A Day In The Life Of…Sarah Booth Delaney by Carolyn Haines

“If only October would get here.” That’s a favorite whine of my creator, Carolyn Haines, but I have to say, I agree with her totally. The Mississippi heat and humidity are getting to me. It’s too damn hot to even get interested in a murder.

Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration. Murder is always pretty interesting, and that’s how I, Sarah Booth Delaney, make the money to pay the mortgage on my family home, Dahlia House.

I’m Mississippi bred and born, and I love the fertile farmland of the region where I live, the Mississippi Delta. Folks have said the topsoil is eight-feet deep and the richest in the world. Part of the alluvial gifts of the Mississippi River. The dark green rows of cotton are vital to a way of life I love.

I work with my partner, Tinkie Bellcase Richmond, in the Delaney Detective Agency. Our partnership is a long story. We’ve known each other since first grade, but I have to say, I’ve made a lifetime habit of underestimating Tinkie. She comes across as a ditzy blond Daddy’s Girl (well, truth be told she is blond and she is a Daddy’s Girl, but the whole ditzy thing is just an act) but she is the smartest person I know. And a true blue friend.

When it comes to friends, I’m the richest woman in the world. Tinkie and I get plenty of help with our cases from Cece Dee Falcon (who used to be Cecil, but that’s another long story) and Millie from down at the café. Millie knows all the local gossip and Cece, in her capacity as society editor for The Zinnia Dispatch, knows all the dirt on the upper crust. And believe me, in the Delta that’s some crusty crust.

I stumbled into being a P.I., but I seem to have a talent for it. So far, I’ve solved eleven cases, and all with a little help from my friends.

And Jitty keeps me in line and honest. How to explain Jitty? She’s the ghost of my great-great-grandmother’s nanny, a woman who struggled side by side with Grandma Alice to keep Dahlia House in the family after the War Between the States. Jitty is…opinionated. And beautiful. And she’s determined to make sure I produce a Delaney heir so that Dahlia House stays in the family and she has someone to haunt in the future. She won’t help me a lick with my cases, but she is on the case when romance or sex comes into the picture.

Between Jitty, my horses, my dog, and my fiancé, I have my hands full, but there’s a lot of murders going on in rural Mississippi. I have to admit, some men just need killin’, but nonetheless, justice must be served. That’s my job.

I hope you’ll join me in solving my cases. Believe me, Carolyn needs all the help she can get. She’s been wearing her backside out typing away on my next adventure, BONEFIRE OF THE VANITIES. I keep telling her to write faster, that my audience awaits! But writers, you can’t live with ‘em and you can’t live without ‘em.

Y’all have a great “last days of summer.”
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You can read more about Sarah Booth in BONES OF A FEATHER, the 11th book in the “Sarah Booth Delaney” mystery series. The first book in the series is THEM BONES.

The life and times of Sarah Booth Delaney is written by Carolyn Haines who is the author of eleven Sarah Booth Delaney Mississippi Delta mysteries. The latest (2011, St. Martin’s Minotaur) is BONES OF A FEATHER, set in the Mississippi River town of Natchez. Carolyn also writes other books and is releasing a new e-book, SKIN DANCER, about a serial killer in South Dakota who skins and decapitates poachers. For more info or to sign up for her newsletter go to www.carolynhaines.com

** Carolyn has generously offered to give away two signed hardcover copies of BONE APPÉTIT. To enter, please leave an e-mail address in your comment. One entry per person and is open to anyone with a U.S. mailing address. Deadline to enter is September 7th at 6pm EST. The winner will be chosen using a random number generator and contacted via email for mailing instructions. **

Books are available at retail and online booksellers.

Murder by Mocha by Cleo Coyle

Murder by Mocha by Cleo Coyle is the 10th book in the “Coffee House” mystery series. Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime (Penguin), August 2011

Clare Cosi, manager and head barista of the landmark Village Blend coffeehouse, can brew a beverage to die for. But can she stir up some evidence against a bitter killer who has gone loco for mocha?

Clare’s Village Blend coffee beans are being used to create a new java love potion: a “Mocha Magic Coffee,” billed as an aphrodisiac. Clare may even try some on her boyfriend, NYPD detective Mike Quinn—when he’s off duty, of course.

The product, expected to rake in millions, will be sold exclusively on Aphrodite’s Village, one of the Web’s most popular online communities for women. But the launch party ends on a sour note when one of the Web site’s editors is found dead.

