Author Archives: Joan

Isabel Long Mystery Series

Connecting One Book to the Others

I love many of my characters, including the so-called bad ones, too much to have them appear in only one book in my Isabel Long Mystery Series.

There are, of course, those close to Isabel Long, the series’ protagonist, like her 93-year-old mother, Maria, her advisor and confidante, and her family. Then there is her love interest Jack, owner of the Rooster, where Isabel works part-time as a bartender. 

They could be a reliable source, say, the Old Farts, those gossipy men who meet in the backroom of the general store and know everybody’s business in town — or at least they think they do. Actually, one of them is directly involved in a case.

Then there are those characters who have a certain role in one book but that changes in subsequent books. Take Annette Waters, one tough local who runs a junkyard and garage. In Redneck’s Revenge, she asks Isabel to investigate the death of her SOB of a father, who was supposedly too drunk to get out of his burning house. (She pays Isabel with free mechanical service for life.)  Annette, who Isabel secretly calls the Tough Cookie, becomes a confidante and an unlikely friend. She is also a great source of amusement via her band the Junkyard Dogs that play frequently at the Rooster. 

Then there are the Beaumont brothers, feral drug dealers who were once suspects. One of them hires Isabel to investigate a case. The other has saves Isabel from dangerous situations.

Lin Pierce, who hired Isabel for his P.I. firm, pays her to investigate a kidnapping in Following the Lead after he closes his business.

Cyrus Nilsson, a noted poet, is a suspect in the third book, Checking the Traps. (Snarky Isabel gave him the nickname Big Shot Poet.) In the seventh, Missing the Deadline, he pays her to probe the shooting of his first literary agent.

So, now I have just published Finding the Source, no. eight. It begins when Isabel and her mother have been invited to a luncheon at Luella’s a swanky restaurant, likely the only one, in the town of Mayfield. Their host is Anna Robbins, the subject of the seventh case in Following the Lead. When she was a baby, she was stolen from her carriage in her family’s front yard after her brother, Lin, was lured away. (The Bald Old Fart is her father.) Anyway, a grateful and wealthy Anna wants to personally thank Isabel.

And because Anna has lured Isabel to Mayfield, a city she rarely visits, it sets her next case in motion when she and her mother have a chance encounter with a homeless man, who has a crime worth solving — he was 12 when he discovered his mother’s body and the murder was never solved. But how could a homeless man hire Isabel?

Here’s a bit from that scene at Luella’s.

“So, Isabel, I imagine you are wondering why I invited you to lunch,” Anna says. “Lin told me what a curious person you are, how that makes you a great private investigator.”

I feel myself smile.

“Yes, I inherited the curiosity gene from my mother,” I say. “But you’re correct. Is there something more I can do for you?”

Anna shakes her head.

“I wanted to give you a gift,” she says, as she reaches inside her Luis Vuitton purse on the seat beside her. “I know how much Lin paid you. I don’t believe it was enough, so I wanted to make my own contribution.” She holds an envelope for me to take, which I do. “Please accept this gift. Go ahead. Open it.”

I lift the envelope’s flap and peek inside. I read the amount on the check twice. Wow, it is five times the amount Lin paid me, and he was very generous.

“Uh, Anna, this is too much.”

“No, it isn’t.” She puts those distinctive eyes on me. “I can easily afford it. I am a very wealthy woman, thanks to family money. My other family.”

“I appreciate the offer….”

“This is not an offer, but a gift I want you to have,” she says. “Lin told me you are a person of high moral standards. We don’t have enough people like that these days. Spend the money anyway you see fit. Go on a trip. Buy something. Or perhaps, help somebody else.” She smiles. “Please.”

I nod. 

“Thank you. I will put the money to good use.”

“I bet you will,” Anna says.

And I bet you can guess what Isabel will do with some of that money. 

Here’s the link to Finding the Source for Kindle and paperback. And if you enjoy it, please leave a rating or even a review on Amazon. Thank you if you do.

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book review

Review of The Ring: Follow Fortuna’s Journey

Fans of historical fiction will want to read “The Ring,” an anthology of short stories that stretches from 44 BCE to present day. The one detail that links them all is a gold ring that brings its wearer luck — good and bad. Created over 2000 years ago in Rome, the ring was inscribed with the name and symbol of Fortuna, the capricious goddess of fate. 

