‘Fit To Be Dead’ by Nancy Glass West

Published by Southwest Publications, 2012.
ISBN: 978-0-974770-58-1

Aggie Mundeen, has moved from Chicago to San Antonio, Texas.  Approaching her forties she has decided that she needs to investigate improvement to combat the aging process, particularly before anyone realises that she is the ‘Dear Aggie’ who writes the ‘Adventures in Staying Young’ column.  As part of her new physical fitness regime she has registered in graduate school for the course Aspects of Aging.  Now she decides to check out the Fit and Firm Health Club. 

Obtaining a guest pass she sets of to investigate the facilities, and in minutes she meets gorgeous Pete Reeves, who offers her a tour of the work-out rooms, handsome hunk Mickey Shannon who has a strong resemblance to Tom Selleck, and friendly Ned Barclay. The girls in the women’s locker room are not quite so friendly.  But before she can cement any friendships she finds a body in the pool. Luckily prompt action on her part averts disaster, but was it really an accident?

On her next visit to beat the flab Aggie is not on hand to avert a death, and is determines to find the killer. Meanwhile, Detective Sam Vanderhoven turns up - she and Sam have been friends along time.  Aggie would like something more, but whilst thrilled to see him, is aware that he will hamper her investigations.

Her methods are hilarious.  I laughed so much I had to put the book down to find tissues to mop up my eyes which were streaming, I had laughed so much. Her descriptions on the work-out were wonderful – we’ve all been there, in my case never to go again.

There are some great characters in the book, and it swings along.  It’s a good plot and keeps the reader guessing, although all the clues are there. A light-hearted read, romance, murder and fun, what more could you want in a book. Recommended.
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Reviewer: Lizzie Hayes

Nancy Glass West When Nancy G. West was seven years old, she and her mother wrote poems to each other on special occasions. In high school, the Library Journal Pegasus published Nancy’s poem. At eighteen, she realized she might have to get a real job.  She heard journalists were underpaid and English majors were selling lingerie, so she studied General Business at the University of Texas and University of Houston and earned a BBA.

A few years later, married, with two daughters, Nancy realized she had to study English literature and write. She read numerous books on writing and wrote articles, poetry, and the biography of artist Jose Vives-Atsara (Shoal Creek Publishers). She founded Book Publishers of Texas, edited their trade journal and promoted their books for seven years. While earning her MA in English literature at University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, she began writing Nine Days to Evil, a novel of psychological suspense, Shakespeare, and nonstop-action which won the Blether Gold Award. As West finished, Nine Days to Evil Meredith Laughlin’s story, Meredith’s “mature” graduate school friend, Aggie Mundeen, took over West’s consciousness. The result was the author’s creation of the Aggie Mundeen Mystery Series.       

‘Think of the Children’ by Kerry Wilkinson

Published by Pan,
28 February 2012.
ISBN: 978-1-4472-2340-5

I was looking forward to reading this book for two reasons - I had read of the author’s success in self-publishing as e-books and I knew that he set his books in the Manchester area.  So here we have a female Detective Sergeant called Jessica Daniel who is first on the scene when a car crashes on her route to work.   The shock for her is not really finding that the driver is dead but discovering the body of a child wrapped in plastic in the car boot.

           

The tale develops from this exciting beginning as the case becomes one of child abductions stretching back into the past.   Jessica is a feisty heroine and I was immediately interested in what made her tick as a detective and a woman.  Other characters around her are well delineated as she grapples with the mystery.  There were clever twists as the story developed and a satisfactory conclusion.  The local background was good too.

           

Returning to my initial comment about self-publishing as e-books I do wonder if this is the way things are going; after all the 50 Shades of Grey books were e-books at first. 

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Reviewer: Jennifer Palmer

Kerry Wilkinson is something of an accidental author. His debut, Locked In, was written as a challenge to himself but, after self-publishing, it became a UK number one bestseller within three months of release. His three initial Jessica Daniel books sold over 300,000 copies through word-of-mouth, making him Amazon's UK No.1 author for the final quarter of 2011, its biggest-ever sales period. In February 2012, he agreed a six-book deal with Pan Macmillan for the Jessica Daniel books. In October 2012, it was announced the same publisher had also bought a sci-fi/fantasy/adventure series - the Silver Blackthorn trilogy - which will start to be released in October/November 2013.

