Greetings! We received just the slightest embrace from the edge of hurricane Henri, whose landfall was forecasted to include our world, but, as Mother Nature determined, the storm veered west of us and hit my former home of Narragansett Bay and next door in Connecticut. I do wish those folks well.
I passed along the news last time of publication of the third book in my Peter MacAlister mystery series, which was a joyful exercise for me. To celebrate that, and to introduce the series to newcomers to it, I am offering the first book in the series for FREE (e-book only) this week, Monday – Friday, from my author’s page on amazon.com.
You can find that page here. Your ratings and reviews help significantly in marketing the books and are greatly appreciated.
“Edie, A Peter MacAlister Mystery” kicks off the three-book series about a wisecracking reporter from the Massachusetts South Coast who sidelines helping people who need a special hand. He puts his investigative skills to work taking on difficult challenges, and with the assistance of his partner, oddball aging attorney Mory Wilbur, dives headfirst into the case at hand. For a percentage of the recovery, of course.
The series is New England based. “Edie” takes Peter – who’s pretty much a loner, 35 in ’85, which any Boomer knows was about ten minutes ago yesterday – into dark places in Rhode Island, where trigger-happy, drug-peddling gang members, nouveau mobsters, and holed up society dropouts are among the characters they encounter. Books 2 and 3, “Monique” and “Margot,” find him in New Hampshire and Vermont.
The cool retro cover is designed by John Cardinal, who also made my LGBT SUPERHEROES! series covers. And for fans of that series, Peter MacAlister is the reporter in those books, too. Only about three decades later.
My recommended read this month: “Blacktop Wasteland,” by S.A. Cosby This is a wowza of an explosive standalone novel. I heard of him listening to one of my favorite author interview podcasts, “The Writer Files,” by Kelton Reid. Turns out “Blacktop Wasteland” was Amazon’s #1 mystery and thriller of the year for 2020. He’s a throwback to older mystery writers, noir masters, akin to Walter Mosley. Highly recommended.
Want to have some fun? Try out Philip Craig’s Martha’s Vineyard Mysteries. Easy reads set in one of our local marvels. I met Phil at a book reading years back, and we had a great conversation and stayed in touch. And then he was ravaged by cancer and passed at 73. A truly lovely guy who wrote lots of fun books.
Next up, going to try out a writer from down under, Kevin Berry and his New Zealand based noir novels. His PI character and Peter seem to have something in common, so going to check him out.
That’s my news. What’s yours? What reads are you recommending? Happy to pass them along.