Happy New Year! Here’s hoping 2025 has more happy surprises than shocks. Welcome to Tuesday Tales, a weekly blog spot where a small group of authors share a scene from their WIP, each one written to a particular word prompt. This week’s word is YEAR. I continue with my as yet unnamed Romance Suspense. Enjoy.
She turned to her superior. No doubt he’d called her in to get him coffee, files, or perform some other menial tasks.
“Yes, sir. What can I do for you?”
“I won’t mince words. If the RCMP is right, and I pray God they aren’t … In the last three years, nine police officers have been killed in this province, five of them women, the other four were male members of visible minorities. If you hadn’t gotten lucky, you would’ve been statistic number ten. Some were on duty, like you and Cliff, others were killed in accidents which they now believe to have been premeditated murders.”
She gasped. Cliff had been Metis. She’d been certain the reason for the attack would come out sooner or later, some junkie with a beef, a john who’d been ill-used by Cliff who hadn’t always been the politest man, but she hadn’t expected something both as simple and as complicated as hatred.
“Margaret Sutton meet Henry Collins, your new partner, supervisor—I’m not sure what to call him. He’s with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and in collaboration with the Ontario Provincial Police force and every local police force in the province, he’s heading up a new task force aimed specifically at hate crimes. The unit will be based out of Robbinsville.”
An RCMP unit based in a small town only made sense if the small town was involved, but why her? Was she to be the man’s glorified secretary? He turned to face her, and the bottom dropped out of her world.
“Harry?” The word erupted from her mouth before she could stop it.
“Hello, Maggie. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“You two know one another?” The lieutenant’s words cut through the fog surrounding her.
“Yes,” Harry answered. “Maggie and I met at police academy in Aylmer. What was that seven years ago?”
“Eight,” she mumbled, but who was counting? “How … how have you been?” There was no way that she would fall apart in front of Morris or Henry Collins. Their past was just that—dead and buried like her own parents, Cliff, and the children she’d wanted, but would never have. “How is Zoe and the baby?” She stumbled over the last word.
“He’s seven, but she and I divorced six years ago,” he answered curtly.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she lied smoothly, too smoothly, but over the years the pain of his betrayal all those years ago had never stopped hurting.
Happy Holidays! Wishing you all the best this season. may your lives be filled with hope and peace. This week, the Tuesday Tales authors are writing to the word prompt HOLIDAY. I’m continuing with my yet as unnamed romance suspense.
“Morning, Sutton.” Lyn Richards dropped her purse into the bottom drawer of the desk next to hers.
The woman was twenty-five years older than she was. Korean-Canadian, with short dark hair that she dyed on a regular basis to keep the gray away, and beautiful dark hazel almond-shaped eyes, a gift from her Caucasian father along with her height, she looked much younger than her years. Lyn worked out regularly and was as physically fit as any of the younger members of the Robbinsville Municipal Police Force.
They worked well together and had partnered on a few minor cases in the past, although Lieutenant Morris preferred that his detectives work as mixed teams, especially since the incident, as he called it. Lyn’s current partner, Jose Ramirez, was due to retire at the end of June, and while she wouldn’t mind getting back out into the field again, Maggie knew that Morris had someone else in mind to replace Jose.
And Cliff. He can’t send me back out there alone.
“Hi, Lyn. How was the weekend? Did you get your daughter settled back home?”
“Yeah. It’s hard to believe that she’s a doctor. She’ll start at the Robbinsville Community Hospital next week, working in the ER.” The woman glanced around the empty bullpen. “You’re in early. Let me guess. You were checking the tip line again.” She shook her head. “You have to stop that. You’re going to drive yourself crazy. Morris has a team of detectives working on it. Let them do their job.” She rifled through the messages on her desk. “How’s the new condo coming?”
