You can go home again—but it might be murder

My much nicer alter ego, Kay Charles (she doesn’t use the f-word), is pleased to announce that the Kindle edition of Ghosts in Glass Houses, her cozy-ish mystery novel, is now available for pre-order! Ghosts, published by Kindle Press, will be released on September 5th.

A little about the book:

Marti Mickkleson sees ghosts. No one believes her except her great-grandmother. Since Grandma Bertie died the day Marti was born, her support isn’t worth much in the world of the living.

Ten years ago, Marti ran away from her wealthy family and the small town where she was known as “Marti Cray-Cray.” When she wakes up in a compromising position and sees her father standing over her, she thinks he owes her a big apology. After all, he’s dead and talking to her—and she talks back.

He doesn’t apologize. Instead, he claims he was murdered and demands she go home and do something about it. If she does, he’ll move on to the afterlife and leave her alone. If not, he’ll haunt her forever. With her life going downhill fast and nothing to lose, she agrees.

In Bicklesburg, she finds her once formidable mother in the throes of dementia, her perfect-prom-queen sister now a lawyer married to a not-so-perfect man, and her bad-boy high school boyfriend a private security guard watching over the family fortress.

Before Marti can decide if staying is worth it, her mother wanders away and is found cradling a bloodstained garden gnome. Marti is the only one who sees the ghost of her father’s former girlfriend hovering beside Mom, but it’s not long before the body is discovered.

With the help of Grandma Bertie, Marti must make peace with her family, deal with old friends and enemies and new scandals—and uncover a murderer without ending up a ghost herself.

Pre-order Ghosts in Glass Houses here.

Or, read a sample here.

The Plot is Murder

With Poodles!

My friend and Seton Hill University Writing Popular Fiction cohort, V.M. Burns, got a first look at the cover for her debut cozy mystery this week. (In an odd turn of events, I saw it before she did, but I won’t say “nanny-nanny-boo-boo” or anything. That would be rude.)

She was a little excited. You can read about it and get a better look at the lovely cover in her post, “The Plot is Murder—Cover Reveal.”

The Plot is Murder coverTo be published by Kensington Books in November 2017, the book has already garnered some high praise.

“You’ll love this delightful debut mystery with its charming and wacky cast of characters and a mystery within a mystery just to keep things interesting.” —Victoria Thompson, bestselling author of Murder in Morningside Heights

“A charming read—with murder, romance and lots of mouthwatering desserts.” —Laura Levine, author of Death of a Bachelorette

The Plot is Murder is the first in a series, and rumor has it Valerie is already at work on book three!