Month: October 2022

On Sale: The Past Came Hunting by Donnell Ann Bell

/ Sisters in Crime-Colorado

Donnell Bell’s award-winning book The Past Came Hunting is on sale for $0.99 November 1-15 at all digital outlets.

Fifteen years ago a young Colorado Springs police officer arrested a teen runaway accused of aiding a convenience store robbery and attempted murder. She was innocent, but still served prison time briefly. Her testimony sent the real thief to jail for much longer. Now she’s a young widow raising a son, and the man she put in prison is free and seeking revenge. She moves to a home in a new neighborhood—then learns that her next-door neighbor is the by-the-book officer who arrested her. Now he’s a Colorado Springs P.D. Lieutenant. Like it or not, he may be the only one who can protect her and her son from the past he helped create.

Upcoming Release and Book Signing: Dead and Gondola by Ann Claire

/ Sisters in Crime-Colorado

Dead and Gondola releases November 1st.

In this series debut, a mysterious bookshop visitor dies under murderous circumstances, compelling the Christie sisters and their cat, Agatha, to call on all they’ve learned about solving mysteries from their favorite novelist.

Ellie Christie is thrilled to begin a new chapter. She’s recently returned to her tiny Colorado hometown to run her family’s historic bookshop with her elder sister, Meg, and their beloved cat, Agatha. Perched in a Swiss-style hamlet accessible by ski gondola and a twisty mountain road, the Book Chalet is a famed bibliophile destination known for its maze of shelves and relaxing reading lounge. At least, until trouble blows in with a wintry whiteout. A man is found dead on the gondola, and a rockslide throws the town into lockdown—no one in, no one out.

The victim was a mysterious stranger who’d visited the bookshop. At the time, his only blunders had been disrupting a book club and leaving behind a first-edition Agatha Christie novel, written under a pseudonym. However, once revealed, the man’s identity shocks the town. Motives and secrets swirl like the snow, but when the police narrow in on the sisters’ close friends, the Christies have to act.

Although the only Agatha in their family tree is their cat, Ellie and Meg know a lot about mysteries and realize they must summon their inner Miss Marple to trek through a blizzard of clues before the killer turns the page to their final chapter.

Publication News: Francelia Belton in Festive Mayhem 3 anthology

/ Sisters in Crime-Colorado

Francelia Belton’s short story, “Black Easter,” appears in the anthology Festive Mayhem 3, released October 24, 2022. This limited-edition collection includes brand-new stories set throughout the year, as well as some reissued seasonal favorites. Whether you enjoy humorous cozy mysteries with plucky amateur sleuths, or hard-boiled noir starring gritty private investigators, this anthology is for you.

Available at: Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo

https://www.crimewritersofcolor.com/bookdetails?book=147

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62996181-festive-mayhem-3

Francelia Belton is also being interviewed on KUVO Jazz, Denver 89.3 FM on Thursday, October 27, 2022 at 8:30 am MST. She will be talking about her story, “Dreaming of Ella” published in Denver Noir. Fellow SinCO-CO sibling, Patricia Raybon, will discuss her Annalee Spain mystery series, and Robert Justice (They Can’t Take Your Name) will also join in a Five Points Author Collective feature. You can tune in via the KUVO.org website or KUVO app.

Upcoming Release: Merry Little Mysteries: A Holiday Cozy & Historical Mystery Anthology

/ Sisters in Crime-Colorado

Merry Little Mysteries contains Sisters in Crime – CO member, Donna Schlachter’s short story A Mistletoe Mystery.


Can sisters Holly and Ivy Christmas discover who seeded their spruce trees with dwarf mistletoe? And are the neighboring ranch brothers, Tom and Bob Jolly, behind this? Or victims as well?

The anthology releases November 1st.

Upcoming Release: Robbers and Cops by George Cramer

/ Sisters in Crime-Colorado

Robbers and Cops releases November 1st.

Robbers and Cops is the story of two downtrodden Steinbeckian characters, their descent into criminality, and the determined efforts of law enforcement to bring them to justice. – As reviewed by Love To Read

A fascinating odyssey of complex characters-robbers and cops that spans five decades in its telling. Imagine if Elmore Leonard had written The Grapes of Wrath, tossed in a dash of The Naked and the Dead, and finished up morphing into a pure Joseph Wambaugh police procedural. Do yourself a favor and pick up Robbers and Cops by George Cramer. It’s a sure-fire, can’t-put-it-down winner. – Michael A. Black, Amazon bestselling author as A.W. Hart, and the Trackdown series under his own name Devil’s Vendetta, Devil’s Breed, Devil’s Reckoning, Chimes at Midnight, and Blood Trails.

Outstanding! An intriguing game of cat and mouse between a pair of bank robbers and multiple law enforcement agencies over the course of decades. Deftly plotted and effortlessly shifting between decades, Robbers and Cops is a page-turning suspense novel and a nuanced character study. Al Smith is a competent, tenacious, and flawed police detective who is worth rooting for. The police work is authentic, and the Bay Area setting is as perfectly drawn as a sunset over the Golden Gate. George Cramer is at the top of his game. Highly recommended. – Sheldon Siegel. NY Times Best Selling Author of the Mike Daley/Rosie Fernandez novels.