Jennifer Palmer Throughout my reading life crime fiction has been a constant interest; I really enjoyed my 15 years as an expatriate in the Far East, the Netherlands & the USA but occasionally the solace of closing my door to the outside world and sitting reading was highly therapeutic. I now lecture to adults on historical topics including Famous Historical Mysteries.

‘An Unmarked Grave’ by Charles Todd

Published by William Morrow Paperbacks,
January, 2013.
ISBN: 978-0-06-201573-0

The Bess Crawford series, in which this is the latest entry, takes place during World War I, with Bess serving as a nurse in France, but usually getting involved in all sorts of crimes, including murder.

This time, deaths result not only as a result of the conflict, but the Spanish influenza epidemic and at least four murders, including that of a major who served with her father, the Colonel sahib, in India. Unfortunately, the major had no identification and was buried in an unmarked grave before Bess could supply his name.  But first, she falls ill with the flu and is returned to England to recover.  And it’s quite possible that Bess saw the murderer, placing her in
jeopardy.

The rest of the book finds Bess, after recovering from her illness, shuttling back to the front and then returning to England in search of the killer.  Of course, there are the Colonel’s mysterious capabilities and super-human contacts within the British establishment which are never disclosed, as well as the abilities of his sergeant-major, Simon Brandon, which permeate the novel, as well as Bess always finding just the right help, be it a person, automobile or telephone, just in the nick of time to make the reader scratch his or her head.  And too often, coincidences arise along the way.

Nevertheless, as in previous books in the series, the battlefield descriptions, the medical efforts to save the wounded and the effects of the conflict on both military and civilians are excellent.  Perhaps the plotting is over-developed, but that is typical of this mother-son
writing team, which pays great attention to detail.  Characters are well-drawn but the  conclusion is sort of forced.  Over all, though, the novel reads well, and is recommended.
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Reviewer:  Ted Feit

Charles and Caroline Todd are a mother and son writing team who live on the east coast of the United States. Caroline has a BA in English Literature and History, and a Masters in International Relations. Charles has a BA in Communication Studies with an emphasis on Business Management, and a culinary arts degree that means he can boil more than water. Caroline has been married (to the same man) for umpteen years, and Charles is divorced. Charles and Caroline have a rich storytelling heritage. Both spent many evenings on the porch listening to their fathers and grandfathers reminisce. And a maternal grandmother told marvelous ghost stories. This tradition allows them to write with passion about events before their own time. And an uncle/great uncle who served as a flyer in WWI aroused an early interest in the Great War.Charles learned the rich history of Britain, including the legends of King Arthur, William Wallace, and other heroes, as a child. Books on Nelson and by Winston Churchill were always at hand. Their many trips to England gave them the opportunity to spend time in villages and the countryside, where there’s a different viewpoint from that of the large cities. Their travels are at the heart of the series they began ten years ago.
Charles’s love of history led him to a study of some of the wars that shape it: the American Civil War, WWI and WWII. He enjoys all things nautical, has an international collection of seashells and has sailed most of his life. Golf is still a hobby that can be both friend and foe. And sports in general are enthusiasms. Charles had a career as a business consultant. This experience gave him an understanding of going to troubled places where no one was glad to see him arrive. This was excellent training for Rutledge’s reception as he tries to find a killer in spite of local resistance.
Caroline has always been a great reader and enjoyed reading aloud, especially poetry that told a story. The Highwayman was one of her early favorites. Her wars are World War 1, the Boer War, and the English Civil War, with a sneaking appreciation of the Wars of the Roses as well. When she’s not writing, she’s traveling the world, gardening or painting in oils. Her background in international affairs backs up her interest in world events, and she’s also a sports fan, an enthusiastic follower of her favorite teams in baseball and pro football. She loves the sea but is a poor sailor—Charles inherited his iron stomach from his father. Still, she has never met a beach she didn’t like.
Writing together is a challenge, and both enjoy giving the other a hard time. The famous quote is that in revenge, Charles crashes Caroline’s computer, and Caroline crashes his parties. Will they survive to write more novels together?

