THE DEVIL LAUGHED - Third in the Award-winning Moriah Dru Series

Judge Portia Devon invites Moriah Dru, Richard Lake and his daughter to Lake Lanier, north of Atlanta, for the Fourth of July weekend. There Dru spots the stern of a missing sailboat. It went down in a storm when the lake was full pool. Four years later, the area is suffering one of the worst droughts in its history, thus revealing the large boat.

Four passengers were aboard the sailboat, last seen docked with the drunken boaters raising hell at the marina's restaurant. Johnny Brown's body was found the next day floating in the no-wake zone; the other three disappeared with the sailboat.  Because of their lecherous behavior and wealthy status they had been the topic of gossip ever since. When the sailboat was raised there were no bodies aboard, reinforcing the rumor that Laurant Cocineau and Candice Brown, Johnny's wife, also got rid of Janet Cocineau, Laurant's wife, and fled to Rio, a place they'd clandestinely visited before.

Evangeline, Candace's daughter by her first husband, believes her mother is alive and wants to hire Dru to find her. Dru is a child finder, and Evangeline is a precocious, demanding twelve-year-old, but Dru acquiesces because, by spotting the boat, she feels invested in the case. She'll have help from Lake, an Atlanta police detective.

This twisted tale of jealousy, greed and downright evil takes us from the North Georgia mountains to the wine country of Cape Fear, N. C. where the grapes become part of the wrath.

Happy reading,

Gerrie

At Amazon:  http://amzn.to/14cExnt
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/16SKAPT

Welcome William S. Shepard to my blog

  Let me introduce my guest for the next few days, William S. Shepard, a prize-winning author of the new mystery genre the diplomatic thriller.

  Now residents of Maryland's Eastern Shore, the Shepards enjoy visits from their daughters and granddaughters, fine and moderate weather, ocean swims at Assateague, Chesapeake Bay crabs, and the company of Rajah and Rani, their two rescued cats.

  Shepard's diplomatic mysteries are set in American Embassies overseas. That mirrors Shepard’s own career in the Foreign Service of the United States, during which he served in Singapore, Saigon, Budapest, Athens and Bordeaux, in addition to five Washington tours of duty.

  His diplomatic mystery books explore this rich, insider background into the world of high stakes diplomacy and government. His main character is a young career diplomat, Robbie Cutler. The first four books in the series are available as Ebooks. Shepard evokes his last Foreign Service post, Consul General in Bordeaux, in Vintage Murder, the first of the series of five “diplomatic mysteries.” The second, Murder On The Danube, mines his knowledge of Hungary and the 1956 Revolution. In Murder In Dordogne Robbie Cutler and his bride Sylvie are just married, but their honeymoon in the scenic southwest of France is interrupted by murders.

  The Saladin Affair, next in the series, has Robbie Cutler transferred to work for the Secretary of State. Like the author once did, Cutler arranges trips on Air Force Two – now enlivened by serial Al Qaeda attempts to assassinate the Secretary of State, as they travel to Dublin, London, Paris, Vienna, Riga and Moscow! And who killed the American Ambassador in Dublin?

  The Great Game Murders is the most recent of the series. There is another trip by the Secretary of State, this time to Southeast Asia, India, China and Afghanistan. The duel between Al Qaeda and the United States continues, this time with Al Qaeda seeking to expand its reach with the help of a regional great power nation. And Robbie Cutler’s temporary duty (TDY) assignment to Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, carries its own perils. Fortunately, Uncle Seth helps unravel his perilous Taliban captivity in time!

***

                        

Now we'll hear from William on:

Treating Real And Real Time Events In Fiction

  My series of diplomatic mysteries now has five novels. All are, to some extent, based on fact. The first, “Vintage Murder,” concerns the Basque extremist organization ETA. Then “Murder On The Danube” takes as its background the heroic Hungarian Revolution of 1956. “Murder In Dordogne,” interrupts the honeymoon of my two main characters in an idyllic French rural landscape with murders past and present, as remnants from the Occupation still have present consequences. Then “The Saladin Affair Murders” has Al Qaeda tracking the Secretary of State on his first official trip to London, Dublin, Paris, Vienna, Riga and Moscow. Lastly, the latest novel, “The Great Game Murders,” explores real time events including the war in Afghanistan, and cyber warfare.