A brilliant police procedural covering four decades of criminal behavior and the cops that ended it. The story follows the Tucker brothers, who had a penchant for robbing banks. The Tuckers hone their criminal skills and sibling love, whether in the chain gangs of Georgia during the depression or in military service in WWII. The reader will find the brothers almost likable and know their crime spree will eventually end. – Alec Peche – Author of the popular Jill Quint, MD, Forensic Pathologist Series

Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble

www. gdcramer.com

Chapter Meeting: Marketing for Authors & True Community Policing

/ Sisters in Crime-Colorado

Quarterly Chapter Meeting/Event: November 12, 2022

Lone Tree Library, 10055 Library Way, Lone Tree, Colorado 80124 (303-791-READ)

Also Via Zoom; (Information on how to join the presentation will be posted in the Sisters in Crime-Colorado Groups.io members listserv.)

Please note: Chapter meetings are a member only benefit. You can learn more about us and our chapter here: https://sistersincrimecolorado.org/join/

To request more information, please use our contact form: https://sistersincrimecolorado.org/connect/

PROGRAM/SCHEDULE

9:30 am – 10:00 am   Welcome, Announcements

10:00 am – 12:00 pm   Marketing for Authors by Jenny Kate

We’d all rather be writing, but today’s authors must also spend time as marketing agents. Jenny Kate can help with that. In this class, Jenny will explore building an author brand, how to create compelling marketing content; and what you should include in your marketing plan (website, email, social, ads).

12:00pm – 1:00 pm   Lunch (brown bag or visit nearby restaurants)

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm   True Community Policing by Clint Blackhurst

Given the current state of law enforcement in our country, he will be discussing what true community policing is and how it could be the answer to ongoing issues. He will also discuss homicide cases he worked during his career, and the differences between the various areas of law enforcement from Federal, State, County, and City. He’s open to answering any and all questions. Having a mystery writer for a wife, he’s no longer concerned when he’s asked questions such as the best way to murder someone and not get caught. 

RVSP on our Meet-Up Page (www.meetup.com/sisters-in-crime-colorado/events/289095811/) or through our Groups.IO Listserv

The Zoom login information will be posted in the chapter’s groups.io listserv.

About the Presenters:

Jenny Kate has been a communicator, marketer, teacher, and public relations professional since 2001. With her husband, she co-founded Writer Nation, an online space to help authors become authorpreneurs. She holds a master’s degree in English, is a member of Pikes Peak Writers and Sisters in Crime, and judges contests for the Utah League of Writers.

A born Alabama girl, Jenny bleeds crimson and white. When she isn’t writing or teaching about marketing, she travels the world looking for the world’s best vegan sandwich. So far, tofu banh mi in Hoi An, Vietnam, is winning that race. She lives in Northern Virginia with her family. Check out her website at www.thewriternation.com

Clint Blackhurst is a retired forty-seven-year police veteran. He has worked for Federal Law Enforcement (the FBI), State Law Enforcement (District Attorney’s Office), County Law Enforcement (Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office), and Municipal Law Enforcement (Ogden, UT Police Department and Brighton, CO Police Department). The last twenty-two years of his career he spent as the Chief of Police for Brighton. Not one to submit to an easy retirement, however, he’s now on his fifth year as a city council member. He has a BA in Criminal Justice from Metro State and a Master of Public Administration from CU.

Upcoming Release: Dark of Night by Barbara Nickless

/ Sisters in Crime-Colorado

A recent murder is ancient history in a breathtaking novel about a sacred lost treasure and poisonous retribution by the Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of At First Light.

What an exotic way to die in Chicago.

When esteemed historian Elizabeth Lawrence is found in her car, killed by a cobra’s bite, only a brilliant professor of semiotics, Dr. Evan Wilding, can see the signs around her strange death. As he helps homicide detective Addie Bisset decipher the scene, the puzzles left behind offer Evan chilling passage into the mind of a killer.

Evan’s investigation merges with that of an Israeli agent, who claims Elizabeth was close to acquiring an invaluable artifact. She was also drawing the attention of unsavory treasure hunters, forgers, and thieves. Was someone desperate to expose the truth of Elizabeth’s astonishing discovery?

The deeper Evan and Addie delve into the case, the darker it gets. A murderer’s archaic crimes are just the beginning. In a race where there can be only one winner, the final victim might be Evan.

Dark of Night releases November 15th.

www.barbaranickless.com

The Fire Thief by Debra Bokur

/ Sisters in Crime-Colorado

The Fire Thief (A Dark Paradise Mystery Book 1) E-book is on sale for $0.99 until November 1st!

The scenery may be beautiful, but dangerous secrets are buried beneath paradise in this first thriller featuring Maui detective Kali Māhoe.
 
Under a promising morning sky, police captain Walter Alaka’i discovers the body of a teenage surfer bobbing among the lava rocks of Maui’s southeastern shore. Closer inspection reveals something far more sinister than the results of a savage wave gone wrong. Now that Alaka’i is looking at a homicide, he solicits the help of his niece, Detective Kali Māhoe.
 
Kali sees evidence of a strange ritual murder, a suspicion reinforced by a rash of sightings of a noppera-bō—a faceless and malicious spirit many believe to be more than superstition. When a grisly sacrifice is left on the doorstep of a local, and another body washes ashore, Kali fears that the deadly secret ceremonies on Maui are just beginning. As the skies above Maui grow darker, and as she balances reason and superstition, Kali can only wonder: Who’ll be the next to die? And who—or what—is she even on the trail of?

Sold at all major retailers.