If you’re looking for a good mystery with a little holiday twist, look no further. Today I’m participating in the FESTIVE MAYHEM Book Blast featuring 10 talented authors with stories of mystery, crime, and suspense with a holiday flair.
◊ Genre: Mystery Anthologies
◊ Publisher: Marla Bradeen (October 26,2020)
◊ eBooks
◊ File Size: 1232 KB
◊ Print Length: 159 Pages
◊ ASIN: BO8F3HLH67
Ten crime writers of color have teamed up to offer you the gift of escape this holiday season. From Christmas crime capers to Thanksgiving thrillers, historical hard-boiled to contemporary cozies, mystery fans of all genres will find something to love in this limited-time collection of exclusive, never-before-published seasonal short stories.
What you’ll find inside:
• “The New Year’s Hex” by Carolyn Marie Wilkins. Carrie McFarland finds her New Year’s plans derailed when a psychic vision pulls the 1920s African American amateur sleuth into someone’s evil scheme.
• “Pipe Dreams” by S.G. Wong. In this hard-boiled Crescent City short story, infatuation and passion drive Minnie Chen straight into danger as she tries to best the City’s most glamorous private detective in a reimagined 1930s-era Chinese Los Angeles.
• “A Christmas Tip” by Elizabeth Wilkerson. A surprise Christmas bonus becomes too tempting for Philadelphia nursing assistant Brianna Byers to resist—even if accepting requires some skillful skirting of the law.
• “The Stranger in the House” by Stella Oni. This London House Mystery prequel stars Elizabeth Ojo, a Nigerian housekeeper at a posh guest house, who finds her Christmas intersecting with that of a mysterious resident in trouble.
• “What Lies Inside” by Kia Dennis. A tormented university professor falls deeper and deeper into a destructive obsession in this harrowing tale of love and longing.
• “A Pub, Bed & Breakfast & A Dead Body” by Forest Issac Jones. A dark past becomes the deadly present when North Carolina police detective Ike Coates and his intrepid young partner are tasked with determining the cause of a suspicious death.
• “A Deadly First” by Delia C. Pitts. Thanksgiving takes a fatal turn when New York private eye SJ Rook finds himself thrust into his first murder case in this darkly atmospheric tale of noir.
• “The Holiday Murder Mélange” by Myra Jolivet. This Sarah Doucette Jean-Louis short story follows the Creole P.I. around the San Francisco Bay Area on her quest to figure out who killed a man outside of her office.
• “Those Holiday Blues” by Jennifer J. Chow. Jasmine, aka “Jazz,” can’t escape the tragic past when an old boyfriend asks to meet on the anniversary of his mother’s death.
• “Holiday Holdup” by Paige Sleuth. In this Cozy Cat Caper Mystery Short, Imogene Little gets tangled up in a Christmas Eve bank robbery orchestrated by none other than Santa Claus himself.
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EXCERPTThe New Year’s Hex
By Carolyn Marie Wilkins
PEOPLE IN ARONSVILLE, Indiana, say I’m a witch. White and colored alike tend to cross the street when they see me coming. Is it my fault I get visions and see colors around people? If I could turn it off and just be ordinary, I would. But it doesn’t work that way. Believe me, I have tried.
If it weren’t for Sister Marie, there’s no telling what would have happened to me. Her magic potions have the power to heal whatever ails you—whether it’s health, love or finances. She took me under her wing two years ago and taught me how to use my gift. If you need to know your future or speak to someone in the Spirit World, I can help.
But I draw the line at hexes. I learned a long time ago that what goes around, comes around. Any bad juju you send out will come back to haunt you sooner or later.
I only use my gift to help people. Still, the fact that I’m a Seer tends to rattle some folks.
Which is why I said “No” when Reverend Robinson invited me to the dinner the Negro Voters League was having at his church on New Year’s Day. The reverend is young, handsome and new in town. Although he’s a man of the cloth, he’s one of the few people in Aronsville who accepts me without judgment. As we sat at Sister Marie’s battered kitchen table drinking tea, his brown face shone with excitement.
“Dr. Morgan Hicks is going to be our guest speaker,” he said. “He’s the most famous Negro educator in the country after Booker T. Washington. You don’t want to miss it.”
While it did sound interesting, I still said “No.”
After the reverend left, Sister Marie wagged a bony, arthritic finger in my face and said, “You’re too young to be a stick-in-the-mud, Carrie McFarland. You’re barely eighteen years old. You should go. Live a little.”
“Look who’s talking,” I replied. “You never leave the neighborhood unless you’re delivering a batch of Female Health Tonic to some rich white woman on the other side of town. You know as well as I do there are a lot of people who’d love to see us run out of Aronsville, or even burned at the stake.”
Sister Marie’s weathered brown face crinkled into a toothless smile. “I may be an old woman, but I know that mankind is moving forward. It’s 1922, Carrie. We’ve got moving pictures now, and the telephone. The days for that kind of superstition are over.”
“Tell that to Herman Scott,” I said sourly. “The man has said publicly that I’m in league with the Devil.”
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This anthology is only available for a short time, so grab it now before it’s gone. It would be criminal to miss it!
FESTIVE MAYHEM is available at the following sites:
AMAZON US * AMAZON UK * AMAZON CA *
AMAZON AU * BARNES & NOBLE * GOODREADS * KOBO *
APPLE BOOKS * GOOGLE PLAY * SMASHWORDS
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About the AuthorsFESTIVE MAYHEM features a collection of never-before-published short stories authored by 10 mystery, crime, and suspense writers of color:
- Carolyn Marie Wilkins: https://www.carolynwilkins.com/
- S.G. Wong: https://sgwong.com/
- Elizabeth Wilkerson: http://elizabethwilkerson.com/
- Stella Oni: https://stellaonithewriter.com
- Kia Dennis: http://www.kiadennis.com/
- Forest Issac Jones: http://www.forestissacjones.com/
- Delia C. Pitts: https://www.deliapitts.com/
- Myra Jolivet: https://myrajolivet.com/
- Jennifer J. Chow: http://jenniferjchow.com/
- Paige Sleuth: http://www.marlabradeen.com/ps/
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Be sure to enter the giveaway below. If the widget doesn’t work, just click HERE to enter. You can read more about this fascinating book by visiting the other stops on the Book Blast.Thanks for stopping by today. Don’t you just love a good mystery with a holiday theme?
Monday, Oct. 26
Just Jemi – Review
Rockin’ Book Reviews – Feature
Nesie’s Place – Excerpt
Writer’s Gambit – Review & Feature
Tuesday, Oct. 27
First of All – Review & Excerpt
CelticLady’s Reviews – Feature
Bookish Rantings – Excerpt
I Found This Great Book – Review & Excerpt
Book Reviews by Pat Garcia – Review
Thoughts in Progress – Excerpt
Author Deborah A. Bailey – Excerpt
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Nesie's Place 