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New Book! New Book!
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EBOOK (and PRINT book pre-order) available NOW in the Ann Charles Store–CLICK HERE!
Violet Parker has big troubles these days—the ticking kind. To duck the Grim Reaper, she needs to get her hands on eighty-plus rare, mystical clocks locked up tight by a thick-headed detective.
The solution? Highjack the truckload of ticking time bombs out from under Johnny Law’s nose.
But no caper ever goes according to plan. What starts out as a game of clocks and robbers twists and turns into a chaos of cops and clobbers.
Will Violet beat the detective in time? Or will she spend Valentine’s Day behind bars?
***AUTOGRAPHED PRINT BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER IN MY ONLINE STORE. The autographed books will be shipped in early January 2025.***
(AUDIOBOOK COMING FEBRUARY 25, 2025)
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THE HARDBACK VERSION IS FINALLY HERE!
Now you can grab the HARDBACK edition of Violet’s first book, Nearly Departed in Deadwood!!!
How can you get your hands on a gorgeous updated version of the original story (including some fun extra content)?
Well, there are several options at this time: You can order it from retailers like Amazon, B&N, Target, and more, OR you can PRE-order an autographed copy from me through my online store … but I won’t be able to ship the book until January 2025, so you’ll have to wait a little longer for the book BUT I’ll throw in some fun goodies!
Irony is having a big ol’ fiesta and Violet Parker is the piñata. Little girls are vanishing from Deadwood, South Dakota, and Violet’s daughter could be next. Short on time and long on worry, she’s desperate to find the monster behind the abductions. But with her jerkoff co-worker trying to get her fired, a secret admirer sending creepy love poems, and a sexy-as-hell stranger hiding skeletons in his closet, Violet just might end up as one of Deadwood’s dearly departed.
With her reputation endangered, her bank account on the verge of extinction, and her career at risk of going up in flames, Violet Parker is desperate. When the opportunity to sell another vintage home materializes, she grabs it, even though this “haunted” house was recently the stage for a two-act, murder-suicide tragedy. But someone–or something–in the house wants Violet stopped…dead.
Real estate agent, Violet “Spooky” Parker stumbles upon a body-part theft ring at the local funeral parlor and suspects her caustic coworker has a hand in it–or maybe a foot. Can Violet discover what’s in the crates the crooks are sneaking out of the mortuary in the dark of night? Or will she end up in one of them herself … in pieces?
One dead body. One century-old haunted opera house. One zombie musical. One pissed-off detective. Will Violet “Spooky” Parker keep her tail out of trouble or will she end up as one of Deadwood’s walking dead?
Something has gone foul in the Black Hills … something gravely unnatural. Leave it to Violet Parker to stumble into the middle of it.
A creepy phone call. A dead body. Two meddling detectives. A glut of trouble-making ex-partners. Can things get any worse?
Violet swears to keep her nose out of police business this time. But when her son is linked to the victim, she returns to the scene of the crime. More than just a mystery to solve, now her son might be in mortal danger.
Meanwhile, Back in Deadwood …
The mystery and mayhem continue. Between the butchered body parts, creepy killers, dogged detectives, ghoulish ghosts, and ever-present TV cameras, Violet Parker’s purple boots are itching to skedaddle.
But there’s no escaping another murder investigation or her new deadly reputation. Not even if both risk the lives of those she loves most.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned … especially a dead one holding a grudge.
Back on Deadwood’s list of Usual Suspects, Violet Parker is hip deep in wild frights and fired-up females. After juggling bitter threats, haunted buildings, and vengeful ghosts, the last thing she needs is a pair of bullheaded detectives trying to pin another murder on her tail.
Can Violet find the real killer before she ends up behind bars? Or worse, on a slab at the morgue.
A scrappy, hot-blooded woman can only take so much!
Violet Parker is on fire … or rather under fire yet again.
New evidence has fanned the embers of a cold murder case, and her alibi is smoldering at the corners. While battling a dogged detective determined to pin the murder on her, Violet scrambles to find the real killer.
Will she escape “the heat” with singed tail feathers? Or will Violet go down in flames?
“Trespassers will be gutted and hung!” —Slagton’s unofficial town motto spray-painted on the old company store.
Normally, not even drunk on a bet would Violet Parker go to Slagton, a creepy ghost town inhabited by those too stubborn—or deranged—to leave.
But a certain bullheaded Deadwood detective has a problem—his informant from Slagton has gone missing. When Violet is shanghaied into taking a hunting trip to the ghost town to search for the missing snitch, she stumbles into trouble that will take more than a double-barreled shotgun to escape.
Will Violet survive this new Hell that haunts her, or will she end up on Slagton’s growing list of those “gutted and hung”?
“I laughed (a lot), cried (a little), and wanted to stab a certain family member. This story brings all the feels!” —Renee George, USA Today Bestselling Author
It’s Christmas Eve and Violet Parker has one request on her list for Santa—to make it home to her kids. Unfortunately, “home” is also the lair of her life-long nemesis, her sister Susan (aka the devil’s concubine).
Standing in Violet’s way is Old Man Winter, who slammed the Black Hills with a show-stopping blizzard. However, a little snow isn’t going to ground her sleigh, not with family counting on her to deliver Santa’s goods.
