Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Mrs. Spinney's Secret featured at NN Light's Best Books '21

 


Come join me at N. N. Light’s Best Bookish Event of 2021, where Mrs. Spinney’s Secret is featured. Enjoy a delightful excerpt about bad lobsters, and enter to win an Amazon gift card.



Here’s the link:

https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/post/mrs-spinney-s-secret-bb21

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

A mystery for Christmas Reading: Artful Dodging: the Torpedo Factory Murders



Milo Everhart and her artist friends fight City Hall when it threatens to sell their beloved Torpedo Factory Art Center to a big box store magnate. Things get complicated when their greatest adversary turns out to be the man Milo loves, and even more complicated when too many murder victims turn up.

Old Town Alexandria at Christmas

Blurb:

It’s just before Christmas, and Milo Everhart has two needlepoint stockings, a cross-stitch purse, and three canvases to finish for her clients. Waiting out the rain in a pub, she is captivated by the handsome man next to her, but blocking the road to romance are two mysterious corpses who turn up in the tower of her Torpedo Factory Art Center. As if that weren’t enough, a second crisis erupts—a proposal to gut her beloved Art Center. 

Tristram Brodie, hard-driving corporate lawyer and former Marine, is focused on his plan to convert the Torpedo Factory into a box store. He is drawn to the beautiful woman sitting next to him, but their mutual attraction will be frustrated by both the murders and his intentions. As they edge closer to love, they must find a way to overcome both their differences and the still-fresh memory of her late husband. 

 

Artful Dodging: the Torpedo Factory Murders

Wild Rose Press, 7/20/2016; Imprint Crimson Rose 

Theme(s): Mystery/Cozy Mystery 
Contemporary romantic Suspense, M/F, 2 flames

Ebook, 66,830 words; Print 268 p 

 

Excerpt (G): The Body

 

“Hello! Hello? 911?”

“Please state the nature of your emergency.”

“A body. There’s a b…b…body.” The word came out as a gurgle.

“Yes, ma’am. Now tell me where you are.”

Milo looked wildly around the darkened corridor. “Second floor. No lights.”

“Ma’am? Second floor of what?”

“Oh, er, the Torpedo Factory. I ran downstairs. I…”

“The Torpedo Factory? You mean the building at 105 North Union Street?”

Milo almost snapped, “How many torpedo factories do you know?” but thought better of it. “Yes.”

“All right, ma’am. Now, you say you’ve found a body? Is it dead?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course it’s dead. Dead. A dead body. In the office.”

“The office?”

“The tower. Look, can you send the police? I’m all alone in the building. Except for the body, of course. I mean, it’s pitch black in here. Please?” She knew she sounded less than rational, but weren’t 911 operators trained to weed out the gibberish and cut to the chase?

“I’ve already sent out a call. The police should be arriving any minute. Now, will they be able to enter the building?”

“Oh! Er. I don’t know. Archie’s already locked up.”

“Archie?”

“The super. He’s long gone, though.”

“Can you get to a door to let them in?”

Milo’s shoes must have found bubble gum on the floor all by themselves, since they appeared to be stuck. “I…uh…I can’t get to the doors.” Nothing but silence on the other end. She must think I’m lazy. Or a coward. I’ll bet she knows how to wait people out, to force them to do her bidding. “I’m not lazy, miss. I’m just…I’m wondering. What if the murderer is hiding somewhere, still in the building?”

“Murderer? You think the victim was murdered?”

Every CSI show she’d ever watched, plus a couple of X Files, fast-forwarded through her brain. Somewhere in the reruns she found the answer. “I don’t know. That’s for the experts to decide.” Thank you, Gil Grissom.

“Okay, ma’am. Listen to me carefully. If the building is locked, the police will have to break the door down, but first they’ll have to go to a judge and get a search warrant. So you see, the quickest way they can help you is if you let them in. Now, do you think you can go down the stairs to the door?”

Milo drew in a long, ragged breath, holding it until her head began to spin. As she let it out, she managed, “Yes. I’m on the landing. Can you stay on the line with me in case I’m attacked?”