When more of the Web site’s Sisters of Aphrodite start to die, Clare is convinced someone wants the coffee’s secret formula—and is willing to kill to get it. Clare isn’t about to spill the beans, but will she be next on the hit list?

We meet Clare getting ready for the launch of a new coffee delicacy, sponsored by a friend of Madame. When Clare gets a cryptic call from Madame, things are not as they appear which leaves Clare puzzled and concerned. That is until the night of the launch party when once again, Clare finds a dead body. Clare will have to stay one step ahead of the killer before her beans are roasted. There is something about this Coffee House series that pulls you immediately in where you want to grab a mug and settle in for a delicious and savory feast. An enticing potion, a daughter’s return, secrecies and of course, murder start this exciting and intriguing tale. This well-written and plot driven mystery kept me on the edge of my seat as I tried to figure out who did what to whom and why. This wonderful story boasts a brilliant cast, a great setting, tantalizing conversation and recipes that will whet your appetite. This was the best book yet in this rewarding and satisfying series that was good to the last drop.

Cleo Coyle is the pseudonym of wife-husband team Alice Alfonsi and Marc Cerasini

FTC Full Disclosure – The author sent me a copy of this book.

** Cleo has generously offered to give away a signed copy of MURDER BY MOCHA. To enter, please leave an e-mail address in your comment. One entry per person and is open to anyone with a U.S. or Canadian mailing address. Deadline to enter is September 6th at midnight EST. The winner will be chosen using a random number generator and contacted via email for mailing instructions. **

A Day In The Life Of…Emma-Joy Ferris by Laura DiSilverio

I didn’t plan to trade one uniform for another when I got medically retired from the Air Force, but that’s what happened. I ended up as a mall security officer at Fernglen Galleria, not too far from where my Grandpa Atherton lives in Vernonville, Virginia. Supposedly, I’m there to keep an eye on him (my mom says) but I think my parents really wanted me in Vernonville so he could keep an eye on me.

Anyway, my day frequently starts with having to dispose of some partially dismembered rodent that my cat Fubar has caught overnight. I hope my trash collector doesn’t think I’m into weird rituals requiring animal sacrifice. I’ve always been an early bird, even before I enlisted in the military right after high school, so I like the early shift at the mall. I’m there by 0645 most days, ready for a turn-over briefing from the night guard, usually Edgar Ambrose, which consists of “Zip. It’s all yours, EJ.”

I like patrolling the halls on my Segway, although I’d rather walk. My knee, injured by an IED in Afghanistan and the reason for my getting kicked out of the military, won’t stand it, though. I’ve got pretty decent range of motion, and it doesn’t hurt too much anymore, but it gives out at odd moments, especially if I’m tired. In the couple hours before the mall opens, I like the quiet of the marble halls, the splash of the fountain with no toddlers trying to fall into it, the scents of stale cookies and French fries from the food court.

Once the merchants start trickling in, I stop by to chat with them and find out what’s going on. The foundation of good policing, Master Sergeant Skrynecki always told me, is knowing your patch. Well, Fernglen is my patch now and I like chatting with the owners and clerks as they come to work. My friend Kyra, who’s running Merlin’s Cave for her aunt for a year, is usually one of the last to arrive; she’s not what you’d call a morning person. If I get a break mid-morning, I stop by to chat with her and catch up on her roller derby bout from the night before or her dating life which is, believe me, a lot more exciting than mine. Watching grass grow is more exciting than my dating life.

The merchants roll up their security grilles at ten, and the shoppers arrive. Things are lively from then until I got off-shift at three. Some days I’m handing shoplifters over to the cops, and other days I’m helping someone find their car, keeping teens from skate-boarding on the escalators, or reuniting lost kids with their parents. Frequently, I have to keep my Grandpa Atherton, a retired CIA agent, from using his Internet-bought gadgets to listen in on customer conversations or spy on merchants. He’s a pistol, as my mom says. My co-worker, Joel, hero-worships me a bit and I’m doing what I can to get him up to speed.

I might stop by the food court on my way out to see what the new owner of Legendary Lola Cookies, the mysterious Jay Callahan, is up to. He’s no more a cookie baker than I am a shoe designer. I’ve got my eye on him (which is no hardship because there’s no denying he’s hot). After leaving the mall, I usually stop by the YMCA for a long swim before heading home to Fubar. I already mentioned that I have no romantic life, right?

