from A Hard Day’s Fright and six other Pepper Martin mysteries by Casey Daniels


           



Visiting today, Pepper Martin, tour guide in Cleveland’s Garden View Cemetery and world’s only private investigator for the dead.
 
Pepper, you are not with the police department. How and why did you get involved in this case?
It all started at the cemetery where I work when I tripped and hit my head on the mausoleum of an old mob boss named Gus Scarpetti.  The next day when I came to work, Gus was there waiting for me. Yeah, dead guy. But that didn’t stop him. It hasn’t stopped any of the ghosts since. I’ve investigated cases for a rock star from the 60s (if you heard the gossip, it’s true, we did fall in love), a long-dead president and in my most recent case, a teenager who went to a Beatles concert back in 1966—and was never seen again.


When did you know you were able to communicate with ghosts?
Like I said, it never happened until that unfortunate fall in the cemetery. Up until then, my life had been blissfully ghost-free.  Now?  Not so much.

Tell us about this case.
My most recent case involves a girl named Lucy.  She attended that Beatles concert with a group of friends and left for home with them.  But she was the last one off the train, and no one ever saw her again.  Honestly, I don’t think I would have bothered with ol’ Lucy if it wasn’t for the fact that it turns out my boss, Ella Silverman, was one of those kids at the concert with her.  Even after all these years, Ella still misses her friend.  Bad enough, yes, for a PI to the dead who’d rather avoid a case?  Worse, because I realized Ella still felt guilty about leaving Lucy alone that night. Don’t let word of this get around, but truth be told, I’ve got a pretty soft heart.  I couldn’t stand the thought of sweet, fluffy Ella feeling bad about something that wasn’t her fault.  I had no choice but to investigate.


What made the case hard to solve?
Well, 40-year-old murder for one thing.  For another?  No one ever found Lucy’s body.   No corpse, no clues, and a ghost who told me she couldn’t rest in peace until she was properly buried.  Yeah, all that was hard enough, add to it a few other complications, like my on-again-off-again relationship with Quinn   Harrison, bullheaded, hunky Homicide detective. 

Did  anyone help you with your investigation?
If we use the word“help” it its broadest sense, yes. Ariel, Ella’s annoying  teenaged daughter for one.  Once she decided she wanted to be a detective just like me, there was no getting rid of the kid. Then there was Ella, of course, because she knew more about Lucy than anyone.  And the other kids (now adults) who were at the concert with Lucy that night.  Oh, and I can’t forget  Reggie and Delmar, two guys I met on a previous investigation. Don’t worry, nothing we did (well, nothing anyone ever found out about) violated their probation.

Has this case affected your personal life in any way?
Oh yeah, big time.  For one thing, finding the solution to the mystery helped out Ella.  That was a big plus.  For the other . . . well, something happened to Quinn.  Something Big.  I’m not going to divulge anything here, let’s just say it turned both our worlds upside down.

Has being able to communicate with the dead changed your life?
Absolutely, and not for the better.  Being shot at, knifed, kidnapped, mugged, etc., etc., etc., isn’t exactly my idea of a good time.  Then again, I have helped a few ghosts cross over, and I made sure one really bad ghost got what she deserved.  So if nothing else, I suppose I’m performing a public service.  Provided the public we’re talking about is dead.



Casey Daniels once applied for a job as a tour guide in a cemetery.  She didn’t get the job, but she did get the idea for the Pepper Martin mysteries. Pepper works in a cemetery and solves mysteries for the ghosts there.  A Hard Day’s Fright (released last April) is the seventh book in the series.  It will be followed by Wild, Wild Death, which will hit store shelves on January 3,and by a ninth book which she’s working on now.

Before writing mysteries, Casey wrote both historical and contemporary romance under the names Constance Laux and Connie Lane.  She’s also written YA horror as Zoe Daniels.  All told, she’s published 40 books and has been nominated for the prestigious RITA award by Romance Writers of America.  

In addition to writing the Pepper Martin mysteries, she also writes (as Kylie Logan) the Button Box mysteries.  The first book in that series, Button Holed, premiered in September.

She can be found atwww.caseydaniels.com and every Wednesday at www.thelittleblogofmurder.com and http://wickedauthors.blogspot.com. Her books are available in bookstores and online and she urges readers not to forget independent bookstores when they do their shopping.


 
 
 

  
Two readers who leave comments will be chosen to receive a copy of one of Marja McGraw's books.
                 
Sandi Webster is from Old Murders Never Die by Marja McGraw. Chris Cross is from Bogey
Nights, also by Marja McGraw.     

