2023 in Review: Highs, Lows and Turning Points
How did your 2023 go? Mine went something like this. High I won the 2023 Silver Falchion award for Best Historical at the Killer Nashville International Writer’s Conference this year. The award...
Why Keepsake Journals Are on Everyone’s Wishlist
Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. - William Wordsworth The Monocle Minute newsletter recently featured an interview with Luc Goidadin, creative director of Smythson, the “celebrated...
Life Lessons from a Christmas Nutcracker
When I was 11, I made a nutcracker for my mother for Christmas. As a child, I was entranced by Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. I’d never seen a real nutcracker but loved the music and a glimpse into...
Shepherd is a better Goodreads with a unique recommendation feature
It's time to celebrate! Shepherd.com is your new go-to book recommendation wonderland. Shepherd.com, is a new(ish) platform to find books. It's considerably more interesting than Goodreads and has...
Your top books of 2023, according to Mystery Ahead
Every year, I calculate which books in the Mystery Ahead newsletter were most popular with readers. The top books of 2023 were clicked on the most out of the 75 books featured in the newsletter this...
The Inspired Gift Guide for Mystery Book Lovers
When it comes to online shopping, it can be hard to find that unique something special for someone special. But I've done the hard part, scrolling and sifting to find gifts for the mystery book...
What you can expect from Organized Crime in Acapulco after Hurricane Otis
With winds of up to 165 mph, Category 5 Hurricane Otis tore through Acapulco in late October, leaving a trail of unprecedented devastation. It strengthened so quickly there was little time to...
Book review: RECKONING by Baron Birtcher
New favorite series alert! Sheriff Ty Dawson solves murder and corruption cases in must-read police procedural RECKONING by Baron Birtcher. Dawson joins Walt Longmire and Cork O’Connor as lawmen...
Book Review: GRIMM UP NORTH by David J. Gatward
Now and then, you stumble across a series that is simply captivating and you have to inhale one book right after the other. The DCI Harry Grimm series set in the Yorkshire dales, is that kind of...
Sound of Freedom movie producer wants to be president of Mexico
I guess he won't have time to star in the film adaptation of my book. Eduardo Verástegui, the impossibly handsome Mexican actor and film producer, announced 8 September on Instagram that he’s...
The Galliano Club’s signature Italian Sandwiches
Readers of the Galliano Club historical fiction series have fallen in love with the Italian sandwiches made by bartender Luca Lombardo. And why shouldn't they? His sandwiches are heaped full of...
Winning an Award, Losing My Mother
Murder at the Galliano Club, the first novel in the Galliano Club historical fiction thriller series won the Silver Falchion Award for Best Historical at the 2023 Killer Nashville International...
A Different Point of View
She Said, He Said A CLIFF DIVER scene from Franco Silvio’s Point of View The Detective Emilia Cruz series is written from Emilia's point of view as the first female police detective in Acapulco....
Book Review: THE TWYFORD CODE by Janice Hallett
At first, I was skeptical of a book made entirely of audio transcripts. No, let me back up. At first, I assumed that the audio transcripts were a clever introduction and then the rest of the book...
Sound of Freedom Movie Delivers One Surprise after Another
I saw Sound of Freedom on the 4th of July, grabbing the last seat for the first showing. I knew that it was based on a true story of Tim Ballard (played by Jim Caviezel) and the start of...
Anisette, Biscotti and an Italian Family Memory
Today is Anisette Day. Having missed Limoncello Day, which was 22 June (also National Kissing Day here in the US) today we have an opportunity to repair our collective reputation regarding...
The 2nd coming of Detective Emilia Cruz
The Detective Emilia Cruz novels are getting a facelift!! Starting with CLIFF DIVER, new (2nd) paperback editions of books 1-8 in the Detective Emilia Cruz police procedural mystery series are being...
Book Review: RED KNIFE by William Kent Krueger
RED KNIFE by William Kent Krueger This dramatic addition to the outstanding Cork O’Connor series has it all: a main character firmly grounded in both past and present, intriguing secondary...
Why You Can’t Spy a Lie and What to Do About It
Many years ago, my husband and I bought a single-engine Piper 180 airplane. He’d go out to the small airport 30 minutes from our house, expand his piloting skills and get a break from his...
4 Unputdownable Thrilling Spy Reads
Need Father's Day ideas? How about a couple of thrilling spy reads? As a retired CIA officer, I can vouch for the authenticity of each book on this list. Well-crafted, spine-tingling action,...
25 International Mystery Series to Take You Around the World
A hand-selected list of international mystery series that will take you around the world. How many have you read?AFRICA 1 Precious Ramotswe series by Alexander McCall Smith Main character: Precious...
An 80-year-old deception operation has lessons for today
Eighty years ago, a dead British naval officer named Bill Martin washed up on a Spanish beach. He was a landing craft expert with a fiancée named Pam. They'd gone to the theater in London a few days...
Could notorious spy and traitor Aldrich Ames defeat AI?
I took multiple polygraph tests during my 30-year career as an intelligence officer with the CIA. The theory behind the poly is that basic bodily functions (breathing, heart rate, etc) react if you...
Don’t be Fooled! Decode the News with these Cold War Tips and Tricks
As fallout over the firing of Fox New anchor Tucker Carlson and CNN’s Don Lemon continues to percolate, I recall the Cold War techniques to decode the news used by the Central Intelligence Agency....
Book Review: 10 DAYS by Jule Selbo
This Portland, Maine mystery has it all—a wounded, complicated heroine, a multi-faceted investigation with save-the-world implications, and oodles of atmosphere. Best of all, this is just the first...
3 Life Lessons from a Gathering of Strangers
We sometimes learn--or relearn--life lessons in unexpected places. I recently joined 14 women creatives at a gathering hosted by award-winning writer and filmmaker Rebekah Iliff at Free Dreaming...
Book Review: SENSE OF GRACE by Richard F. McGonegal
This police procedural offers the best first sentence that I’ve read lately. The overall pace and plotting meet that high bar, making this a fast page-turner. Sheriff Francis Hood of Huhman County,...