As soon as she’d been released from the hospital, Maggie had sold her house and purchased an apartment in a secure building, one almost as well fortified as Rideau Hall, home of Canada’s Governor-General. From her twelfth-floor balcony, she could see the river snaking through town and the city park and all its gorgeous trees, now clothed in brilliant shades of green. She used to jog in that park at least three times a week, but like her monthly friend’s arrival, that was something else she no longer did.
“It’s coming along,” she lied. “I didn’t do much since yesterday was a holiday. Victoria Day always marks the start of summer, right? I’ll have plenty of time to do more over the next few months.”
Welcome to this week’s Tuesday Tales. Winter has arrived with a vengeance. This week, we have an as yet untitled story. It’s a Romance/suspense. Our word prompt this week is CARRY. Enjoy.
Detective Maggie Sutton pushed her long brown hair off her face, removed her glasses, and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Another wasted hour. As she’d done every Monday morning since returning to work six weeks ago, three months to the day when her partner had been killed and she’d been shot, she’d gone over all the tips that had come in over the department’s tip line. She picked up the folder to carry it back to the bullpen.
Someone knew something. This was Robbinsville, Ontario, population 45,000, not Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver. Sure, like everywhere else in the country or the world, they had problems with theft, drugs, domestic abuse, but two police officers gunned down in an alley—it didn’t happen—but it had, and it had happened to her.
It was just a matter of time before someone spoke up. Someone knew something. There was a hundred-thousand-dollar reward waiting for whoever gave them information leading to the arrest and conviction of a cop killer—but not just any cop. Cliff Nolan had been good police, but more than that, he’d been good people and her friend. He left behind a wife and three kids, girls who would grow up without a daddy, and no one had a clue why it had happened. He didn’t deserve to be shot down like a dog in an alley, any more than she deserved to be maimed, never able to bear a child because of what the bullet had done to her. Finding those responsible was her holy grail, even if she had to spend the rest of her life searching for them. She wanted justice, but more importantly, she wanted to know why.
They’d been on their way to interview a suspect in a hit-and-run case when the call had come in over the radio—a man with a gun, harassing people in the alley behind Charlie’s, a dive bar only a few blocks from where they’d been. Nolan had been driving.
“Call it in. We’re nearby and it’s probably a hoax. The last time it was a kid, high on drugs, with a damn cigarette lighter that looked like a gun.” The memory of seeing Cliff drop, the red spot in his forehead at odds with the surprise on his face, and the searing pain of the bullet entering her abdomen just under the vest was one that continued to haunt her.
December is a mixed bag for many people. For me, it can be dreary. After all, it gets dark early–around here that’s by five in the evening. Another factor that contributes to its less than stellar appeal is the weather. So far, we’ve had it all–rain, fog, freezing drizzle, high winds, and of course, snow. Unfortunately, those high winds bring cold with them, the kind of cold that seeps into my bones.
So how do I beat the drearies? Like so many, I decorate the house for the holidays. My deer couple sit on the landing at the top of the stairs, ready to welcome guests. In the dining room, I replace the table cloth with festive placemats, an angel centerpiece, and candles, while the tree sits in the window for all the world to see. You can see it reflected in the mirror. just as you can see the snow through the window.
The other ways that I get rid of the December blues are by watching Christmas movies, both old favorites like White Christmas, Christmas Vacation,Elf, Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Carol, It’s a Wonderful Life, and of course, Christmas with the Kranks, as well was new movies on the Hallmark Channel, although after watching those for a couple of weeks, they become even too predictable for me. But, they are wholesome, without a lot of sex and violence, and they usually have a happy ending.
But watching TV isn’t the only way to raise Christmas spirits. There are books out there for you reading pleasure.
Box sets are an easy way to fill up your kindle for the holidays. With each box set at only 99 cents USD, you can grab all 35 full-length novels for less than your favorite latte!