Of course, things get a bit more lively the day someone liberates all the reptiles from the Herpetology Hut and a murderer poses a dead body in a boutique window.
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You can read more about E.J. in Die Buying, the first book in the new “Mall Cop” mystery series.

The life and times of E.J. Ferris is written by Laura DiSilverio who spent twenty years as an Air Force intelligence officer–serving as a squadron commander in England, English teacher at the Air Force Academy, budgeteer at the National Reconnaissance Officer, POW/MIA researcher in Bangkok, and in other positions–before retiring to write and parent full-time. She lives in Colorado with her hubby, tween-aged daughters (who are teaching her a lot about patience), and Wire-haired Pointing Griffon. She also writes the Charlie Swift/Gigi Goldman humorous private investigator series (SWIFT JUSTICE, St. Martin’s Minotaur, Oct 2010).

Visit Laura at www.lauradisilverio.com.

Books are available at retail and online booksellers.

Pull My Paw by Sue Ann Jaffarian

Pull My Paw by Sue Ann Jaffarian is the second short story in the “Holidays From Hell” mystery series. Publisher: Sue Ann Jaffarian, July 2011

A dog with a flatulence problem wasn’t high on Judy Bowen’s wish list of Mother’s Days gifts, no matter how cute the canine. So imagine her surprise when the spa gift her eldest daughter, Norma, usually gave her was substituted with a little dog named Crankshaft who suffers from tummy trouble.

In Pull My Paw, the second Holidays From Hell short story from Sue Ann Jaffarian, the crazy Bowen clan is at it again, celebrating another holiday with arguments and angst in the shadow of their still missing husband and father. When middle daughter Zelda steps in to sort it all out, she learns that good things really do come in small packages – small, hairy, smelly packages.

It’s Mother’s Day with the Bowen family when the mom decides she’s not celebrating the day as in the past. This was another quick and entertaining read and I can’t wait for the third one in this humorous series.

The Rabbit Died by Sue Ann Jaffarian

The Rabbit Died by Sue Ann Jaffarian is the first short story in the “Holidays From Hell” mystery series. Publisher: Sue Ann Jaffarian, June 2011

Zelda Bowen isn’t big on family holidays, but this Easter has all the makings of a world-class disaster. Her father has recently run off with the bimbo at his office, leaving behind the question: who will wear the Easter Bunny costume and pass out the baskets to the kids? A job that, until this year, was always his.

This humorous yet touching story opens with Zelda and her sisters arguing over who should wear the bunny suit and carry on the family tradition. To the delight of her nieces and nephew, Zelda dons the costume, while her mother, toked-up on medicinal marijuana, shoots daggers at the oversized bunny. As emotions and antics ramp up, the day becomes one of those memorable “holidays from hell” many of us have experienced.

This short story was a quick read that was both enjoyable and entertaining. For a family that is dealing with domestic issues, the Bowen family will leave you laughing until your next visit.

Splitsville.com by Tonya Kappes

Splitsville.com by Tonya Kappes is the first book in the “Olivia Davis” paranormal mystery series. July 2011

Splitsville.com is more than Olivia Davis ever dreamed of when she launched the online break up service where she does the dirty work under the alias of Jenn. No one can find out she’s the mastermind of her internet sensation, especially when they threaten her for breaking their hearts.

More importantly, Olivia can’t keep a job. The problem is, she has a ‘gift’. Or what she considers a curse- reading auras. When a bunch of auras collide, Olivia isn’t able to function. So having an online business works out great.

But when two of her clients turn up dead and puts her company at risk, she’s the first one on the trail. With Splitsville.com future on the line, it’s time to use her ‘gift’ to figure out who the killer is and who’s trying to set her up.

You never know who’s behind the monitor.

When her clients are found dead and fingers pointing at her dot com business, Olivia decides to use her *gift* to save her business. Her *gift* is reading auras and it helps in her determination to clear her name and solve this murders. This was a good mystery that kept me guessing throughout most of the story. With the introduction of lovable characters (Olivia, Aunt Matilda, Bradley and Herbie) and a good plot, I’m so glad that this is the first book in this amusing series.

A Day In The Life Of…Casey Calhoun by Dorothy St. James

First rule for working at the White House: expect the unexpected. Whatever I have planned to do on any given day, I arrive at working prepared to toss those plans out the window and do whatever is asked of me. Take for example the recent earthquake that shook D.C. and sent everyone scurrying for cover.

