pt-cv-readmore:hover { color: #ffffff !important; }#pt-cv-view-7e4f13eayf + .pt-cv-pagination-wrapper .pt-cv-more , #pt-cv-view-7e4f13eayf + .pt-cv-pagination-wrapper .pagination .active a { color: #ffffff !important; background-color: #00aeef !important; }#pt-cv-view-7e4f13eayf { text-align: center; }

About P.D. Workman

P.D. (Pamela) Workman writes riveting mystery/suspense and young adult books dealing with mental illness, addiction, abuse, and other real-life issues. For as long as she can remember, the blank page has held an incredible allure and from a very young age she was trying to write her own books.

Workman wrote her first complete novel at the age of twelve and continued to write as a hobby for many years. She started publishing in 2013. She has won several literary awards from Library Services for Youth in Custody for her young adult fiction. She made the USA Today Bestseller list in 2019. She currently has over 50 published titles and can be found at pdworkman.com.

Born and raised in Alberta, Workman has been married for over 25 years and has one son.

Dive into The Waters of Eternal Youth

Do you like ice cream? Of course you like ice cream! If you haven’t read my last post about National Ice Cream Cone Day and mysteries that include ice cream as part of the story, check it out now!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.

There seems to be a water theme to my reading the last couple of weeks. Five of the last seven books I have read (oh, and one more in progress – so six out of eight,) have included water as a major part of the setting and action. And the last book I published is Dark Water under the Bridge. Funny that they seem to be following a theme right now!

Today’s book is The Waters of Eternal Youth by Donna Leon (which I thought was interesting, as Ponce de Leon was supposed to have found the Fountain of Eternal Youth— But this is book number 25 in the Commissario Brunetti series and appears to be the only book with any eternal youth references.) In this case, “eternal youth” does not refer to the body not aging, but to a character whose development was stymied by hypoxic brain damage after a near drowning in one of the canals.

This police procedural is steeped in the culture and setting of Venice, with fascinating descriptions of the many unique aspects of life and police work in this setting. The characters are well-developed and interesting, humorous at times. I had no difficulty in following the story despite not having read the previous books in the series. I would certainly read more in this series.

I think it’s rash to give the gift of trust to people we don’t know well.

Donna Leon, The Waters of Eternal Youth

At a fundraising dinner for a Venetian charity, a wealthy and aristocratic patroness asks Brunetti if he will investigate the fifteen-year-old attempted drowning of her granddaughter, which left the girl irreparably brain damaged. Brunetti’s not sure what to do, but out of a mixture of curiosity, pity, and a willingness to fulfill the wishes of a guilt-wracked older woman—who happens to be his mother-in-law’s best friend—he agrees.
 
Brunetti soon finds himself unable to let the case rest, if indeed there is a case. Awash in the haunting story of a woman trapped in a damaged perpetual childhood and the rhythms and concerns of contemporary Venetian life, from historical preservation to housing to new waves of African migrants, The Waters of Eternal Youth is another wonderful addition to this series.

Cuddle up with a Good Mystery for National Ice Cream Cone Day

Today is National Ice Cream Cone day. Mmmm!

I decided that matched up nicely with my latest book release, Dark Water Under the Bridge, which includes mentions of a favourite ice cream parlour in our area, Mackay’s:

Jones had told Margie that MacKay’s had dozens of flavors, but she had still not expected the densely-written chalkboard she saw when she got there. She and Christina stared at it with their mouths open, marveling at all of the options.

“Bubblegum,” Christina pointed out almost immediately.

Margie remembered blue stains on many of Christina’s collars when she was a little girl, when blue bubble-gum ice cream had been her favorite treat. So sticky and messy. At least now, as a teenager, Margie wouldn’t have to worry about Christina staining all of her clothes.

“What is ‘barn door’?” Margie asked no one in particular.

A helpful patron described the ice cream concoction that included marshmallows, chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, Reese’s peanut butter cups, fudge brownie bits, cookie dough, nuts, Oreo cookie crumbs, and coconut.

“Oh, my.”

It wasn’t going to be an easy choice. They had the cherry custard and cotton candy, two flavors she had enjoyed as a child when camping by the lake.

“Maple bacon,” Christina murmured reverently.

“I thought you were vegetarian now.”

Christina opened her mouth, considering. “I don’t think maple bacon ice cream counts,” she said finally, without bothering to give an argument as to why that was.

“I know what I am having,” Moushoom announced.

Margie looked at him. She was expecting to have to read the board to him. But either his eyes or his memory was better than she had expected.

“What are you having, Moushoom?”

“Nanaimo bar.”

“Oh…”

P.D. Workman, Dark Water under the Bridge

@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-6309a59 .ugb-img{width:640px;height:auto !important}}Dark Water under the Bridge

Parks Pat could be in deep water on this case!

Detective “Parks” Pat has made a name for herself in solving the Fish Creek and Glenbow Ranch murders, so she is the one they call when a body turns up in Ralph Klein Park. She would be happy for the confidence placed in her if it weren’t for the fact that the body is in the water.

Detective Pat hates the water. She’ll need to get over that if she is going to be able to investigate this case properly. Preferably before the rest of the department figures out her weakness. There is a killer out there to be caught. Somehow she’ll have to get past her block to find him.

If you enjoy good solid mysteries, well-developed wonderful characters, and beautiful scenic backdrops, this is the perfect series for you. I have never been to any of these parks (or to Canada, for that matter) but reading these stories paints such clear pictures in my mind, I feel like I could go there and know my way around.
—txdoc

Looking for a police procedural set in picturesque Canada? Let Award-winning and Bestselling Author P.D. Workman take you her favourite Calgary parks, as Métis detective Margie Patenaude investigates a murder in this fast-paced new series. 

These short mysteries are just right for those days when you could use a break from your busy life. Take a walk in a Calgary park with Parks Pat.

Dive into in a new mystery today!

AUTHOR DIRECT RETAILERS SAMPLE BOOKBUB BINGEBOOKS GOODREADS

Clicking the Author Direct button allows you to purchase an ebook directly from the author using your PayPal account (blue button) or a credit card (grey button)
Download format options are Kindle or ePub (iBooks, Nook, etc.) format

RecipesMissing out on those awesome ice cream flavours because you are dairy-free? Maybe something will inspire you here.Or if you just want to make ice cream at home, try this one.Need a gluten-free cone? Here is one recipe to try out. (And check out Recipes from Auntie Clem’s Bakery while you’re at it. No cone recipes, but there are some other basics that I use all the time.)And for those of you outside of Canada who don’t know what a Nanaimo Bar is, here is a recipe.Books

Now all you need is some more books to read while you savour your frozen treats? What could be better than ice cream and a good story?

@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-e2660ec .ugb-img{width:640px;height:auto !important}}Cold as Ice Cream

How could a few bubbles have gone so wrong?

It’s a CO2 cook-off! Chef Kirschoff and Vic’s friends from the Alaskan cruise are back for a carbonation contest, with Erin and Vic acting as two of the judges. It’s fizzy, it’s fun, what could possibly go wrong?

Apparently, someone did not get the memo. At first, when Beryl Batcombe is found dead in the restaurant’s cold room, everyone assumes it was a terrible accident. But as Erin and Vic are drawn into the mystery, it becomes obvious that this was not an innocent mistake.

Like baking mysteries? Cats, dogs, and other pets? Award-winning and USA Today Bestselling Author P.D. Workman brings readers back to small town Bald Eagle Falls for another culinary cozy mystery to be solved by gluten-free baker Erin Price and her friends.

Have your gluten-free cake and eat it too. Sink your teeth into this sweet treat now!

I love this series! This time Erin and Vic are reunited with friends they made on a recent Alaskan cruise. When Chef Kirschoff asks them to judge a culinary contest, they have no idea it will turn deadly. Many secrets will be unearthed before the killer is found. The plot is as twisty as a country road and the characters are well-developed and believable.
—Sandy, Goodreads Reader

AUTHOR DIRECT RETAILERS SAMPLE BINGEBOOKS BOOKBUB GOODREADS

Clicking the Author Direct button allows you to purchase directly from the author using your PayPal account (blue button) or a credit card (grey button)
Download format options are Kindle or ePub (iBooks, Nook, etc.) format

@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-3358490 .ugb-img{width:640px;height:auto !important}}Coup de Glace

A cold case for Erin!