“I sure will.”

Milo felt her way with one hand toward the middle stairwell. “I’m on the stairs now. Now I’m walking down the stairs.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The central staircase of the factory only had a single metal railing and thus was exposed to the entire main hall. If anyone still lurked in the building he could easily see (and hear) her. She stopped halfway down and looked across the main lobby to the front entrance, a set of doublewide, glass-paned sliding doors. “There are flashing lights and sirens coming from Union Street.”

“Yes, ma’am. That would be the police.”

Well, duh.

 

Artful Dodging is available in ebook and print. Find it here:

Books2Read    Bookbub    Goodreads

Amazon    ITunes    Barnes & Noble

KOBO    Google Play    Walmart

Indigo    Overdrive

 

Wednesday, December 1, 2021

Hidden Gem: the Secret of St. Augustine--Cover Reveal!

Hidden Gem Cover Reveal!

My new creation, Hidden Gem: the Secret of St. Augustine, is only awaiting a release date from the fabulous Wild Rose Press. To get you salivating, here’s the fabulous cover from Tina Stout:

 


This is the story:

Barnaby and Philo’s story begins with very bad chili and a dead body.

Barnaby is in St. Augustine, Florida, to teach a college seminar, and plans to use The Secret—a treasure hunt book—as a framework for his class. He enlists Philo Brice, owner of an antique map store, to aid him in seeking clues in the historic sites of the ancient city.

Together they face murderers, thieves, thugs, and fanatics, heightening their already strong attraction to each other. Can they solve the puzzle and unearth the treasure before the villains do? Philo and Barnaby pursue several twisting paths and false leads before arriving at a startling conclusion.

Thursday, October 28, 2021

Mrs. Spinney's Secret at NN Light's Trick or Treat Bonanza Today


Lights! Camera! Action! Hollywood comes to Amity Landing, trailing corpses.

 


Mrs. Spinney’s Secret is featured on N N Light’s Trick or Treat Bonanza today!

https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/post/mrs-spinney-s-secret-tot

Read all about it and enter to win a $75 Amazon gift card. See you there!

See you there!

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

Orion's Foot: Myth, Mystery & Romance in the Amazon at NN Light's Trick or Treat Today!

 

Why does the botanist claim he’s found a missing link between birds & dinosaurs? Is the biologist searching for a mythical monster or a living fossil? Why did the eccentric millionaire bring his prototype telescope to the jungle? Find out in Orion’s Foot.

Orion’s Foot: Myth, Mystery, and Romance in the Amazon is featured on N. N. Light’s Trick or Treat Bonanza today!


https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/post/orion-s-foot-myth-mystery-romance-tot


Do Drop By to Read & Win!


Monday, October 25, 2021

Books on the Beach


I had a fabulous time at Books on the Beach this past weekend. Held at the Hilton on Clearwater Beach, hundred of authors and readers gathered for fun-packed days of panels, looking at books, talking shop, and talking a lot. Thanks to the wonder organizers Sheri Lyn, Jennifer Wedmore and Cassidy O'Connor and their fabulous crew of volunteers!

Here's a photo of me with Minion the Monkey:



Me as Minnie Mouse:


Our Mystery Writers Panel:


And my table at the signing.






Do Drop In to NN LIght's Trick or Treat Tomorrow!


I’m part of NN Light’s Trick or Treat Book Bonanza October 26 AND 28!

All Month Long: N. N. Light’s Book Heaven is hosting the third annual Trick or Treat Book Bonanza. Great books—great prizes. This year we are offering a $75 Amazon gift card.

It all takes place here: https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/trick-or-treat-book-bonanza

Save these dates: October 26 and October 28. You’ll get a teaser and a bit more about my mystery/romances.

On October 26: Mrs. Spinney’s Secret

 On October 28 Orion’s Foot: Myth, Mystery, and Romance in the Amazon.



Wednesday, October 20, 2021

Saturday, October 16, 2021

I’m part of NN Light’s Trick or Treat Book Bonanza!

 ALL MONTH LONG!