Gordon Sims, who’s weathered nearly every disaster imaginable in his years as head gardener, caught several books as they danced off their shelves and set them on his desk just as a shriek sounded from down the hallway. Memories from 9/11 run deep through these hallowed hallways. The deep rumbling and violent shaking down here in the White House’s basement triggered some well-placed fears that terrorists were attacking.

A Secret Service agent jogged down the hall to reassure everyone. “It’s an earthquake, not an attack. Just to be on the safe side, we’re asking everyone to evacuate.” Which we did in a neat and orderly fashion. I grabbed my gardening gloves and my hand trimmers on the way out. The devil won’t bother with busy hands, as my grandmother likes to tell me.

I grew up in Charleston, SC, a city with several earthquake fault lines running near its old (and sometimes rickety) buildings. Shaking and rattling isn’t that unusual. Don’t forget the great earthquake of 1886. Afterwards, many buildings in Charleston had to be pulled back together with great metal bars. Those bars can still be seen in the older buildings today.

“Casey,” Gordon whispers, “you’re supposed to be talking about the White House, not Charleston.”

“Gracious, how did I manage to stray so far away from the point? I believe I need to take some time off and visit Grandmother Faye and Rosebrook. I’m homesick.”

“You could invite your grandmother up here,” Gordon suggests. “I’d love to meet her.”

I’d love for him to meet her, too. But I’m not sure I’m ready for my genteel grandmother to meet Special Agent Jack Turner. He’s a counter assault team member of the Secret Service. He’s also deadly handsome, deadly serious, and just plain deadly.

To keep on his good side, I’d started bringing a gourmet cappuccino to give Jack on my way through the White House’s iron gates in the morning. Not that I ever know when he’s on duty. It’s frustrating, but that’s how the Secret Service operates…secretive as all get out.

This morning, like most mornings, Gordon and I stood at the base of the North Portico and watched as the capital city woke up. I sipped on Jack’s cappuccino while Gordon and I discussed the gardens.

Some days we get to spend all day working out under the sun in the gardens or out at the greenhouses with the rest of the grounds crew. Other days we’re stuck inside answering questions from the press, ordering new supplies from our approved vendors, dealing with mounds of paperwork, or stuck in meetings. There tends to be tons of meetings, but that’s government for you. Write it down, talk about it, talk about it some more, then get to work.

“Tell them about the volunteers.” Gordon nudges me with his elbow.

“They are wonderful.” Besides the Nation Park Service grounds crew who help out in the gardens, we’re blessed to have some great volunteers from both the White House and West Wing staff as well as from the general D.C. public. White House chefs have been especially keen on working in the First Lady’s brand new Kitchen Garden.

But it’s the West Wing staff who have caused me the most headaches. They mean well, but I really have to watch what they’re doing or else I’ll find that the vegetable plants have been pulled out of the ground, and the weeds left behind. Yes! It has happened. More than once.

And don’t even get me started about the time I pried a fake suicide note out of Milo’s mouth. Milo, by the way, is the President’s naughty goldendoodle rescue puppy. Gordon and I try to keep the pup out of trouble, but he seems to have a knack for finding it. Oddly enough, the Secret Service thinks I do, too.

But you’ll have to wait for April 2012 and the release of The Scarlet Pepper to hear about the note Milo found and the heap of trouble it caused for everyone…especially me.
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You can read more about Casey in Flowerbed of State, the first book in the new “White House Gardener” mystery series.

The life and times of Casey Calhoun is written by mystery author Dorothy St. James who was born in New York but raised in South Carolina. She makes her home on an artsy island community in South Carolina with her husband, two crazy dogs, and fluffy cat. Though writing has always been a passion for her, she pursued an undergraduate degree in Wildlife Biology and a graduate degree in Public Administration and Urban Planning. She put her educational experience to use, having worked in all branches and all levels of government including local, regional, state, and federal. She even spent time during college working for a non-profit environmental watchdog organization.

Dorothy St. James is the alter-ego of award-winning multi-published author, Dorothy McFalls. She enjoys writing in several different genres. Her works have been nominated for many awards including: Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, Reviewers International Organization Award, National Reader’s Choice Award, CataRomance Reviewers’ Choice Award, and The Romance Reviews Today Perfect 10! Award. Reviewers have called her work: “amazing”, “perfect”, “filled with emotion”, and “lined with danger.”