The trouble with solving murders in a little town like Bald Eagle Falls is that everybody knows about it, and then they expect you to solve their cases too. When Bella brings a new—or rather a cold—case to Erin, she protests that she is not a detective.

But Bella really needs her; how could an old woman just have gone missing without anyone following up on it? How could they just accept Ezekiel’s assertion that his wife was fine and she was just off visiting. Eventually, that excuse must have worn out.

Meanwhile, a blast from Erin’s own past—a foster sister Erin would rather not see again—shows up, bringing with her another set of complications.

Like baking mysteries? Cats, dogs, and other pets? Award-winning and USA Today Bestselling Author P.D. Workman brings readers back to small town Bald Eagle Falls for another culinary cozy mystery to be solved by gluten-free baker Erin Price and her friends.

Have your gluten-free cake and eat it too. Sink your teeth into this sweet treat now!

“Workman is the bomb when it comes to her “Auntie Clem” books. ‘Coup de Glace’ is book 6. Erin’s character gets more enhanced with every book. Her temporary characters add an extra depth the story.”
—Lynn, Goodreads Reader

AUTHOR DIRECT RETAILERS SAMPLE BOOKBUB BINGEBOOKS GOODREADS

Clicking the Author Direct button allows you to purchase an ebook directly from the author using your PayPal account (blue button) or a credit card (grey button)

Download format options are Kindle or ePub (iBooks, Nook, etc.) format

.ugb-53a1c32 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-53a1c32 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-53a1c32 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-53a1c32 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-53a1c32 .ugb-img{width:313px;height:auto !important}}Ice Cream and Guilty Pleasures

Meghan Truman is honored to be invited to serve her signature tarts at the Governor’s ball. A night of glitz and glamour, in the company of handsome Detective Jack Irvin, is ruined for her when she experiences firsthand, the ungracious attitude of a prominent figure that she once looked up to.

Things take a turn for the worse when this insolent guest is found dead after eating a dish of ice cream. Meghan is sure she had nothing to do with it as her desserts were rejected by the deceased.

Will Megan and Jack be able to navigate this unfamiliar world of wealth and privilege to discover the truth in time to save her business?

Not all sweet things are pleasurable.

The guilty can sometimes be sweet.

Discover how Meghan helps to solve the latest murder mystery in Sandy Bay.

Buy now.ugb-a5cc7c3 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-a5cc7c3 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-a5cc7c3 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-a5cc7c3 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-a5cc7c3 .ugb-img{width:311px;height:auto !important}}The Rocky Road to Ruin

Riley Rhodes, travel food blogger and librarian at the CIA, makes a bittersweet return to her childhood home of Penniman, Connecticut – land of dairy farms and covered bridges – for a funeral. Despite the circumstances, Riley’s trip home is sprinkled with reunions with old friends, visits to her father’s cozy bookshop on the town green, and joyful hours behind the counter at the beloved Udderly Delicious Ice Cream Shop. It feels like a time to help her friend Caroline rebuild after her mother’s death, and for Riley to do a bit of her own reflecting after a botched undercover mission in Italy. After all, it’s always good to be home.

But Caroline and her brother Mike have to decide what to do with the assets they’ve inherited – the ice cream shop as well as the farm they grew up on – and they’ve never seen eye to eye. Trouble begins to swirl as Riley is spooked by reports of a stranger camping behind the farm and by the odd behavior of the shop’s mascot, Caroline’s snooty Persian, Sprinkles. When Mike turns up dead in the barn the morning after the funeral, the peace and quiet of Penniman seems upended for good. Can Riley find the killer before another body gets scooped?

Kindle.ugb-fa778d0 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-fa778d0 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-fa778d0 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-fa778d0 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-fa778d0 .ugb-img{width:332px;height:auto !important}}A Deadly Inside Scoop

Recent MBA grad Bronwyn Crewse has just taken over her family’s ice cream shop in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and she’s going back to basics. Win is renovating Crewse Creamery to restore its former glory, and filling the menu with delicious, homemade ice cream flavors—many from her grandmother’s original recipes. But unexpected construction delays mean she misses the summer season, and the shop has a literal cold opening: the day she opens her doors an early first snow descends on the village and keeps the customers away.

To make matters worse, that evening, Win finds a body in the snow, and it turns out the dead man was a grifter with an old feud with the Crewse family. Soon, Win’s father is implicated in his death. It’s not easy to juggle a new-to-her business while solving a crime, but Win is determined to do it. With the help of her quirky best friends and her tight-knit family, she’ll catch the ice cold killer before she has a meltdown…

Amazon.ugb-a3face6 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-a3face6 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-a3face6 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-a3face6 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-a3face6 .ugb-img{width:332px;height:auto !important}}
A Killer Sundae

Chagrin Falls, Ohio, is gorgeous in the fall, and Bronwyn Crewse, owner of Crewse Creamery, knows just how to welcome the new season. At the annual Harvest Time Festival, residents will get a chance to enjoy hot-air balloons and hayrides, crown a new Harvest Time Festival Queen, and eat delicious frozen treats sold at Win’s freshly purchased ice cream truck. But she gets into a sprinkle of trouble when a festivalgoer is poisoned and Win is implicated.

Although the victim was a former Harvest Time Festival Queen, her once-sunny disposition had dimmed into bitterness, leaving no shortage of suspects at the festival. To clear her name before the chill of winter sets in, Win will have to investigate and hope that her detective skills won’t “dessert” her.

Kindle.ugb-d7c6098 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-d7c6098 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-d7c6098 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-d7c6098 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-d7c6098 .ugb-img{width:332px;height:auto !important}}A Game of Cones

Bronwyn Crewse is delighted that Crewse Creamery, the ice cream shop her family has owned for decades, is restored to its former glory and serving sweet frozen treats to happy customers in the picturesque small town of Chagrin Falls, Ohio. But when a big city developer comes to town intent on building a mall, a killer with a frozen heart takes him out.
 
 After literally stumbling across the body, one of Win’s closest friends becomes the prime suspect, and to make things worse, Win’s aunt has come to town with the intention of taking command of Crewse Creamery. Even though Win has a rocky road ahead to help her friend and keep her ice cream shop, it’ll take more than a sprinkle of murder to stop her from solving the crime and saving the day.

Buy now.ugb-d2aa624 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-d2aa624 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-d2aa624 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-d2aa624 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-d2aa624 .ugb-img{width:333px;height:auto !important}}Ice Cream and Incidents

A free holiday to a seaside B&B run by drag queens sounds like the perfect way to spend a relaxing week away from Peridale, or so Julia South thought. When she arrives at the quirky B&B with her family, she’s determined to have a fun break, but she quickly finds herself in the middle of another puzzling mystery when a lighting rig falls on the star drag performer, Simone Phoenix.

Was it an accident, or something more sinister? Julia quickly befriends the owner, Russell, and learns that the seemingly tight-knit drag family working at Sparkles are not without their problems. With secrets and lies revolving around love, money, and revenge, each of them appears to have a motive for wanting Simone out of the way. Can Julia resist the lure of cracking yet another case for the sake of having a peaceful family holiday by the sea, or will the urge to uncover the truth take over once again?

Kindle

Get swept away by All by Myself, Alone

Dark Water under the Bridge, book #3 in the Parks Pat Mysteries series, is now out. Looking for some more police procedurals to fill your eReader? Check out my latest blog post, for the latest in the Parks Pat Mysteries and more police procedural mysteries by other authors.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.

This week’s teaser is from All By Myself, Alone by Mary Higgins Clark. I think the first book that I read by Mary Higgins Clark was The Cradle Will Fall, a scary medical thriller that kind of freaked me out as a twelve- or thirteen-year-old. I was hooked. All By Myself, Alone, is part of Mary Higgins Clark’s Alvirah & Willy Series, a cozy mystery series far removed from the medical thriller genre. But it is still good. Full of interesting characters, several murders and attempted murders, and a priceless emerald necklace all aboard a cruise ship.

