While some of these narratives are loosely based in fact, they are written with a large dollop of literary license. The characters are not "politically correct" in today's parlance and speak in the vernacular of their time and culture. Some of them you will like ...others you may not. No disrespect or offense is intended in the telling. These are their stories.The lead story "Fat of The Land" was a past runner-up in the national Raymond Carver short story awards.

    But nothing is simple for Reed. Before he and Willie can turn it in, the money is stolen, a mysterious woman with a link to the cash asks for Reed’s help, and her boss threatens to harm Willie unless Reed returns the money. This leads Reed into another intriguing investigation involving a high-end escort service, a powerful attorney, a lonely businessman, and a murdered call girl. Can Reed find the money – and the murderer – before Willie becomes the next victim?

    He leaves the fast-paced life of the city for the Outer Hebrides, where traditional values and beliefs are adhered to and respected. It is a life he neither belongs to nor understands. When she goes he will be the last of the family line and he couldn't care less. Family and history are just bonds to tie him down. Reluctantly, he sets out to do his duty and stumbles across questions that challenge everything he ever knew about himself and the people from whom he came. In the days between his aunt's death and funeral he is drawn into the role of genealogy detective. In a place where everyone knows everything about everybody, Cal finds that secrets are buried deep. Mairi, a young widow, knows far more than she is willing to tell. Kate Anna, his aunt's lifelong friend, avoids his questions. And what of Finlay, who lays claim to the house? Cal begins to understand that Aunt Mary was not the woman he knew and the secret she kept hidden for so long means he might not be the person he thought he was. "Last of the Line" is a story that explores the part in all of us that wants to know who we are and where we are from.

    

    In less than 48 hours, his best friend has a date with the needle, the kind of date you don’t walk away from with a kiss. Moose has to find out who framed his pit bull buddy for the savage slaying of a French poodle — and then convince the humans that he’s nailed the right guy. But with no leads and little evidence to go on, there’s only one person in Chicago that has a prayer of hunting down the real killer in time: Antonio Gattogrosso, legendary proprietor of the Feline Detective Agency. Fat Tony. The rave reviews are pouring in: "It's a great summer read. Just like me, you'll want to keep an eye out for it!" - Fisheye Martinez "I predict it will be a smashing success, dahlinks!" - Madame LuLu, astrologer to the stars "Buy dis book if you knows what's good for youse." - Fat Tony Gattogrosso

    The job is simple, to kill a man and get out of town immediately. Why would he stay? He hates Christmas, and hanging around after the crime could be dangerous, but a stranger's compassion forces him to question everything he's always believed, tempting him to stay just another day longer... First published in the Christmas edition of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (Jan, 2004), this story was subsequently reviewed in Mystery Scene, which described it as "bordering on the magnificent". (Please note - this is a short story of approximately 45 Kindle pages.)

     Twin sisters Tessa and Hayley inherit a Victorian mansion in small-town Louisiana when a beloved aunt passes. The two are at odds about what to do with the once-grand, but now a bit decrepit, pink mansion. Secrets, lies and sinister happenings become the center of Tessa's universe, but she vows to let nothing stop her from getting to the bottom of the murder of the grandparents that she never knew. Surrounded by suspicious characters, Tessa fears for her life, but finds help in the form of a handsome small-town cop, who isn't above using his dimples to open doors. Will Tessa unlock the secrets of her family's past? Or will she be the next in line to die?

    

    An extraordinarily moving first novel about a charming, gifted, but doomed American family in Arizona.

    As far as she knows, she’s alonein the world – till a mysterious letter arrives from India.Suddenly, Diya has a chance at being part of a family again.But moving from Boston to India also brings Diya closer tothe place where the horror of the Chakwa – the MasterTrickster – first started. As bodies and tragedies pile uparound her, Diya’s belief in the urban legend of the Chakwaincreases. Will the monster that ruined her parents’ life nowdestroy Diya’s happiness? Or will she manage to defeat it atits own game? With the help of her newly discovered friendsand family, Diya must fight not just the monster from hernightmares, but also make sense of a fast-unravelling web oflies that makes up her life.VINAYA BHAGAT is an IT professional and author. Her shortstories have been published in anthologies and have beenshort-listed in national and international writing competitions.Trickster is her debut novel.Vinaya lives in Bangalore, India with her husband, who isa radiologist and her eight-year-old son. Weekends find herinventing stories and games with her son.