The most magical time of the year captured in TEN heartwarming romances! A scintillating seasonal stew of Love at First Sight, Second-chance Romance, and Fantasy sprinkled with conniving children looking for a mate for mama. Ten New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Authors bring you stories of love, wonder, and surprises. With puppies, mermaids, talking dogs, letter-writing snowmen, department store Santas, firemen, feuding families, and holiday traditions, these tales promise to make your Christmas merry and bright. So, grab your favorite yuletide beverage, curl up on the couch by the fire or in a beach chair by the ocean, and enjoy Unforgettable Christmas Promises, brought to you by THE AUTHORS’ BILLBOARD.
Mimi Barbour – Christmas, Puppies, and Romance – He has his claim on the very fluffball she wants… The fight is on for who gets the puppy! New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author. Leanne Banks – The Rancher’s Best Gifts – When a man and women from feuding families have a temporary secret affair, no one expects the consequences to be forever! New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author. Rachelle Ayala – Dashing Through Christmas – Misty Jolly and Dash Weston play guessing games while rushing through a Christmas project with no help from Westie, a “talking” dog. USA Today Bestselling Author. Taylor Lee – Nuthin’s Gonna Stop Us Now – Can two strong-willed people resist the fates and ‘not’ fall in love? USA Today Bestselling Author. Josie Riviera – A Portuguese Christmas – Love can come softly, like holiday snow. Or sweep you away like a riptide. USA Today Bestselling Author. Patrice Wilton – A Santa to Keep – Will the magic of Christmas open the hearts of the widow and the grumpy mall Santa and offer them the best gift of all: love? USA Today Bestselling Author. Traci Hall – Christmas on Misty Beach – He’s a fireman, she’s a hot mess. Add dogs, a sick dad, and the holidays, and you’ve got a romance for the ages. USA Today Bestselling Author. Susanne Matthews – Come Home for Christmas – Can the spirit of Christmas erase ten years of pain? A second chance romance. International Bestselling Author. Susan Jean Ricci – Ripples Under the Sea: A Christmas Tale – Two Marine Biologists are swept into the currents of love in this charming Christmas tale of aquatic antics, sorrow, and separation at the most wonderful time of the year. USA Bestselling Author. Katy Walters – Love Letters from a Snowman – Despite her brother’s arguments that a lady shouldn’t work, Tabitha takes a post as governess. It’s not the position that attracts her but the twinkle in the green eyes of her employer, Lord Balfour. A Regency Romance. USA Today Bestselling Author.
Celebrate the season with ELEVEN New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Authors as they spin a variety of romances – second-chances, romantic comedies, smalltown, paranormal, historical, beach-theme love stories, and more – in this Unforgettable Miracles of Christmas collection.
Mimi Barbour: Christmas Is For Everyone – Blizzards, puppies, and lost people. Ginny rescues an old man from freezing and his handsome son saves her and her son from being evicted. Will these strangers discover the true meaning of sharing at Christmas? A smalltown, caring family romance.
Rebecca York: Christmas Captive – His life was in her hands. Was it attempted murder or a boating accident? Psychic nurse Hannah puts her life at risk by investigating the conniving relatives who want to inherit the comatose man’s fortune. A paranormal romance.
Leanne Banks: The Billionaire’s Holiday Proposition– Falling for her had not been in his plans. Would she believe him? A billionaire romance.
Rachelle Ayala: Nick’s Christmas Ride – Nick Jolly’s antique convertible turns into a wild ride when his best friend and secret crush, Hayley, chooses three social media starlets for his Christmas-promotional dates. Two irascible Texas Hold’em playing ancestors, three social media narcissists, an old-time fiddler, and a flying car seems kind of normal for Nick Jolly and Hayley Brockman’s unexpected Christmas Creek romance. A fun romantic comedy.
Stephanie Queen: Small Town Glamour Girl Christmas – What chance does a poor smalltown girl have at a romance with a rich big city boy? Julie and Jack had a special connection a long time ago as kids, but does he remember that time? The magic and charm of the small-town Christmas rekindles their connection, but would her small-town life be enough for the billionaire? A smalltown, second-chance romance.