In case you haven’t read any of the series, Alvirah and Willy are amateur sleuths, a reporter and her plumber husband who won a lottery, an event that turns their lives upside down and throws them into all kinds of interesting situations they have not previously faced.

In case you’re wondering if All By Myself, Alone or something about it inspired my book Gem, Himself, Alone… no. Sorry. They are nothing alike but they are both awesome books and you should get them both!

As the passengers began to disperse, wishing each other “Bon voyage,” they could not know that at least one of them would not reach Southampton alive.

Mary Higgins Clark, All By Myself, Alone

Fleeing the disastrous and humiliating last-minute arrest of her fiancé on the eve of their wedding, Celia, an expert on gems and jewelry, is hoping to escape from reality on a glamorous cruise ship.

But it is not to be. On board in the most luxurious suite is the elderly and world-famous Lady Emily Harworth. Immensely wealthy, Lady Em is the owner of a priceless emerald necklace that she intends to leave to the Smithsonian on her death.

Three days later Lady Em is found dead—and the necklace is missing. Is it the work of her apparently devoted secretary, or her lawyer-executor, both of whom she had invited on board for the cruise?

Celia, with the help of her new friends Willy and Alvirah Meehan—who are splurging on their wedding anniversary—sets out to find who the killer is, not realizing that she may have put a target on her back.

Dark Water under the Bridge and other Police Procedurals

It is release day for Dark Water under the Bridge, book #3 of the Parks Pat Mysteries series!

These quick reads can be read as stand alone mysteries, or read the whole series to get your fill of the characters and beautiful settings!

They are free of sex, gore, and swearing, so you can be confident in reading and sharing them with others.

Want to know more about this series? Check out my Author Q&A.

@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-6309a59 .ugb-img{width:640px;height:auto !important}}Dark Water under the Bridge

Parks Pat could be in deep water on this case!

Detective “Parks” Pat has made a name for herself in solving the Fish Creek and Glenbow Ranch murders, so she is the one they call when a body turns up in Ralph Klein Park. She would be happy for the confidence placed in her if it weren’t for the fact that the body is in the water.

Detective Pat hates the water. She’ll need to get over that if she is going to be able to investigate this case properly. Preferably before the rest of the department figures out her weakness. There is a killer out there to be caught. Somehow she’ll have to get past her block to find him.

If you enjoy good solid mysteries, well-developed wonderful characters, and beautiful scenic backdrops, this is the perfect series for you. I have never been to any of these parks (or to Canada, for that matter) but reading these stories paints such clear pictures in my mind, I feel like I could go there and know my way around.
—txdoc

Looking for a police procedural set in picturesque Canada? Let Award-winning and Bestselling Author P.D. Workman take you her favourite Calgary parks, as Métis detective Margie Patenaude investigates a murder in this fast-paced new series. 

These short mysteries are just right for those days when you could use a break from your busy life. Take a walk in a Calgary park with Parks Pat.

Dive into in a new mystery today!

AUTHOR DIRECT RETAILERS SAMPLE BOOKBUB BINGEBOOKS GOODREADS

Clicking the Author Direct button allows you to purchase an ebook directly from the author using your PayPal account (blue button) or a credit card (grey button)
Download format options are Kindle or ePub (iBooks, Nook, etc.) format

.ugb-c09b921-wrapper.ugb-container__wrapper{border-style:solid !important;border-color:#000000 !important;border-top-width:1px !important;border-right-width:1px !important;border-bottom-width:1px !important;border-left-width:1px !important}Parks Pat Mysteries

Looking for a police procedural set in picturesque Canada? Let Award-winning and Bestselling Author P.D. Workman take you her favourite Calgary parks, as Métis detective Margie Patenaude investigates a murder in this fast-paced new series.

Detective “Parks” Pat — Margie Patenaude — is a new Calgary homicide detective. Being Métis and a single mom, she has a few things on her plate. Working on a spate of murders in Calgary and area parks earns Margie her nickname.

These short mysteries are just right for those days when you could use a break from your busy life. Take a walk in a Calgary park with Parks Pat.

If you haven’t picked up Out With the Sunset or Long Climb to the Top yet, you can pick up all three today. The next three books will be released in April, and you can put in your preorder now.

More Police Procedurals

Looking for some more police procedural mysteries? Have a look at these:

.ugb-1e81539 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-1e81539 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-1e81539 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-1e81539 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-1e81539 .ugb-img{width:353px;height:auto !important}}The Barrow Case

Regret is a little word that lasts forever…

Most homicide detectives remember their first case.

For Detective Luca, it was the second one that scarred him. A runner stumbles upon a girl in a park. Dragged off a jogging path, the teenager is dead.

Luca’s ten years on the force did nothing to blunt the image of the kid’s leaf covered body. He pledged to solve the brutal murder, believing it would help him unsee what he witnessed.

But Luca was wrong, dead wrong. It wasn’t the picture of the murdered teenager that would end up haunting him, but something else. Something that would frame everything going forward.

It made Luca wish life had a rewind button.

Free.ugb-823a1d5 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-823a1d5 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-823a1d5 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-823a1d5 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-823a1d5 .ugb-img{width:333px;height:auto !important}}Big Lake Series

When an armored car hijacking leaves two men dead, Arizona Sheriff Jim Weber takes the crime personally, because one of the dead men is his brother-in-law.

His hunt for the killers leads him into a world of sordid sex, deceit, and violence, with a suspect list that includes jilted women, a family of anti-government survivalists, and the beautiful wife of the richest man in town.

20 Book Series.ugb-64e0ae7 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-64e0ae7 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-64e0ae7 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-64e0ae7 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-64e0ae7 .ugb-img{width:326px;height:auto !important}}Still Life

The discovery of a dead body in the woods on Thanksgiving Weekend brings Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his colleagues from the Surete du Quebec to a small village in the Eastern Townships. Gamache cannot understand why anyone would want to deliberately kill well-loved artist Jane Neal, especially any of the residents of Three Pines – a place so free from crime it doesn’t even have its own police force.

But Gamache knows that evil is lurking somewhere behind the white picket fences and that, if he watches closely enough, Three Pines will start to give up its dark secrets…

Buy now.ugb-30b39a5 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-30b39a5 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-30b39a5 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-30b39a5 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-30b39a5 .ugb-img{width:332px;height:auto !important}}Chill Till Dead

Jim is on vacation in Nashville when a body is discovered in an alley.

The team discovers a tenuous tie to Captain Churchill. Meanwhile, Clancy Todd is hired by a new client to look into an environmental catastrophe waiting to happen.

Clancy is racing against the clock to save Puget Sound, while Jim Churchill and his team are trying to find Clancy.

Kindle.ugb-ad61495 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-ad61495 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-ad61495 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-ad61495 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-ad61495 .ugb-img{width:200px;height:auto !important}}Burnout

Goosey Larsen isn’t your average detective, and it’s doubtful that he’ll ever reach that level of performance. His annual personnel review described him as someone who “lacks motivation” and “needs to improve his interpersonal skills.”

Goosey can usually be found coming in late or sneaking out early, but when dead bodies start turning up in downtown Charleston, Goosey is forced to do the one thing he hates most: policework.

Series Page.ugb-e56a2d0 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-e56a2d0 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-e56a2d0 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-e56a2d0 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-e56a2d0 .ugb-img{width:333px;height:auto !important}}Stillborn Armadillos, John Lee Quarrels Series

Life is already complicated enough for John Lee Quarrels, what with his estranged wife dropping in for unannounced sleepovers, her oversexed sister tempting him, his pot smoking ponytailed grandfather growing his own stash, his Elvis obsessed grandmother, and being caught smack dab in the middle of a power struggle between the Sheriff and Chief Deputy. But when a road construction crew unearths the skeletons of three murder victims, John Lee suddenly finds himself on the trail of a killer who may well have died long before the deputy was even born. And then a mysterious sniper begins shooting at deputies…

As sultry as a Florida back road in August, as mysterious as the South’s live oak trees dripping with Spanish moss, and as deadly as a copperhead strike, New York Times bestselling author Nick Russell’s new John Lee Quarrels series is sure to hook you from the first page and keep you reading late into the night.