 

N. N. Light’s Book Heaven is hosting the third annual Trick or Treat Book Bonanza. Great books—great prizes. This year we are offering a $75 Amazon gift card.

It all takes place here: https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/trick-or-treat-book-bonanza

Save these dates: October 26 and October 28. You’ll get a teaser and a bit more about my mystery/romances:

Mrs. Spinney’s Secret 


and Orion’s Foot: Myth, Mystery, and Romance in the Amazon



Monday, October 11, 2021

Five Stars for Thursday’s Children, a Memoir

 


Thursday’s Children, a book by an old friend, Elisabeth Pendley, is an unexpectedly compelling memoir of a young teacher at a disadvantaged elementary school in the South in the 1960s. Thursday’s Children left me distressed but hopeful. It is a fascinating window into that transitional period between segregation and integration, when blacks and whites—confronted with an upheaval in the old order—treated each other with suspicion, if not outright hatred. It is also a story of how a closed environment can be corrupted by indolence and lack of accountability. The author gives us individual portraits of each of the children—their problems and their progress. You find yourself rooting for this or that child to break through the incredible obstacles to success. Also interesting is the picture given of the manner in which human beings react to very difficult circumstances—some with apathy, some with anxiety, some with courage. I recommend Thursday’s Children to anyone wishing to understand more clearly the origin of some current prejudices that have persisted—and the effect those prejudices can have on children’s lives.

Find Thursday’s Children here:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Thursdays-Children-betrayed-defended-continues/dp/0578863812

My Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4282928554

Thursday, September 16, 2021

Coming Soon! Hidden Gem: the Secret of St. Augustine

Approved! The official blurb for my upcoming mystery from The Wild Rose Press, Hidden Gem: the Secret of Saint Augustine:

Aviles Street, St. Augustine, where Philo lives.


Barnaby Swift is in St. Augustine, Florida, to teach a college seminar in historic methodology and plans to use The Secret, a treasure hunt book, as a framework for his class. He enlists Philo Brice, owner of an antique map store, to aid him in seeking clues in the historic sites of the ancient city.

The Secret: a Treasure Hunt by Byron Preiss



Together they face murderers, thieves, thugs, and fanatics, heightening their already strong attraction to each other. Can they solve the puzzle and unearth the treasure before the villains do? Philo and Barnaby must follow several twisting paths and false leads before arriving at a startling conclusion.

Sound intriguing? I'll keep you posted on publication date!

Monday, September 13, 2021

Randy Overbeck & Scarlet at Crystal River are with us today

Please welcome Randy Overbeck and the latest addition to his Haunted Shores mystery series, Scarlet at Crystal River.



Darrell and Erin thought they were heading to Florida for a carefree honeymoon, but the ghosts of two immigrants children haunt them, pleading for help.

In 2019, the Wild Rose Press launched the Haunted Shores Mysteries with my story about Darrell, the teacher and coach who sees ghosts and the ghost of a huge black student haunting a high school. Blood On The Chesapeake was so well received by readers and reviewers that it became a #1 Amazon best seller. Then, last year, the publisher released Crimson At Cape May in the middle of the pandemic, a story featuring the specter of a bride murdered on her wedding night, who stalks Darrell, still bleeding in her white wedding dress. This second entry has won three national awards and, by now, the series has amassed more than a dozen 5-Star reviews from national and international reviewers.

As I pondered the third installment, I realized I wanted to keep all the critical elements of the series—cold case murder, ghost, romance and resort—but I also wanted to give my readers something different. On a break from my brainstorming, I was thumbing through family pictures and came upon a photo of my grandkids playing on a playground. Staring at the images of the smiling faces, it hit me. What if the mystery was about the death of two your kids? Two kids whose ghosts haunt Darrell to find justice for them?

The rest, as they say, is history. Our last trip—pre-pandemic—was to the Florida Gulf coast to find a suitable location for my narrative and I found a great one. Thus, Scarlet At Crystal River was born. Well, that and hundreds of hours of writing, revising, re-writing, editing, re-writing…well, you get the picture. I’m pretty happy with the end product and I hope readers are too.