Josie Riviera: Candleglow and Mistletoe – Their unexpected attraction kindles something as warm and sweet as a holiday candle. But the weight of their pasts could turn the promise of their love to ashes. A smalltown, sweet and wholesome romance.
Susanne Matthews: Forever In My Heart – There’s nothing Michael Branscomb won’t do for his brother, including marrying the woman his twin wronged, but will Callie give him a chance? A contemporary marriage-of-convenience romance.
Traci Hall: Mistletoe Christmas – West Coast – Fireworks ignite when a retired Navy officer inherits a seaside cottage, accidentally burning down the deck his first day only to be saved by a sexy firewoman and the station’s dog. Set in their ways, can Mistletoe over the holiday be the miracle they both need? A contemporary military romance.
Dani Haviland: Chasing Christmas – Only love could be sweeter than freedom. When Samuel arrived to ask her to join his tribe, rescued slave Annie thought her life couldn’t get any sweeter. But it did. 18th century American Native historical romance.
Taylor Lee: Reckoning – Christmas Finale – Nothing will keep Cal from marrying Scarlett, the beautiful blonde media sensation. But the crooked Attorney General is going to try. Romantic suspense.
Nancy Radke: The Bend In the Canyon – His wedding was scheduled in two weeks. Only a miracle could bring them together. A sweet, western romance.
The magic of the holiday season, filled with wonders, hope… and romance. Find your secret true love in this collection of contemporary romances, all with Happy Ever Afters. Included in this box set are these award-winning authors and titles:
Rachelle Ayala – WHERE LOVE TEMPTS – A haunting reenactment leads to love and secrets at Moonshadow Manor. A historical actress plays the role of a vanished heiress in a creepy mansion while combing through a list of mysterious disappearances. Love, however, crosses her path with a man under a cloud of suspicion. Will secrets uncovered and Christmas wishes forge a path to true love? USA Today Bestselling Author
Dani Haviland – KINKY BOOTS AND ME – Was ‘It’ll all come together as long as you have faith and a plan’ a cruel taunt to the homeless woman? Homeless but not hopeless, Fabiola’s grueling work schedule left little room for love until she met Scoots. Can the duo transform ‘Under Construction Park’ into “Ultra Cool Skatepark’ and still keep safe from Lorenzo, the town loudmouth and bully who claims to be her boyfriend? USA Today Bestselling Author
Taylor Lee – DANCE OF THE SUGAR PLUM FAIRIES: Can the drool-worthy financier persuade her that Christmas dreams can come true? Emma is convinced she has what it takes to make it in the Big Apple. Unfortunately for the starry-eyed Midwesterner, New York City is a hard nut to crack. USA Today Bestselling Author
Susanne Matthews – MURDER AND MISTLETOE – Going home for Christmas can be deadly. Visiting ancestral Georgia plantation, Candy uncovers dark family history and regrets aiding grieving widower Steve in trapping his wife’s killer. International Bestselling Author
Josie Riviera – 1-800-CHRISTMAS: Taking the high road is a whole lot easier with someone to love… When two hearts get in a jam, it’ll take more than whiskey cake to sweeten the deal. USA Today Bestselling Author
Denise Devine – A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS – Merry Connor and Anthony Lewis search for stolen money and find true love along the way. Widowed father Tony’s heart mends when he bonds with struggling single mom Merry and her kids, but his connection to her deceitful ex may ruin their chance at love. USA Today Bestselling Author
Patricia Rosemoor – CRIMSON HOLIDAY – Someone killed Santa Claus! Passed out after the store Christmas party, Shelby Corbin awakens only to trip over Santa, the store’s co-owner and her boss. Seeing her flee the scene, CEO Rand McNabb helps her search for the truth about that fatal night. New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author
Mimi Barbour – TOGETHER FOR CHRISTMAS – The season is Christmas, and love is all around… in the most unlikely situations. Falling into a coma, Abbie’s beautiful spirit resides inside a prickly, big-shot businessman who has no time for her… until she falls in love. New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author
Enjoy the Wonders of Christmas with Unforgettable Romances!