 


Today Sandi Webster and Chris Cross are visiting all the way from Los Angeles. Sandi is a female private eye who has more fun investigating crimes and murders than any gumshoe should be allowed. Chris Cross bears a striking resemblance to Humphrey Bogart, and he’s the one everyone actually calls a Gumshoe.

Sandi, and Chris, how did you decide to become private investigators?

Sandi:
I got into this line of work for all the wrong reasons. I grew up watching vintage mystery movies with my mother, and when I watched those old P.I.’s search for clues and get their man, I just knew that was the life for me. They made it look so romantic and fun. It turned out I was right, although it is a lot of hard work.
 
Chris is an amateur detective. I don’t think he and his wife, Pamela, should be solving crimes because they’re not professionals, but I have to admit they do manage to get the job done.  Chris and I met when he started following me, trying to learn the business. By the way, I introduced him to Pamela.
 
Chris:
Sandi tried to give me the bum’s rush, but I’ll give her points for knowing Pamela.  I’m
not really a P.I. My wife and I own a forties-themed hash house. There was a time when I wanted to be a gumshoe, and that’s when I met the Dish here. She did some fancy footwork to show me I wasn’t cut out to be a private Dick, but we managed to solve a case together anyway. Now people come to me, asking me to solve crimes. 

      
What is the hardest thing about being a private eye?

Sandi:
Patience is a virtue. Uh, I guess I’m not very virtuous. I find myself sighing a lot because things simply don’t go the way I want them to, and this is a frequent occurrence.  I don’t have a lot of patience.
 
Chris:
Patience? She’s not just whistlin’ Dixie. She had no patience with me.  This dame tried everything to get rid of me, but I was tenacious.
 
Sandi:
Did you see that? He rolled his upper lip under and pulled on his ear lobe. Sometimes I think he really believes he’s Bogey reincarnated.
 
Chris:
Okay, I was wet behind the ears, but I ain’t got bats in my belfry. I can follow clues with the best of ‘em. And I have put a couple of goons in the slammer, without Sandi’s help.

      
Tell us about this case. 

Sandi:
My partner, Pete, and I decided to take a well-deserved vacation. It didn’t come as a surprise to me when we got lost in the mountains of Arizona. Hm. Pete never listens to me. Anyway, what did surprise me was that we found a ghost town which was just as the people who’d lived there left it. We became stranded when this cowboy, on horseback no less, tinkered with our Jeep. We found an old house to stay in and ran across the records of the old-time sheriff from 1880. He wrote about a series of murders. When you’re stranded in a ghost town, there’s not a whole lot to do after you’ve gone through the old buildings that are still standing. We began reading the records to see if we could solve the crime from what information the sheriff had left. 

In the meantime, that crazy cowboy kept getting in our way and under my skin. What a pain in the… Oh, and I can’t forget Bubba, my half wolf/half Golden retriever. He was with us. Now Bubba is about the size of a small bear, and he’s as graceful as that ol’ bull in the China shop. In other words, between being lost, having a big dog, a boyfriend, a mysterious cowboy and being stranded in a town haunted by old murders, I had the best time of my life. Seriously. I really did.

Chris:
I heard about that caper. I wish the Dollface and I had been with you.

Our case started when the original restaurant burned down. Pamela and I bought a 1920s-style house to convert into the new eatery. Before we even got the renovations started, Sherlock and Watson discovered a stiff buried in the basement. Oh, those are our two yellow Labrador retrievers. 

Unlike the cupcake sitting next to me, I’ll keep my story short. According to the coppers the cadaver has been underground since the forties. Anyway, we found out the vintage home had once been a boarding house, and we followed clues to find the killer. And let me tell you, we were mighty surprised. I have a seven-year-old stepson named Mikey. I call him Ace. He helped out, too, although they told him to deep six the dead body talk at
school. Zero tolerance stuff. I should mention that we took on the case at the insistence of Midge and Pidge, relatives of the stiff. They wouldn’t take no for an answer.


Sandi, does he always talk like this?
(Shaking her head)  Yes
      
What made the case hard to solve?

Sandi:
The fact that the murders took place around 1880, which meant all witnesses and   victims were long gone. And so were most of the clues, although we did uncover a few surprising things.
 
Chris:
The bride and I had it a little easier than Sandi. A number of people who were around the boarding house in the forties were still breathing. But it was hard to eyeball everything when the caper took place so long ago.

      
Did anyone help you with your investigation?

Sandi:
Just my partner, Pete. Well, I have to be fair. Bubba helped in his own doggie way.
 
