Month: September 2015

New Release: Bread of the Dead by Ann Myers

/ Sisters in Crime-Colorado

Released Sept. 29, 2015: Bread of the Dead (William Morrow/HarperCollins) by Ann Myers.

Trick or treat—and murder—are on the menu in this first in a new culinary mystery series

Life couldn’t be sweeter for Tres Amigas Café chef Rita Lafitte, decorating sugar skulls and BreadofDeadcovertaste-testing rich, buttery pan de muerto in anticipation of Santa Fe’s Day of the Dead bread-baking contest. That is, until her friendly landlord, Victor, is found dead next door.

Although the police deem Victor’s death a suicide, Rita knows something is amiss. To uncover the truth, she teams up with her octogenarian boss, Flori, the town’s most celebrated snoop. The duo begins to sift through long-buried secrets and to take full measure of duplicitous neighbors, but the clock is ticking and their list of suspects is growing ever longer. Just as the clues get hotter than a New Mexican chile, one of their main suspects winds up dead. Rita fears that the killer is dishing out seconds—and her order might be up.

About the author:
Ann Myers lives in Colorado Springs with her husband, cat, and a large supply of New Mexican chiles. You can find Ann’s book at http://www.harpercollins.com/9780062382276/bread-of-the-dead and follow her at https://www.facebook.com/AnnMyers.writer.

Event: Dr. Laurie Sperry

/ Sisters in Crime-Colorado

Dr. Laurie Sperry will be speaking to SinC-Colorado members at our next chapter meeting/event (October 3, 2015). The program description follows.

Let’s Talk Stalking

Laurie Sperry has written amicus curaie briefs that have been read by state supreme courts, testified at trials, gone into prisons to do forensic evaluations, and testified at parole board hearings. Many of the cases she’s worked on involve stalking, sexual offending.

She will discuss stalking in general.  What are the different typologies of stalkers?  If your character was a revenge stalker how would he/she  act?  If he was an incompetent suitor, how would he/she  act? What would a stalker do that would suggest he’s likely to engage in violence as opposed to a non violent offender?

Bring your questions about how to write a compelling stalker situation.

Dr Laurie SperryDr. Laurie Sperry is an Associate Professor in the College of Professional Studies at Regis University. In addition to a PhD, and a degree in Forensic Psychology and Criminology, she is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral Level. She has participated in global outreach and provided services in Australia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Africa, Saipan, Singapore and has developed a school for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Bangalore, India.

In 2006 she was added to the Fulbright Scholarship’s Senior Specialist Roster for Autism. She moved to Australia in 2010 and worked at Griffith University in the Department of Arts, Education and Law. Her research focuses on people with ASD who come in contact with the criminal justice system to ensure their humane treatment within the system. She has served as a Special Interest Group Chairwoman at the International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR) providing mentoring and leadership in the field of criminality and ASD. She has provided training to secure forensic psychiatric facilities in England and presented at the International Conference for Offenders with Disabilities. She has published numerous articles and was an expert panelist at the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law conference where she spoke on Risk Assessment, Management and ASD.

New Release: The Drowning Game by LS Hawker

/ Sisters in Crime-Colorado

The Drowning Game (HarperCollins Witness Impulse) releases September 22, 2015!

They said she was armed.
They said she was dangerous.
They were right.

thedrowninggamePetty Moshen spent eighteen years of her life as a prisoner in her own home, training with military precision for everything, ready for anything. She can disarm, dismember, and kill—and now, for the first time ever, she is free.thedrowninggame

Her paranoid father is dead, his extreme dominance and rules a thing of the past, but his influence remains as strong as ever. When his final will reveals a future more terrible than her captive past, Petty knows she must escape—by whatever means necessary.

But when Petty learns the truth behind her father’s madness—and her own family—the reality is worse than anything she could have imagined. On the road and in over her head, Petty’s fight for her life has just begun.

Fans of female-powered thrillers will love debut author LS Hawker and her suspenseful tale of a young woman on the run for her future…and from the nightmares of her past.

Available for pre-order now.

About the author:
LS Hawker grew up in suburban Denver, indulging her worrisome obsession with true-crime books, and writing stories about anthropomorphic fruit and juvenile delinquents. She wrote her first novel at 14.

Armed with a B.S. in journalism from the University of Kansas, she had a radio show called “People Are So Stupid,” edited a trade magazine, and worked as a traveling Kmart portrait photographer, but never lost her passion for fiction writing.

She’s got a hilarious, supportive husband, two brilliant daughters, and a massive music collection. She lives in Colorado but considers Kansas her spiritual homeland.

Website: LSHawker.com

New Release: The Reckoning Stones by Laura DiSilverio

/ Sisters in Crime-Colorado

Library Journal calls Laura DiSilverio’s  The Reckoning Stones an “outstanding, dark stand-alone” and “an excellent read for Megan Abbott or Kate ­Morton aficionados” (starred review).

The Reckoning StonesWhen fifteen-year-old Mercy Asher accuses her pastor of molesting her, the tight-knit community brands her a liar. She runs away. The night she leaves, someone–her father?–beats Pastor Matt into a coma and leaves his wife for dead. Two decades later, Pastor Matt’s awakening makes national news and Mercy, who has reinvented herself as jewelry designer Iris Dashwood, finds herself losing ground to the painful memories she’s barely kept at bay. Iris has no choice but to return to Lone Pine to confront the man who tore her life apart and recover the truth from a community that protects its own.

“Riveting! Powerful, disturbing, and ultimately, inspirational.” — Hank Phillippi Ryan, Agatha, Anthony, Macavity and Mary Higgins Clark award-winning author.

Available for pre-order now. On sale everywhere September 8th.

About the author:
Laura DiSilverio’s novel Swift Run was nominated as a finalist in the 2013 Colorado Book Awards. She has received starred reviews from Booklist, and Suspense Magazine named Die Buying as one of the top mysteries of 2011. Laura is a past-president of Sisters in Crime. She lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and can be found online at www.LauraDiSilverio.com.