• New

    Free Sample from ‘Reservation for Murder: A Kyle Callahan Mystery’

    Enjoy a complimentary pre-release sample from ‘Reservation for Murder: A Kyle Callahan Mystery.’ The book is releasing October 30. You can download the excerpt directly from Book Funnel (ePub, MOBI, or PDF) and get an early glimpse of murder and mayhem in a Delaware River town. Life seems perfect for Kyle and Danny in their new life away from Manhattan … until death checks in. The book is available on Amazon for pre-order at a discounted $2.99 (regular $4.99). AND I’m giving away 15 Kindle editions in a new release raffle. Just check out the links below.
  • New

    Cover Reveal and a Kindle Edition Giveaway for ‘Reservation for Murder: A Kyle Callahan Mystery’

    I’ll be releasing the new Kyle Callahan Mystery, Reservation for Murder, later this month. I’ll also be giving away 15 Kindle editions of the book once it launches, for lucky email subscribers chosen at random on October 30 (announced on Halloween, of course!). Just enter with your email in the Raffle Press giveaway above and look for an announcement at the end of the month. Please note that Kindle limits redemption to accounts in the U.S.

    Here’s a synopsis, and I have to say it’s been great to see Kyle and Danny again as they head off into a new home and a new adventure … if only murder will leave them alone!

    About Reservation for Murder

    It’s been several years since Kyle Callahan sought the help of a New York City therapist to overcome the trauma of his encounter with a serial killer, and just as long since his investigation into a teenage girl’s murder brought down the Manhattan District Attorney. He and his husband Danny Durban have decided to move away, to start a new life in the idyllic river city of Lambertville, New Jersey. They have friends there. They’ll have peace and quiet. They can leave the hustle and bustle and stresses of America’s biggest metropolis behind.

    They open a bed and breakfast, and soon discover that murder and mayhem have come along for the ride. There’s a writers conference in town, with big names and big egos checking in for a clash—and a murder—of titans. No sooner has the ink dried on the guest registry than Kyle finds himself pursuing another killer, this one closer to home than they’ve ever come. He enlists the help of his old friend and local resident Linda Sikorsky, once a detective on the New Hope, Pennsylvania, police force. The two of them follow one lead after another in a race against time until the the shocking truth is exposed.

     

  • New,  Podcasts

    Author Garrett Hutson Talks Historical Fiction and His New Novel ‘Gray Paree’

    Join me today as I chat with fellow Hoosier and author Garrett Hutson. Garrett joins the podcast from his home near Indianapolis where he lives with his veterinarian husband David and a menagerie of pets. We talk about a passion for writing he’s had since childhood, fiction choices, and his love for historical detail that infuses his novels. His newest, Gray Paree, releases October 25.

    About Gray Paree

    American Oliver Carmichael loves his life in Paris, playing in a night club jazz band, and enjoying the freedom and intellectual stimulation of his bohemian set of friends. His happiness is tempered by unresolved feelings for his ex-fiancée, Lisette, especially after he sees her with another man in his club-but he tends those wounds with an affair with an older woman…and also with the boy next door.

  • New

    The End, One Way or Another

    October 6, 2020 (Tuesday)
    In the past three years, it has so often felt like things were reaching the breaking point. But the image of Trump on the balcony of the White House last night, defiantly taking off his mask as he gasped for breath, truly looked to me like the beginning of the final chapter. – Heather Cox Richardson

    Heather Cox Richardson offers among the most astute and sober analysis available. Reading it agitates me, but I know I have to stay awake to everything that’s happening. We really are at a precipice in America and, frankly, I want to say I was there when it happened, not pretending it wasn’t.

    There is no word in the English language (“fury” comes closest but is still far too mild) to express how I feel about Republicans and Trump steamrolling Americans to put a religious extremist on the Supreme Court. But note that the real pressure to do this is not from gullible pro-lifers. It’s from corporations and mega-rich donors who could not care less about abortion, a service they will always be able to avail themselves of. They want entrenched oligarchy and corporate minority rule over the United States. Hard stop. Overturning Roe is just the meat they’ve thrown to Christians. They really don’t care about that. A 6-3 majority will help ensure that “we the people” have almost nothing to say about those who govern us. Jesus has nothing to do with it.

    I’m going to be 62 this month. Never in my darkest fantasies, even though I remember the 60s somewhat and lived through the AIDS years, did I imagine I would see a cartoonish authoritarian with a spray tan line around his face, gasping for air on a balcony like some high-school production of Evita, bringing the United States to the brink of ruin. But that is where we are. Millions of businesses can go under, tens of millions of Americans can go hungry, untold jobs lost, over a thousand people dying every day from a virus that doesn’t care about tough guys, real or fake, and all that matters is a court packed with judges who serve the rich and the rabid. Wow.