Series page.ugb-23103f1 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-23103f1 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-23103f1 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-23103f1 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-23103f1 .ugb-img{width:329px;height:auto !important}}Forgotten in Death

The body was left in a dumpster like so much trash, the victim a woman of no fixed address, known for offering paper flowers in return for spare change—and for keeping the cops informed of any infractions she witnessed on the street. But the notebook where she scribbled her intel on litterers and other such offenders is nowhere to be found.

Then Eve is summoned away to a nearby building site to view more remains—in this case decades old, adorned with gold jewelry and fine clothing—unearthed by recent construction work. She isn’t happy when she realizes that the scene of the crime belongs to her husband, Roarke—not that it should surprise her, since the Irish billionaire owns a good chunk of New York. Now Eve must enter a complex world of real estate development, family history, shady deals, and shocking secrets to find justice for two women whose lives were thrown away…

Amazon.ugb-29e1f5f .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-29e1f5f .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-29e1f5f .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-29e1f5f .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-29e1f5f .ugb-img{width:326px;height:auto !important}}The Last Straw, DCI Warren Jones series

When Professor Alan Tunbridge is discovered in his office with his throat slashed, the suspects start queuing up. The brilliant but unpleasant microbiologist had a genius for making enemies.

For Warren Jones, newly appointed Detective Chief Inspector to the Middlesbury force, a high-profile murder is the ideal opportunity. He’s determined to run a thorough and professional investigation but political pressure to resolve the case quickly and tensions in the office and at home make life anything but easy.

Everything seems to point to one vengeful man but the financial potential of the professor’s pioneering research takes the inquiry in an intriguing and, for Jones and his team, dangerous direction.

Series page.ugb-f2ab356 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-f2ab356 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-f2ab356 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-f2ab356 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-f2ab356 .ugb-img{width:333px;height:auto !important}}Dog’s Run Series

Life is good in Elmhurst, Ohio. The war is over, the economy is booming, and the future looks bright. But just across the deep ravine known as Dog’s Run is a different life, one where times are always hard and dreams seldom come true.

When Wanda Jean Reider, a beautiful young woman from the wrong side of town, is found dead in Dog’s Run secrets begin to come out.

Secrets that will expose hidden sins and a dark side of life carried on behind the manicured lawns and inside the back rooms of the stores along Main Street.

Secrets that will erupt in violence and lead to a showdown that will change the lives of some of Elmhurst’s best known citizens forever.

Series page.ugb-43b16e3 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-43b16e3 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-43b16e3 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-43b16e3 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-43b16e3 .ugb-img{width:313px;height:auto !important}}Not a Whisper

When a retreat becomes a nightmare…

When Cherie Marshall catches her fiancé and best friend in a compromising position, she cancels her upcoming wedding and jumps at the chance to escape to quiet Klondike, Pennsylvania to care for her elderly aunt. She thought her biggest issue would be adapting to life in the middle of a National Forest, so very different from her upbringing in the deserts of Arizona.

But that was before she met State Trooper Fire Marshall Jamison “Jazz” Maddox at the scene of a mysterious fire. As they both become acquainted with the close-knit Klondike residents, things get complicated as Cherie and Jazz find themselves in the middle of a local crime wave where arson, kidnapping, embezzlement and a decades-old murder are just the tip of the iceberg.

Multiple stores.ugb-55f80db .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-55f80db .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-55f80db .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-55f80db .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-55f80db .ugb-img{width:314px;height:auto !important}}Drift

Ex-Army criminal investigator Rachel Hatch is a drifter. No home. No commitments. Until her sister’s drowning drags her back to the town she left fifteen years ago.

Convinced her sister’s death was no accident, Hatch partners with the local sheriff, Dalton Savage to uncover the truth. Every answer unlocks another question, and as the investigation begins to unravel, Hatch and Savage find their lives on the line.

Hatch is forced to use her special set of skills – forged on the field of combat – to learn the truth about her sister and bring those responsible to justice.

Buy now.ugb-fa1489c .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-fa1489c .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-fa1489c .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-fa1489c .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-fa1489c .ugb-img{width:333px;height:auto !important}}Black Friday

We all know a person like Raymond Winters. He is Everyman. You see him daily on your commute to work. He sits in the cubicle next to yours. He’s the guy plodding through life, just going through the motions. He’s not happy. His work is not fulfilling. But he never expected anything more. At 41, he’s stuck in a rut, without the energy to climb out. Sure, he dreams of a different life. He dreams about it a lot. But Raymond knows the difference between dreams and reality.

Then Raymond’s life takes an unexpected sharp turn after a chance encounter with a strange woman. Overnight he finds himself alienated from his family, shunned by his neighbors, and questioning his own sanity. Raymond is in over his head, and if he survives, life will never be the same.

Buy now

A thrilling read: Stalker on the Fens

In case you weren’t around over the weekend, the second book in the Parks Pat Mysteries series, Long Climb to the Top, was just released. Get your copy of this gorgeous new series today and pick up a few other books with murders set in parks or natural settings!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.

I don’t think I have featured any Joy Ellis books before, though I have read one or two others in the DI Nikki Galena Series. Of course, I have read them sporadically, out of order, instead of like a normal person who reads from 1-12. But you can read them as stand alone thrillers and still make sense of what is going on, though there are overarching plot and character arcs that carry over from one book to the next.

In Stalker on the Fens, Nikki Galena is approached by a friend who she had previously saved from a horrific building collapse. The woman thinks that she is being stalked, but her family and friends are apt to put it down as PTSD rather than something that is really happening to her. Bad turns to worse, and before long Galena is trying to deal with a couple of bodies and some significant unrest between two criminal factions. There are plenty of suspects, but trying to narrow it down and rule them out is not easy.

Well written, good characters that you want to spend more time with, and lots of twists and turns.

Helen shook her head. ‘I’ve never seen him close to. It’s more that I sense someone, rather than actually see him. He’s a shadowy figure that disappears when I try to look at him. It’s creepy, but I know he’s there.’

Joy Ellis, Stalker on the Fens

DI Nikki Galena’s close friend Helen Brook is involved in a serious accident where she is trapped in a collapsed cellar. After her hard-won recovery, Helen is still getting flashbacks to a man she says was down there with her and who confessed to a murder. But no trace of this man can be found.

Then Helen tells Nikki that someone is watching her. But is all this in her friend’s imagination and part of her post-traumatic stress?

And why is Stephen Cox back in town? He’s the villain who tore Nikki’s life apart and he seems to have returned to wreak more chaos. Before long the whole town is on the verge of hysteria and her friend’s fear will lead Nikki and Joseph on a very dangerous trail.

Murder in the Park: Long Climb to the Top

And other beautiful murder settings

It is release day for Long Climb to the Top, Book #2 in the Parks Pat Mysteries series!

These quick reads can be read as stand alone police procedurals mysteries, or read the whole series to get your fill!

@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-0b5c203 .ugb-img{width:640px;height:auto !important}}Long Climb to the Top

Solving this case is going to be a long climb

Detective Pat is called out to another park homicide scene with disturbing similarities to the Fish Creek murder. Digging more deeply into the evidence reveals something even more worrisome. If her instincts are right, this case may hit a little too close to home.

Is she just imagining the connections? Or could her family be in real danger?

The clock is ticking as Detective Pat homes in on a killer.

The story had a nice flow to it and beautiful and colorful descriptions especially of the parks. There is a lot of attention to detail which helps to enrich the story.
—Joanne

Looking for a police procedural set in picturesque Canada? Let Award-winning and Bestselling Author P.D. Workman take you her favourite Calgary parks, as Métis detective Margie Patenaude investigates a murder in this fast-paced new series.

These short mysteries are just right for those days when you could use a break from your busy life. Take a walk in a Calgary park with Parks Pat.

Climb into in a new mystery today!

AUTHOR DIRECT RETAILERS SAMPLE BOOKBUB BINGEBOOKS GOODREADS

Clicking the Author Direct button allows you to purchase an ebook directly from the author using your PayPal account (blue button) or a credit card (grey button)
Download format options are Kindle or ePub (iBooks, Nook, etc.) format

.ugb-c09b921-wrapper.ugb-container__wrapper{border-style:solid !important;border-color:#000000 !important;border-top-width:1px !important;border-right-width:1px !important;border-bottom-width:1px !important;border-left-width:1px !important}Parks Pat Mysteries

Looking for a police procedural set in picturesque Canada? Let Award-winning and Bestselling Author P.D. Workman take you her favourite Calgary parks, as Métis detective Margie Patenaude investigates a murder in this fast-paced new series.

