Members' New Publications

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Deborah Adams

All The Dirty Cowards by Deborah Adams, Silver Dagger Mysteries, 2000, ISBN 1-57072-115-7
(limited edition hardcover); ISBN 1-57072-131-9 (Trade paper)

Dan McClain bought the old Vickers farm hoping to find a peaceful retreat in Jesus Creek, Tennessee, but the town’s unique reality hits home when skeletons start popping up in McClain’s yard, followed by the murder of a beloved local resident. Are the crimes connected? Is Jesse James responsible? Amateur sleuth and genealogist Delia Cannon is determined to unearth the answer. As ghostly remnants of a long ago murder linger in the shadow of present day tragedy, Delia’s passion for truth draws the attention of a killer who isn’t about to let a decades-old crime come to light. “A contemporary mystery, a sly slice of history and humor--the essential elements for an intriguing, entertaining read--are front-and-center in every page of ALL THE DIRTY COWARDS. Amateur sleuth Delia Cannon, Roger Shelton, her UFO-obsessed significant other, and Jesus Creek, Tennessee's cast of quirky, true to small-town life characters will leave you delighted to have made their acquaintance and quick to say, "Y'all come back real soon, now, hear?" -- Suzann Ledbetter, Spur Award winning author of East of Peculiar. Deceptively labeled ‘comedic mysteries’ the Jesus Creek novels have always carried an extra layer of meaning." - Quantum South

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Noreen Ayres

The Juan Doe Murders by Noreen Ayres, Thorndike Press, Nove 2000, ISBN 0-7862-2897-0

When several homicide victims turn up in culverts, creeks, and isolated business parks with multiple and fake IDs, Smokey Brandon's job as an evidence collector gets even tougher. The victims slide into the coroner's van as Juan Does, becoming as invisible in death as they seemed to be in life. Haunted by the death of a young female border crosser found in an urban crash-pad, and burdened with an increasing case load, Smokey almost gives in to futility. Then, linkages begin to emerge just as the anguished 20-year-old son of Smokey's lover confides a terrible secret and swears her to secrecy. While her lover lies in a hospital, Smokey, a former cop and nightclub stripper, goes after the killers with a vengeance, closing a gap in her own maturing while helping her lover's son find a path to his own. "I loved the book. Smokey is a kick-ass character. I hope to see more of her soon." -- James Crumley "There is quite simply no one presently writing in the American mystery genre who can bring readers into the middle of a crime scene the way that Noreen Ayres does. Rather than peering over shoulders or over crime scene tape, the reader is brought to the fore, to experience the grit, grime, gristle and gore that is a part of such occurrences. THE JUAN DOE MURDERS is a welcome, long overdue visit that fills a void left open for too long. Highest possible recommendation." -- Joe Hartlaub, Senior Editor of The Book Report

The opportunity of a lifetime awaits archaeologist Emma Fielding in the Berkshire foothills of Western Massachusetts: the chance to study the eighteenth-century diary of Margaret Chandler, the accused witch and murderess whose home Emma excavated only months before. However, the three other Shrewsbury Foundation fellows she must share the premises with are a disturbingly odd bunch, and before too long one of them is dead. But Emma can find no solace in the bleak beauty of the surrounding wilderness, for there are dark secrets encoded in Madam Chandler's writings, and shocking parallels between an ancient slaying and the strange brutal demise of her colleague. When the killer strikes again, Emma realizes her own life is at stake. And suddenly there is no choice left: she is driven to investigate bloody crimes past and present -- before her own death becomes a footnote in a chilling, three-centuries-old story. Learn about Dana Cameron's other books at: www.danacameron.com

Alive and prickly, or dead and tumbling, Salsola kali, or Russian thistle, is a pain for growers and motorists alike. But could it hold the secret of a half-century-old-murder? Rebecca Rothenberg (1948-1998) was a writer, musician, epidemiologist, amateur botanist, president of the San Gabriel chapter of the California Native Plants Society, and the author of the Claire Sharples Botanical Mystery series. The first, The Bulrush Murders, was nominated for the Anthony and Agatha Awards, and was named as one of the Top Ten Mysteries of 1992 by the Los Angeles Times. After her untimely death in 1998, her friend and colleague, Taffy Cannon completed the manuscript of The Tumbleweed Murders. Original music by Rebecca Rothenberg is used in The Tumbleweed Murders and available on CD. See http://www.rebeccarothenberg.com for details. Passion, greed, deceit and murder surface when plant pathologist Claire Sharples discovers a skeleton buried beside the Kern River and finds herself drawn into events of a half-century earlier. This evocative botanical mystery moves between past and present in California's Central Valley, exploring the worlds of oil, cotton and country music. Claire tries to unravel the mystery of the singing Cherokee Rose's lost love with the help of enigmatic Ramon Covarrubias and his eccentric journalist cousin Yolanda, in a story dictated as much by the nature of the land as by the character of its inhabitants. These are secrets someone is willing to kill to protect, and Claire's quest puts her own life in danger. "Rebecca Rothenberg was a Renaissance woman, a musician and composer, an epidemiologist, an amateur botanist and a talented writer of intelligent and compelling mysteries. The Tumbleweed Murders is a seamless tale of danger, adventure and romance spanning five decades." - Los Angeles Times "A complex blend of romance, science and ingenious clues." - Kirkus Reviews "An absolutely beautiful book-beautifully written and beautifully plotted." - Bookbrowser "This is western writing at its best and mystery at its most satisfying." - Linda Grant, author of Vampire Bytes and Lethal Genes "Once again, Rebecca Rothenberg has taken the improbable mis-en-scene of southern Kern County and with realism and deft intelligence transformed it into classic detective country. All her fans are grateful to Taffy Cannon for completing the last and in many ways the best of the Claire Sharples botanical mysteries. A brilliant finale to a sadly shortened career! Yet, Rebecca Rothenberg remains with us, her many fans, in appreciation and memory. She has left both the mystery novel and California much better off than when she first found and fused them together in the alembic of first-rate detective fiction." - Dr. Kevin Starr, State Librarian of California "Taffy Cannon has completed Rebecca Rothenberg's last novel with such skill and love that the blend of their talents is seamless. Here is the superb writing, the wit, the extraordinary sense of environment, the suspense and familiar flavor of Rebecca's work, one more time. It's a tribute to her and a gift to her fans. I hope it introduces many new readers to the work of both of these fine writers." - Nancy Pickard, author of The Whole Truth