Ted and Gloria Feit live in Long Beach, NY, a few miles outside New York City.  For 26 years, Gloria was the manager of a medium-sized litigation firm in lower Manhattan. Her husband, Ted, is an attorney and former stock analyst, publicist and writer/editor for, over the years, several daily, weekly and monthly publications.  Having always been avid mystery readers, and since they're now retired, they're able to indulge that passion.  Their reviews appear online as well as in three print publications in the UK and US.  On a more personal note: both having been widowed, Gloria and Ted have five children and nine grandchildren between them.

‘Capital Punishment’ by Robert Wilson

Published by Orion,
17 January 2013.
ISBN: 978-1-4091-4312-3

If you like dense, complex and internationally widespread thrillers, then Capital Punishment is for you.  As nearly every schoolboy knows, Robert Wilson won the Crime Writers' Association's Gold Dagger award for A Small Death in Lisbon; The Blind Man of Serville was as good in my opinion, if not better.  And so are the books before and after these. 

Now comes Capital Punishment  Alyshia, the daughter of a former Bollywood actor and now multi-millionaire is kidnapped.  Her distraught parents wait for the ransom demand – but it never comes.  So what are the kidnappers really after?  Is the snatch for political reasons?  For revenge?  Terrorist manoeuvring?  The story moves between London and Mumbai, and each time you think you've sussed out what it's all about, Wilson comes up with an alternative explanation, and moves on, carrying you with him.

There is almost a touch of farce about the way the incredibly self-possessed Alyshia handles her kidnapping, and then the subsequent one as she is kidnapped from her kidnappers, and is then kidnapped again.  But this is not a funny book, though it has some amusing exchanges between Skin and Dan, one of the sets of kidnappers – and both, like all the characters in the book, so well-drawn that you feel sure you've met them somewhere before.  There are a great many characters, on both sides of the moral spectrum, but it's worth keeping up the concentration factor in order to identify them each time they appear. 

A parallel sub-plot concerns the daughter of kidnap negotiator, Charlie Boxer, who also goes missing.  There are many contemporary terrorist references, and a high body count – though very little overt violence.  As the pace increases towards the end of the book, the plot – or plots -- become more and more gripping.  Unputdownable.

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Reviewer: Susan Moody

Robert Wilson was born in 1957. When he was six his father, an Air Force officer, was posted to France, which gave him the bug for foreign travel. He went to a French school and learned to love mussels. He was then sent away to school in England because his education was all over the place. He entered a brutal world, which gave him a lifelong interest in fascist regimes. By the age of eight he says he knew all about terror, consequences, punishment and mental torture as well as defiance, resistance and the bond of friendship. But he did have a wonderful English teacher who taught him how to write haikus. He then spent three years reading English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. In the first long vacation he went around America on a Greyhound bus, and the following year with three friends drove from London to Katmandu via Afghanistan and Iran in an old Dutch post office van. He left Oxford with a degree and a love of American literature and went to Greece to run archaeological tours on the island of Crete for a year. Back in London he took the first job that was offered to him, in a ship broking company specialising in gas transportation. A year later he married.  He has since lived in London, but moved to Portugal, where he started writing novels.

 

Susan Moody was born in Oxford is the principal nom de plume  of Susan Elizabeth Donaldson, née Horwood, a British novelist best known for her suspense novels. She is a former Chairman of the Crime Writer's Association, served as World President of the International Association of Crime Writers, and was elected to the prestigious Detection Club. Susan Moody has given numerous courses on writing crime fiction and continues to teach creative writing in England, France, Australia, the USA and Denmark.  In addition to her many stand alone books, Susan has written two series, on featuring PI Penny Wanawake (seven books) and a series of six books featuring bridge player Cassie Swan.

‘The Man From Primrose Lane’ by James Renner

Published by Corsair, 

17 January 2013.  

 ISBN: 978-1-4721-0014-6 (Paperback)

David Neff is a successful writer until his wife’s tragic suicide. Now he’s over-weight and suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome and occasional psychotic episodes. He’s also worryingly short of money as he finds it hard to write in the face of all his difficulties.

His publisher and friend Paul Sheppard wants him to write a book about an old man who has been brutally murdered – a recluse locally known as the Man from Primrose Lane. The killing interests David as the dead man was found to have a fortune of four million dollars and there are a number of hungry would-be beneficiaries. Thus despite his initial reservations he finds himself drawn into the search for the truth surrounding the mysterious old man’s life and his brutal death.

  

David is an unusual and unlikely hero, and his self-imposed quest is filled with surprises, twists, tangled minds, intriguing time slips and a host of interesting characters.  