Detective “Parks” Pat — Margie Patenaude — is a new Calgary homicide detective. Being Métis and a single mom, she has a few things on her plate. Working on a spate of murders in Calgary and area parks earns Margie her nickname.

These short mysteries are just right for those days when you could use a break from your busy life. Take a walk in a Calgary park with Parks Pat.

These quick reads are free of sex, gore, and swearing, so you can be confident in reading and sharing them with others.

Want to know more about this series? Check out my Author Q&A.

Book #1 was released last week and book #3 releases next week:

Out with the Sunset

Dark Water Under the Bridge

The next three books will be out in April, but you can preorder them now:

More Natural Deaths

Since I featured other new releases last week, I wanted to try something else this week, so I am focusing on other books with murders that take place in parks or natural spaces. Check them out!

.ugb-f1fe48f .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-f1fe48f .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-f1fe48f .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-f1fe48f .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-f1fe48f .ugb-img{width:333px;height:auto !important}}The Nature of the Beast

Hardly a day goes by when nine year old Laurent Lepage doesn’t cry wolf. From alien invasions, to walking trees, to winged beasts in the woods, to dinosaurs spotted in the village of Three Pines, his tales are so extraordinary no one can possibly believe him. Including Armand and Reine-Marie Gamache, who now live in the little Quebec village.

But when the boy disappears, the villagers are faced with the possibility that one of his tall tales might have been true.

And so begins a frantic search for the boy and the truth. What they uncover deep in the forest sets off a sequence of events that leads to murder, leads to an old crime, leads to an old betrayal. Leads right to the door of an old poet.

And now it is now, writes Ruth Zardo. And the dark thing is here.

A monster once visited Three Pines. And put down deep roots. And now, Ruth knows, it is back.

Armand Gamache, the former head of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec, must face the possibility that, in not believing the boy, he himself played a terrible part in what happens next.

Buy now.ugb-e26999b .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-e26999b .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-e26999b .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-e26999b .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-e26999b .ugb-img{width:230px;height:auto !important}}A Witchy Surprise

A magical heritage. A threat in the forest. An explosion of powers.

Charley Cooper is tired of being the lone non-magical person in a family of witches. At the ripe-old age of sixteen, she believes the witchy gene has skipped her. But when something dark in the forest threatens her best friend and her little sister, Charley’s powers appear out of nowhere.

Now Charley’s best friend is angry about the secrecy. Her crush is dating someone else. And, her out of control powers threaten to expose her family’s secret.

When a dangerous enemy tries to silence them forever, Charley knows she must fight back. But can she learn to control her magic before they’re all taking a nap in the local graveyard?

Multiple stores.ugb-f4147c2 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-f4147c2 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-f4147c2 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-f4147c2 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-f4147c2 .ugb-img{width:324px;height:auto !important}}Canterbury Woods

If Maeve doesn’t face her gift, who else will die?

Maeve knows talking to the dead isn’t hokum but learning to control her gift lands her in deeper water than she could have imagined. Maeve’s feelings for Steve, (Detective Inspector Maguire), resurface.

Managing everyday life, two daughters, an unexpected house guest and her eccentric mother, in lockdown are distracting. So is death.

Set in Canterbury, England, Maeve turns forty as she discovers that the dead can talk to her. This is not good news, she has spent most of her life ashamed of her mother, Ada, the famous psychic and spirit medium. However Ada’s own recent drama means she can no longer commune with the other side. Ada thinks it’s temporary, Maeve’s not so sure.

Tripping over a dead body on her woodland walk, drives Maeve to reconnect with the police and re-evaluate her relationship with Steve, officially D.I. Maguire.

Relationships are hard at any age, but add in ‘social distancing’ and are they even possible?

COVID lockdown resets the family, bringing Maeve’s two fast-maturing daughters home. As they enjoy good food and zoom calls with Ada, the family are drawn into the mystery. Each one has their role to play, unearthing history, and developing relationships.

Maeve is coming to terms with her growing powers. Will they get there in time to stop the next murder?

Buy now@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-e20a35c .ugb-img{width:384px;height:auto !important}}Case of the Howling Husky

In Case of the Howling Husky, mystery writer Esther Luttrell presents a treasury of suspense fiction that every fan will cherish.

Scottish novelist Ian Hall sets the lead story, Case of the Howling Husk –  a brilliantly written story of international intrigue – at a ballet performed for the world elite, inside an Antarctic IceStation.  

Mike Graves weaves plots-with-a-twist in The Leaves Never Lie and again in his short, short story Nighty Night.

Emerging author, Marcus Jay, introduces hard-hitting Braxton Carter in his action-packed The Weapon & The Wound. 

Vicki Julian brings readers a relationship tale of Double Deception.

Acclaimed sci-fi writer Dennis Smirl conquers a new genre for himself with Murder at the Liberty Ballroom.

Mystery buffs will delight in the thrilling stories spun by 6 first-rate suspense writers.

AMAZON NOOK DRAFT2DIGITAL KOBO SCRIBED AUDIO

@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-329ed9d .ugb-img{width:681px;height:auto !important}}Virtually Harmless

Micah lived a quiet, comfortable life, her involvement in law enforcement limited to the composite pictures that she produced with her computer and colored pencils.

But everything is turned upside down when she involves herself in the case of an infant found abandoned in the Sweetgrass Hills.

With the help of her knowledge of DNA and law enforcement contacts across the country, Micah is closing in on a killer. But her investigation draws the killer’s attention, and she finds herself in the middle of an operation that could mean the end of her career—or worse, her life.

”P. D. Workman has outdone herself with this riveting techno-thriller featuring Micah Miller, a forensic artist specializing in composite renderings based on forensic DNA phenotyping … This book offers plenty of thrills, chills, suspense and white-knuckled tension as the plot unfolds and it kept me turning pages until late into the night. The story is clean and well-written, the plot is fascinating, the pace is relentless and the characters are realistic and relatable. I highly recommend this absorbing and thoroughly enjoyable thriller to anyone who favors CSI, NCIS, Cold Case, Forensic Files or any high-tech inspired crime-solving theme.”
—Kim, Goodreads reviewer

AUTHOR DIRECT RETAILERS SAMPLE LISTEN TO SAMPLE BOOKBUB BINGEBOOKS GOODREADS

Clicking the Author Direct button allows you to purchase an ebook directly from the author using your PayPal account (blue button) or a credit card (grey button)
Download format options are Kindle or ePub (iBooks, Nook, etc.) format

.ugb-ee52791 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-ee52791 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-ee52791 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-ee52791 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-ee52791 .ugb-img{width:333px;height:auto !important}}Murder at Pooch Park

Nikki Green thought muddy paws and furry scuffles were the worst troubles she’d encounter at the local dog park. So, she’s shocked when her client’s German Shepherd sniffs out her friend’s dead body. And her confusion only grows when the hunky detective who helped her through a life-changing experience years ago treats her like a total stranger. But with her friend’s killer on the loose, she has little time to ponder the mystery of his baffling behavior.

Side-by-side with her canine companions, she searches for the killer and discovers her detective pal wasn’t the only one acting strangely. To find her friend’s murderer, Nikki must dig through a web of secrets and suspects before the killer strikes again.

Amazon@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-49882f9 .ugb-img{width:640px;height:auto !important}}Skunk Man Swamp

Danger lurks in the water!

With the Magical Spring Games approaching, Damon hires Reg to help him to track down a missing contestant deep in the Everglades. If Reg thought this was going to be a walk in the (national) park, she’s got another thing coming.

Covering 1.5 million acres and home to both magical and non-magical predators, including those of the two-legged variety, Reg isn’t sure she is up to the challenge. Could anyone be?

Reg had better hold onto that airboat, it’s going to be a wild ride.

…an everglades adventure replete mishaps, misunderstandings, magical beings, and mythological creatures.

…another well-written mystery with a suspenseful plot and strong characters. 