    It’s their turn. First off, it at long last solves the enigma of Abigail’s first husband Joel Sutton’s disappearance, and death, a decade before…the tragic event that sent Abigail to Spookie in the first place to begin a new life. The new life that would grow so big as to include a new love, a new family, quirky, but well-meaning friends, and the strange murder mysteries her new friends would drag her into over the years. As an unsolicited, and unwanted, envelope arrives from Abigail’s now dead detective she’d hired a decade before to find her missing first husband, its contents sends Frank searching for the truth. The envelope’s files are full of disturbing facts concerning the unsolved crime and it piques Frank’s interest. Soon, against Abby’s wishes, he’s on the cold trail of what actually happened to Joel Sutton–had he been a victim of just an accident, as some have always believed, or did someone murder him? In his search for the truth, Frank ends up in lethal danger when the investigation comes to a violent conclusion. This story is also about an infamous haunted house at 707 Suncrest, in the woods; about the cold blooded murders of a whole family that occurred there forty years before. Is the house on Suncrest truly haunted by the ghosts of the dead family? Is it dangerous? When Abby decides to paint a series of canvases of the spooky old house, she’ll find out. Then along with those two new mysteries to unravel, of course, all of Spookie’s quirky town characters have returned to irritate, amuse and sleuth with Abby and Frank. Will they get out of these new mysteries alive, too? Perhaps.

     George is the new owner of a craft store in Pottsville. From her first days in town, she has found herself in the middle of trouble, even to the point of being the target of a murder. When the police department is unwilling or unable to bring the guilty party to justice, George does what she must to keep the killer from getting away. Can she solve three of Pottsville’s murders before it’s too late? This collection of cozy mysteries includes books one through three in the Craft Circle Cozy Mystery series. If you like cozy mysteries with interesting characters, the Craft Circle Cozy Mystery series is for you. Buy the Craft Circle Cozy Mystery Boxed Set and start solving your next mystery (or three) today! Steps from Death - When you’re the new girl in a small town, you have to step out of your comfort zone and meet new people. But sometimes that can leave you only Steps from Death. Arts, Crafts and Murder – Crafts are big deal in Pottsville. But is it big enough to murder for? A Finely Crafted Murder – When someone is murdered in a rival craft store, her suspicions intensify. Was her ex-husband capable of murder? The Craft Circle Cozy Mystery Series Each book in the series is a stand-alone story, but your enjoyment of each story will be increased if you read them all. Be sure to check them all out. * Book 1: Steps from Death * Book 2: Arts, Crafts and Murder * Book 3: A Finely Crafted Murder The Bakery Detectives Cozy Mystery Series Be sure to check out Stacey’s other series, the Bakery Detectives. Each book in the series is a stand-alone story, but your enjoyment of each story will be increased if you read them all. Be sure to check them all out. * Book 1: A Pie to Die For * Book 2: Donuts, Antiques and Murder * Book 3: Death by Chocolate Cake * Book 4: Rest, Relaxation and Murder * Book 5: Til a Death Do Us Part * Book 6: The Mud Pie Murderess * Book 7: Catering and Kidnapping * Book 8: The Pumpkin Killer * Book 9: Wined, Dined and Dead Always FREE on Kindle Unlimited

    On a Saturday afternoon in Centerville, a sleepy Midwestern town, a disaffected husband enters a busy drugstore where his estranged wife works and sets a bag with a homemade bomb on the floor. Outside the drugstore, a fourteen-year-old girl places her hand on the door, then inexplicably turns away and keeps walking. Moments later, standing safely inside a bowling alley with her best friend, she hears a sound like thunder.With one devastating explosion, the town is changed forever. In the next few days, four lives become entwined, as the townspeople face sudden loss and new, unpredictable realities.Set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement and the escalating Vietnam War, Centerville forms an engrossing meditation on the complex questions that arise in the wake of senseless violence.

    His brother, Richard, thinks that could be the basis of a paying business. Reluctantly, Jeff agrees, and their first case is about a child who vanished more than two decades before. Meanwhile, Jeff bumps into an acquaintance whose history is very similar to that of the missing girl. Is it coincidence or is there a pattern that links him to her and his future?

    Told in eloquent, honest prose, Art’s Cello is a story about coming to terms with the past and letting go of the failures we allow to define us — and, in the process, honoring the lives of those we’ve lost. Jim McKean is an international award-winning violinmaker, author, and corresponding editor of Strings Magazine. He is a graduate of the first violinmaking school in America and the former president of the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers. His novel, Quattrocento, was published in 2002. Cover design by Evan Twohy.