  I’ve found that exploring actual events, sometimes in real time, while undergirding the story with a realistic background, presents both opportunities and pitfalls, which may be of interest to readers and fellow authors. First, of course, is to get the actual events right. In “Murder On The Danube,” for example, survivors of the twelve days of street fighting know what was going on every day, in each quarter of Budapest. The problem I thought was to make sure that this material was accurately presented, without the detail overwhelming the story. But I wanted to present a modern story as well, and therein lay the problem. The political scene kept changing with every election, and I wrote at least three different drafts of that evolving situation, trying to get it just right. I finally realized that no words of mine were ever going to fix a changing political situation, and so I settled for a realistic, somewhat broad brush background that let the main story emerge. That was lesson number one – a background is going to continue to evolve, and the writer cannot fix it like a bug preserved in amber. The balance is to have just enough background for realism, while letting the main story proceed.

  How is it possible to balance a terrorist subplot with a murder mystery? This new diplomatic mystery genre is still evolving, and I surely don’t have all of the answers yet. But in “The Saladin Affair Murders,” the murder of the American Ambassador to Dublin seemed to fit well into the overall plot. And I found that Al Qaeda’s plans to assassinate the Secretary of State in three different locations were best foiled by good police and intelligence work, not dissimilar to detection of a nonpolitical crime, such as murder.

  In “The Great Game Murders,” there is a duel between Al Qaeda and the United States, as the Secretary of State visits Southeast Asia, India, Afghanistan and China. Here I incorporate what is known of Al Qaeda’s methods, with the addition of a further nightmare – a possible link between that terrorist group, and a Great Power. Since that is fanciful I am free to speculate on how such a link might develop. You’ll see the consequences in the chapter on the Secretary of State’s secret visit to Beijing!

As part of the plot line, Robbie Cutler becomes suspicious that private email communications may have been intercepted or compromised in some way. He learns about cyber warfare, and uses what he learns to thwart a plot against the Secretary of State during their visit to Goa, on the Indian Ocean coast. This was rewarding to research and to write, and the lessons may be more broadly applicable than this fictional account!

  Afghanistan is of course presented in real time. Here I use the conflict as background for Robbie Cutler’s temporary duty (TDY) assignment to Kandahar Province. Together with official military and USAID colleagues, he builds a well in a small forsaken village, which had no clean water supply. It is an almost biblical undertaking, and several readers have said that they liked this segment best. The needs of the people continue due to and in spite of the conflict, and there seems to be a timeless quality about the well digging. I rather like that in a novel set against actual news events.

  And so, against this background of five novels, I think it is possible to draw a few conclusions. First, get your history right. (The background of the Basque terrorist group ETA and its emergence as a dangerous group was established in “Vintage Murder.” “Murder In Dordogne” contains a number of London radio message to the French Underground, set in exactly the style of the time.) But don’t let your story become the prisoner of its historical setting, no matter how fascinating that may be. Next, the fact that you may be writing against a real time background has its own perils. Don’t let your story become prisoner of tomorrow’s headlines. Don’t be afraid to use new technology, such as cyber warfare, in your story. But always remember that the story is the important thing, not the background against which it is set. For we all love to read an interesting, well paced story, with evolving characters, now don’t we?

***

Note:

I can't wait to read this latest in the series. I loved "Murder on the Danube."

Links to Robbie Cutler books:

Amazon.com: The Great Game Murders (Robbie Cutler Diplomatic Mysteries) eBook: William S. Shepard: Kindle Store

Amazon.com: The Saladin Affair Murders (Robbie Cutler Diplomatic Mysteries) eBook: William S. Shepard: Kindle Store

Amazon.com: Murder On The Danube (Robbie Cutler Diplomatic Mysteries) eBook: William S. Shepard: Kindle Store

***

Thanks so much William for creating Robbie and sharing your thoughts.

Gerrie Ferris Finger
Author of:

THE END GAME
THE LAST TEMPTATION
THE DEVIL LAUGHED
MURMURS OF INSANITY - July 2014

Drawing for THE DEVIL LAUGHED

I am giving away three copies of the third in my award-winning series (beginning with The End Game - Malice Domestic, St. Martin's First Traditional Novel in 2010). The contest ends Dec. 13 so I'll have time to get the books to the winners before Christmas.