All profits from the book’s sale will benefit The Reading Agency, a UK-based charity that “inspires social and personal change through the proven power of reading.” In keeping with that mission, “The Ring” is dedicated to librarians.

Follow Fortuna’s journey with those who wear the ring in different parts of the world via the anthology’s ten interconnected stories, which makes for an interesting read.

Alistair Forrest’s “The Wheel of Fortune” starts the series with a Roman patrician in 44 BCE. In other stories, a knight removes the ring from the enemy he killed. A soldier gives his ring to a child during the Thirty Years War.  

Here’s a bit from Graham Brack’s “A Matter of Balance,” set in 1386 in England, that hints at what might happen to the ring William is wearing. William slid the ring off once more. It came off easily because William had slender fingers. “Damsel’s fingers,” his father used to say. “Good for embroidery perhaps but nought else.”

The ring moves here and there until a jeweler brings it with him when he emigrates to New York City in 1872 — in Robert Bordas’s story, “The Bequest.” The man who pawned it never came back. He claimed the ring had magical power, bringing luck to its deserving owner but destroying those who are not worthy.

Author Val Penny

Of course, my interest in reading and reviewing this anthology increased when I learned Val Penny contributed a story using characters from her Edinburgh Crime Mysteries, including one of my favorites, D.I. Hunter Wilson. 

I am eagerly waiting for Val to release her next book in that series, so I was happy to read about Hunter’s connection to Fortuna. He and Meera Sharma are visiting New York City, an engagement trip financed by a very wealthy person, when the ring enters his life. I am not going to spoil what happens but “Hunter’s Luck” is a fine conclusion to Fortuna’s stories in this anthology.

Contributors for this anthology are: Alistair Forrest, Fiona Forsyth, Jacquie Rogers, Alistair Tosh, Graham Brack, Eleanor Swift-Hook, Mark Turnbull, Maggie Richell-Davies, Robert Bordas and Val Penny.

Here are the links to buy “The Ring” on paperback and Kindle.

US readers: https://www.amazon.com/Ring-anthology-historical-short-stories-ebook/dp/B0F3DV7BPG

UK readers: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ring-anthology-historical-short-stories-ebook/dp/B0F3DV7BPG

This review is part of the Reading Between the Lines blog tour. No compensation was given for this review.

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Isabel Long Mystery Series

Creating the Cover for Finding the Source

The first thing a person notices about a book is its cover. So, it’s my hope the ones created for the books I write fit the story and get readers’ attention.

I so enjoyed the lively and bright covers created by my publisher Bloodhound Books for the first three books in my Isabel Long Mystery Series. They inspired me to be a bit more daring while developing the one for Finding the Source, the eighth book.

As a hybrid author, I self-published Finding the Source. And luckily for me, I have an artist son, Ezra Livingston, who has the skills to create great covers. Perhaps you saw what he created for my books, The Swanson Shuffle and The Twin Jinn and the Alchemy Machine.

When it came to the cover for Finding the Source, I was inspired by an important clue in this latest mystery — a signed, first edition of The Great Gatsby.

Let me back up a little and tell you about Finding the Source. Isabel Long’s next cold case begins when she is randomly approached on a city street by a homeless man, Tom McKenzie, who tells her about the unsolved murder of his mother. It was 43 years ago when he found his mother’s lifeless body. He was only 12 at the time.

Abby McKenzie owned a secondhand bookstore, Parker’s Book Emporium, in the hilltown of Dillard. She also sold the most valuable books to collectors, including one who was a suspect in her murder. 

Here’s what Abby’s sister, Lucinda Greenwood, tells Isabel during an interview.

“Books were her thing. She was a big reader as a kid and always asked for books as gifts. When she had her store, she searched for books where people didn’t see their true value. I went with her a few times.” Lucinda smiles while she reminisces. “Abby would hunt yard sales for books. People would sell her books they found in their attics or when they were cleaning out a house after somebody died. Abby knew their value. She so enjoyed finding rare first editions. My sister was clever at keeping her excitement in check though. She didn’t want to tip off the sellers. My sister would have been a great poker player. She tried to be fair, but it was strictly business for her.”