Award-winning and bestselling authors bring you NEW stories in *Unforgettable and Absolutely Fabulous Christmas Cheer: Uplifting Holiday Romance*. Get swept away in the close-knit communities of charming small towns and idyllic islands—perfect settings for love at first sight, second-chance romances, and all the magic of the season.
From drama teachers and actors, ski champion bodyguards, and pseudo-psychic single mothers, to daycare Santas—and even a mischievous Samoyed puppy to spice things up—these delightful stories are sure to warm your heart and fill your holiday season with joy.
Rachelle Ayala – Secret Snowflake Crush (Holiday Heartstrings ongoing series). Childhood friends Janine and Alex discover unexpected feelings when cast as romantic leads in their town’s Christmas play. Will their romance prevail after the curtain call? Susanne Matthews – Guarding Her Heart (Part of the Protecting the Innocent series). Someone wants him and his daughter dead. Her job is to see to it that he doesn’t succeed, but things get complicated when she finds herself falling for her client. Susan Jean Ricci – A Christmas Hearth for Ivy When a homeless single mother lends comfort to a grieving stranger and is mistaken for a psychic, she runs with it – and straight into the unwilling arms of the man who saved her little boy from danger. J.L Campbell – Daycare Santa – In a double blow, Regina Wright loses her lover and business partner during the busiest time of the year. An outrageous request from her son brings a stand-in Santa into her life, with a reminder that joy and romance bloom in unexpected places. Denise Devine – Mistletoe and Wine – “Allyson Cramer is fighting to save the Ramblin’ Rose bar from bankruptcy, but new competition from Max, the pool hall’s manager, threatens her business. Forced to team up for a Christmas booth, one mistletoe kiss turns their holiday into chaos.” Mimi Barbour – Christmas Tempest (Part of the Holiday Heartwarmer Series Book 12) No job. A lost and injured dog. Three accidents. And a blizzard. How can Jasmin’s world get any worse?
Like the woman in the picture, I often find myself just sitting outside, admiring the beauty of any given day. More importantly, I sit there, letting the wheels inside my head turn, coming up with new ideas, new scenes, and new phrases to use in my next book. Whenever I hear a friend say, don’t put that in a book, I laugh. Invariably, it finds its way in.
Most recently, I decided to try something different when I came up with the idea for my Evie Chambers series. I was working on my opus, Listen to the Stones, which was and is taking longer to finish than I expected, when I decided to participate in the National Novel Writing Month activity known as NaNoWriMo. So I set the book aside to prove to myself that I could actually write, finish,and edit a book in six weeks or less. It was true that I had interrupted my writing throughout the year for two other books, Love at the Pickleback and Guarding Her Heart, but this represented only a small fraction of what I’d hoped to write this year, leaving me with several projects still in limbo.
Of all the genres I write, mystery and suspense are my favorites, and I don’t seem capable of writing anything without injecting a touch of one or the other into any story. Recently, I’ve been hung up on mild paranormal, but I’d been considering trying my hand a cozy mysteries. I came up with the idea for a series with a woman sleuth, one who’d suffered hardship in her life and was reinventing herself. I also wanted to set the books in Canada. I have no idea how the United States is going to change over the next four years, but I do know what will happen or be happening here in my homeland. It’s always best to work with what you know.
Canada has a lot of interesting places to visit and things to see, so I thought why not use those facts and places as the backdrop for my new series? For example, the television police drama, Hudson and Rex, one that qualifies as cozy compared to others like FBI Most Wanted, is set in Newfoundland, and gives viewers a glimpse of that province. Another series, again more cozy than gory, is Murdock Mysteries, the story of an enterprising inventor detective, set in Toronto, Ontario at the turn of the twentieth century. In many of its episodes, the show moves out of the city to show off other parts of Ontario. In one episode, the show was set in Montreal; in another, it was in Victoria, BC.