 

This intricately plotted story takes us on a roller coaster ride as David starts to unravel the events behind the sad end to an old man’s life.

   

This is a challenging read which pulls no punches – a masterful and complex story of human flaws, brutality and frailty. Highly recommended

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Reviewer: Angela Dracup

James Renner is an American investigative reporter and film producer. He is from Cleveland, Ohio. He is a former writer for the Cleveland Scene and editor of the alternative newspaper, The Independent.  He is a graduate of Kent State University. In October 2006, Gray & Co. released a book by Renner about his two-year-long investigation into the 1989 unsolved abduction/murder of 10 year-old Amy Mihalievic. The title of the book is Amy: My Search for Her Killer. In July 2009, Renner released a documentary titled,  Catching Salinger, online, in serialized form. The documentary is about reclusive author J D Salinger and the influences behind his famous novel, The Catcher in the Rye. Renner's first novel, The man from Promrfose Hill,  was published by Sarah Crichton Books, in March 2012

Angela Dracup Angela was born and educated in Bradford. She read psychology at Sheffield and Manchester universities. She had a life-time career as an educational psychologist, advising on the needs of children with learning and behavioural difficulties. In addition to her writing, Angela enjoys spending time with family and friends, listening to BBC Radio 3, reading fiction and going for long walks with her dog of the moment. She is married with one daughter and lives in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

A prolific author, Angela has written 29 titles in a number of genres, having four best sellers with her books in the Scarlet series and having been short-listed for the prestigious Carnegie Medal with her young adult novel, The Placing. Her novels have been translated into six languages and have been available all over the world. Angela's has written five crime novels which have attracted positive reviews.

‘Death on a Long Ship’ by Marsali Taylor

Published by Attica Books, 2012.
ISBN: 978-1-908002-45-7

For Cass  Lynch, the chance of skippering her own boat, a Viking longship  - for a Holywood film is an opportunity she cannot pass up even through it requires her to return to the Shetland islands, from which she ran away as a teenager to pursue her love of sailing.

But all is far from plain sailing for Cass, as barely are they half-way through filming when Cass finds a dead  body on the deck.

Heading the investigation is Detective Inspector Macrae, and suspects abound. The beautiful leading lady, Favelle and her husband Ted both inspire jealousy and love in equal measure, making for tension amongst the film crew. But soon Macrea has Cass in is sights. After all she did find the body.  Added to the mix is Cass’s father Dermott, who is endeavouring to get a wind tunnel project off the ground. It’s not a project; to endear him to the natives. As more secrets surface, putting Cass’s family under the spotlight, she determines to find the killer herself. But that course could be risky.

Rich in characters, this is an enthralling mystery. I particularly enjoyed Cass’s glamorous, French opera singer mother, who is utterly captivating. Full of unexpected twists, it kept me guessing to the end. Highly recommended.

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Reviewer: Lizzie Hayes

Marsali Taylor grew up near Edinburgh, and came to Shetland as a newly-qualified teacher. She is currently a part-time teacher on Shetland's scenic west side, living with her husband and two Shetland ponies. Marsali is a qualified STGA tourist-guide who is fascinated by history, and has published plays in Shetland's distinctive dialect, as well as a history of women's suffrage in Shetland. She's also a keen sailor who enjoys exploring in her own 8m yacht, and an active member of her local drama group.  Marsali also does a regular monthly column for the Mystery People e-zine.

Evonne Wareham talking to Leigh Russell

Evonne Wareham was born in South Wales and spent her childhood there. After university she migrated to London, where she worked in local
government, scribbled novels in her spare time and went to the theatre a lot. Now she’s back in Wales, writing and studying history and living by the sea.

Evonne writes romantic thrillers. Her debut book Never Coming Home won an award from the Romantic Novelists’ Association.
Her latest book Out of Sight Out of Mind will be out in paperback on the 7th March 2013.

Q.       You mention on your website that your books are a form of escapism, presumably for you as well as your readers. Do you think we need fiction to offer us a break from reality?