Chris:
Ours was a family affair. Pamela, Ace and the dogs all did their bit to help solve the crime. Well, we also have a copper friend named Janet Murphy. She might have done her part.

      
Has this case affected your personal life in any way?

Sandi:
In the long run it did, and it will continue to cause some major changes in my life. 
 
Chris:
Change my personal life? You betcha. Now every Tom, Dick and Harry in Los Angeles wants help solving crimes. Sometimes we have to play it kinda close to the vest so we don’t step on the coppers toes, but thanks to Pamela we have a connection at the P.D. now. And Ace sees a mystery in every corner. That kid is crazy like a fox--way too savvy for his age. He wants a mystery to solve, and he won’t let it go. 
 
Sandi:
Paula, thank you so much for allowing me to visit and share a little about my latest case. Who knows? Maybe this interview will drum up some new business for me and Pete. 
 
Chris:
Yeah, thanks, Angel.  This has been a hoot, but I guess I’d better take a powder now. (He holds out his hand.) Slip me some skin, and have a good life.

Thank you, Sandi and Chris, for being with us. We wish you the best in solving future cases.
 
Note: Sandi and Chris first met in The Bogey Man by Marja McGraw. Two lucky readers will be chosen at random to receive one of Marja McGraw's books. Just leave a comment between now and October 21. 


Marja McGraw has written eight books including the Sandi Webster Mysteries and the Bogey Man Mysteries. She was the editor for the Sisters in Crime Internet Newsletter for a year and a half. She’s appeared on television and been a guest on various radio and Internet radio shows.  She currently resides in Arizona with her husband, where life is good. Her latest book, Old Murders Never Die, was released July, 2011. Information on her or any of her books can be found on her website: www.marjamcgraw.com or blog   http://blog.marjamcgraw.com/. Catch the trailer for Old Murders Never Die at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTBOpzq-wDM.


 
 
 
 

 from Blinded by the Sight by S.L. Smith


                 
 


We have with us today Lt. Peter Culnane with the St. Paul Police Department.  Lt. Culnane, please tell us about yourself.
Most people call me Pete … or a number of other names that don’t bear repeating. I’m a lieutenant on the St. Paul Police Department. Incidentally, in St. Paul we’re called   investigators, not detectives. I’ve been with the St. Paul PD for nine years.
 

Pete, tell us about this case. What made it so special? 
This case was special right out of the chute. The murdered man was believed to be homeless, but he was wearing a ring with a huge diamond. That made no sense. The body was reported by two young boys who disappeared a short time later. Attempting to determine the reason for their disappearance and whether they were safe became another priority. The lack of cooperation from some members of the victim’s family made
parts of the investigation difficult and revealed they were a splintered and secretive group. When all was said and done, I was amazed by the ways an attempt to help someone can go awry, ruining many lives.
 
Did anything make this case hard to solve? 
Two words sum it up:  loyalties and fear. The victim’s family was torn by conflicting
loyalties. Those loyalties were long-standing and divisive. In addition, poor   communication meant family members were afraid of implicating each other and  themselves. Fear also dictated the actions of others critical to solving the case. This fear wore many faces: the rejection of one’s cohort, the retribution of a parent or an employer, and betrayal to name just a few. Interestingly enough, each time fear was a factor, loyalty was always a part of that equation.
 
Did anyone outside of the police department help you solve this case? 
The two boys who reported the body and a homeless man were key. Although I’m not in a position to discuss the boys, gaining the trust and cooperation of the homeless man was  essential. Also, out of necessity, I solicited the cooperation of another police department. The cop with whom I worked was a real team player.
 
Has this case affected your personal life in any way? 
During this investigation, I gained a glimpse into and appreciation for both the plight of   the homeless and the absurdity of the stereotypes attributed to this group. It’s now impossible for me, as a regular citizen, to ignore a request for help from one of these people. I’m enough of a realist to know that the money doesn’t always go for the stated purpose. Whenever possible, I provide for the stated need in lieu of cash.
 
Anything else? 
We all assume things, and we often act on those assumptions. This case provided an excellent example of the tragedy that can result. Several people acted on assumptions they either failed to verify or were afraid to verify. They went off half-cocked and made
tragic mistakes—and the tragedy touched many lives. What a waste! I wish I knew of a way to get people to think more and react less. Yes, that includes me.
 