  • New

    Two October Promos: Books with a Halloween Twist, and Paranormal Roundup

    It’s my favorite time of year, when ghosts and black cats roam the land. I’m participating it two fabulous deep-discount promotions this month with dozens of fellow authors at Book Funnel. Just click on the links below and browse to your heart’s horror … er, content. You’ll find lots of books to choose from at killer prices.

    My two books, both reduced to .99 cents for this promo, are Black Cat White Paws: A Maggie Dahl Mystery, and my supernatural chiller, A House in the Woods.

    Books with a Halloween Twist CLICK HERE

    Paranormal Round-Up CLICK HERE

  • New

    Book Review: My Own Words, by Ruth Bader Ginsburg with Mary Hartnett and Wendy W. Williams

    By Terri Schlichenmeyer
    The Bookworm

    “My Own Words” by Ruth Bader Ginsburg with Mary Hartnett and Wendy W. Williams
    c.2016, Simon & Schuster
    $30.00 / $39.99 Canada 374 pages

    Please and Thank You.

    Those were The Magic Words you learned at your mother’s knee, the ones that opened doors and gained favors. That was also when you learned something important, as you’ll see in “My Own Words” by Ruth Bader Ginsburg (with Mary Hartnett and Wendy W. Williams): letters, when properly collected, can move mountains. 

    Born in working-class Brooklyn in 1933, Joan Ruth Bader was her parents’ second daughter; sadly, their eldest died of meningitis just fourteen months later.

    Theirs was a close-knit neighborhood, and the family had many of the luxuries of the day. Bader attended public school a block from her home; there, because of other girls in her class who shared her first name, she started using her middle name “for more official purposes.” She was raised to be independent and was an avid reader, a notably talented storyteller, and she loved gymnastics but “was not… especially fond of math.” And since she grew up in the shadow of World War II and was Jewish, she was fully aware of anti-Semitism.

  • New

    ‘Beautiful Corpse: A Marshall James Thriller’ Audiobook Now Available!

    Fasten your headphones! The audiobook edition of Beautiful Corpse: A Marshall James Thriller is now available. Narrated by the terrific Sean Rhead, Beautiful Corpse is the second book in the Marshall James series, to be concluded in 2021 with a final installment. It’s 1984. Marshall survived the perils of Murder at the Paisley Parrot and believes he’s living happily ever after with his detective boyfriend, Mac McElroy. Life seems perfect, until everything goes wrong …

    About Beautiful Corpse: A Marshall James Thriller

    It’s been over a year since Marshall James first became intimately familiar with murder. He’s six months sober now and happily living with the love of his life, LAPD Detective Mac McElroy. Despite the coming storm of AIDS and its devastating toll on the world Marshall knows, his dark days seem to be behind him. Then one night he says the wrong thing, storms out in anger, and walks straight into a nightmare. Someone is setting him up to take the fall for a beautiful corpse. But who would do something so evil, and so planned? Within hours he finds himself running from the police and the mob, and running toward a killer he must apprehend before the only chance left is no chance at all.

    Listen to a sample here:

  • New

    Fee Audiobook Codes Available for All Titles!

    Are you listening? I have a limited number of complimentary audiobook codes available for all of my audiobooks, including the brand new Beautiful Corpse: A Marshall James Thriller, narrated by Sean Rhead! Just click the image or HERE to email your request for a code. Please specify the title(s), and a US or UK code. You can read about them all at my Audible author’s page. So enjoy … and fasten your headphones!

    Available Titles:

    Beautiful Corpse: A Marshall James Thriller
    A House in the Woods
    Black Cat White Paws: A Maggie Dahl Thriller
    Murder at the Paisley Parrot: A Marshall James Thriller
    Last Room at the Cliff’s Edge
    Death by Pride: A Kyle Callahan Mystery
    Pride and Perilous: A Kyle Callahan Mystery
    Murder at Pride Lodge: A Kyle Callahan Mystery
    Stop the Car: A Kindle Single
    Strange Company: Nature Essays by Jean Ryan

  • New

    It’s a Killer Kindle Countdown Deal! Two Marshall James Thrillers

    Along with my semi-regular Kindle eBook giveaways (August winners were just announced the morning) I’m offering free Kindle downloads of both Marshall James Thrillers. The audiobook for Beautiful Corpse, narrated by Sean Rhead, is coming out any day now. I’ll be offering free download codes to subscribers, so look for an email on that soon. In the meantime, click on over to Amazon and enjoy these two book for free for the next 5 days!  And remember, reviews are a writer’s best friend! Please consider leaving one.

