(More news below!)
My friend Carol Shay Hornung, also a member of The Hive writing group, has just released Book 4 in The Dez Duchiene Mysteries, A Muse of Fire. A great murder mystery series set in places they have scoped out personally, in this case, Chicago. A Muse of Fire follows Dez, from Madison, WI (where Carol and I met in middle school), down some wonderfully compelling trails to get to the answers, and involves my new favorite character, his 2-yr-old son, Evan. As with their other books in this series, I have been around as Carol developed their plots and applauded the moments they finally figured out how they were going to…well, no spoilers.
Yet another book from The Hive crew, developed at our writing retreats, and we’re very proud Carol is moving forward in this series and punching them out. As I read, I found it amusing to read moments that had been discussed in our group. Plot points, character questions, sticking points sorted, and even titles bandied about over dinner or out on the porch.
But it takes nothing away from enjoying the hunt for the killer amid the backstage tempests of theater. Dez is driven to solve puzzles, like many of us, and although it may start as small as a hotel key to somewhere in Chicagoland, Carol rolls the story along, becoming bigger and riskier until the murder is solved. And if you have a love of the Midwest, this is an excellent series to catch up on. Yes, the main character is gay, with husband Stevie, and now an adopted child. So the question must be asked – how do you solve mysteries in Chicago with a toddler attached? That, along with the exciting Chicago theater scene backdrop and attention to some great local food and drink, creates a sweeping mystery that made me give it a standing ovation. Loved it!
You can read A Muse of Fire without having read the previous three, but you’ll have a much deeper understanding of the characters if you start with one and move through the series. Future books are on their way!
Grab your copy of The Dez Duchiene Mysteries, A Muse of Fire, from Bookshop.org that benefits your local indie bookstores, or on Amazon. Then don’t forget to leave ratings and a quick review about the book and series on Amazon or Goodreads so others understand these are especially good mysteries.
And to Carol Shay Hornung— Keep going! We want more from Dez and his family. Another benefit of reviews is an author gets a good feeling when others enjoy their work and it makes them want to write more! I’ll just go put in my reviews for this book now to encourage you there, too. 😉
For my own works, I can confirm that I will use Master Luke as the cat’s name in the Sunset Lake series, and so you now all understand that my main character is a bit of a sci fi geek like me. And Master Luke will have the stare of a Jedi Master. Strike that, he HAS the stare of a Jedi Master.
Wonderful news! Nan and I will have a table at the Bubble House Brewery Book Fair in Lisle Illinois on November 15. This is my first bookfair selling my own books and not just helping Nan sell hers. 🙂 These book fairs work to get a nice mix of genres so that everyone should be able to find something they like.
Come visit and talk to us, buy any missing books in The Harrogate Chronicles series, and we will autograph books on request! Nan will have some of her books there as well, like the Coffee & Crime Mysteries series and hoping some of her new work.
We’re getting together a nice table display, new series bookmarks for The Harrogate Chronicles, (I hope! I still don’t have the file for the printer yet, gah!), and all the things that go with selling your books in person. I’m learning it all as fast as I can. Come and visit us. Please! I even got a mongoose stuffie for my shoulder!
The book fair date does indicate that we are missing TeslaCon this year, which I had been looking forward to, but some other issues got in the way. NEXT YEAR, I will go and have some fun there!
That’s all for now. Next newsletter should be just after Thanksgiving with some pictures and wrap up on our book fair event! Fingers crossed we sell some books and people take a liking to Trell. Until then —
Happy Reading!
Sue Wachowski
www.SusanWachowski.com
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