Like paranormal mysteries? Psychics, witches, fairies, and more! Award-winning and USA Today Bestselling Author P.D. Workman waves her wand to transport readers to the myth- and magic-filled small town of Black Sands for another paranormal cozy mystery to be solved by Reg Rawlins and her friends.

A self-professed con artist practicing as a contact to the dead, a drop-dead gorgeous warlock, and a psychic cat—what could go wrong?

AUTHOR DIRECT RETAILERS SAMPLE BOOKBUB BINGEBOOKS GOODREADS

Clicking the Author Direct  button allows you to purchase an ebook directly from the author using your PayPal account (blue button) or a credit card (grey button)
Download format options are Kindle or ePub (iBooks, Nook, etc.) format

.ugb-7da27cf .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-7da27cf .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-7da27cf .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-7da27cf .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-7da27cf .ugb-img{width:306px;height:auto !important}}Murder in Tranquility Park

Ever since Alberta Scaglione inherited her spinster aunt’s Cape Cod cottage, she’s been enjoying the good life in Tranquility, New Jersey, with her black cat, Lola.

But since things are mostly quiet in this town, she finds other things to do—like joining Jinx for morning jogs in Tranquility Park. She has to do something to stay healthy, as long as it doesn’t involve Jinx’s healthful tofu sausages and gluten-free pasta. But when they stumble across a treehouse hidden in the trees, and a dead body underneath it, they take a detour into solving a murder.

Now the Ferrara ladies will have to exercise extreme caution to avoid a permanent decline in their health . . .

Kindle@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-91022fd .ugb-img{width:640px;height:auto !important}}Hot on the Trail Mix

Spelunking isn’t for sissies.

When Vic and Willie discover human remains in a cave they are exploring, the shock waves are felt throughout Bald Eagle Falls. When Willie falls under suspicion, Erin has to do more than just make her awesome new granola bars and trail mix.

Erin’s investigations reveal that there is more to the case than meets the eye, and if she is going to uncover the truth, she had better watch her step.

Fun easy to read mystery. I personally love love love …. the ending.
—Disney, Goodreads reviewer

This book is everything I expect of Ms. Workman. The characters are well developed and believable, the plot is deliciously twisty, and the writing exceptional.
—Sandy, Goodreads reviewer

AUTHOR DIRECT RETAILERS SAMPLE BOOKBUB BINGEBOOKS GOODREADS

Clicking the Author Direct button allows you to purchase an ebook directly from the author using your PayPal account (blue button) or a credit card (grey button)
Download format options are Kindle or ePub (iBooks, Nook, etc.) format

.ugb-fef8e56 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-fef8e56 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-fef8e56 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-fef8e56 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-fef8e56 .ugb-img{width:333px;height:auto !important}}Death on Paradise Island

An island paradise. A grisly murder. Can a detective put his rugby days behind him to tackle a killer case?

Josefa “Joe” Horseman holds out hope for a comeback. But after riding high in top class rugby, returning to the Fiji detective force with a bum knee and a promotion-hungry new partner wasn’t what he had in mind. So he knows he’ll have to up his game when guests at a beachside resort discover a young maid’s corpse snagged on the reef.

Sorting through the victim’s list of jealous admirers, Joe’s under pressure to solve the case before the high-end vacation spot takes a major hit to its reputation… and its bottom line. But just as he uncovers a lead on a sabotage suspect, another body rises to the surface.

Buy now.ugb-b62e0b2 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-b62e0b2 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-b62e0b2 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-b62e0b2 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-b62e0b2 .ugb-img{width:310px;height:auto !important}}Murder in the Secret Garden

There is a hidden garden bordering the grounds of Jane Steward’s book-themed resort—a garden filled with beautiful but deadly plants such as mandrake and nightshade. Tucked away behind ivy-covered walls and accessible only through a single locked door, as described in the pages of Frances Hodges Burnett’s classic novel, the garden is of special interest to Jane’s current group of guests, The Medieval Herbalists. But when one of them turns up dead, Jane must discover whether a member of the group has come to Storyton Hall to celebrate their passion for plant lore or to implement a particularly cruel means for murder.
 
With thousands of books at her disposal, Jane believes she has the proper materials to solve this deadly problem. If she’s wrong, however, she may lose something far more precious than the contents of Storyton’s secret library…

Buy now.ugb-c55d0cc .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-c55d0cc .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-c55d0cc .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-c55d0cc .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-c55d0cc .ugb-img{width:324px;height:auto !important}}In the Woods

A role-playing game staged in the remote woods of the North East Kingdom, turns deadly when a killer uses the game as a means to seize his victims.

A dead body is discovered in the woods by Samantha, a Forest Ranger who works at Maidstone Lake. The locals call her Sam. She swears to bring the killer to justice for the victim but soon finds herself in over her head, as she works alongside New Hampshire Trooper Zachary Gerard assigned to the case. More bodies turn up and motivation to solve the crimes mount.

Old secrets get in Sam’s way, and she isolates herself from others. Mourning her mother, haunted by unanswered questions about the past, she lives with cracked relationships—between herself and her father—her friends.

Kindle

An Italian Treat: Rounding the Mark

In case you haven’t heard, Out with the Sunset, book #1 in my brand new Parks Pat Mysteries series was released on Friday! You can pick it up now and preorder Long Climb to the Top and Dark Water under the Bridge as well! Get a head start on this new series!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.

With 28 books in the series, I feel like I should have run into Andrea Camilleri’s Inspector Montalbano Mysteries before now! These are English translations of the original Italian, a series of Police Procedurals set in Sicily, full of sensory and culinary detail. Rounding the Mark is book #7 in the series. Inspector Montalbano is threatening to resign in this book, but I would assume from the fact that there are 21 more books following this one, that he never quite gets around to it! The series was apparently also adapted for Italian TV.

In this episode Montalbano is dealign with two unconnected crimes, but as he notes partway through the book, the two apparently parallel cases actually intersect and he is doing his best to understand what happened.

The person beside him didn’t answer, however, because he wasn’t doing the dead man’s float. He was actually dead. And, to judge from the way he looked, he’d been so for quite a while.

Andrea Camilleri, Rounding the Mark

Two seemingly unrelated deaths form the central mystery of Rounding the Mark. They will take Montalbano deep into a secret world of illicit trafficking in human lives, and the investigation will test the limits of his physical, psychological, and moral endurance. Disillusioned and no longer believing in the institution he serves, will he withdraw or delve deeper into his work?

It’s a walk in the park: Out with the Sunset and other new releases

Well, I’ve been prepping for this for a few months, and the day is finally here! The first release in my brand new Parks Pat Mysteries series. Unlike most of my books which are set in the USA, these ones are set locally, in and around Calgary, Alberta. And that means that they are full of beautiful scenery, history, and Canadiana.

The first three books in the series are set in September 2020, which is when they were written, so the current events, weather, and challenges of covid restrictions are all authentic. The only thing that is fiction is… well, everything else. The murder, the characters, and what happened next…

I hope that not only will you dive into this new mystery series, but share it with your fellow readers as well.

These quick reads are free of sex, gore, and swearing, so you can be confident in reading and sharing them with others.

Want to know more about this series? Check out my Author Q&A.

.ugb-c09b921-wrapper.ugb-container__wrapper{border-style:solid !important;border-color:#000000 !important;border-top-width:1px !important;border-right-width:1px !important;border-bottom-width:1px !important;border-left-width:1px !important}Parks Pat Mysteries

Looking for a police procedural set in picturesque Canada? Let Award-winning and Bestselling Author P.D. Workman take you her favourite Calgary parks, as Métis detective Margie Patenaude investigates a murder in this fast-paced new series.

Detective “Parks” Pat — Margie Patenaude — is a new Calgary homicide detective. Being Métis and a single mom, she has a few things on her plate. Working on a spate of murders in Calgary and area parks earns Margie her nickname.

These short mysteries are just right for those days when you could use a break from your busy life. Take a walk in a Calgary park with Parks Pat.

@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-42a700e .ugb-img{width:640px;height:auto !important}}Out With the Sunset

There’s nothing like jumping straight into the deep end.
Margie Patenaude is new in town and wasn’t expecting to get called to a murder scene on her daughter’s first day of school.