 

Blurb

All Darrell Henshaw wanted was to enjoy his honeymoon with his beautiful wife, Erin, in the charming town of Crystal River on the sunny Gulf Coast of Florida. Only a pair of ghosts decide to intrude on their celebration. And not just any ghosts, the spirits of two young Latino children. Unwilling at first to derail the honeymoon for yet another ghost hunt, Darrell finally concedes when a painting of the kids comes alive, weeping and pleading for his help.

When he and Erin track down the artist, they discover the children’s family were migrant workers the next county over. But when they travel there, their questions about the kids gets their car shot up and Erin hospitalized. Torn between fear and rage, Darrell must decide how far he will go to get justice for two young children he never even knew.

Excerpt: There and Not There

           Darrell ran harder, finishing the loop and circling back to Erin. She was so engrossed in her paperback he managed to sneak up behind her. He leaned and in and grabbed another long kiss.

She kissed him back, smiling. “Now that’s better than a little fictional romance.” She got up and stretched her long legs.

 “You ready for some waves?” he asked.

“If you’re up to it, let’s do a mile or so on the sand first.”

“You’re on.” Darrell gave a gentlemanly wave of his hand.

“I’ll race you.”

Erin took off like a shot, and Darrell hurried after her. Since the beach was small, they covered the same ground Darrell had a few minutes earlier, passing the family sandcastle builders, another jogger, and the same strolling couples. As usual, she was quick, and he had to hustle to keep up, using some fancy footwork to sidestep sunbathers as they ran. When they got to the north end of the beach where Darrell had turned to double back, Erin headed for a little spit of land that strutted out into the water. He looked beyond and saw what she was headed for. Accelerating, he passed her.

Ahead, at the far end of the beach, a pair of young kids, he’d guess about six, sat in the sand as the waves rolled over their legs. Their small hands busied with a primitive sandcastle. One had long, brown hair tied into pigtails, and the other had a full head of brown hair, unkempt and in need of a trim. He came up to them and stopped, Erin a few seconds behind.

The kids wore street clothes, not swimsuits, but he didn’t think much about it. Then he noticed something about the young boy. His right leg was stuck out at a grotesque angle, as if it had been broken and never set. Both kids giggled at the gurgling water that rolled up around their bare feet and pooled in the makeshift moat they’d dug around their sand creation. The castle was crude, a nearly round construction with seashells sticking up like turrets. The two kids glanced up, caramel eyes wide and pleading with half smiles of white teeth.

In unison, they said, “Ayudaños?”

“Huh?” Darrell said.

“Cute castle, huh?” Erin stared at the sand and looked up at Darrell. “I wonder who made it?” Her eyes roamed around the area. “Out here on this spit of land it isn’t going to last very long.”

“Those kids—” he started, pointing to the pair. When he looked down, the sandcastle sat alone, the gulf water flowing around the construction and into the crude moat.

His glance darted out to the waves, thinking they’d abandoned their work and ran into the water, even in their street clothes, though he wondered how the boy could have run.

No girl or boy.

Oh, God! The same two kids? “You vill have two visitors.”

“What’d you say?” Erin asked, her gaze meeting his.

The ghosts. Erin hadn’t seen them!

Shit, he couldn’t tell her. Not now. Not here.

“Nothing,” he managed around the lump in his throat and glanced back down at the sand.

There at his feet, the crude sand construction they’d been working on, complete with the three blue seashells sticking out of the top, sat alone on the sand. He reached down and grabbed one of the small seashells as the prickle on his neck returned and sizzled. Then he sensed something else, something ominous. No, not ominous, malevolent. More of Natalia’s warning came back to him.

“I see a malevolence, a great danger lurking nearby.”

A big wave rushed in, rolling over their ankles and leveling the mound of sand, leaving the beach empty. As if nothing had ever been there.

Ayúdaños!”

 

Wild Rose Press (September 13, 2021)

Paranormal mystery

364 pp.