Visit Dorothy’s website at dorothystjames.com

Books are available at retail and online booksellers.

A Day In The Life Of…Charlotte Bessette by Avery Aames

Hi. My name is Charlotte Bessette. I’m a cheese shop owner in Providence, Ohio, raised by my first-generation French grandparents, Grandpère Etienne [Pépère] and Grandmère Bernadette in the thriving tourist town of Providence, Ohio. Up until recently, my grandparents owned Fromagerie Bessette—what the locals call The Cheese Shop. However, when my grandfather wanted to “retire,” he bequeathed the shop to my cousin Matthew and myself. Fromagerie Bessette has become a must-stop for people traveling in the area.

With Matthew’s help, I have brought the shop into the modern age – you know, creating a web site, offering artisanal cheeses, and selling cheese accompaniments like basil pesto, honey, and jams. In the past year or so, I’ve been adding freshly made gourmet quiches and sandwiches to the menu. In addition to my wonderful rescue cat Rags, my cousin and his twin pre-teen daughters live with me in my Victorian home, just north of town. It’s a long story. Suffice it to say, they needed a home. I love to bake with the twins, teach them crafts, and read with them at night. They are adorable.

My day starts early. Most often, I rise before the cock crows. I walk the pets, make breakfast, drive the girls to school, after which I hurry to work. At the shop, I open the register, collect fresh herbs from the garden behind the shop (a co-op that the whole town may use), and I start baking a number of quiches and assembling sandwiches. After that, I stock the cheese case and determine what cheese we will offer as samples on our tasting counter. Have you ever tasted a Roaring 40’s blue or Rogue River blue? How about Fromagier d’ Affinois or a double cream Gouda? Delicious.

During the day, tons of tourists and locals browse the wares in the shop. My coltish assistant, Rebecca, and I serve them. Matthew, who used to be a sommelier, runs the wine annex, which is attached to the shop. Often we throw tasting parties of cheese and wine. When the day is done, and when I’m not in charge of dinner for the twins, I join girlfriends for a cocktail at the local tavern or we attend yoga classes and self-defense classes. At home, I read mysteries and watch the Food network channel. And I’ve got my eye on a certain mysterious cheese farmer in town. We’ll have to see how that relationship pans out.

Last but not least, ever since my grandmother was accused of murder, I have made it my business to know what is going on around town. Thankfully, my assistant and family members are capable of holding down the fort if I have to leave the shop for, say, a bit of fact finding. The chief of police thinks I’m a snoop. I’m not, though perhaps I am too curious for my own good.

What would you do? You wouldn’t sit idle, would you? Not when justice isn’t being served.
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You can read more about Charlotte in Lost and Fondue, the second book in the “Cheese Shop” mystery series. The first book in the series is The Long Quiche Goodbye.

The life and times of Charlotte Bessette is written by Avery Aames who is the pseudonym for Daryl Wood Gerber. As Avery, she writes A Cheese Shop Mystery Series, the first of which, “The Long Quiche Goodbye”, won the Agatha Award for best first novel. The series is set in idyllic Holmes County, Ohio, and features Charlotte Bessette, a feisty cheese shop owner with a colorful extended family. Daryl has also had short stories published and she created the format for the successful TV series “Out of this World” that ran for four years in first-run syndication. Daryl podcasts some of her suspense/thriller work on her website.

She is a member of Sisters in Crime, its internet group Guppies, Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, and the International Thriller Writers Association. Prior to writing, Daryl was an actress in Los Angeles. A fun tidbit for mystery buffs: she co-starred on the popular series, “Murder, She Wrote” and “Matlock.” Daryl graduated from Stanford University. She enjoys golfing, swimming, photography, gardening, gourmet cooking, and has been known to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. She has been happily married for over twenty-five years and has a grown son who has flown the coop.

Visit Avery’s website at www.averyaames.com

Books are available at retail and online booksellers.

The Nightmare Thief by Meg Gardiner

The Nightmare Thief by Meg Gardiner is the 4th book in the “Jo Beckett” thriller series. Publisher: Dutton, July 2011

Autumn Reiniger expects something special for her twenty-first birthday. Daddy’s already bought her the sports car, the apartment, and admission to the private college where she parties away her weekends. Now she wants excitement, and she’s going to get it.