I decided my private detective could take cases anywhere in the country and solve them. I decided to start with a place I visited three years ago, the Pointe au Pere Heritage Site with its lighthouse, submarine, and most importantly, the RMS Empress of Ireland Museum.
Welcome to the first book in the Evie Chambers Mysteries series. These books will all be a combination of romance suspense, cozy mystery, historical information, humor, and perhaps even some mild paranormal elements, all wrapped up into neat bundles designed to entertain you. I’ve chosen to write them in the first person, so that it’ll feel as if Evie is speaking to you.
Like my newest heroine, I have a vivid imagination and love solving puzzles. A few years back, the post office made a mistake and accidentally mixed up my name with that of another person who had died. For the record, seeing an envelope with your name on it and the stamp, DECEASED, is terrifying. The post office had returned a bank statement to the bank and then the bank had frozen my accounts—no transactions in or out, which meant my salary had been sent back to my employer. It was all bad and took almost a month to straighten out. Proving that you are who you say you are isn’t always easy.
My personal horror show took place before the computer age when a lot of things were done by hand. In today’s world, where we are constantly bombarded with warnings about hackers, identity theft, and fraud, I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often. But, I write fiction, and even if my initial incident is something that could happen to anyone, I needed a viable plot behind it for my heroine to solve.
Until a few years ago, I had never heard of the RMS Empress of Ireland, or the fact that the ship’s demise is considered the worst peacetime maritime disaster in Canadian history. Even the scholars and experts can’t agree on why the incident has been neglected. While there is a museum dedicated to its sinking, and the area around the wreck itself is a National Historic Site, it doesn’t get the publicity other sites do. There are some books out there based on the sinking, most of them non-fictional accounts of the event, but even with that, few people, other than surviving relatives, those who live in the immediate area, and divers looking for a challenge, have ever heard of it.
On May 29, 1914, the RMS Empress of Ireland sank in the St Lawrence River after being struck by the SS Storstad, a heavy laden Norwegian coal ship, that sat deep in the water. Are your synapses firing like mine did? Of all the ships that brought goods and passengers to Canada from various countries, what are the odds that two ships hailing from the same country should be involved in the two worst maritime disasters in our history? It’s quite the coincidence—if you believe in coincidence.
The Royal Mail Ship Empress of Ireland left Quebec City at 4:30 p.m. on May 28, 2014. Less than ten hours later, it was at the bottom of the river. The ship sank in fourteen minutes, not enough time for most of the crew and passengers to escape. A total of 1,032 people died, while 465 survived, but only 188 bodies were ever recovered. According to divers who have been down to the wreck, the ship is filled with skeletal remains. Essentially, it’s a massive tomb, for an estimated 700 souls.
So, considering 840 passengers died, why so little interest in the ship? There wasn’t anyone particularly famous aboard if you ignore a British acting couple, a colonel in New Zealand’s 3rd Mounted Division, the head of Canada’s largest pharmaceutical company, a few other prominent business men, and a former British Member of Parliament returning from a hunting expedition. While there was an inquiry immediately following the disaster, the onset of World War 1 on July 28, 1914, took it out of the limelight very quickly.
Three years ago, on a bus tour of the Gaspé region, I visited the RMS Empress of Ireland Museum at Pointe au Père, a small village near the town of Rimouski, Quebec. After viewing the exhibits, especially the film showing how the accident occurred, my mind was filled with seemingly unanswerable questions. Why had the ship even left Quebec City Harbor, especially when there seemed to be issues, or bad omens if you will, from the onset?
According to some sources, the ship’s rudder had malfunctioned previously and some thought it might be defective—why sail like that? Why not have the rudder repaired first? Another question that bothered me concerned the fog that was at the center of the entire mess. I’ve driven through maritime fog where you can barely see five feet in front of you. Since the threat of fog was present, especially sudden, thick fogbanks that rolled in unannounced, why did the captain of the Empress not put in place all of the safety precautions required in such a case the second he saw the fog? Why alter his ship’s course? And most importantly, claim to have stopped her engines when later evidence proved that to be false? Why wait to order the watertight doors and portholes closed and full speed ahead moments before the collision? It was intriguing to discover the tale about the ship’s cat, an animal that had never missed a sailing, who refused to get on the ship that day and apparently watched it leave from the safety of the pier. What did the animal know that the ship’s passengers and crew didn’t?
