New Audiobook Release: Murder in Black and White, the First Book in the High Country Mystery Series, from Books in Motion!

     The long-awaited day has arrived! We are thrilled to announce the first book in the High Country Mystery Series, MURDER IN BLACK AND WHITE, has been released in audio from Books in Motion, narrated by Michael Bowen.

Sheriff Jeff McQuede becomes suspicious when a robber breaks into the Coal County Museum and steals only one item - a black-and-white class photograph. Under the name Jerome Slade the photographer had printed two ominous words: never graduated.
When a body is unearthed beneath the newly demolished school, McQuede realizes Slade had not left Black Mountain the night of the spring dance. McQuede soon uncovers hidden rivalries between Slade and his classmates. When he discovers that Heather Kenwell and the woman of his dreams, Loris Conner, were rivals for Slade's affection, McQuede fears finding out the truth.
Theft, blackmail, and another brutal killing lead back to photographs taken by Black Mountain's eccentric photographer, Bruce Fenton. While others see an innocent collection, McQuede sees murder in black and white.

Check their home page for an audio sample Books in Motion

Click this link  to order MURDER IN BLACK AND WHITE in audio from Books in Motion.

Keep posted!  The other nine books in the series will soon follow. The next book will be Whispers of the Stones.

Murder in Black and White is also available as an ebook and paperback from Amazon Click this link to order an ebook or paperback from Amazon.  

Murder in Black and White.

New Release The Victim's Child--A Suspenseful Mystery Romance

We are happy to announce our latest standalone mystery romance, THE VICTIM'S CHILD has been chosen as a recommended read!

Lara Radburn returns to her hometown to sell some real estate property owned by her late father, she finds a murdered tenant, a traumatized child, and a mysterious stranger who might be a cold-blooded murderer!


..AND THE KILLER HAD NO FACE…

Lara Radburn arrives minutes after a crime is committed. She finds her renter, Crystal Mar, a local artist, dead. She has been bludgeoned by one of her own works in progress…the sculpture of a fierce lion. Her four-year-old daughter, Karma, has disappeared. In a frantic search through the surrounding woods, Lara encounters a stranger who helps her find Crystal’s child. But she soon discovers that Dane Lanford is the man who has taken her late brother’s role as head of the local art retreat, a place shrouded in rumors and mystery, and has ties to Crystal through her artwork. To the traumatized child, the face of the killer has merged with that of the stone lion, so she can identify no one. Lara suspects charming Dane Lanford may be Karma’s father…and a cold-blooded killer.

The book is available through Amazon on Kindle, KindleUnlimited, and as a paperback.
Click this link to order THE VICTIM'S CHILD 

CRYING WOMAN BRIDGE AND THE MYTH OF LA LLORONA

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Hello, Readers,

Our  High Country Mystery novel,  Crying Woman Bridge, was at least partially inspired by tales of La Llorona.  La Llorona , or The Weeping Woman, is a legend that has been around a while in Mexico and the Southwestern states.

Books and movies have been made of the ghostly crying woman weeping for her child or children that she has murdered for some personal gain. In fact, a new 2019 film, THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA was just released which centers around the legend.  And I remember viewing an earlier one one on Netflix as well.  

The La Lllorona Legend

“Ah, mis hijos…” Is it a woman’s voice wailing for her lost children, or only the wind?

Many versions of the La Llorona story exist.  Part of the folklore of Mexico and the Southwest, its origin is impossible to trace.  

The basic story is that a poor but beautiful village woman attracts the eye of a wealthy man. The rich lover doesn't know she has children.  She drowns the children to be with her lover, but the lover then rejects her.  Feeling the anguish of remorse and grief, she drowns herself and her restless spirit forever searches for her lost children. 

In other versions of the story, she is a woman who neglects her children by going to parties in town.  While she is away, the children wander off to the river and drown.   She is often portrayed as a malevolent ghost that caused misfortune.    

Check this site for the most well-known version of the  La Llorona Legend.