A. I’m sure that people read for all sorts of reasons, but getting away from the humdrum, into an alternative world, has to be high on the list. In the case of the things I write, ‘escapism’ is a big factor, as my books are rather more ‘out there’ than some other varieties of crime writing. I want readers to be clear what they are getting into when they pick up one of my books. It’s feasible that anyone might have the misfortune to become involved in the type of crime depicted in a police procedural.  It’s a little more unlikely for them to encounter the type of people and situations I write about – particularly the latest one, which features two scientists who read minds. So classing my books at the ‘escapism’ end of the spectrum is a signpost to the sort of story you are going to get. I write to entertain. It’s a simple as that. I enjoy writing them, and getting into a different world, and I hope that comes over to the reader. 

 
Q.       You have lived in London and on the Welsh coast, very different environments, I would imagine. How much does location inform your writing? How important is it to you when writing your books?

A. Location is very important to me. I hate the cold, so my books have a tendency to take place in warm weather and warm places. I like to use beautiful settings – places that I have visited, like Italy and the South of France – I think it can add to a sense of menace to have sinister things happening in supposedly romantic surroundings, and readers seem to have responded to this. Despite the issue about sun and high temperatures, I try to include at least a cameo appearance from Wales in my books. In my first it was one small but crucial scene – in Out of Sight Out of Mind a large part of the action takes place in Pembrokeshire – but as I was in charge of the weather, it was Pembrokeshire mostly in sunshine.  

Q.       ‘I’m writing the kind of books I like to read’. Do you think that’s a given?

A The genre I write – romantic thrillers or romantic suspense – is not a prominent one in the UK. It has a much higher profile in the United States. I was experimenting with writing different kinds of romance, while reading a lot of imported American romantic suspense. It took quite a long time for the penny to drop - that I might write the kind of thing I was reading and enjoying, but set it in Europe. Then it was a matter of doing some classes in crime writing, to strengthen my ‘crime muscles’. And I also took an evening class in forensics – a bit gruesome, but invaluable on understanding things like DNA, blood splatters and arson.

Q.       As a historian, do you specialise in a particular period, and if so what attracted you to that time?

A. The historian is what you might call my day job, as I am studying for a PhD. The topic is World War Two in Wales, so it is nothing like my fiction. It’s an interesting time, with good records available. When I have finished, a little of the history might find its way into a book, but at the moment I like to keep the two separate. Very different kinds of writing, but they balance each other – when I’m stuck with one, the other welcomes me with open arms. The problem comes if I get stuck with both!

Q.       Describe your ideal writing day, assuming anything is possible.

A. Do you mean the one that starts with a walk on the beach, and goes on to include the production of an unfeasibly high word count, an e-mail from my publisher passing on a couple of glowing reviews, an astonishingly well organised half hour, exchanging witty messages on social media, the intermittent production of some simple and gloriously healthy meals and an evening with friends or family having dinner, or at the theatre?

Q.       Now tell us about your typical writing day.

A.          Well – sometimes I manage the walk on the beach. Otherwise it usually includes some permutation of wrestling with a recalcitrant computer, managing the diaries of recalcitrant family members, making tea, spending far too long messing about on twitter - reading everyone else’s messages but not posting any of my own, rummaging in the freezer at five minutes to lunch, to see what will defrost the fastest, hunting for the research book that I have started to read and now seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth. Making more tea.

Actually I write in bursts and I find that I function better by setting aside blocks of time to do nothing but write, with meal breaks, otherwise the day rapidly degenerates, as above!

Q.       Is there a special place where you write?

A. I do first drafts in handwriting - the legacy of years of academic and professional note taking – so I can write just about anywhere. I’m not one who writes in coffee shops, and I don’t have a study, but I do a lot of work sitting in a comfy chair in the corner of the dining room. And on trains. That is a legacy too – from the time when the only writing space I had in the day was the half hour commute to work. 

Q.       I’m writing two series so that as one manuscript ends, the next is clamouring to be written, with regular deadlines every few months.  Tell us about the freedom and the challenges of starting out afresh with each book.    

A. Freedom – it’s great to have a fresh slate and go in whatever direction you want. Except when the fresh slate turns into a blank mind J The challenges are, of course, building a new world every time, working to engage the reader with your characters – and making sure there is consistency in the quality and the tone of the writing. Readers always expect the next book to be as good, if not better, than the last – as is their right – and that applies to a series or a stand-alone. In the case of a stand-alone I think they also expect to be in territory that is somewhat familiar in style, if not in content. I realise that I am on slightly dangerous ground with my second book, in that it has a paranormal twist. A lot of people will not read paranormal at any price. I have my fingers firmly crossed that readers will be willing to come with me on this. It is not a fangs and furs paranormal – the protagonists are most definitely human – and their mind reading gifts are a source of hazard and danger, something that they have to struggle come to terms with and learn to manage. I hope that the feel of the book, the emphasis of shared danger and the growing relationship, will carry the reader along.