The last thing is more difficult to share. Since my wife’s death, I’ve avoided the opposite sex by hiding behind my job. Having run into a former acquaintance during this   investigation, I feel like I’m ready to pick up and carry on. And I love kids, want some of my own, but I want to do it the traditional way. My job makes my hours irregular and unpredictable, so I think it’s even more important for someone like me to ensure the stability of a traditional life foe my future. 

Pete, we wish you well with future investigations. I'm glad that you are ready to move forward in your personal life.
 
 
S. L. (Sharon) Smith was born in St. Cloud and moved to the Twin Cities after graduating from St. Catherine’s University in St. Paul. For Blinded by the Sight, S. L. drew upon her education in psychology, a career with vast amounts of law enforcement interaction, and her thrill for the investigative hunt. She is a member of the National Writers Union and Sisters in Crime (an organization that supports mystery writers). Blinded by the Sight was released on September 1, 2011 and is available at many St. Paul and Minneapolis bookstores. For more information visit her website www.slsmithbooks.com or email her at slsmithbooks@gmail.com.

 from Force of Habit by Marian Allen  
 



                 
Allow me to introduce Pel Darzin of the Meadow of Flowers District constabulary in Council City, the capital city of the planet Llannonn. Council City is the Central City of the Meadow of Flowers District. Down these mean streets--well, a bit mean, but not too mean, because the Llannonninn are courteous people--walks this man.  Darzin came up through the ranks from constable and knows his city and his district inside and out.


District Criminal Investigator Darzin, tell us about this case. What made it so special?
The special thing about this case was how convoluted it appeared, and how simple it actually was, once I saw through to the one, all-important fact at the heart of it. There were these aliens from outer space, you see, and then there were these other aliens from outer space. And the second aliens saved one of our people from the first aliens, although first one of the second aliens put her in greater jeopardy. Bookkeeper Freldt Saymak of
Jok'rel's Traveler's Rest Inn, called to report that Gord Pron, an enforcer for a well-known Stokk criminal, was extorting her to cook her boss' books. I arranged to meet her and listen in while she maneuvered him into repeating his plot. But, before I got there, a party of Terrans -- well, mostly Terrans -- came to Jok'rel's for shore leave, and the rest is history. Some say Professor Isobel Schuster changed places with Freldt Saymak by chance, but I know better.
 
What made the case hard to solve?
All the aliens. And, of course, all the criminals. There was the Stokk Gord Pron and boss and his henchman, there was a member of our own Grand Council working with Pron's boss, there was a Terran con man named Connell Morgan and, technically, myself. Frankly, Communications Commissioner Darlla Bute didn't make matters any easier. We joke about that now.

Did anyone outside of the police department help you solve this case?
Oh, yes. Oh, my, yes. The Irregulars were invaluable, as always. I understand your own Sherlock Holmes had his own Irregulars, is that right? I'd like to compare notes with him some day. The crew and teaching staff of the Space Academy training ship St. Gregory the Wonderworker were invaluable allies; we were all very impressed. And, of course, the
mysterious Bel. This is Bel's story, really, you know. I'm humbled and proud to have played my part.

Has this case affected your personal life in any way?
Professionally, which is closely related to my personal life, I feel much more comfortable dealing with Terrans, which has boosted my career. Although we have a variety of aliens from outer space on Llannonn, the Terran mind is the most difficult for us to fathom. Terrans are much more complex than we give them credit for being. Too many of us give up and simply treat them as if they were insane, which is a mistake. An understandable
mistake, but a mistake. When I get what you would call my twenty years' service in, I plan to retire to the rural part of the Meadow of Flowers District and raise pratties. I couldn't afford that, if it hadn't been for the salary advancement and Terran/Llannonninn liaison fees this case instigated for me.

Thank you for being with us today, District Criminal Investigator Darzin. I wish you the best as you fight crime in outer space.


Marian Allen lives in rural Indiana. For as long as she can remember, she has loved telling and being told stories. Allen has had stories in on-line and print publications, on
coffee cans and the wall of an Indian restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky. Force of Habit is her second book. For more information on her or any of her books visit her website at Marian Allen - Fantasies, Mysteries, Comedies, Recipes or her Facebook Author page Marian Allen Author.  A short story also featuring Pel Darzin is free atSmashwords.

 


from Beta by Stephen L. Brayton


                 
 


Her name is Mallory Petersen. She is a six foot blonde private investigator with a Fourth Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo. She  owns her own business and martial arts school.

Welcome, Mallory!

How and why did you get involved in this case?
Cheryl McGee stopped into my office Monday morning and wanted to hire me to find her eight year old daughter, Cindy, who went missing the previous Saturday. Cindy was the latest in a string of children believed to have been kidnapped in the region in the last eighteen months.

