by Sandra Murphy

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win either an ebook or print a copy of Day of Secrets. We also have a link to order it from Amazon, and from an indie bookstore where a portion goes to help support KRL.

Chase Day is a history professor, former Navy, and presumably an orphan, raised by his grandmother. His mother was killed in a fire over thirty years ago. He never knew who his father was. His mother abused drugs and alcohol so her mothering skills were spotty at best. He also coaches veterans in an art therapy class, getting them to put their problems on the canvas. It’s helped him although no one would call him an artist.

Most times, getting term papers graded and returned before the holidays is his biggest concern. It was that way until he got a phone call—from his mother. She asks him to come to the house trailer where they lived once upon a time and that’s when it all hits the fan.

It really is his mom, but he’s not going to get answers to the questions filling his mind since she’s been shot. Chase is grazed by a bullet himself and in a fist fight, if you can call it that, since his assailant has ninja-like skills. The bad guy escapes just as the police arrive. That was the easiest part of the day.

With her dying breath, his mother asks Chase to protect his father. Asking his grandmother gets him little to no help. The trail is more than cold as the past is surfaces once again. Can Chase find the answers he needs before time runs out?

For readers who love the Cookbook Nook mysteries, written as Daryl Wood Gerber, and the Cheese Shop series, written as Avery Aames, this is a complete departure. Day of Secrets is a standalone book although the characters are so engaging, readers are left wanting more. Characters in cozy mysteries are sometimes in danger; Chase is constantly ducking, dodging, and escaping those who want him dead. Thriller doesn’t begin to describe a story that grabs you by the hair and drags you from one scene to the next, breathless and impatient to know how it turns out without wanting it to end. There are chase scenes, fights, and danger in every word. Readers wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s a book you can read again and again, and still hold your breath from page to page.

It will certainly have a spot on my favorite reviews for 2017.

This is the second standalone thriller. The first, Girl on the Run, came out last year. Look for Deadly Éclair, the first in a French Bistro cozy series, due out on November 7.

To enter to win either an ebook or print a copy of Day of Secrets, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “secrets,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen June 10, 2017. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please include your mailing address, and if via comment please include your email address. BE SURE TO LET US KNOW WHETHER YOU WANT PRINT OR EBOOK.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & short stories in our mystery section.

Use this link to purchase the book & a portion goes to help support KRL & indie bookstore Mysterious Galaxy:

Day of Secrets

You can also use this link to purchase the book on Amazon. If you have ad blocker on you may not see the link:

Sandra Murphy lives in the shadow of the Arch, in the land of blues, booze and shoes—St Louis, Missouri. While writing magazine articles to support her mystery book habit, she secretly polishes mystery books of her own, hoping, someday, they will see the light of Barnes and Noble and a Kindle. You can find several of Sandra’s short stories at Untreed Reads including her newest, “Arthur,” included in the anthology titled, Flash and Bang, available now. Look for Denali, in the anthology Dogs and Dragons.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases using those links. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.