Similar  Legends

In the Midwest there are legends of haunted bridges and spirits who, like La Llorona are weeping for their lost child or children.  Theorosa's Bridge, on the outskirts of Valley Center, Kansas, has such a story. The bridge is believed to be haunted by a young woman crying for her lost child.  In some versions of the tale she is the mother of an  infant who was stolen from a wagon train by a band or raiding Indians.  In others, she is a young woman who drowns her illegitimate baby to hide her shame. Like the La Llorona legend, her ghost haunts the bridge, searching forever for her lost child.

La Llorona Comes to Wyoming

We combined these two legends and brought a tale similar to La Llorona to Wyoming in the form of Mirabella.  Mirabella is a pioneer woman who, according to our story’s legend, threw her illegitimate baby from the bridge.  Filled with remorse, she haunts the area and tries to steal children from unsuspecting mothers.

   “When I was in high school, the kids always gathered here to party.  But they were spooked by the place, too.”  McQuede leaned back in the car seat, recalling, “In the old days, it was called Mirabella’s bridge.”

            “That’s because,” Dawson explained, “according to local legend, a young pioneer woman named Mirabella got jilted by her lover and threw her baby over the bridge.”

            “All I know is that at night it is rumored you can still hear her wails.”

“Foolish superstition,” Dawson said.

            McQuede attempted to suppress amusement over his friend’s sudden seriousness.  “It’s a fact, for sure,” McQuede persisted, trying to keep the teasing out of his voice, “if you say her name three times, she will appear and bad things will follow.”  

            “Yes,” Dawson echoed, “Three calls and woe to you.”

            “Did you ever try it?”

            “Not brave enough.”  Midway across the bridge, Dawson stopped the car.  “But you are.  I dare you, McQuede.  Call her name three times, and let’s see what happens.”

            Dawson pressed the buttons that controlled the front side windows, and they slid open with an eerie, mechanical sound that mingled with the noise of rushing water.  A gust of wind from the canyon stirred their clothing and hair.  Instead of waiting for McQuede, Dawson called out in a voice loud and clear, “Mirabella!  Mirabella!  Mira—we’re going to be late,” he broke off suddenly, without finishing.  He promptly checked his watch.  “Too late for this nonsense.”

            Dawson, for the first time silent, stepped harder on the gas as they followed the twisting road.  McQuede’s friend always became too involved in these legends, so much so, that they often became fixed in his mind as solid fact instead of mostly fiction.  McQuede, noting the anxiety that had crept into the professor’s manner, couldn’t help smiling.

Click this link to order CRYING WOMAN BRIDGE from Amazon

We have recently received the news that CRYING WOMAN BRIDGE has been accepted by BOOKS IN MOTION to be recorded in audio.  Audible readers will soon be able to listen t o this new release with expert narration. 

 CRYING WOMAN BRIDGE is also available through Amazon on Kindle, Kindleunlimted, and in paperback.

Summer Special Sale--Read AN ICY DEATH FREE on Kindle June 29-July 3

Hello, Readers,
The summer is really heating up in Kansas as we prepare for the 4th of July!

To celebrate we are offering AN ICY DEATH, a High Country Mystery, free on Kindle from June 29 through July 3!

Cool off with a tale about winter!  Did Arthur Burnell really leave his wife in the car to face an icy death so he can get her money? Or is something else going on that McQuede must figure out?

Click on link to order An Icy Death

FREE June 29-July 3

99c for the month of July!

Wyoming winters can be murder!  In the heart of a raging blizzard Sheriff Jeff McQuede discovers a woman frozen to death in her car. At first he believes her death to be an unfortunate accident--until he finds clues that point to cold-blooded murder. Margaret's husband, Arthur, left her in the stalled vehicle to brave the storm and manages to reach Joe Trevino's isolated ranch. The case becomes more complicated because of the recent warehouse robberies at Trevino's store. McQueede finds that Trevino is Margaret Burnell's business partner, and that she has traveled from their Casper store to conduct a company audit. In addition, Margaret has planned to meet with her only child, a run-away daughter she hasn't seen in years. Trevino, the missing daughter, and Arthur Burnell would all profit financially from Margaret's demise. Has a relentless killer tracked and sabotaged the Burnells, or did Arthur simply abandon his wife for his share of the money, leaving her to die an icy death? 