Why was this case so special?
Talking with an officer friend and the lead investigator, I discovered a possible connection to child pornography. I followed some leads given to me by an informant buddy and wound up encountering a bunch of seriously perverted people. 
 
Did anything make this case difficult to solve?
The links in the case were tenuous and I had to follow a trail of clues leading me out of Des Moines, Iowa, down to the little south central town of Oskaloosa, then all the way up to the Quad Cities. Plus, I kept getting more frustrated with each dead end.
 
Did anyone help you with your investigation?
Of course, my secretary and friend, Darren provided some information. Also helping me out was my little informant Willy Washington who I met years ago trying to steal my car. Then I meet dreamboat investigator Lawrence Cameron out of the Quad Cities. He and I spent an entire day together searching different places for Cindy.
 
Has this case affected your personal life in any way?
Well, meeting Lawrence certainly. I think I found a new wonderful boyfriend. But the missing child and the exposure to child pornography really affected me because I instruct children in martial arts training, and to see this one child and to learn of so many more subjected to this horrible crime pushed me to the limit mentally and morally.

Thank you for being with us today, Mallory. We wish you well in trainiing in your private investigations and in teaching children martial arts.

 
Stephen L. Brayton  lives in Oskaloosa, Iowa and is a Fifth Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo.  Beta is scheduled  to be released October 1. His other works include “Night Shadows” and four short stories. Information on his works can be found on his website at www.stephenbrayton.com . He can also be emailed at slb@mahaska.org.  


 
 
 

 from Devil’s Kitchen by Clark Lohr.


 
We have with us today Manuel Aguilar. Born in Tucson, Arizona, he is a product of a tripartite society: Anglo, Latino, and Native American. His cultural and racial heritage goes back many years before English-speaking Europeans came to dominate the Southwestern US.  Aguilar is bilingual. He served for sixteen years with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department and was fired over complications arising from a murder case. He currently works as a private investigator for Jeffrey Goldman, a criminal defense attorney.

You were fired over a murder case? How did that happen?     
I was fired over what, at first, looked to me like a simple murder case—a decapitated head found in a county landfill. Once we’d got the dead guy ID’d, I started looking at people around the case. Those people started dying. One of them was shot to death. That’s unusual. I didn’t want to let the case go. I kept pushing the case and was involved in several shooting incidents as a result. The sheriff’s department fired me. Then my girlfriend, Reina, got me to go to work for Jeff Goldman.
     
What made this case hard to solve?
The case was hard to solve because there were powerful people involved who didn’t want the case solved. These people had corrupt law enforcement on their side and a bunch of sicarios, Mexican nationals, killers, who work under the radar in the US.

You mentioned your girlfriend Reina. Did she help you solve the case?     
I couldn’t have done it without Reina.

Did anyone else help you?
Johnny Oaks, who’s also a PI—and Goldman. I got help from the few friends I had left in the sheriff’s department, too. There was a kid involved, a runaway teenager.  She had good information and we used it.  I also had a Yaqui  grandmother who helped.

Did this case affect your personal life in any way?     
My personal life? Yeah, it made it better, emotionally.  I got hurt physically, but I came through knowing a lot more about what’s out there, the stuff you can’t see—call it the spirit world if you want to.  Reina’s in my life. She’s as important to me as my job. We came through it even closer than we were before.

Thank you for being with us today. We wish you and Reina the best and appreciate what you do.



Clark Lohr comes from a Montana farm and ranch background. He is a Vietnam vet and a member of Veterans for Peace. He’s lived mostly in Tucson, Arizona since the late Sixties. Devil’s Kitchen was published by Oak Tree Press and released in June 2011. The book is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Powell’s Books. Visit clarklohr.com for more information.  
 


  


  


  

 from The Widow’s Walk League by Nancy Lynn Jarvis. 


             



Welcome, Officer Everett. Please tell us about yourself and your role with the Santa Cruz Police Department.
Well, I lost an eye in a shootout several years back--- dumb mistake, but there’s no point going into that. I convinced the Santa Cruz Police Department to keep me on in a desk job as the media interface, public relations guy for the force rather than just retiring me. I’m only in my mid-forties and too young to be completely sidelined. I didn’t like my job at first, too many cats up a tree and stuff like that, but I figured out ways to keep a finger in some crime pies.

Do you like your job now?
After a while I came up with my personal trademark Hawaiian shirt for TV interviews and  realized how bad Santa Cruz, whose motto is "Keep Santa Cruz Weird" needed my interface between the force and the community. Eventually, I kind of started enjoying what I do.