Take the ghost walk in the port of Quebec City, and you will learn about the curse surrounding Captain Kendall himself—if you believe in such things. Or, cross the river and take a walk along the shore near the Pointe au Père Lighthouse. Will you see mysterious lights on a foggy night? Will you hear the sound of horns, blowing in the darkness or the cries of people muffled by death and time? Since 2009, six divers have died while investigating the wreck. Their bodies were recovered, but are their souls now among the ghosts who dwell in 130 feet of icy water in the St Lawrence River? You decide.
Another point that fascinated me about the wreck of the Empress of Ireland was the fact that a key witness was found dead before he could testify at the inquiry, and later, there were four men murdered in Quebec City, men suspected of having information about the ship’s demise. No one can prove anything, but as I said, I don’t believe in coincidence.
The inquiry held after the incident found the Norwegian ship culpable—he’d altered his course—and moving at top speed, had struck the Empress amidship at a 45 degree angle twenty feet below the waterline. Instead of keeping his ship attached to the Empress, essentially plugging the hole, he allowed the two ships to drift apart, opening the gaping hole and sealing the Empress’s fate. To many scholars and investigators, the fact that the Empress’s own captain never ordered the watertight doors to be closed spoke of negligence on his part and definitely contributed to the ship’s sinking. Interestingly enough, both ship captains were given other ships and continued to sail.
In addition to passengers, the Royal Mail Ship, as its name implies, carried mail, along with 2,600 tons of coal, two containers of currency, valued at more than one million dollars, and 252 ingots of silver.
Immediately after the sinking, Canadian Pacific, the ship’s owners, sent twenty divers in atmospheric diving suits down to the wreck ostensibly to see if she could be refloated, search for bodies, and recover the mail. My question is this, given the testimony of those who survived, refloating the ship was impossible, so why did those men really go down there, knowing how dangerous the current was? What was in the mail that made it so important? Secret dispatches concerning the war that started within two months of the incident? Information pertaining to the Black Hand, a secret Serbian society said to be active in Canada at the time, a group that played a key role in the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 and precipitated the war?
Nationalism was strong at that time in all of Europe, not just Serbia. The Irish were determined to get rid of the British yoke. Could the Irish who’d settled in Canada have tried to encourage their compatriots? Again, all suppositions. No doubt those divers were sent to recover the silver on board and other unspecified valuables. One diver was killed when he apparently slipped from the hull of the wreck and fell 65 feet to the riverbed, tearing his air hose. Shortly afterward, recovery efforts ceased. A total of 318 bags of mail, 251 bars of silver, worth over a million dollars, and other unidentified valuables, as well as a few bodies were recovered. Does that leave one ingot of silver still missing? Maybe, and what else? Who knows what’s hiding in the hole of the ship buried in silt?
Since 1964, several diving expeditions to recover artifacts took place, but permission to do so was revoked when too many of the divers started taking and keeping souvenirs. Today, you can still dive the wreck with accredited dive companies, but it’s illegal to remove anything from it. Divers call it the bone yard since there are skeletons throughout the ship including those of sixty stewards in their rooms. I don’t get it. You have to be pretty crass to steal from the dead.
With all of this infromation buzzing through my head, I finally settled on the main plot of Evie’s first case. While the information on the Empress of Ireland is as real and factual as I could make it, everything else about Evie’s case and the characters involved is pure fiction, but I hope you’ll enjoy seeing how I used my research to create the story.
Grab your e-copy of A Case of Mistaken Identity today. The paperback will be released next week. Check my blog for details.