AN ICY DEATH is the fifth book in the Jeff McQuede High Country Mystery Series. Each book in the series contains a complete story and can be read as a stand-alone.

Stay cool!
THE AUTHORS

News for May

The latest book in our High Country Mystery Series, Rapid River Hoax, has been released!  In this book McQuede tries to mend his broken heart as he does a little river rafting and attempts to solve the mystery of a young man who has disappeared on the river.  Will he take Lois back or this time has she gone too far?

Click on link to order Rapid River Hoax

JOIN OUR AMAZON GIVEAWAY

Until Memorial Day click on link below to join our giveaway for a Kindle copy of An Icy Death.  When McQuede finds an abandoned car in a snowstorm he must solve the mystery of whether Margaret Burnell's death was an accident or suicide.  Did her husband leave his wealthy wife to die AN ICY DEATH?

Click on link to join Amazon Giveaway!

New Release Rapid River Hoax: the Jeff McQuede High Country Mystery Series

It's finally here!  We are happy to announce the newest addition to our High Country Mystery Series.  In our latest book in the series, Sheriff Jeff McQuede braves the rapids while trying to solve a mystery that centers around treasure seekers,a Bigfoot hunter, and the puzzling disappearance of an adventurous young man who may either be perpetuating a publicity hoax or in serious danger.

After being jilted at the altar by his capricious long-time girlfriend, Loris, Mcquede's best friend, Dawson, convinces him to take a relaxing river rafting trip. But unknown to Dawson, McQuede has another reason for agreeing to the trip to Rapid River Outpost, a run-down lodge high in the mountains.  He has discovered that a young man, Andy Norton, has recently disappeared from the lodge and his parents have asked him to look into the matter.  Andy is notorious for perpetuating hoaxes, but this time may have gotten in over his head.  Dawson also has an ulterior motive for going up into the mountains.  He is searching for a lost Native American Sheepeater camp, a project that draws Loris and Arden Reed to the scene.  Surrounded by colorful characters and intrigue, McQuede finds himself in race to save valuable artifacts and to find out what happened to Andy.

Click on link to order on Amazon

How a Trip to Peru Inspired a Novel: The Lost City of the Condor

Our Trip to Peru to Find Inspiration for The Lost City of the Condor

To research our novel The Lost City of the Condor, Loretta and I were fortunate to have taken a trip to Peru. We both wanted most of all to see  Machu Picchu, the fabulous city of the Inca and walk the Inca trail.

Lima, Cuzco, and the Weavers of Peru 

We began our journey in Lima, Peru.  Though it was summer, that night it got so cold we thought we would freeze.  We started hunting for blankets and begged the hotel manager for a plug-in electric heater, which saved our lives.  The city is big and modern, with many parks and flowers and monuments.  It is known for its world-famous gold museum.

 Shortly after, we started out by plane for the little city of Cuzco (often spelled Cusco) This is a beautiful place high up in the mountains, so high that the elevation is over 11,000 feet.  We met with our guide, Washington, and a group of travelers.  Every day, we had to drink plenty of water and coca tea, which helps with the dizziness and light-headedness that comes with higher elevation.

In the course of our travels we met  many of the local Peruvians.  In the little town of Chinchero, we learned about the expert weavers.  They make beautiful rugs and other woven goods from the wool of the alpaca.  The weavers have their unique designs and symbols that have been handed down through generations.

Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail

A train took us high up in the mountains to the ruins of Machu Picchu. If a person sees one thing in their lifetime, it should be this sight.  The ruins, half hidden by misty clouds are breathtaking.  We rose one morning early and walked the Inca trail.  This is quite a feat at that elevation, as the thinness of the air makes the step heavy and leaves climbers gasping for breath. But we made it!