Enter to win the third in the award-winning series. THE DEVIL LAUGHED

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/71741-the-devil-laughed

Check out my other books at 

https://www.gerrrieferrisfinger.com

Gerrie

THE END GAME

THE LAST TEMPTATION

THE DEVIL LAUGHED.

A Wild Party and a Wild Ride when The Devil Laughed

The Browne and Cocineau families who were partying on the sailboat when it disappeared had been at odds over a vineyard in Cape Fear, N.C. When Dru follows the trail there, her visit leads to another death and uncovers money laundering and other criminal doings. When all is said and done, however, it is the closemouthed, closely knit mountain community that holds the answers. Dru's third (The Last Temptation, 2012, etc.) provides plenty of quirky characters and surprising revelations. -- Kirkus Reviews.

Post a comment for a chance to win an autographed hard copy.

Judge Portia Devon invites Moriah Dru, Richard Lake and his daughter to Lake Lanier, north of Atlanta, for the Fourth of July weekend. There Dru spots the stern of a missing sailboat. It went down in a storm when the lake was full pool. Four years later, the area is suffering one of the worst droughts in its history, thus revealing the large boat.

Four passengers were aboard the sailboat, last seen docked with the drunken boaters raising hell at the marina's restaurant. Johnny Brown's body was found the next day floating in the no-wake zone; the other three disappeared with the sailboat.  Because of their lecherous behavior and wealthy status they had been the topic of gossip ever since. When the sailboat was raised there were no bodies aboard, reinforcing the rumor that Laurant Cocineau and Candice Brown, Johnny's wife, also got rid of Janet Cocineau, Laurant's wife, and fled to Rio, a place they'd clandestinely visited before.

Evangeline, Candace's daughter by her first husband, believes her mother is alive and wants to hire Dru to find her. Dru is a child finder, and Evangeline is a precocious, demanding twelve-year-old, but Dru acquiesces because, by spotting the boat, she feels invested in the case. She'll have help from Lake, an Atlanta police detective.

This twisted tale of jealousy, greed and downright evil takes us from the North Georgia mountains to the wine country of Cape Fear, N. C. where the grapes become part of the wrath.

Happy reading,

Gerrie

At Amazon:  http://amzn.to/14cExnt
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/16SKAPT

Marilyn Meredith explains Why We Do It.

(Comment for a chance to be a book character.)

Welcome, Marilyn. Happy to have you visit.

 

Marilyn Meredith is the author of over thirty published novels, including the award winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series. She borrows a lot from where she lives in the Southern Sierra for the town of Bear Creek and the surrounding area, including the nearby Tule River Indian Reservation. She does like to remind everyone that she is writing fiction. Marilyn is a member of EPIC, three chapters of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. Visit her at http://fictionforyou.com and follow her blog at http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/

Marilyn's latest in the award-winning series:

 

Blurb for Spirit Shapes: Ghost hunters stumble upon a murdered teen in a haunted house. Deputy Tempe Crabtree's investigation pulls her into a whirlwind of restless spirits, good and evil, intertwined with the past and the present, and demons and angels at war.

 

To buy directly from the publisher in all formats:

 http://mundania.com/book.php?title=Spirit+Shapes Also available directly from Amazon.

 

And now a few thoughts from Marilyn:

 

Why Do We Do It?

  

Why do writers keep on writing? Of course I can’t answer to every author, but I’ll give you my reasons.

First, I’ll give you the reasons why someone might ask that question if your name isn’t one that people recognize right off.

You spend hours sitting at a computer writing—or sometimes just thinking. Writing is hard work—sometimes even painful.

You spend hours sitting at a computer doing promotion. Promotion is hard work and you never quite know if the time you spent paid off.

 

You don’t have time to go out to lunch with friends on a whim. In fact, you probably schedule your social outings.

You don’t have time to belong to social or service groups—or if you do, you miss a lot of meetings.

Sometimes your husband and family members feel neglected because you spend so much time on your writing.

You don’t have time to watch TV all day, or do some of the chores you ought to be doing, because writing is more important.

You don’t make much money for all the work you do. (And if you’re not published yet, you haven’t made a dime for all that work.)

Here is why I keep on writing.