 

Buy Links

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

 


About the Author

Dr. Randy Overbeck is an award-winning educator, author and speaker. As an educator, he served children for four decades in a range of roles captured in his novels, from teacher and coach to principal and superintendent. His thriller, Leave No Child Behind (2012) and his recent mysteries, Blood on the Chesapeake, Crimson at Cape May, and Scarlet at Crystal River have earned five star reviews and garnered national awards including “Thriller of the Year--ReadersFavorite.com, “Gold Award”—Literary Titan, “Mystery of the Year”—ReadersView.com and “Crowned Heart of Excellence”—InD’Tale Magazine. As a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Dr. Overbeck contributes to a writers’ critique group, serves as a mentor to emerging writers, and participates in writing conferences such as Sleuthfest, Killer Nashville, and the Midwest Writers Workshop. When he’s not writing or researching his next novel or sharing his presentation, “Things Still Go Bump in the Night,” he’s spending time with his incredible family of wife, three children (and their spouses) and seven wonderful grandchildren.

 

Social Media

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Tik-Tok

 

Thanks so much for sharing your fabulous new mystery with us today.

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

The Wild Rose Press Wednesday Promos Features The Mason's Mark

 


Come one come all to the Wild Rose Press Wednesday Promos! Today, September 1, I’m talking about my Old Town Alexandria mystery romance The Mason’s Mark: Love & Death in the Tower. It will be on Wild Rose’s Facebook page here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/8650773462

I’ll be giving away a copy of The Mason’s Mark. I’d love to hear your questions about this or any of my books! See you there!

Friday, August 27, 2021

Orion's Foot at Long & Short Reviews Birthday Bash Today

Drop into the Long & Short Reviews Anniversary Blogfest today, Friday, August 27, for a dip into my exotic mystery set deep in the Peruvian Amazon, Orion’s Foot: Myth, Mystery, and Romance in the Amazon.

 


Orion’s Foot: Mystery lurks deep in the Amazon—a tale of monsters, passion, and obsession.

 


http://www.longandshortreviews.com/guest-blogs/lasr-anniversary-scavenger-hunt-orions-foot-myth-mystery-romance-in-the-amazon-by-m-s-spencer

 

LASR is giving away lots of Amazon gift cards, including TWO $100 cards! All you have to do is read my blurb, answer a question on the Rafflecopter, and win! Easy peasy and great fun.

Thursday, August 26, 2021

Mrs. Spinney's Secret at Long & Short Birthday Bash Today

Drop into the Long & Short Reviews Anniversary Blogfest today, Thursday, August 26, for a taste of my Maine mystery/romance Mrs. Spinney’s Secret.(It goes live at 7:00 am.)

 


Mrs. Spinney’s Secret: Lights! Camera! Action! Hollywood comes to Amity Landing, trailing corpses.

 


http://www.longandshortreviews.com/guest-blogs/lasr-anniversary-scavenger-hunt-mrs-spinneys-secret-by-m-s-spencer/

 

LASR is giving away lots of Amazon gift cards, including TWO $100 cards! All you have to do is read my blurb, answer a question on the Rafflecopter, and win! Easy peasy and great fun.

Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Tuesday, August 17, 2021

The Penhallow Train Incident at N. N. Light's Today!

 Please drop by N. N. Light’s fantastical magical Mini Mystery Book event today, Tuesday, August 17 at 9 am for a dollop of intrigue from The Penhallow Train Incident.

https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/post/the-penhallow-train-incident-msbe



In the sleepy coastal Maine town of Penhallow, a stranger dies on a train, drawing Historical Society Director, Rachel Tinker, and curmudgeonly retired professor, Griffin Tate, into a spider’s web of archaeological obsession and greed. With the help of the victim’s rival, they set out to locate the Queen of Sheba’s tomb. Their plans are stymied when a war erupts between the sheriff and a state police detective who want to arrest the same man for different crimes. It’s up to Rachel to solve a mystery that includes two more murders, if she wants to unlock the soft heart that beats under Griffin’s hard crust. 





https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/post/the-penhallow-train-incident-msbe

Enjoy an excerpt in which we meet the hero, Griffin Tate. And while you’re there, enter the Rafflecopter contest to win an Amazon gift card!