 Capacocha Burials

Before starting on the trip I had read about the perfectly-preserved frozen mummy of a young girl who was found in the Andes  mountains who had been sacrificed to the gods by the Incas.  The scientists named her Juanita  This was years ago, and since then other sacrifices have also been found.  We learned that buried alongside these rare graves high in the Andes are often rare treasures of gold.  When our heroine, Arla, learns that the site is about to be plundered, she begins a race against time to find and preserve the burial and its contents.  Though we did not climb the Andes ourselves, we did extensive research to see how the climb is accomplished.

With all that we had discovered, we decided to write a fiction story based around our heroine, archaeologist Arla Vaughn, who learns of a lost city similar to Machu Picchu hidden deep in the jungle, and who follows the trail to a rare burial high up in the Andes.  Of course, she's not the only one who knows about this treasure.  Ruthless criminals follow, trailing her, watching for any clue that will lead them first to the rare site and the treasure they seek--the golden condor!

About our Archaeology Books and Series

Loretta and I enjoy writing books about archaeology and rare treasures.  Our Ardis Cole series features Ardis Cole, who travels the world and solves mysteries that center around ancient tombs and other sites.

Our Arla Vaugh Pre-Columbian Treasure series concentrates on the special treasures of Mesoamerica. The Lost City of the Condor, with its concentration on the Inca,  is the second book in the series.  A companion book with the same character, The Mayan Mask of Death, takes place in Honduras.  Another book, concerning an Azetec treasure, is planned for the future.

The Lost City of the Condor was a 2013 Reader's Favorite Finalist in Adventure.

Click this Amazon Link to Purchase The Lost City of the Condor

Christmas Mystery Writers Special! Sample Half a Dozen Authors for only .99c a Book! Three Days Only. December 4-6.

CHRISTMAS MYSTERY SPECIAL! 

Back by Popular Demand: Choose one. Choose some.  Choose all.  
FOR THREE DAYS DECEMBER 4th, 5th and 6th sample these selected author's books for only 99c a book!  CLICK ON THE RED BOOK TITLE LINKS ACROSS FROM THE AUTHOR'S NAME TO ORDER!

                                   

 A DANGEROUS HARBOR  by R P DAHLKE 

When Katrina Hunter is forced to shoot her sister's stalker, she takes the required leave of absence from the SF police department as her chance for a long over-due sail to Mexico. 
But when she discovers a floater close to her first port-of-call, she naturally does the right thing; she reports the dead body to the Mexican Navy. Except that doing her civic duty brings her into the Ensenada police station where she comes face-to-face with her unfortunate past. A past that could cause her to lose her hard won position as a detective in the San Francisco police department. 

MURDER AT THE MANSION by JEAN HENRY MEAD 

Dana Logan Grayson finds the body of her gardner in her yard. He's been stabberd but was he the intended victim? Her friend Sarah arrives from Texas to help her discover the killer and they flee for their lives to Texas and the Alaskan outback before the killer is discovered.

THE BIG MOUTH by JOHN KING

 A crime thriller about a well-to-do New Jersey man who foolishly brags about his wealth and high cash position to win a political argument at a holiday party. Big mistake. He might win the argument, but he loses the war. Seems not everyone in the room is as well-to-do or honest. In fact, some are downright criminal. Rex Jones’s big mouth makes him the target for a group of lowlifes who plan to use his wife, Lena, and daughter, Laurie, as leverage to extort his cash. Can Rex save his family? Does he even have the ability to go up against these violent thugs? 

DREAM OR DESTINY by LILLIE AMMANN

Marilee Anderson dreams about a murder and wakes to find it really happened. She and David Nichols, the victim's brother, become the prime suspects. Though they have their secrets and aren't sure they can trust each other, Marilee and David team up to find the killer in this psychic suspense.