Trying to keep Christmas from turning into a candy cane calamity, Violet battles her demons and struggles through the chaos storming around her.
Can she make it through the holiday without cracking anyone’s nut?
“Keep your fingers crossed this whole holiday doesn’t blow up in our faces.” —Violet Parker
(The audio version will be available via non-Amazon vendors in November 2019.)
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.” ~William Shakespeare
Violet Parker knows better than to play with devils. They always cheat, especially when lives are at stake. Deadwood’s charming, troublemaking, and soul-sucking devils are no different, and they’re biting at her heels.
But the clock is ticking and Violet has no choice—she must risk her life to save her treasured Aunt Zoe. With any luck, she might be able to trick the devils and beat the old terrors at their own game. If not, Deadwood could end up short one Executioner.
“Executioners don’t duck, they swing.” ~Violet Parker
All Violet Parker wants is a day off. Better yet, just a “normal” day. But things never go as planned, especially in Deadwood.
Someone—or rather something—broke into the local taxidermy shop and took bites out of the critter displays before racing off into the dark. But this is no random crime and Violet knows it. With a bounty on her head and troublemakers zeroing in on her, she soon goes from being the hunter to the hunted.
“Burly muscled and rawhide tough don’t matter. Never tangle with a Scharfrichter!” ~Violet Parker
Time is a tricky devil. And so is that blasted imp!
Violet Parker needs to catch the little terror before it wreaks even more havoc in the Black Hills. But now that she’s saddled with this dang Timekeeper gig, she has a lot to juggle, like the real monsters wanting to tear the flesh from her bones just for fun.
If she can’t figure out how to wrangle “time” to save her family, the Grim Reaper might come swinging for them next.
But what about that danged honey-loving imp?
“Bravery badges are frickin’ overrated.” ~Violet Parker
Now you have one place to keep all of your notes for the Deadwood Mystery Series! After many requests, I have created a notebook to help you keep track of some of your favorite sayings, details, memories, and more when it comes to Violet Parker and her crazy life. You can make notes of the names Violet calls Cooper, the funny Harvey-isms you want to remember, the different odd folks that show up in each book, the delicious meals Harvey makes that you want to try, the theories you have about what will happen next and who is going to cause some ruckus, and more. So, grab a pen and a Deadwood Mystery book and get busy writing!
What do you get when you combine a chicken named Elvis, a locked diary, and a secret Violet Parker does not want share with her daughter?
SEEING TROUBLE is the first of many short stories involving the characters of the Deadwood Mystery series. (Bonus character interview, illustrations, and non-related short story also included.)
It’s not really about the boots … or is it?
BOOT POINTS is a set of short tales about Violet Parker’s purple boots. It is set in the story time between the third and fourth books in the Deadwood Mystery series. Each tale not only explains more of Violet’s history, but also shows the role each character plays in Violet’s life.
Some old flames won’t stop smoldering …
Zoe Parker knew better than to play with fire.
Fireman Reid Martin sparked a flame in her that she couldn’t put out.
Will Zoe be able to escape with her heart before she gets burned?
COLD FLAME is the third story in the “Deadwood Shorts” collection, set between the sixth and seventh books in the Deadwood Mystery Series.
Tequila is a slippery devil …
Tequila is a slivvery depil …
Tequila issa slipperppery debil … depil …
Recipe for drunken laughter:
Take two best friends since childhood;
Add four shots of tequila each;
Sprinkle in a handful of secrets;
Shake.
Given the right amount of Tequila & Time, even the deepest secrets between two friends will rise to the surface.
“Don’t miss this must-read Deadwood short!” ~Kristy McCaffrey, Author of The Wren and Deep Blue
There’s a real trick to catching a soul-stealing Hungarian devil made of shadow and smoke. Unfortunately, Violet Parker doesn’t know what that trick is and her aunt’s life depends on her figuring it out.
But killing is an old family tradition for her … or rather a fatal tradition.
NOTE TO READERS: When I sat down to start plotting the 11th novel in the Deadwood Mystery Series, I realized that something was missing–a transitional story needing to be told in order to wrap up the previous ten novels and prepare you for the next many books to come. At that point, FATAL TRADITIONS was born.
New Year’s Eve seemed like the perfect time to set this Deadwood Short. Violet agreed with my way of thinking, the only stipulation being that tequila was somehow involved. If she was going to explore her family’s long and blood-filled history, she needed something to make it easier to swallow what she feared filled the pages of the leather-bound book Aunt Zoe had been asking her to read for months.
If you have read the 5th book in my Jackrabbit Junction Mystery Series, you know that Natalie, Cooper, and Ol’ Man Harvey are in Arizona over the New Year’s holiday trying to enjoy some sunshine while they work out some kinks. (If you haven’t read IN CAHOOTS WITH THE PRICKLY PEAR POSSE and are a fan of Cooper and Natalie and Harvey, you might want to read that story for some Arizona-inspired “heat” and chuckles.) With these three out of state, Violet and the rest of her crew are left to bring in the New Year with plenty of hilarity and chills.
I hope you enjoy this extra-long Deadwood Short about the past and future for our favorite Scharfrichter.