If 2020 was "The Year We All Stayed Home" that also means it was "The Year I Did A LOT of Writing." And that is just fine with me. I was able to publish two Fenway Stevenson novels (The Courtroom Coroner and The Watchful Coroner), begin the editing process for a third (The Accused Coroner, coming March 9), AND get started on a brand new murder mystery series, Murders of Substance. So, here's a sneak peek into some of the things coming in 2021.
Cover Reveal!
Murders of Substance Book 1: Ceremony
Here is the (almost final) cover for Ceremony, the first book in the new murder mystery series, Murders of Substance. The Murders of Substance series features a brilliant but arrogant forensic toxicologist and the federal agent who is assigned to work cases with him. The first novel, Ceremony, finds a dead graduate student injected with a dangerous hallucinogen. The list of suspects is huge, from the professor in debt to a pharmaceutical company, the mysterious girlfriend, a local fringe church who used the drug in rituals, an animal-rights activist—even the local lake fishing society. I’m targeting the middle of next year for release.
Chapter 1 Preview!
Fenway Stevenson Mysteries Book 7: The Accused Coroner
A petite white woman, blonde and about forty, hurried up to them, phone in hand. “Are either of you Fenway Stevenson?”
Fenway held her hand up. “That’s me.”
“I’m Julia. From Rolling Meadows?”
“Of course. Nell’s nurse.”
“I’d do a better job of introductions, but I have a woman named Piper Patten on the phone for you. She says it’s an emergency.”
Fenway frowned. Piper had her mobile number—so why was she calling a stranger? She took the phone out of her purse, but Julia shook her head.
“She says you have to talk on my phone.”
Fenway blinked. Talk on Julia’s phone? That was weird. Still, she took the phone from Julia’s outstretched hand and hesitated a moment before speaking. “Piper?”
“Oh, good, Fenway, you’re there.”
“Everything okay with McVie? You know, you could have just called me on my cell—”
“I need you to shut up and listen to me.”
“What?”
“You trust me, Fenway, right? This is an emergency. Listen to me very closely and do exactly as I say.”
“Uh—Piper, you’re kind of freaking me out—”
“Barry Klein has been murdered. You’re the prime suspect.”