    Beautiful Corpse: A Marshall James Thriller (Book 2)

    “It was 1984. Prince ruled the airwaves. The Los Angeles Olympics had come and gone, taking with it a spotlight that had shone harshly on the city’s night crawlers and left them thankful for the the shadows. AIDS was spreading its dark, black, wings over us all, and I was a happy guy. At least I thought I was, until things took a sudden turn for the deadly.” – Marshall James

    It’s been over a year since Marshall James first became intimately familiar with murder. He’s six months sober now and happily living with the love of his life, LAPD Detective Mac McElroy. Despite the coming storm of AIDS and its devastating toll on the world Marshall knows, his dark days seem to be behind him. Then one night he says the wrong thing, storms out in anger, and walks straight into a nightmare. Someone is setting him up to take the fall for a beautiful corpse. But who would do something so evil, and so planned? Within hours he finds himself running from the police and the mob, and running toward a killer he must apprehend before the only chance left is no chance at all.

  • New

    And the Lucky August Giveaway Winners Are …

    Another month, another great giveaway. Congratulations to Marie, Georgie, Lorna, Jackie and Linda. Each of them has won a Kindle edition of my book Black Cat White Paws: A Maggie Dahl Mystery for the month of August.

    My next giveaway will be something special in October. It’s my birthday month, and my favorite holiday – Halloween! Look for details of something fabulous, with even more winners. Until then, settle back in your custom seat on the mystery train and enjoy any of my books. I’ll soon be finishing up the new Kyle Callahan Mystery after four years of waiting to hear from this fan favorite. Kyle and his husband Danny have left New York City for a life in Lambertville, New Jersey. They open a bed and breakfast, unaware that death has checked in with the rest of the guests. A true whudunit, Reservation for Murder: A Kyle Callahan Mystery will keep you guessing till the shocking finale.

    Mark

     

     

  • New

    Audiobook Sample for ‘Beautiful Corpse: A Marshall James Thriller’

    Very excited to sign off on this audiobook edition of ‘Beautiful Corpse: A Marshall James Thriller,’ narrated by Sean Rhead. It will be out soon, and I’ll have complimentary download codes available. Here’s a sample …

    About Beautiful Corpse

    “It was 1984. Prince ruled the airwaves. The Los Angeles Olympics had come and gone, taking with it a spotlight that had shone harshly on the city’s night crawlers and left them thankful for the the shadows. AIDS was spreading its dark, black, wings over us all, and I was a happy guy. At least I thought I was, until things took a sudden turn for the deadly.” – Marshall James

    It’s been over a year since Marshall James first became intimately familiar with murder. He’s six months sober now and happily living with the love of his life, LAPD Detective Mac McElroy. Despite the coming storm of AIDS and its devastating toll on the world Marshall knows, his dark days seem to be behind him. Then one night he says the wrong thing, storms out in anger, and walks straight into a nightmare. Someone is setting him up to take the fall for a beautiful corpse. But who would do something so evil, and so planned? Within hours he finds himself running from the police and the mob, and running toward a killer he must apprehend before the only chance left is no chance at all.

  • New

    August Giveaway: 5 Kindle Editions of ‘Black Cat White Paws: A Maggie Dahl Mystery’


    Congratulations to Julia, David, Eric, Yvonne and Melanie, the five lucky winners of July’s giveaway!.. Each of them received a complimentary Kindle edition of my supernatural chiller, ‘A House in the Woods.’

    We’re into August now, and that means … another fabulous giveaway! Just enter the RafflePress giveaway with your email, and I’ll draw 5 lucky winners at random on August 31. Be sure to click the confirmation link you receive! Check your spam folder so you don’t miss it.

    About ‘Black Cat White Paws: A Maggie Dahl Mystery’

    “In Black Cat White Paws, recently widowed Maggie Dahl finds herself faced with challenges on all fronts: life alone in a new town, running a business she and her husband had dreamed of and started together, and now pursuing a killer. Her sister Gerri moves from Philadelphia to Lambertville, New Jersey, to support her sister and start a new life of her own. Together the women search for a murderer, helped in critical ways by their neighbor’s cat. A black cat with white paws. A cat whose independence sets it all in motion and sees it through to the end.

    Black Cat White Paws finds Maggie moving from New York City to Lambertville, an idyllic river town with artists, restaurants, incredible landscapes, and enough local characters to populate a murder mystery. Join Maggie, Gerri, Checks the cat, and a cast of colorful small town natives just as eager—and as shocked—to find a killer in their midst.”

    Prefer to listen? Check out the audiobook edition of Black Cat White Paws, narrated by the wonderful Holly Palance.