One of Abby’s prized finds is that signed, first edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Why did I choose this novel? This was another case an idea that popped inside my head. Yes, I read Fitzgerald’s novel oh so many years ago. And then it turns out this is the book’s 100th anniversary.

I suggested to Ezra that I wanted the cover to hint at the Art Deco-styled one for The Great Gatsby and pay homage to it. Called “Celestial Eyes,” the original cover by Francis Cugat has a female face with distinctive features suspended on a deep blue background. At the bottom is a neon-lit city scene. There it is above.

So, we went with a similar blue background but didn’t use the same font or layout for the wording. There wouldn’t be a woman’s face. For the cover’s bottom, I walked to the downtown of the village where I live and used my phone to shoot two blocks of stores. Those scenes would make sense since Abby’s store was located in a small town’s downtown.

Then Ezra worked his magic on the cover, adding small stars to the blue.

I feel the cover he created is eye-catching and tells its own story. Thanks, Ez.

Interested in reading Finding the Source? Here’s the link to buy it in paperback and Kindle. Thank you if you do.

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Author Interview

6Ws with Henry Corrigan

I am reviving my 6Ws series to give fellow authors and their books a bit of promotion. It’s been a while, but Henry Corrigan is the next author to feature. (With a nod to my former life as a journalist, I opted for the 6Ws of the business: who, what, when, where, why and how, which counts as it ends in W.) I had the opportunity to read Henry’s latest, Somewhere Quiet, Full of Light before its May 15 release. As an LGBTQ haunted house novella, the book puts an interesting and original spin on the horror genre. Certainly, I was hooked from the start: “Before Michael came to me, I thought I would be alone forever.”

I will let Henry take over.

Who is the author Henry Corrigan?

I’m a bi horror, sci-fi, and fantasy author, poet, and playwright who writes under a name it took me a whole day to think up. I love horror, comics, movies and music. I love my wife and daughter who I wouldn’t still be here without. And I love writing stories. All kinds of stories. I figure out who I am each day through my family and my writing.

What is your latest book?

Somewhere Quiet, Full of Light is an LGBTQ haunted house novella about an artist and his husband who move their family to an abandoned house in upstate NY. 

Eric Tillman is looking for a way out. Born into a poor family, the once starving artist has spent his life dreaming of a home where his kids could escape screaming landlords and the sting of poverty. So, when his husband Mike, a house-flipper with a jeweler’s eye for abandoned places, discovers a strange, but exciting old house in upstate New York, it feels like the perfect answer to all their prayers.

But once the family moves in, it isn’t long before Eric learns that some chances are too costly to take. For this house has standards it lives by, expectations which must be met. And on the long, relentless road between perfection and salvation … some doors lead only to ruin.

Somewhere Quiet, Full of Light is a unique take on the haunted house genre, because the story moves back and forth between Eric’s perspective and that of the house. You get to hear, see, and feel what the house is thinking. And you get to know what it has in store for the poor people who decided to move in.

When did you begin writing?

I started writing in grammar school, I don’t remember what age. All I remember is falling in love with poetry. It hooked me then and I still return to it to this day. I’ve been lucky enough to have my horror poetry included in a charity mental health anthology, Shards, from Ravens Quoth Press, and I’m hoping to see another in a different anthology later this summer.  

How do you write? 

I guess you could say that I’m neither a plotter nor a pantser. I tell everybody the same thing. I always know how a story begins and ends. And it’s always somewhere in the middle where I lose my way. The details of stories trip me up, but honestly I wouldn’t have it any other way. It makes me think harder about each work. It helps me make my stories better. 

Where do you write? 

I write pretty much anywhere I can. I have an office at home but I’m rarely there these days. I super commute for my day job now, so when it comes to writing I rely on dictation or the notes app on my phone. Hopefully I can put all this super commuting nonsense aside because it’s killing me. I miss having time with my family and it leaves me with no time to edit. I can draft a story but I can’t polish it. It’s terrible. 

Why do you write? 

Because I can’t not. Writing has been part of who I am for as long as I can remember. I write because I want it to be part of the legacy I leave behind. I know there are writers out there who say they will be happy if they only end up with a handful of readers. I applaud them for it, but that’s not me. I want to make a success of this, I want it to be what I do full-time because it will provide me with family time, and peace of mind. My stories help me, and I hope they will help other people someday. 

