The Mystery 💼 Dispatch
SHATTERED up for Pre-Order! Book 4 in the De-Extinct Zoo series & Updates on Carol's Books, Events, Word of Mouth, a Better Place to Buy Books, and Offerings from Independent Authors
SHATTERED up for Pre-Order!
Shattered: A De-Extinct Zoo Mystery, book 4, is up for Pre-order on Amazon. I will continue with other digital platforms in the coming days. Publication release date is September 1, 2026. Check it out by clicking below.
It will be available in eBook (initially) and paperback format (eventually).
Here is the blurb I finally settled on with all the Amazon metadata algorithm bells and whistles. I’d love your feedback.
Shattered (A De‑Extinct Zoo Mystery Book 4)
An opening‑night spectacle. A vanished woolly rhino. A demand to trade one life for two.
At New Mexico’s cutting‑edge Pleistocene BioPark, veterinarian Dr. Ludmilla “Milly” Smith has two jobs: keep resurrected megafauna alive—and protect them from the people in power. On the eve of a donor gala, that balance shatters when a global pop star who could be Milly’s mirror image walks into the park and straight into the sights of the forces that have been hunting Milly for months.
As a winter storm locks down the BioPark, armed men and their enigmatic leader turn de‑extinct predators into weapons and Milly into a target. Moving through exhibits, a frozen forest, and an abandoned warehouse, she must work with the one man she trusts least but needs most—brilliant, secretive geneticist Dr. Luther Nikolai—to track a missing woolly rhino and stay ahead of a killer who shares her face.
To protect her friends and the creatures in her care, Milly has to face the truth about her own origin and decide who she is when every version of her can be bought, copied, or erased. If she fails, a prehistoric bloodline ends again—Milly could face her own extinction.
Word of Mouth: Ad hoc
We use Latin inserted in our English all the time, like verbal birdseed thrown at a wedding. Most of us (like me) only half-know what we’re saying. When we get it right, we sound relatively smart (IMO). When we get it wrong, we sound totally cringe.
Here’s a quick, ad hoc refresher.
Ad hoc was the original word-of-mouth for this post. I found it used in Operation Pineapple Express by Lt. Col. Scott Mann. I read it for the next Nicky Matthews mystery, Sacred Ghosts—remember, Franco Martinez is an Army vet, who’d been deployed to Afghanistan. In Operation Pineapple Express, they created ad hoc committees targeting the extraction of former comrades and their families targeted by the Taliban. This non-fiction story is both heartbreaking and uplifting.
But what does ad hoc actually mean?
“Ad hoc” translates to “for this.” It’s “something” created for a single, specific purpose—like that committee thrown together to deal with this crisis or this problem and its specifics. It’s not permanent. It’s the “duct tape” of Latin, the bandage that you eventually rip off. It’s not something that is usually meant to last.
So the next time you see this Latin phrase, you’ll know exactly what it’s doing. And if you want to be extra fancy, you can always create an ad hoc excuse to use it.
Op. cit. Books and the Taos Mystery Book Club
I traveled up to Taos, New Mexico, for the Taos Mystery Book Club and a lively chat about The Third Warrior: A Nicky Matthews Mystery, book 2.
They bought me lunch (Blue corn chicken enchiladas, Christmas—red and green chile) at the Martyr’s Steakhouse, and in exchange, I answered great questions about the book, the story, and some of the elements, like the Native American Pueblo (fictional) and the language (Keres—non-fictional).
If you are interested in the languages spoken by Native Americans in New Mexico—including Keres—here’s a great place to start: The El Morro Vocabulary.
Thank you, Betty and op. cit. Books, for the invitation.
Speaking of Latin: op. cit. is the abbreviation for opere citato or in the work cited.
Books in Santa Fe: Just a Reminder …
May 30th (12-4 pm): Books in Santa Fe. I will be signing/selling my books beside 40+ authors with an excellent mix of genres. Admission is FREE, so come and say hello at the Drury Plaza Hotel.
Have you wanted to read one of my books but worried about Feeding the Beast 🧌 (Amazon)?
Buy from Bookshop.org
I’m going to paste in their mission because I can’t say what they do for local bookstores any better.
Bookshop.org works to connect readers with independent booksellers all over the world. We believe local bookstores are essential community hubs that foster culture, curiosity, and a love of reading, and we’re committed to helping them thrive.
Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores. Our platform gives independent bookstores tools to compete online and financial support to help them maintain their presence in local communities.
Bookshop.org has raised over $40 million for independent bookstores
Our Mission
(and where our profits go)
Our mission is simple: To help local, independent bookstores thrive in the age of e-commerce.
Dump the next boring 😴 bestseller
Try a New Author! 😄
THE BILLIONAIRE AND THE EX: THE MAGUIRE BROTHERS, Book 2 by Cindy Ireland
She thought she’d moved on—until her billionaire ex moved in next door.
With her “perfect” boyfriend exposed as a fake and Dylan suddenly living on the other side of the wall, Casey has to decide: protect her bruised heart, or risk everything on a second chance with the one man who never stopped loving her.
THE PILGRIM by Thomas A. Burns
A novice on pilgrimage. A simple missing-person case. A week to find him.
When two Jesuit priests hire ex–Marine Amos Murdoch and his wisecracking partner, a straightforward job in Capital City spirals into lies, lust, and violence—ending in a shattered romance, blood in a church, and a funeral no one sees coming.
DEATH ROLL by Robert Blain
A body in a bathtub. Human remains in a remote shack.
Sent to cyclone‑lashed Far North Queensland, PI Andrew Schlakier stumbles onto a crime scene so horrible it haunts him across the state—each clue revealing an increasingly twisted mind, until he uncovers a truth so brutal he knows no one is safe until the killer is stopped.
FRONTIER OUTLAWS: A COOGAN MYSTERY (Frontier Series Book 2) by Michael Cardwell
A thrilling ride that delivers a bronco-busting punch
Eight months after the showdown that nearly cost him his life, Game Warden Danny Coogan faces a new threat. It starts with a dead steer, which happens to be near the body of a dead rancher.
Thank you for getting this far!