It’s an ugly murder in a beautiful setting. How can Calgary’s park-goers feel safe with a murderer still on the streets—or pathways? Margie and the team are on the case while at the same time she and her daughter try to acclimatize to the new city.

If she wants her coworkers to believe that she’s not just a ‘diversity hire,’ she needs to show them what she’s made of and track this killer down.

This promises to be a wonderful series with fantastic characters, interesting locations, and fascinating glimpses into different cultures. The story is of novella length and can easily be read in one sitting if so desired, there is no offensive language, no sex, no graphic violence – just a whopping good story everyone can enjoy.
—txdoc

Looking for a police procedural set in picturesque Canada? Let Award-winning and Bestselling Author P.D. Workman take you her favourite Calgary parks, as Métis detective Margie Patenaude investigates a murder in this fast-paced new series.

These short mysteries are just right for those days when you could use a break from your busy life. Take a walk in a Calgary park with Parks Pat.

Lose yourself in a new mystery today!

AUTHOR DIRECT RETAILERS SAMPLE BOOKBUB BINGEBOOKS GOODREADS

Clicking the Author Direct button allows you to purchase an ebook directly from the author using your PayPal account (blue button) or a credit card (grey button)
Download format options are Kindle or ePub (iBooks, Nook, etc.) format

The next two books in the series are available for preorder now and release September 10 and 17:

Long Climb to the Top

Dark Water Under the Bridge

The next three books are also on preorder now, and will be releasing in April 2022.

More New Releases

After you have blasted through Out with the Sunset, you might still be hankering for some more new mysteries. Check out these while you’re here:

.ugb-29bc084 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-29bc084 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-29bc084 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-29bc084 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-29bc084 .ugb-img{width:313px;height:auto !important}}When Bad Things Happen – 3 in 1

Ordinary people living their lives. Then bad things happen.

A sheltered young mother and her medically fragile child disappear. Again.

Just when security is within their grasp, those entrusted with their welfare turn on them, creating a parent’s worst nightmare.

How do ordinary people react to extraordinary circumstances? When the world they knew is no longer safe, when those they held dearest turn their backs, what is left?

To find out, read the When Bad Things Happen series of psychological thrillers.

Watch for more from this author coming soon.

3 Books.ugb-a01f5fb .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-a01f5fb .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-a01f5fb .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-a01f5fb .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-a01f5fb .ugb-img{width:333px;height:auto !important}}Jake of all Trades

A former Hell’s Angel gets out of jail and returns to the mean streets of Glasgow. But society does not forgive an ex-con with a record of violence. He can only find temporary work that pays minimum wage.

He decides to set up shop as a private investigator, downloading a fake licence to add authenticity. In his first big case he is hired by an ex-teacher to find her missing granddaughter. She offers free advertisement instead of cash.

He soon attracts the attention of gangsters who threaten to kill him unless he gives up the case. But he has discovered the girl is to feature in a snuff film. It leaves him with an ultimatum–fight and risk prison, or flee and forget about the girl.

Multiple stores.ugb-a558e83 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-a558e83 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-a558e83 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-a558e83 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-a558e83 .ugb-img{width:218px;height:auto !important}}Hot Cross Guns

Murder ruins everything.

It’s the start of fall in Pine Grove, which means the leaves are vibrant, the coffee is warm, and the days are crisp and cool. Autum really is the best season in upstate New York.

But bottle blonde Teeny has her 65th birthday coming up, and for her, that’s ruining all the good stuff about fall. Teeny HATES her birthday, and she doesn’t want anyone to know hold old she is. 

But then one of Teeny’s many evil exes turns up in town — with an enormous birthday float — and makes a big deal of Teeny’s upcoming birthday in front of everyone in town.

The nerve of this guy!

Teeny is furious, of course, and she dresses the guy down in front of half the town. But then the evil ex turns up dead at a hot new local bakery, and Chief Flanagan identifies TEENY as the top suspect in the murder… 

It’s up to Chelsea and Miss May to solve the murder. Because if they don’t catch the real killer soon, Teeny is going to have to spend her birthday alone, in JAIL. No one wants that. 

Buy now.ugb-502d433 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-502d433 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-502d433 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-502d433 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-502d433 .ugb-img{width:313px;height:auto !important}}The Haunted Dwelling

This is book 14 in the Lin Coffin paranormal cozy mystery series by USA TODAY Bestselling Author J.A. Whiting.

One late afternoon, Lin Coffin, and her cousin, Viv, walk home from a sandwich shop and take a short cut through the park where the oldest house on Nantucket is located. As they pass the house, they feel the presence of a ghost.

An hour later, someone new to the island stops at Lin’s house to ask for help. She and her husband are the recent owners of a hotel where some strange things have been happening.

Lin and Viv are drawn into two mysteries from long ago which seem to be impacting the present.
Will they be able to solve the mystery of the haunted dwelling before it is too late?

This story has some mild paranormal elements.

Amazon.ugb-fc343d6 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-fc343d6 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-fc343d6 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-fc343d6 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-fc343d6 .ugb-img{width:333px;height:auto !important}}Under Color of Law

The murder of a police recruit pins a black LAPD detective in a deadly web where race, corruption, violence, and cover-ups intersect in this relevant, razor-sharp novel of suspense.

Black rookie cop Trevor “Finn” Finnegan aspires to become a top-ranking officer in the Los Angeles Police Department and fix a broken department. A fast-track promotion to detective in the coveted Robbery-Homicide Division puts him closer to achieving his goal.
Four years later, calls for police accountability rule the headlines. The city is teeming with protests for racial justice. When the body of a murdered black academy recruit is found in the Angeles National Forest, Finn is tasked to investigate.

As pressure mounts to solve the crime and avoid a PR nightmare, Finn scours the underbelly of a volatile city where power, violence, and race intersect. But it’s Finn’s past experience as a beat cop that may hold the key to solving the recruit’s murder. The price? The end of Finn’s career…or his life.

Get it now.ugb-71d5f53 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-71d5f53 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-71d5f53 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-71d5f53 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-71d5f53 .ugb-img{width:332px;height:auto !important}}Murder Most Fair

November 1919. A relaxing few weeks by the seaside with her husband, Sidney, could almost convince Verity Kent that life has returned to the pleasant rhythm of pre-war days. Then Verity’s beloved Great-Aunt Ilse lands on their doorstep. After years in war-ravaged Germany, Ilse has returned to England to repair her fragile health—and to escape trouble. Someone has been sending her anonymous threats, and Verity’s Secret Service contacts can only provide unsettling answers.
 
Even deep in the Yorkshire Dales, where she joins Verity’s family for the holidays, Ilse encounters difficulties. Normally peaceful neighbors are hostile, seeking someone to blame for the losses they’ve endured. When Ilse’s maid is found dead, Verity must uncover whether this is anti-German sentiment taken to murderous lengths, or whether there is a more personal motive at work. Could Verity’s shadowy nemesis, Lord Ardmore, be involved? And if so, how much closer to home will the blow land when he inevitably strikes again?

Buy now.ugb-4059db4 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-4059db4 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-4059db4 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-4059db4 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-4059db4 .ugb-img{width:333px;height:auto !important}}Right Behind Her

Twenty-seven years ago, Sheriff Bree Taggert’s father killed her mother, then himself. Now Bree and her younger brother, Adam, find human bones on the grounds of their abandoned family farm. The remains are those of a man and a woman, both murdered in the same horrible way.

When the investigation determines the murders occurred thirty years ago, Bree’s dead father becomes a suspect, forcing Bree to revisit the brutal night she’s spent most of her life trying to forget. The only other suspect is an unlikely squatter on the Taggert farm who claims to know secrets about Bree’s past. When he mysteriously disappears and Bree’s niece is kidnapped, the cold case heats up.

Bree has stoked the rage of a murderer who’ll do anything to keep his identity—and motives—a secret. To protect everyone she loves, Bree must confront a killer.

Kindle.ugb-c62c9ba .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-c62c9ba .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-c62c9ba .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-c62c9ba .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-c62c9ba .ugb-img{width:333px;height:auto !important}}Murder in Seychelles

Their vacation to a group of tropical paradise islands called Seychelles was a dream come true until the father of the bride was murdered moments before the beachside wedding!