Links to books and social media: 

Somewhere Quiet, Full of Light: https://books2read.com/u/bPklY7

A Man In Pieces: https://a.co/d/gkhxBWQ

Shards: https://a.co/d/d09LFes

Blog: https://henrycorrigan.blogspot.com/

Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/henry.corrigan.35

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Isabel Long Mystery Series

Chance Meeting Inspiration for Finding the Source

The “what ifs” kick in when I am about to start a new mystery. Like what if a woman who owns a junkyard wants Isabel Long to investigate the death of her father in a house fire? What if a baby was stolen from the front yard when her brother was lured away? What if a literary agent was shot in the head but survived? 

But for Finding the Source, the eighth book in the series, I had a real life encounter on the day of my mother’s funeral that inspired this book’s “what if”.

Hank and I had time before we had to be at the funeral home, so we took a walk through my hometown’s downtown. That’s where a man I didn’t know rushed toward me and announced, “My grandmother was murdered 46 years ago, and her case was never solved.” 

Naturally, I was intrigued.

I asked for his grandmother’s name and other details — no surprise given my background in journalism. Later, when I was back home, a little online research showed me the story was true. (By the way, Hank, a bit stunned, asked me, “How do you attract people like that?”)

In Finding the Source, Isabel and her 93-year-old mother Maria, her partner in solving crimes, are in the city of Mayfield where they are invited to lunch by a person from a previous case. (More on that in another post.) True to form, they are early, so they decide to take a little walk. There, they are approached by a homeless man who startles them with a story about finding his mother murdered when he was only twelve. 

True to form, I took my own experience and had my way with it in Finding the Source. I don’t know the background of the man who approached me. I didn’t even get his name. But what if Isabel is approached by a homeless man who has struggled with the murder of his mother, a seller of vintage books? What if it happened in Dillard, where Isabel must once again deal with its police chief?

Here’s a scene from that meeting. I will let Isabel tell you about it herself.

My attention refocuses on a man who walks fast across the library’s lawn. He has mostly white hair long past a decent cut that hangs almost to his shoulders, a full beard, and a purpose in his step. That determination makes me wonder if he is going to ask us for directions or more likely spare change since he appears rather under-dressed for today’s weather in a hooded sweatshirt instead of a heavy jacket. His jeans are worn at the knees. A backpack is slung over one shoulder.

The man stops a few feet in front of us, startling my mother who was concentrating on the library. As usual, I plan to take charge.

“My mother was murdered forty-three years ago, and her case was never solved,” the man announces in a loud voice.

Ma and I glance at each other. This was unexpected.

“Your mother was murdered?” I say, and the man needs no invitation to take another step closer.

“Her name’s Abigail. Abigail McKenzie. Mine is Tom, Tom McKenzie,” he says. “She was found beaten and strangled in our home. The cops back then did a lousy job investigating.”

Frankly, I am a bit stunned. I believe it’s the same for my mother because her mouth hangs open like she wants to say something but doesn’t know what. I study the man’s face, noting the stubble of whiskers and deep lines. Perhaps if I step closer, I might smell booze on his breath, but hold on, Isabel, let’s not jump to any conclusions. Keeping an open mind served me well as a reporter and now, as a private investigator. Maybe my mother and I simply appear approachable.

“I’d like to hear more,” I say.

“You do?” he asks with a tone of disbelief in his voice. 

I’m guessing he’s been turned away or ignored many times. Forty-three years? That could have happened a lot.

My mother pats my arm. 

“My daughter is a private investigator.”

“You’re a private investigator?” Tom McKenzie says. “You ever take cases like this?”

I have no idea how serious this man is or whether he’s dishing me a load of bull, but I can’t dismiss an opportunity to help a person do right. The people who have hired me have included a drug dealer, junkyard owner, and a noted poet. So, why not a perfect stranger who found me by chance on the street of a city I rarely visit? But I definitely would need a lot more before I seriously consider it. 

Here’s the link for Finding the Source if you would like to read it. And if you enjoy it, please leave a rating or a review. Thanks if you do.

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