No More “Happy Ever After”

How many times have you heard people say, “I’m going to write a book one day?” I muttered that phrase to myself many times. I’d sit down with a legal pad in hand and start writing about love gone wrong because as a teenager that’s usually the case. Later in my thirties when I  was a bit more serious about actually finishing a project, I took a seminar sponsored by Harlequin Books and wrote copious notes about “the formula.” All romance books have guidelines about when the lovers meet, how quickly they fall in love, what obstacles they face in their relationship, and how the book should end. I tried. I really did. 

KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE

A writer spends many lonely hours hunched over a computer weaving dark tales of murder and mystery. For the past year-and-a-half, I have been writing another story about my two favorite characters, Nick Winston and Pat Strom. The Seattle homicide detectives search out crime in the underbelly of the Emerald City. This time, a serial killer is murdering lesbians in the Northwest’s most gay-friendly city. They are called to the apartment of a University of Washington student, Kylee Harris. The provocative young woman is slaughtered in her bed and the killer leaves behind a grisly clue that shocks even the most cynical detectives.

In Bellevue, an upscale community east of Seattle, Winston and Strom discover an exclusive club for lesbians where decadent parties are a monthly event. The revelries are catered affairs with soft chamber music, gourmet food,  hot tubs, and many bedrooms. The elite meet to hook up, confident their dalliances will not end up in the society section of the Seattle Times. But when the assistant to Seattle Mayor Brody is brutally mutilated, Police Chief Irwin turns up the heat to find the murderer and to quiet whispers of a serial killer.

Two more ghastly murders in the gay community throw the Seattle Police Department and surrounding jurisdictions into chaos as they frantically search for the person responsible for the deaths. Memories of the protracted search for the Green River Killer haunt law enforcement. Winston and Strom are at the epicenter of the investigation when, suddenly, the case becomes terrifyingly real for Detective Pat Strom.

Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die coming soon from WhiteBird Publications.