Drowning in Deception… Join the Rescue Crew by Volunteering to Beta Read
Alright, readers, it’s time!
Consider this my official request for beta readers for the first book in my upcoming series. The working title — still subject to change — is Drowning in Deception.
Here’s a little bit about it:
Lily Gallagher has just retired after forty years as a nurse. She exhausted, and wants nothing more than to get the rest she’s needed for so long.
Not a chance. The peace of the little condo community where she lives is shattered — decisively — and Lily has to figure out how to keep the community from falling apart.
And, just to tempt you some more, here’s the opening of the book:
My retirement -- you know, the time when I could finally rest and relax after years of backbreaking and heartbreaking work as a nurse -- began with the furor over Carol’s stairlift. Well, the stairlift and a murder.
Okay, if you want to be technical, it officially began after my final shift at the hospital the previous Friday. There was a brief recognition of my 40-plus years as an RN, and a so-sad-to-see-you go speech. The cake was beautiful, and whoever ordered it knew I love chocolate, so that was okay.
Saturday my husband Michael put together a party for me at the clubhouse at Happy Oaks. That’s the small, over-55 condo complex where we live, in Winter Park, near Orlando. Sunday was a much-needed lazy day, so I was thinking of Monday as my first day as a retiree, my first working day when I had no work scheduled.
My plan for that day was to celebrate my retirement by sleeping in, reading some books, and not much else. Too bad it didn't work out that way.
If you’d like to be considered as a beta reader, click this link to fill out some basic information. Beta read copies are limited. . .
What I’m Reading
January Thaw by Jess Lourey
It’s typical January weather in middle-of-nowhere, Minnesota. In other words, six below zero. So when Mira goes skating on the frozen lake, of course she’s going to find a dead body floating underneath the ice.
Just her luck. . .
Then, as if that’s not enough bad luck, she sees her hearthrob, Johnny, canoodling with a beautiful blonde. It’s enough to make a girl want to hide under the bed.
This is the ninth of Lourey’s Murder by Month mystery series, and Mira’s still finding dead bodies. It’s not going to help her in her quest to become a licensed PI, but it’s very entertaining for us readers.
Death by the Book by Lucy Connelly
Twins Mercy and Lizzie McCarthy are settling into the village of Shamrock Cove just fine, despite the previous murder of the judge next door to them. Lizzie’s helping to organize a prestigious book festival, but the festival is thrown into turmoil when one of the authors is found dead. By Mercy.
Will they ever catch a break?
A worthy second installment in the Mercy McCarthy series.
Notable Quotes
Fiona couldn’t see the positive side of remaining unmurdered for one night. She wanted to stay unmurdered, preferably for the rest of her life.
- The Charity Shop Detective Agency by Peter Boland
I agree with Fiona — I would like to stay unmurdered for this night and every other night!
It was a grimy building that smelt of despair and carbolic in roughly equal proportions.
- Flying Too High by Kerry Greenwood
Does despair have an odor? Apparently so.
Between the tequila and the game, the mood was high in our backyard, and when Mart joined us, it got almost raucous for a bunch of middle-aged people. By which I mean, we laughed really loudly and got tipsy. No one did shots
- Epilogue of an Epitaph by ACF Bookens
I guess doing shots is only for young people.
Buy Me a Chai
Some of the links I include in this email may be Amazon affiliate links. What does that mean? It means you pay the same — or in some cases a little less — if you click and purchase, and I get a small commission. It’s not a lot, but it helps me buy a few chai lattes here and there. . . If you’d rather support your local independent bookstore than the company Bezos built, please use this link: https://bookshop.org/lists/mystery-susanna-sullivan.
Or, if you’d like to support me without upgrading to a paid subscription, you can Buy Me a Chai right now. Thanks!
Wise Words
Well, wordlers, how did you do? I’ll tell you how — once again all readers who responded had the correct word choice.
Your choices to fill in the blank for this quote were laud and lord.
And he’s going to want to _____ it over you, isn’t he?
- Death Comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood
The correct answer is, of course, lord. If you’d like a detailed dive into lord vs. laud, check out Grammarphobia. Basically, lord as a verb means to act in a way that shows one thinks one is better or more important than another. Laud means to praise.
Watch next week for another game!
Congratulations!