Her father signs up Autumn and five friends for an “ultimate urban reality” game: a simulated drug deal, manhunt, and jailbreak. It’s a high-priced version of cops and robbers, played with fake guns and fast cars on the streets of San Francisco. Edge Adventures alerts the SFPD ahead of time that a “crime simulation” is underway, so the authorities can ignore the squealing tires and desperate cries for help.

Which is convenient for the gang of real kidnappers zeroing in on their target and a mammoth payday. Because what Daddy doesn’t know is that someone has spotted his hedge fund’s bulging profits, and the path to those riches runs right through Daddy’s Little Girl.

Working on a case nearby is forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett and her partner Gabe Quintana. When the pair encounters a suspicious group of men carting six sullen college kids to the woods for a supposed wilderness adventure, alarm bells ring. Jo takes a closer look, and winds up with an invite to Autumn Reiniger’s twenty-first birthday party—a party they may never leave.

This was a simple case of finding out how Phelps Wylie died. A chance run-in and in an instant Jo and Gabe are fighting for their survival as well as the kidnapped victims. This fast-moving, action-packed drama led us on a chase through the mountains in the Sierras. Who would survive? Who would triumph? Both Gabe and Jo skills were put to the forefront as they made their escape thwarting the efforts of their captors. Meanwhile, Evan Delaney and Amy Tang are doing their part by connecting the dots in their search for Jo and Gabe. This was an adrenaline-pumping, heart-pounding, thrill-a-minute ride that had me quickly turning the pages as I could not put this book down. This was the best book ever in this captivating and suspense-filled series.

A Day In The Life Of…Molly Smith by Vicki Delany

Shift work is tough on the body, never mind the social life.

Molly Smith is 27 years old; she’s trying to make her way as a brand new police officer in the small British Columbia town where she grew up. As she says in In the Shadow of the Glacier, the first book in the series, It was hard, sometimes, to be a cop in a town where a substantial number of the residents had seen you performing as Number Two Wise Man in the Grade Three Christmas pageant.

Even after three years on the job, she’s still having trouble adjusting to the continuing shift changes – days one week, afternoons the next, then nights. If it’s eleven pm, is it bedtime, or time to do a round of the bars? And with a boyfriend who’s also a cop, it can be difficult to co-ordinate schedules. Although they do try to get their days off together so they can go hiking or kayaking or skiing, get away from the job and other people.

The three to three shifts are the worst. Three o’clock in the afternoon can be a pretty boring time to be patrolling the streets of Trafalgar, B.C. Walking the afternoon beat on Front Street in Trafalgar, British Columbia, was one of the most boring jobs on earth. Until the bars got busy, and on a Tuesday they’d be quiet now that university students and summer visitors had headed back home, the most exciting thing that might happen would be a little old lady trying to parallel park her little old car and scratching the parking meter. [Among the Departed]

It’s easy to settle into the routine, walking the beat, giving directions to wandering tourists, telling drunks to head off home, moving along kids who’ve outstayed their welcome at the coffee shop, or transients on park benches, attending fender benders or helping people who’ve tripped on their own shoelaces and cracked their head on the pavement.

Easy to forget that your life can be on the line in an instant.Easy to forget to keep training, to remain fit and fast. Easy to forget all they taught you at police college. Easy to forget… until one day it’s three am and you’re falling asleep on your feet, thinking about bed, when a man who has a serious problem with women beats up his wife or girlfriend… and the answering officer happens to be a young, blond, pretty female officer.
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You can read more about Molly in Among the Departed, the fifth book in the “Constable Molly Smith” mystery series.  The first book in the series is IN THE SHADOW OF THE GLACIER.

The life and times of Molly Smith is written by Vicki Delany who is the author of many critically acclaimed crime novels including the Constable Molly Smith series, a traditional village/police procedural set in the Interior of British Columbia from Poisoned Pen Press, the Klondike Gold Rush series set in the Yukon in 1898 from Dundurn, and standalone novels of gothic suspense also from Poisoned Pen Press. Visit Vicki at www.vickidelany.com on Facebook: www.facebook.com/vicki.delany and Twitter @vickidelany. She blogs at One Woman Crime Wave (http://klondikeandtrafalgar.blogspot.com)

** Vicki has generously offered to give away one copy of AMONG THE DEPARTED. To enter, please leave an e-mail address in your comment. One entry per person and is open to anyone with a U.S. or Canadian mailing address. Deadline to enter is August 31st at 6pm EST. The winner will be chosen using a random number generator and contacted via email for mailing instructions. **

Books are available at retail and online booksellers.