You said you lost an eye in a shootout. 
 Oh, yeah, about my eye: we already have Jack O’Neill, the guy who invented wetsuits
as our local one-eyed-patch wearing celebrity, so my eye is a prosthetic. It matches my good eye perfectly, I’m told. I just can't wink very well because it mimics what my good eye does.

Officer Everett, can you tell us about this case?
We get some gang shootings and some one-shot personal murders, but this case, well,
Santa Cruz husbands started getting killed in some pretty public places. And then this little TV gal talked to some witnesses who said they saw somebody dressed like Death hanging around when the first guy bought it. The media went nuts. By the time of the second murder, everybody was seeing Death. 

Did anyone outside of the police department help you solve this case?
You would ask that, wouldn’t you? See, I’ve got this gal-pal — my wife’s a friend of her husband’s, too, so that makes us kind of extra-tight — who’s become kind of a meddler. She’s a real estate agent, not exactly a job profile that makes her well-trained to solve murders, but she gets these ideas… It started a couple of years ago when a real estate buddy of hers was top of our list of suspects in a murder. We just didn’t have the personnel to pursue it instantly and she’s, well, she’s kind of nosey and impatient. 

My train of thought is getting derailed here. Regan, that’s her name, Regan McHenry, well, she has a way of doing that to me; she gets me involved in the messes she makes with her amateur detecting. Sometimes she even gets me to tell her things about cases I probably shouldn’t. It’s irritating how she finds things out that she has no right to know. Ah, don't get me started. I worry about her, too. Like I said, she's a friend. She's gonna get herself seriously hurt one of these days even though I try to keep her out of trouble.

How did she help with this case?
Oh yeah, this case. All the widows of these dead guys started coming to her to sell their houses — and she realized they all knew one another because they belonged to this walking group called the Widow’s Walk League. She got all worked up, like she does, and thought the head of this group seemed suspicious, even had designs on her husband. The case got solved, not exactly because of her, but —don’t you dare tell her I said this because she already thinks she’s cleverer than she is — but because of some stuff she discovered and because she caught a few lucky breaks. 

Thank you for being with us today. I wish you the best in helping to keep our streets safe and Regan out of messes.


Nancy Lynn Jarvis has been a Santa Cruz, California, Realtor® for more than twenty
years. She still owns a real estate company with her husband, but has been having so much fun killing people that she will probably never sell another house. The Widow’s Walk League, the fourth in her Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries, was released in July. For more information on her or her books visit her Amazon author page under Nancy Lynn Jarvis  http://www.goodreadmysteries.com 
and at  http://www.facebook.com/ReganMcHenryRealEstateMysteries?ref=ts. 

from A Deadly Draught by Lesley A. Diehl


 


A representative from the county sheriff’s department was not  available to comment, so we have Hera Knightsbridge, owner of a microbrewery in  the Butternut Valley where the murder occurred.   


Hera, you are not with the sheriff’s department. How and why did you get involved in this case? 
I found the body on his brew barn floor. Mr. Ramford, the man who was killed, called me earlier in the evening to meet him at his place. I was trying to negotiate a deal with him, hoping he’d loan me some money for my struggling brewery.
 
That’s a little odd. He was your closest competitor. Why would he want to loan you money? 
Oh, well, I know it sounds unusual, and the police thought it was too, but his family and mine have been friendly competitors for years.  He was my father’s best friend and his son, Michael and I were, uh, friends for years. 
 
I heard the two of you were not on friendly terms of late.  Didn’t the authorities see you as their prime suspect at first? 
Well, sure, but I didn’t do it, and I convinced Jake I was innocent. Jake is the assistant deputy sheriff for the county and he’s an old, uh, friend of mine from law school.  To be honest with you, I was pretty steamed. He thought at first I might have killed Mr. Ramford.  But then, Jake and I have always been at odds, even in law school.  He came at me with that cold, cop attitude of his, and I had to prove him wrong.
 
Tell us about this case. What made it so special? 
Aside from me, the initial suspect, the other person Jake thought was guilty was Mr. Ramford’s son, Michael.  We were best friends from the time we were in grade school. I
knew Michael couldn’t be guilty, but others in the community felt as Jake did.  Michael did act so strange after the murder.  He said he wasn’t interested in the craft beer business any longer.  I thought his new girlfriend turned his head away from brewing.  She was a piece of work.  One thing Jake did find out that made the case more important to me was a tie-in between Mr. Ramford’s murder and my father’s suicide years earlier. The murder shook up the entire valley community and everyone became suspicious of everyone
else.
 