"I don't know what possessed me to open the Africa trunk. It had been locked for so long, longer than I have years; generations perhaps. Not a simple case of turning a key either, since I did not possess one. I went to work with a crowbar. Was it boredom, induced by the incessant English rain? Or curiosity? Or a familial sense of duty? My parents were dead, the old house up for sale: against the grain to ditch something sight unseen. The Africa trunk. A name. A thing. Part of the unquestioned terrain of childhood, of games of hide-and-seek on rainy winter afternoons in the boxroom, that musty depository of broken suitcases, school trunks, hockey sticks, fishing tackle, yellowed Penguins, nursery furniture and dead bludbottles. Whatever the reason, open the trunk I did. And had my great-grandfather --whose name, along with the words, Soldier's Baggage, was painted on the side-- divined that, of all people, a mystery writer would one day lift the lid on his secret, he could not have concocted a more mouth-watering surprise."

More Than You Know is a mystery novel with a little bit of sex in it. The action starts out in Seattle right at the entrance to Pike Place Market, one of Meg Chittenden's favorite places to be. The story began in her head when she was waiting there for her husband to meet her. Strangely enough, Madison Sloane, known as Maddy, is watiing beside the large bronze pig at the market entrance, for her husband Bart to meet her. (No need to ask where Meg gets her ideas!) Unaware that FBI Special Agent Nick Ciacia (pronounced Cha-cha) is watching her from a short distance away, Maddy waits patiently at first, then begins to worry that perhaps Bart has been involved in an accident. She wouldn't wish that on him, even though their six-month old marriage is falling apart. While Maddy is trying to figure out what has happened to Bart, Nick Ciacia approaches her and talks as if he knows her. She doesn't recognize him at all, but eventually she accepts his offer of help in finding Bart. It isn't long, however, before she realizes that Nick Ciacia has a deadly agenda of his own. "MORE THAN YOU KNOW is a riveting thriller that takes the reader through a skillfully plotted series of twists and turns. Intriguing characters are not who they seem to be, and suspense lurks around every bend in the great Pacific Northwest landscape of this smart mystery. Revenge, betrayal, greed and passion - Meg Chittenden lays them all bare in this haunting tale of murder and romance." - Linda Fairstein, NY Times bestselling author. "Murder, love and Seattle rain--MORE THAN YOU KNOW is Meg at the top of her suspense game!" - Elizabeth Lowell, NY Times bestselling author. "Meg Chittenden is one of a dying breed--a darned good storyteller. No gimmicks, car chases,or explosions, just characters we care about, a plot that hooks us on page one and a splendid balance between suspense and romance." Rhys Bowen, award-winning author.

The Thunder Keeper , by Margaret Coel, Berkley Prime Crime, ISBN 0-425-18188-X, September 2001 $22.95

With African diamond mines seized by butchering rebels, a world-wide humanitarian search is underway for other deposits. Unaware of the "conflict diamond" issue, Father John O'Malley learns some startling news in the confessional. A stranger tips him off that a young Arapaho's death near the reservation's petroglyphs wasn't suicide but murder - and more deaths are sure to follow. Miles away in Denver, a diamond mining executive tells Vicky Holden he'll divulge a secret about the reservation, but he is murdered before he can talk. Together, Father John and Vicky learn that the murderous threads are connected. They must unravel the truth before others die, and those others could be the priest and his Arapaho sidekick herself. "Margaret Coel is occupying Tony Hillerman turf, and she is the best challenger so far." - Boston Globe

Extreme Close-Up, by Lary Crews, Author's Choice, ISBN 0-595-12862-9

In this second in the popular Veronica Slate mystery series, Veronica decides to do some daytime moonlighting on a St. Pete Beach, Florida movie set. But she never expects the on-camera make-believe to develop into a real-life murder mystery, or that her own boyfriend, Detective David Parrish, would be found holding the smoking gun in one of the cleverest frame-ups ever, on-screen or off. It's up to Veronica Slate to uncover the plot that began with a killing in California, a drug cartel in Colombia, and a phantom film director from who-knows-where, while she sidesteps a seductive leading man, a vindictive other woman, a devious stand-in, and a death-dealing mastermind who's re-writing the scenario, with the lovely Veronica Slate in the role of dying heroine.

