Echo of Lies is available from all online book providers ($6.99) and on Amazon and IngramSpark as a paperback (Azm $13.99; IS $14.99 because of printing costs).
For those of you reading and reviewing the Echo of Lies ARC, THANK YOU, and I hope you enjoy it. Please leave yours on any or all of the following online platforms: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Goodreads, Bookbub, etc.
For those of you worried it’s a “kissing book,” it has the same amount of kisses as The Princess Bride (1987), plus action and adventure, and a Western-style shootout. Yes, its genre is post-WWII historical sci-fi western mystery with romantic elements, but its theme is something I think we’ve all encountered and overcome: Doubts about our abilities and clashes with traditional cultures.
Reviews matter a lot in this publishing business. The button below the cover is a universal link for a number of these platforms.
Shattered: A De-Extinct Zoo MysteryBook 4
Shattered—First/rough draft done on 2/20/2026, and starting revisions. The book’s focus de-extincts are a pair of Coelodonta antiquitatis or woolly rhinoceros, Balder and Freya, and the kidnapping of Freya.
I had no idea how kidnapping a rhino would work at all, so I asked Perplexity, my AI engine of choice. I was slapped down hard.
Apparently, kidnapping large megafauna from a zoo is totally verboten. Go figure.
If you are interested in what I came up with, it’ll be a few months before release, but I’ll make sure anyone who’d like to read and review an ARC of Shattered will have that opportunity when the time comes.
First, I need to commission my cover. I have a great image for Balder. Check back in next month’s Mystery Dispatch for details…
Sacred Ghosts: A Nicky Matthews Mystery Book 4
Sacred Ghosts—I sent the first 50 pages to a trusted critique partner, and she advised me to cut the first 2 chapters.
Ugh.
She said the book started in the wrong place, and she was right. It happens more than you think, and that’s why writers/authors need a little help from their friends.
But don’t despair! I'm finishing this book this year. And to prove it, here’s a screenshot of the NEW first chapter, which finds Nicky and her horse, Trooper, in a precarious place—both in the immediate setting and in Nicky’s personal life.
Word of Mouth
In high school, I took a lot of English courses as electives, including ones where all we did during class was read. We either brought our own books or chose from a large selection the teachers kept on shelves—I read Charles Portis’s True Grit (1968) that way.
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Every week, you had to create your own vocabulary test—a list of words and definitions from your books — and turn it in on Friday. On Monday, you’d get the words back without the definitions and, well, have to write out the definitions and use the word in a sentence as the quiz.
I still find words I don’t know and look them up immediately, like this one":
Fillip: a person or thing that causes an improvement by adding excitement, interest, or encouragement.
I’m reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943), by Betty Smith, and this particular word was used because, during the week, Francie Nolan’s family only had stale bread to eat.
“They lived mostly on these things made from stale bread, and condensed milk and coffee, and onions, potatoes, and always a penny’s worth of something bought at the last minute, added for fillip.”
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is generally considered the first bestseller after traditional publishing moved into the world of trade paperbacks.
I’m only on chapter eight, but I already know it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read.
Book Bliss Author Signing: Santa Fe May 30th
I’ve never done one of these events before, but since it’s in New Mexico and a bunch of my friends/authors are attending, I thought I’d give it a shot.
Book Bliss Author Signing Events is excited to bring another fantastic event to the West - This time in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Join us on May 30th, 2026, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for an exciting day filled with signed books, fantastic authors, giveaways, and more!
VIP tickets are $20 and include: Early admission at 11 am, swag bag, and more.
Join the Facebook Group- https://www.facebook.com/groups/1252571603294458
If you’ve never been to Santa Fe, it’s worth the trip. Take some tours of the area - Taos, Rio Grande Gorge, Ghost Ranch. I recommend a Santa Fe Ghost tours … 👻
Mystery Authors looking for New Readers … 📚
Check these authors out. Who knows. Maybe you’ll find a new favorite.
The Queen of Cups Murder is the first book in the Atkins and Palmer Psychic Mystery series.
He’s determined to draw a better future. But his morning reading didn’t warn him about the muddy ditch of corpses…
South Wales. Detective Sergeant Madoc Palmer struggles to fit in. Committed to his job, the tarot reader hopes his transfer away from a sabotaging superior is a fresh start. Though he downplays his psychic ability as good instincts, the ploy is tested when two murders trigger strange visions.
Palmer navigates the tricky task of guiding the sharp-eyed, evidence-following Detective Inspector Ruth Atkins to the identity of the decayed remains. With his suspicious new DI watching every move, he fears any slip of the tongue could get him laughed off the force.
Can Madoc reveal his truth without destroying his life or letting a killer slip from their grasp?
Now that the mask has slipped, it’s not so easy to put it back on.
A friend. A deadly situation. A choice between life and death. What would you do to survive?
Jessica has spent her life flying under the radar. She works an unassuming job at a grocery store, smiles when she’s supposed to, and does enough to pass as normal. Beneath the surface, though, something isn’t right. She’s learned to keep it buried ….
Until the day everything unravels.
Caught in the chaos of an active shooter situation, Jessica is forced to make a choice: run and die or let the darkness inside her free. She chooses the latter, and when it’s over, she’s hailed as a hero.
But Jessica knows better. What she did wasn’t bravery. It was instinct. Something primal. And now that the mask has slipped, it’s not so easy to put it back on.
Danny is now a US Marshal and that only puts a bigger target on his back.
Danny Coogan is now working as a US Marshal, and he is within weeks of becoming a father for the first time. During a takedown of a fugitive, he makes a grisly discovery: a body, and it's the son of someone he knows and works with.
Thus begins an off-the-books investigation that leads him to millions of dollars in stolen money, an entire collection of dead bodies, and an ultimate showdown with an adversary determined not to be taken alive.
Accompanied by evocative artwork, each story invites you to step into a world of suspense and intrigue.
This beautifully illustrated collection brings four more gripping tales to life, immersing readers in the chilling atmospheres and dark enigmas that define the series.
Uncover the haunting truth behind The Devil’s Footprints, an unexplained phenomenon that has baffled investigators for generations. Then journey to a remote German farmstead with The Haunting of Hinterkaifeck, where eerie whispers and tragic events blur the line between the seen and the unseen. Sail the treacherous seas with The Ghost Ship as the Mary Celeste drifts abandoned, its secrets lost to the waves. Finally, unravel the sinister tales surrounding The Mystery of Overtoun Bridge, where tragedy and superstition collide.
Accompanied by evocative artwork, each story invites you to step into a world of suspense and intrigue. Prepare for more thrills, chills, and unforgettable mysteries.
