Three Weeks From Now…

And it’s the launch of the 8th STAC Mystery, The Summer Wedding Murder.

When I first dreamed up Joe, Sheila and Brenda, the three central characters of the STAC Mysteries, it was as a diversion, a bit of fun to drag me away from The Handshaker, a work in progress which was dark, forbidding, and in its own way, quite frightening.

I needed an antidote to all that gritty rape and murder, and what better than three born again 50-something teenagers travelling the country with their gang of middle-aged rockers?

The STAC Mysteries allow me to drift off to places I’ve visited and enjoyed, or in the case of The Chocolate Egg Murders, places I’ve been and haven’t enjoyed because the weather was so crap. They allow me to indulge my love of puzzles and they let me throw in a bit of humour.

I never dreamt they would enjoy such success.

It’s just over six months since Murder at the Murder Mystery Weekend poked its nose into the Amazon UK Kindle British Detectives chart and apart from odd occasions when it drops out for an hour or two, it’s still there. Better yet, the other six are all in there, too.

Will The Summer Wedding Murder join them? We’ll have to see.

In the meantime, here’s a snippet from the new title. Joe is on his way to join Sheila and Brenda for a trip to Hill Top Farm, the home of Beatrix Potter, but as he walks down to the road, he spots a woman taking pictures in the graveyard next door.

***

“You could use your mobile phone again, and bell him.”

The voice came from his left. He looked around and into the smiling face of the woman who had been taking photographs of the gravestone.

“How did you know I have a mobile?” he asked.

She gestured towards the trees. “I saw you talking on it when you came round the trees. You dropped it in the pocket of your vest.”

“Gilet.”

“Pleased to meet you, Mr Gilet.”

Joe grinned and fingered the garment. “This is a gilet. I’m Joe Murray.” He offered his hand through the railings, and she shook it.

“Madeleine Chester. Most people call me Maddy.”

“Nice to meet you, Maddy.”

Joe estimated her to be in her mid forties. A buxom blonde dressed in shorts and a skimpy top which showed a little more flesh than was good for his blood pressure. About his height as near as he could judge, her smiling eyes were shaded by a denim, plant pot hat.

Determined to show her that his powers of observation were a match for hers, he asked, “A hobby, is it? Taking pictures of old gravestones?”

Maddy laughed. “Good God, no. It’s for a client.”

“Right.” Joe’s agreement was swathed in puzzlement. “You have clients who want photographs of old gravestones? Who are they? The Draculas?”

“Could be. I’m a genealogist.”

“Ah. You dabble with DNA.”

Her quizzical look questioned his sanity. “No. Family trees.”

He smiled. “I know. I was only joking. So, Maddy, what prompts you to look at this particular gravestone? One of your client’s long lost relatives, is it?”

“It might just be. There are a number of burials recorded here bearing my client’s name, and this is only one of them. I have to check the parish records to be sure. But it’s all part of the service. Here. Let me give you my card.”

She dug into her bag and came out with a plain, white card, handed it through the railings, and Joe studied it.

Madeleine Chester, Genealogist.

Stanhead Road

Cragshaven, N Yorkshire.

Underneath it were several contact numbers.

“Cragshaven? That’s near Scarborough, isn’t it?”

“In a little cove a few miles up the coast towards Whitby,” she confirmed.

Joe was surprised. “You’re a fair way from home, then.”

Maddy shrugged. “The client foots the bill. I’m staying at the Waterside. How about you? You’re obviously not local with an accent like that, and you must have money to burn staying at The Lakeside Manor Hotel.”

“I’m from Sanford. West Yorkshire. I own a trucker’s café. The Lazy Luncheonette.”

“Oh, I’ll bet I know it. I’ve been to Sanford a few times. On business, of course.”

“It would have to be.” Joe laughed. “Sanford is not the tourist capital of the county. Listen, Maddy, did you say you were staying at the Waterside?”

***

Why is Joe so interested in her hotel? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

The Summer Wedding Murder STAC Mystery #8 is published by Crooked Cat Books on June 19th. Join the Facebook party