 

The main reason is because I can’t stop. Writing is such a part of my life, I can’t imagine not spending most days doing at least some writing.

How will I know what is going to happen to Deputy Tempe Crabtree and her husband, Pastor Hutch, or the men and women on the Rocky Bluff P.D. if I don’t write the next book?

Despite the lack of monetary reward, there’s nothing better than having someone tell me how much they liked my book.

I am writing for the readers as much as I’m writing for me. Hopefully, they want to find out what is happening with my characters too.

 

Maybe it’s not enough for some folks, but those are the reasons I keep writing.

Contest:

The person who comments on the most blogs on this blog tour will have the opportunity to have a character named after him or her in the next Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery.

 

Thank you, Marilyn for an excellent post.
P.S. Comment folks. It's fun to be a character in a mystery book.

 

Who is Moriah Dru?

I am often asked, "Who is Moriah Dru?"

 

I do a lot of radio and the question is important, as important as describing the plot of the latest Moriah Dru/Richard Lake release. (This year "The Devil Laughed" was released September 1.) Since I've "lived" with Dru for years now (I'm on my sixth in the series), I know her pretty well.

 

 

 

I have to admit Dru was inspired by Emma Peel of the old TV series, "The Avengers." Like Mrs. Peel, she'll have nothing to do with a damsel in distress life. While she's as bold as that suave British spy, she's as American as Angela Gennaro -- Dennis Lehane's rugged yet compassionate heroine. 

 

Dru grew into who she is at the Atlanta Police Department where she excelled as an officer and consequently was awarded a spot at the FBI National Academy.  When she and Richard Lake became lovers, she left the APD and started Child Trace. As a child finder she is hired by private citizens and the Juvenile Justice System.

 

She’s intuitive in investigations and unafraid to pursue her investigative theories. She hones her shooting skills on a gun range and is proficient in martial arts. She isn’t the first to start a battle, but she’s capable of winning it. She has killed to save Lake's life.

Dru is what every woman thinks she is deep within herself. Inside we’re all heros. Think of the air guitar craze. Everyone can play one; not everyone can play a real guitar. Unlike the reality of most air guitarists playing a mean Gibson, Dru can defend herself and those she protects in her character's reality.

She’s no wonder woman. She has human vulnerabilities. She can assess herself with sarcastic barbs. She and Lake get into dark humorous conversations which reveal her vulnerabilities. We see Lake, her lover and former partner at the Atlanta Police Department, through Dru’s point of view. He’s handsome to the point Moriah is always on the lookout for women’s attraction to him. Jealousy is but one of her vulnerabilities.    

Happy Reading,

Gerrie Ferris Finger
THE END GAME
THE LAST TEMPTATION
THE GHOST SHIP

THE DEVIL LAUGHED -- New Release

Out and ready to be read: The latest in the Moriah Dru/Richard Lake Series, THE DEVIL LAUGHED.

Judge Portia Devon invites Moriah Dru, Richard Lake and his daughter to Lake Lanier, north of Atlanta, for the Fourth of July weekend. There Dru spots the stern of a missing sailboat. It went down in a storm when the lake was full pool. Four years later, the area is suffering one of the worst droughts in its history, thus revealing the large boat.

Four passengers were aboard the sailboat, last seen docked with the drunken boaters raising hell at the marina's restaurant. Johnny Brown's body was found the next day floating in the no-wake zone; the other three disappeared with the sailboat.  Because of their lecherous behavior and wealthy status they had been the topic of gossip ever since. When the sailboat was raised there were no bodies aboard, reinforcing the rumor that Laurant Cocineau and Candice Brown, Johnny's wife, also got rid of Janet Cocineau, Laurant's wife, and fled to Rio, a place they'd clandestinely visited before.

Evangeline, Candace's daughter by her first husband, believes her mother is alive and wants to hire Dru to find her. Dru is a child finder, and Evangeline is a precocious, demanding twelve-year-old, but Dru acquiesces because, by spotting the boat, she feels invested in the case. She'll have help from Lake, an Atlanta police detective.

This twisted tale of jealousy, greed and downright evil takes us from the North Georgia mountains to the wine country of Cape Fear, N. C. where the grapes become part of the wrath.

Happy reading,

Gerrie

At Amazon:  http://amzn.to/14cExnt
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/16SKAPT