by Sunny Frazier

Details on how to enter to win a copy of CATastrophic Connections Joyce Ann Brown and Brooklyn Graves by Triss Stein, featured in a past column, at the end of this post!

So many books, so little time to promote them all! Only three weeks remain until we all meet in Long Beach for the international mystery convention. Let’s get to it:

Just in time for Halloween is the e-book for Leigh Perry’s (aka Toni L.P. Kelner) A Skeleton in the Family, first in a new series. When Georgia Thackery landed a job at the local college it seemed sensible to move into her parent’s house. The permanent resident is Sid, a walking, talking skeleton who has resided there as long as Georgia can remember. When he talks his roommate to let him attend an anime convention, he spots a woman who triggers memories. Now he wants Georgia to find out how he died—and he makes no bones about it! Paperback release is mid-November.

When the Arizona state executioner and his family are murdered, his teenage daughter confesses to the crime. Now the girl’s biological mother, and egg donor, is running for the senate. She asks P.I. Lena Jones to conduct a discreet investigation. Uncovered is revenge from families of those the executioner sent to the “Death Chamber.” Desert Rage is #8 in Betty Webb’s Lena Jones series.

A stone’s throw away in a Western tourist town, Morgan Iverson expects to man the family rock shop for two weeks. But her brother hands her the keys to Rock of Ages and splits. While rounding up two pet donkeys, the widow finds the corpse of a teenage goth. A newspaper article hints that Morgan’s a witness and now threats start coming in. Stone Cold Dead is the first Rock Shop Mystery from Catherine Dilts.

It’s a disappearing act in The Girl in the Empty Dress by Lise McClendon. The Bennett sisters are back—just not the ones from Pride and Prejudice. These five Bennett sisters are off on their second outing headed for Dordogne, France. But, it’s not all wine, women and walking tours when a friend who is invited along finds an injured dog. Who exactly is this friend and where did she then disappear to with the animal in tow?

Another disappearance occurs in Kicked to the Curb by Joanna Campbell Slan. That’s how Cara Mia Delgatto is feeling when her ex won’t pay their son’s college tuition and her boyfriend has broken her heart. Now a media event for her nautical store, The Treasure Chest, is in jeopardy. A reporter threatens to disclose secrets from Mia’s past before disappearing. Add murder investigation to the woman’s woes. Mama Mia!

Another Campbell on our radar is Melodie Campbell who The Toronto Sun calls “Canada’s Queen of Comedy.” She has already won the nation’s Arthur Ellis Award and a short story is nominated for this year’s Derringer, awarded at Bouchercon. The Artful Goddaughter is the third in her Gina Gallo series. Mob-related Gina can inherit 2 million from a great-uncle who is an art forger. The catch? Return a painting to an art gallery or else Cousin Carmine collects. The reverse heist goes all wrong with a little help from Gina’s crazy family. This 62 pg. novella is a Rapid Reads from Orca Book Publishers.

Not attending Bcon but out with a new how-to book is author and publisher Michael F. Havelin. Mystery Mastery—Creating a Believable Mystery Novel contains everything a writer needs to know: novel structure, genres, preferred crimes, research techniques, developing characters, plotting, dialogue, and editing. There are also exercises to improve analysis and writing skills. Why not try your hand at writing a whodunit?

To enter to win a copy of CATastrophic Connections Joyce Ann Brown and Brooklyn Graves by Triss Stein, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “Bouchercon,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen November 1, 2014. U.S. residents only.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & short stories in our mystery section. Check back every month for Coming Attractions!

Click on this link to purchase any of these books & a portion goes to help support KRL!

Sunny Frazier worked with an undercover narcotics team in Fresno County for 17 years before turning her energies to writing the Christy Bristol Astrology Mysteries. Based in the San Joaquin Valley of California, the novels are inspired by real cases and 35 years of casting horoscopes.