When Kat and her friends took a vacation trip to Seychelles, they were planning on spending some time snorkeling in the Indian Ocean, enjoying the food of Seychelles, and exploring the island of Mahé.

What they weren’t planning on was becoming involved in solving the murder of the father of the bride. And nearly all of the members of the large, wealthy, Texas family, of which the victim was the patriarch, had a motive to commit murder.

When a man has an affair with a much younger woman and leaves his long-time wife and the mother of his four adult children for her, it’s bound to leave some scars. But which of the scarred people murdered the big Texas oil tycoon?

Join Kat, her friends, the police, and Harry, a three-legged dog, as they hurry to catch the suspect before the killer leaves the island!

Buy Now.ugb-a41a2c6 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-a41a2c6 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-a41a2c6 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-a41a2c6 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-a41a2c6 .ugb-img{width:333px;height:auto !important}}A Different Dawn

For nearly thirty years a serial killer has been hiding in plain sight. So has the key to an FBI agent’s dark past.

A family is murdered as they sleep. FBI Special Agent Nina Guerrera and her new team are tasked with determining whether there is any link between this attack and another triple homicide from four years earlier and more than two thousand miles away. In the process, they’ll discover a serial killer so cunning that his grisly trail of death spanning nearly three decades has gone undetected. Each crime scene reminds Nina of the ghostly Latin folktale of La Llorona, which terrified her when she was an abandoned and vulnerable child. Now it’s back to haunt her.

Nina has known evil, but these macabre reenactments are as disturbing as they are baffling. Now she must uncover the meaning behind the rituals as the evidence leads her in an unexpected direction—far closer to home than anyone could have imagined. As the team narrows in on a suspect, the present collides with Nina’s past in a twist of fate that forces her to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Amazon.ugb-7e29ef2 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-7e29ef2 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-7e29ef2 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-7e29ef2 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-7e29ef2 .ugb-img{width:324px;height:auto !important}}Mystery at the Church

When a TV drama crew descends on sleepy Saxford St Peter, Eve Mallow joins the excited throng of extras in a funeral scene. But then a real body is found… and Eve gets a starring role as sleuth!

Eve Mallow is looking forward to her fifteen minutes of fame when Saxford St Peter is chosen as the location for a new drama series. A devoted people-watcher, Eve is thrilled to learn that TV stars are just as glamorous – and tempestuous – as she’s always imagined.

But then someone delivers a bouquet of poisonous flowers to the director Rufus Beaumont, making Eve worry that some of the rivalries she’s noticed are deadly serious. And when Rufus’s body is found in the church where the funeral scene took place, it’s clear that someone’s out for the kill in real life.

Eve and dachshund Gus have been on the ground from the start, and now they’re on the case, interrogating the suspects one by one. Is it the devastating diva whose relationship with Rufus was far from professional? The cameraman who caught Rufus doing something he shouldn’t? Or the groupie groundskeeper who’s in the background of every shot? One thing’s for sure – Eve must catch the killer before she stars in their next murderous production…

Buy now.ugb-d3772d2 .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-d3772d2 .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-d3772d2 .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-d3772d2 .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-d3772d2 .ugb-img{width:313px;height:auto !important}}Murder at the Manor

Has a village feud led to murder or is the killer closer to home?

It’s Rupert Iverson’s twenty-fifth birthday, and he’s celebrating with a fancy-dress party at his father’s North Norfolk manor house.

But his birthday ends with a bang — on the head — and him drowned in his swimming pool, wearing a Louis XIV costume.

Most of his party guests wanted him dead for one reason or another — as do some of the local people.

Now one of the villagers falls to her death from the nearby cliffs . . .

Detectives Sam Clayton and Julie Everett must race against time to stop anyone else paying the ultimate price.

Amazon.ugb-e6de31a .ugb-button{background-color:#BE1E2D;border-radius:25px !important}.ugb-e6de31a .ugb-button .ugb-button--inner,.ugb-e6de31a .ugb-button svg:not(.ugb-custom-icon){color:#ffffff !important}.ugb-e6de31a .ugb-button:before{border-radius:25px !important}@media screen and (min-width:768px){.ugb-e6de31a .ugb-img{width:328px;height:auto !important}}Her Deadly Touch

The woman is kneeling at a gravestone, her hair blowing in the breeze, a bunch of wilting yellow daffodils on the grass beside her. Her eyes are fixed on the ground and her mouth is parted in a silent prayer. But the wax dripping from her cold blue lips means it’s already too late to save her…

On her first day back with the Denton PD after a major trauma, Detective Josie Quinn is on the hunt for a missing woman, Krystal Duncan, the mother of one of five children killed in a devastating school bus crash. Hours later, Josie finds Krystal’s body beside her daughter’s grave, her lips sealed together forever with wax.

Forensics match the wax to one of the candles lit in memory of the sweet little souls who died, giving Josie her first lead to a support group made up of the parents who lost children in the crash. Painstakingly dissecting the lives of these grieving couples, it’s clear to Josie that each of them is hiding something about the day of the accident—but whose secret is worth killing for?

The case takes an agonizing turn when the body of another young mother is found near the site of the bus crash. Someone connected to the accident is out for revenge. As the members of the support group are picked off one by one, every second counts for Josie to save the lives of these loving parents who have already suffered the loss of those they treasured most…

Kindle

Follow Flavia’s adventures in A Red Herring Without Mustard

What is Back to School without new books? Fill up your virtual backpack with some of my young adult books!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.

This week, I am just finishing up A Red Herring without Mustard, book 3 in Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce series. I have written about a couple more of the other Flavia de Luce books here before:

The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag

The Dead in their Vaulted Arches

And I’ve read a few others that I haven’t blogged about as well.

Flavia is a rather morbid child (age eleven) with a fascination with chemistry, poisons, bodies, and murder. She is very handy in her chemistry lab and although she often gets in the way of the local constabulary, she is also usually ahead of them in solving murders that take place in the local village (and in this case, even on the de Luce family property.)

I didn’t realize until after I had read a few of books in this series that Alan Bradley is actually Canadian, not a British author. He writes very convincingly of Flavia’s 1950s England, I never would have guessed that he didn’t actually live in the UK.

We had gone about a quarter of a mile when suddenly the Gypsy spoke.
“You lie like one of us,” she said.

Alan Bradley, A Red Herring Without Mustard

In the third installment of this bestselling, award-winning, sister-poisoning, bicycle-riding, murder-investigating, and utterly captivating series, Flavia de Luce must draw upon Gypsy lore and her encyclopaedic knowledge of poisons to prevent a grave miscarriage of justice.
 
“You frighten me,” the old Gypsy woman says. “Never have I seen my crystal ball so filled with darkness.” So begins eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce’s third adventure through the charming but deceptively dark byways of the village of Bishop’s Lacey. The fortune teller also claims to see a woman who is lost and needs help to get home—and Flavia knows it must be her mother Harriet, who died when Flavia was less than a year old. The Gypsy’s vision opens up old wounds for our precocious yet haunted heroine, and sets her mind racing in search of what it could mean.
 
When Flavia later goes to visit the Gypsy at her encampment, she certainly doesn’t expect to find the poor old woman lying near death in her caravan, bludgeoned in the wee hours. Was it an act of retribution by those who thought that the woman had abducted a local child years before? Certainly Flavia understands the bliss of settling scores; revenge is a delightful pastime when one has two odious older sisters. But how can she prove this crime is connected to the missing baby? Did it have something to do with the weird sect who met at the river to practice their secret rites?
 
While still pondering the possibilities, Flavia stumbles upon a corpse—that of a notorious layabout and bully she had only recently caught prowling about Buckshaw. The body hangs from a statue of Poseidon in Flavia’s very own backyard, and our unflappable sleuth knows it’s up to her to figure out the significance. Pedalling her faithful bicycle, Gladys, across the countryside in search of clues to both crimes, Flavia uncovers secrets both long-buried and freshly stowed—the dodgy dealings of a local ironworks, the truth behind the Hobblers’ secret meetings, her own ancestor’s ambitious plans—all the while exhausting the patience of Inspector Hewitt. But it’s not long before the evidence starts falling into place, and Flavia must take drastic action to prevent another violent attack.