What made the case hard to solve? 
All the microbrewers in the valley came under suspicion because the authorities, especially my so-called  friend Jake, thought competition among us might have created issues.  Jake had so many suspects and, because he was new to this area, so little entre with the community that he asked me for my help.  Well, I guess I offered it.   Now he calls me his own Miss Marple.  The list of suspects seemed to grow with the appearance of Mr. Ramford’s long lost son and a shady character who turned out to be a friend of another brewer.  Then someone began to worry that I knew more than I should. I was attacked in my own brewery and then pursued through a violent summer storm.
 
Did anyone help you with your investigation? 
Well, Jake did. I mean he finally took my ideas seriously and acted on information I
found out for him.  Oh, not that he’s not a great cop.  He is, but, if you’re an outsider in this little community, you’re at a disadvantage.
 
Has this case affected your personal life in any way? 
Jake and I are friends again, well, we’re more than friends.  He’s asked me to marry him. 
My best friend Sally is going to have a baby. Unfortunately, I lost some dear friends too.

Thank you for talking with us today. Congratulations on your proposal!



 Lesley A. Diehl retired from her life as a professor of psychology and reclaimed her country roots by moving to a small cottage in the Butternut River Valley in upstate New York.  She devotes her afternoons to writing and, when the sun sets, relaxing on the bank of her trout stream, sipping tea or a local microbrew. A Deadly Draught was released by Mainly Murder Press April, 2010. For information on Lesley or any of her books visit her website : www.lesleydiehl.com or her blog http://anotherdraught.blogspot.com.

from The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper by Sally  Carpenter
 






Baby boomers are sure to remember ‘70s teen  heartthrob Sandy Fairfax. Countless girls swooned over his love songs and boys  enjoyed his successful TV series Buddy  Brave, Boy Sleuth. Now he’s  solving real-life crimes.

Sandy,  welcome. 
Thank you. It’s a pleasure to be here.

How many hit records did you make?
Nine in four years plus a greatest hits compilation. Each one went gold.

We haven’t seen you for some time. What  have you been doing since your show went off the air in 1979? 
Staying alive, basically. The industry isn’t kind to teen idols when they grow up and Buddy Brave, that dippy boy dick, left me hopelessly typecast. I did guest roles on Charlie’s Angels, Love Boat and Fantasy Island. I tried to shake off my pop image by playing guitar with a hard rock band, Shipwreck—an apt description of that experience. I went through a divorce and drank myself stupid. But that was then and this is now. I recently stopped drinking and I’m ready to get my life and career back on track.

Isn’t it unusual for a teen idol to get involved with a murder investigation? 
Not really. Several of my peers played detectives on TV around the same time as my  show. David Cassidy—Man Undercover  had the former Keith Partridge as Officer Dan Shay. David Soul starred in Starsky and Hutch. Shaun Cassidy and  Parker Stevenson were The Hardy Boys and good friends of mine. Shaun sang some of the backing tracks
for my 1978 Christmas album, Sandy Rings in the Holidays. Bobby Sherman is an honest-to-goodness certified EMT and reserve officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. He teaches first aid to the cadets at the police academy.

No kidding! How and why did you get involved in this case? 
I was making a guest appearance at Beatles fan convention in Evansville, Indiana. I assumed I’d fly in Friday night, give my talk Saturday afternoon and be back in LA in time to watch Saturday Night Live at home. But you know what they say about the best-laid plans (chuckles). The Mersey Marvels, a Beatles tribute band from Indianapolis, was set to play Saturday evening. But Friday night one of the musicians was murdered and I literally stumbled over the body. The local boys in blue assumed I did it and they were too busy barking up the wrong tree to find the killer.

Tell us about this case. What made it so special?
Could you repeat the question? I lost part of my hearing in one ear from the loud screaming at my concerts all those years ago.

What makes this case special?
It was certainly my first experience with a murder investigation. Buddy Brave never encountered dead bodies—the network censors wouldn’t allow it.

Because your show was aimed at kids.
Exactly. I found such close contact with a corpse quite unnerving. The strangest part of this case was that the victim left behind some Beatles-related clues.

Like the so-called Beatles death clues when Paul McCartney was supposedly killed in an automotive accident?
Only this was no hoax. The detective in charge of the case had no musical knowledge beyond Hee Haw and muzak and hadn’t a clue what the Beatles references meant. 
 