Chicago cop Suze Figueroa is seeking a psychotic, but he has found the perfect place to hide--the attic of the big old house she shares with her son, her sister and her sister's two daughters.

In Cruel and Unusual Intuition, Cally Lazar attends a healing workshop presented by the charismatic energy healer, Dr. Aurora Hart, whose charisma is cosmetically heightened by her "aura-maker," an electrical contraption the doctor has designed to create the illusion that her chakras are visibly lighting up as she speaks. But when she hits the button for her crown chakra, she is fatally electrocuted. Bummer of an aura! For more about Claire and Cally, please visit Claire's website at www.clairedaniels.com. Praise for Claire Daniels' previous book, Body of Intuition. "Prognosis: original, innovative, and unique." Janet A. Rudolph, editor of Mystery Readers Journal. "A holistic prescription for fun." Lynne Murray, author of A Ton of Trouble. "A delight." Jan Dean, editor of Murder Most Cozy. "Intuitive healer Cally Lazar will brighten up your aura." Kate Derie, editor of The Deadly Directory. "A heroine that is impossible not to like." Midwest Book Review. "...warm and gentle humor appeal..." The Drood Review of Mystery.

Emperor Norton's Ghost,A Fremont Jones Mystery, by Dianne Day
Doubleday, ISBN 0-385-48608-1

The year is 1908, and Fremont Jones and her partner in life and work, Michael Archer Kossoff, have returned to San Francisco where they are living separately but in the same house (it's a double Victorian on Divisadero Street). Also on the ground floor of Fremont's side of the house is their new business: J&K Investigations. Their third business partner in this venture is Aloysius, or Wish, Stephenson, whom they have liberated from the San Francisco Police Department, where readers of the series met him after the 1906 Earthquake in FIRE AND FOG. This fourth mystery in the Fremont Jones series tells the tale of Fremont's first case as a private investigator. Someone is murdering mediums, of the Spiritualist sort, in San Francisco. The crimes touch close to home for Fremont Jones not only because the victims are women, but also because her new friend, Frances McFadden, has succumbed to a fascination with Spiritualism that has put Frances's life in danger -- not only from the unknown killer of mediums, but also from her wealthy but physically abusive husband. Soon Fremont's life will be in danger as well. While Fremont pursues this investigation, Wish Stephenson is quietly involved in an on-the-side investigation of his own that has him uncovering some unsavory facts about cemeteries. Emperor Norton, who was a real person who lived and was much beloved in San Francisco in the 19th Century, makes a ghostly appearance -- and it is not altogether certain his influence in benign. The stress and strains of post-earthquake San Francisco under reconstruction form an element in the storyline, which as usual is as much about an in-depth exploration of the novel's colorful characters as it is about the mechanics of following a twisting and well-researched plot.

Death Takes a Honeymoon, by Deborah Donnelly
Bantam Dell 2005, ISBN 0-440-24130-8

In the fourth Wedding Planner Mystery, Seattle-based Carnegie Kincaid heads for Sun Valley to stage-manage the glamorous nuptials of an old friend and an old flame. The friend is now a prima donna TV star, and the flame is a studly smokejumper named Jack the Knack--who still lights Carnegie's fire. But when murder comes skydiving down and a massive forest fire looms, more than her love life could go up in smoke... "The Wedding Planner series is worth its weight in champagne and rice. Don't miss it!" ~ Mystery News www.deborahdonnelly.org Read more at

Cat in a Golden Garland: A Midnight Louie Mystery by Carole Nelson Douglas
Forge, ISBN 0-812-53036-5

Of all the many feline detectives prowling the mystery shelves these days, Douglas Midnight Louie is by far the most hard-boiled and the series in which he sleuths is, if not the most whimsical, certainly the most antic."--The San Francisco Chronicle Already in a second printing, the Cat in a Golden Garland paperback takes feline sleuth Midnight Louie from his usual Las Vegas turf to the Big Apple to powwow with ad agency honchos interested in making him a television star in cat-food commercials. But someone else is interested in murder on Madison Avenue, so Louie and his human roommate, Temple, must scour Manhattan for a killer, a search that takes them from Greenwich Village to the city morgue to the library's CATNYP cataloging system. "a catchy and satisfying next installment . . . Midnight Louie and Temple Barr have established a loyal and ever-growing following with their separate perspectives on their shared lives. The Mystery Review "very different from the previous works in this superb series. The action moves from Las Vegas to the Big Apple and the story line is split between the murder investigation and Temple's friend, an ex- priest searching for himself. Both these features add freshness and tie together into a fabulous novel. Midnight Louie . . .alone would turn this novel into a gourmet treat." Affaire de Coeur