MISTLETOE MEDIUM by ELIZABETH DELISI 

No sooner does psychic Lottie Baldwin pull up stakes and move to Cheyenne, North Dakota, than she finds herself up to her neck in a series of mysterious robberies. Can Lottie and the handsome new man in her life, deputy sheriff Harlan Erikson, solve the crime spree before Lottie becomes the next victim?

CRYING WOMAN BRIDGE by LORETTA JACKSON AND                                                             VICKIE BRITTON 

Haunted bridge, crying woman, missing baby!   While returning from Professor Dawson's lecture on haunted places, the last thing Sheriff Jeff McQuede and Dawson expect to encounter is a terrified woman clinging to the railing of Mirabella's Bridge, crying for her lost baby. It looks as if Rae Harris has thrown the infant over the bridge in a fit of despair, but she claims he has been stolen by a ghostly figure she calls Mirabella.

The Pedro Mummy: Inspiration for Whispers of the Stones

THE PEDRO MUMMY 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/The_San_Pedro_Mountain_Mummy.jpgnknown (Life time: 1936) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commonsption

While living in Laramie, Wyoming, Vickie came across the curious case of the Pedro Mummy.  According to old newspaper accounts the mummified remains of a tiny man had been discovered sitting cross-legged in a cave by miners in the area in the 1930s. There's no  There's no question that the Pedro Mummy actually existed.  It became an object of curiosity and scientific speculation until its disappearance in the 1950s.  It was not a fake.

The little mummy, which was soon nicknamed "Pedro" because he was found in the Pedro Mountains changed hands several times and was sold and resold. For a time, it was displayed in a drug store, then a used car lot, then a cigar shop in Casper.  In the care of Ivan Goodman in the 1950s, the mummy was examined and X-rayed.  It was found the mummy had a definite human rib-cage.

At the time of the Pedro Mummy’s discovery, it was thought to be the remains of a tiny, ancient little man in his late sixties.  Many people believed that the discovery of the tiny mummy might be proof that the “Little People” of Native American legends actually existed.  The “Little People” are part of the legends and folklore of the Shoshoni, Arapahoe. and many other tribes.  In some tales the tiny men, who remain hidden in caverns and deep in the mountains, are good-natured tricksters, in others they are more mean-spirited and may shoot arrows at their larger counterparts.  In many tales the “Little People” serve as spiritual guides or helpers to lost travelers.

In the 1980s the original X-rays were carefully studied and scientists indicated that the tiny remains were more likely to be those of a malformed infant who had been left in the cave to die instead of a full-grown man.  The infant might have suffered from anencephaly, which would account for the misshapen head.  But it didn’t explain fully developed rib-cage or reports that the mummy had teeth.  Since the mummy can no longer be found to examine, no one really knows who he was or how he got there.

     The last owner of the mummy was New Yorker Leonard Wadler.  After that, the mummy disappeared from history.  Many articles have appeared about the Pedro Mummy, including stories in the Casper Star Tribune.  Since its disappearance, scientists and collectors have had interest in finding the missing mummy, even offering rewards, so it can be examined.

All of this caught our interest and we decided to write a mystery starting with the premise: what if some antique dealer actually had the mummy?  What would happen if such an artifact resurfaced?

In our third Jeff McQuede novel, Whispers of the Stones, Sheriff McQuede investigates such an event.  The details concerning the mummy in this story are as true as we could make them from varying research sources.  The rest, of course, is fiction.

To read more about The Pedro Mummy:

As you read accounts of the Pedro Mummy, you will find many discrepancies, because even in newspapers and journals there are many different accounts of what happened.  When writing our story, we used those dates and sources from what seemed the most reliable references.  Here are some places on the Internet to read more about the Pedro Mummy and the “Little People”.

The Pedro Mummy:

Unsolved Mysteries Wikia

The Little  People:

Legends of America

Whispers of the Stones; A Jeff McQuede Mystery by Loretta Jackson and Vickie Britton