What made the case hard to solve?
First off, I’m not a detective—I just played one on television. I was flying by the seat of my pants, so to speak. I had enough suspects to cast an Agatha Christie movie. And I had to fit my sleuthing around rehearsals.

Rehearsals?
I filled in for the dead man at the concert. You know what they say, the show must go.

Did anyone help you with your investigation?
Beatrice “Bunny” McAllister was a big help. Bunny’s the president of my biggest fan club, Sandy’s Buddies.

Did people recognize you and ask for your autograph while you were trying to solve the case?
Yes, that’s up and down sides of fame. Sometimes the attention is flattering and other days, like when you’re knee-deep  in dead bodies, you’d rather slip out the back door with a bag over your head.  Right after the murder, while the detective was grilling me, a fan
came up and asked for an autograph.

What was your reaction?
Back in my heyday my handlers told me to never treat a fan rudely. So I smiled and gave her an autograph. Automatic, really. If  I ever went into a coma and someone stuck a pen in my fingers, I’d still scribble a signature.

Has this case affected your personal life in any way?
Absolutely. I learned that one should never climb on the wagon right before a murder investigation. The stress might kill you (laughs). Seriously, staying sober was a challenge, but I realized that I could function without booze. At least for one more day. I had to regain my self-confidence. My last appearance on stage was five years ago and that was a disaster. The thought of playing for a live audience terrified me. But meeting the fans was incredibly gratifying. That makes my job so worthwhile. I was happy to see that people 
still remembered the schoolboy shamus and that my music had such a positive impact on them.

So what’s next for Sandy Fairfax? 
My agent is negotiating a guest spot for me on a sitcom. That sounds safe enough. What could possibly go wrong at a movie studio?


Sally Carpenter grew up near Evansville, Indiana, the setting of her book, and now lives in Southern California. She has a master’s degree in theater from Indiana State University. While in school two of her plays were finalists in the American College Theater Festival One-Act Playwrighting Competition. Sally also has a master’s degree in theology and a black belt in tae kwon do. She’s worked as an actress, freelance writer, college  writing instructor, theater critic, jail chaplain and tour guide/page for a  major movie studio. Her current job is at a community newspaper. She’s a member of Sisters in Crime/Los Angeles Chapter. Sally’s debut novel, The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper, is  scheduled for release Aug. 29 as the first book in the Sandy Fairfax Teen Idol series. The book will be available on Amazon and through the publisher, Oak Tree Press. Contact Sally at scwriter@earthlink.net. Learn more about Sandy at www.SandyFairfax.com.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

      
 
 
 from The Tourist by Jack Everett & David Coles


 


Detective Inspector White has just moved to the Ridings Regional Crime Squad taking over control of a team of 30+ detectives and support staff. His patch – territory – is the largest in the UK with several cities, airports and shipping ports spread hundreds of miles apart.

He is a fast track officer, university educated and extremely young – early thirties – to be promoted to such a position. His new job takes him away from his home and an aging widowed father.

 
Detective Inspector White, tell us what made this case so special.
This case was special because it was the first in my new job. I had enough on my plate after the first day in my new job when a report of murders taking place on a major trunk road leading to my area landed on my desk. I guess I knew the perpetrator, a male, was heading towards us. The first murder on my patch made me sit up and notice pretty quickly. After reading the report of the first killings I assumed them to be retaliatory, a case of a mugging gone wrong, the most recent one was something entirely different-- a prostitute in a small town strangled. There was no obvious similarity but I knew in my bones it was the same man.
 
What made the case hard to solve?
It was hard to solve because we thought we had the man identified as an Alan Cleghorn, an American citizen married to an English woman. We knew he had flown in from Florida. His passport had been checked on arrival and his details registered but his fingerprints didn’t match; neither did his DNA. Only then did I smell a rat and that was when I asked for information from Florida--his point of departure.
 
Did anyone outside of the police department help you solve this case?
We had advice from a Floridian Sheriff helped identify the perp but the solving was all my own work aided by an able female Detective Sergeant. I must admit at this point that my sergeant was a mild distraction to me because I found her extremely attractive.
 
Has this case affected your personal life in any way?
Well, the knowledge that she was married and pregnant did appear to put the mockers on any sort of a relationship. So apart from a lasting affection, there has been no effect on my personal life.

 
Thank you for talking with us, Detective Inspector White. We wish you the best in your new position.

 
 
Jack Everett & David Coles has written as a team for over 30 years and wouldn’t want it any other way. The Tourist is due out August 2011 from Acclaimed Books. For information on their books, visit their websites at www.jackleverett.me.uk or www.DavidBColes.co.uk.