Happy New Year!
I can’t think of a better way to kick off a new year than with a new book. That’s why I’m thrilled to announce the publication of "Wild, Wild Death," book #8 in the Pepper Martin mystery series.
I’m always excited about sharing one of Pepper’s adventures with readers. After all, she’s the world’s only private investigator for the dead. That means there’s always something interesting (and possibly dangerous) happening in Pepper’s life, and always a ghost tagging along for the fun.
This time, it’s a trip to the great Southwest with long-dead Wild West star Chester Goodshot Gomez along for the ride. You see, Pepper’s been downsized from her job as a tour guide in a historic Cleveland cemetery, and she’s got some time on her hands and is looking for a little excitement. It’s a perfect example of Be Careful What You Wish For, when an odd package arrives along with a ransom note. Cute and scruffy paranormal investigator, Dan Callaghan, has been kidnapped and if Pepper doesn’t bring Goodshot’s bones to New Mexico–and fast–the kidnappers say he’ll be killed.
Of course, in Pepper’s world, kidnappers are the least of her problems. Figuring out what to wear to a body-snatching is the first. After all, she’s convinced she’s going to end up getting caught, and she wants to look good for her mugshots.
"Wild, Wild Death" takes Pepper to New Mexico and southern Colorado, a part of the country where I’ve spent some time. Like me, she’s bowled over by the beauty of the area, and intimidated by its wildness. If that was all she had to think about, it wouldn’t be a bad little get-away, but once she arrives, the bones gets stolen, and bodies start dropping like the desert temperature once the sun goes down.
Pepper has to deal with kidnappers disguised as aliens, a too-hot-to-handle Pueblo police chief and one clever murderer–one whose idea of boot hill has nothing to do with Jimmy Choo.