MISTY MURDER: A HORROR NOVELLA
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Rosie Saxe is the widow of famous horror writer Bertie Saxe. Rosie attends a horror fan convention on his behalf. When Bertie’s publicist is murdered by someone dressed as one of his iconic characters, people assume it was a crazed fan. As that crime is investigated, it shines new light on how Bertie died. His overdue manuscript is discovered and Rosie takes it upon herself to finish it and protect her husband’s legacy. After another shocking disaster hits, she vows to follow a path of being her own woman instead of being seen only as Bertie’s widow.
WHERE TO BUY:
Misty Murder is also part of Amazon’s Kindle Match program. If you buy the printed edition, you should be given the option to download the Kindle version for free.
Misty Murder is also available at Barnes & Noble.
THE BACKSTORY OF MAKING MISTY MURDER:
MISTY MURDER is a horror novella that was originally drafted during National Novel Writing Month 2016 as a personal challenge to see if I could ever finish anything more scary and more suspenseful than a cozy mystery. Since this was also during the time of the devastating, Russian-infiltrated election in the United States, I was suffering in a deep state of depression and anxiety. As I usually try to do, I documented that month’s progress which includes those mental lows:
- Misty Murder hub which includes some additional links
- Day One
- Week One
- Week Two
- Week Three
- Week Four
- Week Five
- April’s Camp NaNoWriMo – revisions
I had incredible help once again from THOMAS BOATWRIGHT who made another spectacular book cover. He also did all the covers The Farrah Wethers Mysteries. Check out his art process in the trailer:
Excerpt from Chapter Nine, “Family Skeletons”:
Rosie didn’t want to admit that there were always possibilities, logistically speaking, that Bertie could have carried on any number of affairs. It just wasn’t him. He was a doting husband when he was around and when he couldn’t be, he’d always remember to bring little gifts home for her and the boys. They talked every single day even when he was busy and traveling. An affair seemed preposterous. Yet, he was a human being.
Drew coughed up what he knew which wasn’t much. Then Harriet filled in some possible details. Misty S. Oliver was named after the character in his book, Misty Madison. Allegedly her mother was a big fan. Misty took the name to heart and pursued a path through the world of publishing. As a college student, she met Bertie at one of the conventions and told him how she was named after one of his most popular books. He was flattered. She became smitten.
They struck up a connection that was strong enough for him to recommend her for an internship at “Garden of Souls Magazine” where he’d gotten some early work published. Then when it came time for graduation and a day job, he again gave her a glowing recommendation for Peacock Publishing.
“So what? He liked the girl. Helped get her a job. That’s hardly the same thing as having an extramarital affair for years. Really now. You two got me upset for nothing. I have enough real world problems and don’t need any more.”
Drew decided he had to stop holding back and spill everything. He didn’t enjoy hurting his mother. He never would have tarnished the memories of their family and their marriage if not for how tragically Misty died at a convention dedicated to Bertie.
“Jeremy also told me that they seemed particularly close at some of the parties like the book launches and book shop signings in the city. He saw Dad kiss her—on the cheek, but still. How much would they show in public?”
“Is that all? Dear lord. I kiss people hello and goodbye all the time. What else have you got?” There may have been some chunks taken out of Rosie’s resiliency, but she wasn’t ready to cave into this wicked soap opera.
“The only other thing is something I heard.” Drew took a long gulp of the beer to help his dry mouth. “At the house one day, in Dad’s office. He and Devon were in there. Devon was asking about some bank statement because it was different than the others. Normally they went to you, Ma, but this one was from a whole different bank and only had Dad’s personal name on it, not the LLC.”
“He’s been dead for over a month. I’ve seen no other bank statements.” Surely statements were issued monthly and in that time, something should have arrived in the mail.
“You said you noticed Devon being nervous and twitchy? Apart from being worried about you possibly firing him, I heard him make a promise to Dad. He promised you wouldn’t find out about that account. He put Devon as a signatory. You can ask him. I’m sure once confronted about it, he’ll divulge everything.”