Q.       You are a self confessed romantic, claiming ‘there is nothing better than receiving red roses and a heart bedecked card’.  Yet you talk about your ‘bottom drawer’ manuscripts. Might a bit of detective work reveal that the real love of your life is writing? As a historian, how important is writing fiction in your life?

A. There’s still a lot to be said for the big, classic romantic gestures, or they wouldn’t survive. Receiving

flowers, even if it is only a posy picked from someone’s garden, is always a special thing. Writing is, of course, a huge part of my life, whether that is fiction, or academic writing, I love both.  My work as an historian is very different – but I must admit that some of my favourite discoveries are the small human and domestic things that come through in official files – doodles and comments in margins. They rarely contribute to the research, but they are lovely to find.

Q.   In a recent blog post you said your current WIP, about a heist, crept up on you unexpectedly. Can you tell us about it, and how it is progressing?
A. That was the result of watching a lot of old movies over the Xmas holidays. I love the ones with complicated robberies – all that planning and preparation. It appealed to the side of me that likes to over-egg her plots. I started to think that it would be fun to write a heist book and then it began to unravel in my mind to the extent that I think it will be the next full book. (I have a couple of novellas almost completed that I really do have to finish first!)  It most certainly wasn’t in the forward plan and it’s not yet clamouring to be written, but it has all the signs. At the moment it is still at the thinking stage, but I already know quite a lot about how it will develop, which is a good/ominous sign, depending on how you look at it. One thing is perturbing me – it has arrived with a scene set in the snowbound Brecon Beacons. Given that I dislike cold, that is going to be a real test of willpower – but you see there is this corpse, buried in the snow…

Never Coming Home - Winner of the Joan Hessayon New Writers' Award 2012
www.evonnewareham.com
http:/evonnewednesday.blogspot.com
http://blog.choc-lit.co.uk

‘Rage Against the Dying’ by Becky Masterman

Published by Orion,
28 February 2013.
ISBN: 978-14091-4-367-7

What does a retired FBI agent do when something in her past starts to catch up with her? In Brigid Quinn’s case, the answer certainly isn’t keep walking the dogs and making the meatloaf with the new husband she adores.

By chapter two of this high-octane thriller, Brigid is knee-deep in an old serial killer case which has haunted her for years. It has suddenly sprung back to life after a lull of several years, and a smart young agent who reminds her of herself thirty years ago convinces her that it’s going in the wrong direction.

Soon Brigid is in over her head; dogs, meatloaf, even marriage fall victim to the instincts and hardwiring that made her the best when the Bureau was her life. She is the only one who sees that, despite overwhelming forensic evidence, something is seriously amiss with the investigation.

Then a suspect dies, and the task becomes even harder.

It’s the nature of thriller fiction that good will triumph against the odds; here, those odds are stacked sky-high against Brigid right from the start, and the roller-coaster tension hardly eases up at all. But she is well up to the task. Female protagonists of a certain age are thin on the ground in crime and thriller fiction, and capable, inventive 50+ Brigid makes a refreshing change from feisty young detectives and indefatigable action heroes.

Masterman portrays her warts and all, and she leaps off the page and makes you root for her. In fact, the cast of varied and three-dimensional characters is the novel’s great strength – that and the inhospitable Arizona landscape and climate, which come complete with tarantulas, coyotes, searing heat and flash floods when half the annual ten inches of rain falls within an hour.

The novel is Masterman’s debut, though it emphatically doesn’t show. She writes with an assurance which many more experienced authors lack, and has created a sizzling page-turner which left me hungry for more. Brigid Quinn is a role model for women of a certain age everywhere!

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Reviewer: Lynne Patrick

Becky Masterman is the acquisitions editor for a press specializing in medical textbooks for forensic examiners and law enforcement. She grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and received her MA in creative writing from Florida Atlantic University.  Becky lives in Tucson, Arizona, with her husband. Rage Against the Dying is her first thriller.