If you know my work, which I hope many of you do, you’ll know that I write in many different genres. Today I added Cozy Mystery to the mix. Welcome to the Evie Chambers Mystery series with the release of book one, A Case of Mistaken Identity.
I’d been considering going back to writing mystery and suspense, but I discovered that many readers prefer their suspense served up less hard-boiled. Evie Chambers is a female sleuth with all the deductive skills of Sherlock Holmes. A widow, she runs E.C. Investigations, a company that prides itself on taking the sae and doing the job to the best of their abilities, but today, she’s the client and the case she has to solve is her own
Set on the beautiful south shore of Quebec, on the edge of the Gaspe Peninsula, with the mysterious sinking of the RMS Empress of Ireland at the heart of the matter, Evie faces her most difficult adversary yet–herself and her fears.
When a body identified as her own washes ashore near the Pointe au Père Lighthouse, it throws Evelyn Chambers’s life into chaos. Professional diver Evie Chambers gave up working with the Underwater Retrieval Team when the last body she recovered hit too close to home. Now, she works as a private detective to fill her days and keep the nightmares at bay. The last thing she expects is to become a victim of one of her most frequently investigated crimes, identity theft. While that’s problematic in itself, having the thief die mysteriously turns the theft of her identity into a tricky situation. The police inspector in charge of the case doesn’t trust outsiders and warns her to stay out of police business. Not satisfied with that attitude, Evie goes to Rimouski, Quebec to discover the truth for herself. She intends to find out why the stranger stole her identity and nothing, especially not a crusty old inspector, will stop her. Alphonse Binette, the handsome Parks Canada employee who oversees the Empress of Ireland Museum piques her curiosity in more ways than one. In his spare time, Al runs a licensed dive company, one of the few allowed to go down to the wreck, and knows a lot more about the body found on the beach than she expected. Al offers to help her with her investigation, and while Evie is cautious, she accepts. There are strange things going on in Pointe au Père, starting with a break-in at the museum, rumors of people rising out of the water, strange lights, sounds, vanishing boats, roads that appear where they shouldn’t, and a suspicious fire where another body is discovered. The police inspector is determined to solve the case without Evie’s assistance or interference, but when circumstantial evidence makes Al the prime suspect in both the murder and the arson, it’s up to Evie to discover the truth and clear Al’s name before someone else dies.
Have a look at the opening pages and grab a copy of your own to finish the tale. A Case of Mistaken Identity is exclusive to all Amazon retailers and is available in KU. The paperback will be released next week. Watch for it!
Welcome to the last IWSG blog post of 2024. Another year has whizzed past. Wishing all who celebrate Happy Holidays.
December 4 question – Do you write cliffhangers at the end of your stories? Are they a turn-off to you as a writer and/or a reader?
As a rule, I do not write cliffhangers at the end of a book, but I’m not opposed to letting a story continue beyond a book. While that sounds like an oxymoron, it really isn’t. In my best selling series, The Harvester Files, that is precisely what I do.
Each book in the series can be read as a standalone Romance Suspense, starting with The White Carnation. Each book follows most of the same characters on their quest to find the Prophet, a cult leader with the intention of making the US and perhaps the world a better place, no matter the cost. In each book, a different couple is the primary hero and heroine, and their story adds another lead to finding the prophet, but it isn’t until book 4, The White Dahlia that they actually do. Since the series is so popular, I’ve toyed with the idea of writing a fifth book, but so far, the inspiration isn’t there, although I’m geeting close.
As for reading books with cliffhangers, they aren’t unusual in some series. but I like at least a portion of the tale to be resolved in one book. Think Tolkien–it took three books for him to finish The Lord of the Rings. Some stories can’t be resolved in one book.
Welcome to December, the last and darkest month of the year. This week, the ladies from Tuesday Tales are writing to the word prompt, CAREFUL. I completed the NaNoWriMo challenge on November 30, and the book, A Case of Mistaken Identity, is almost finished. In fact, it has a shiny new cover. here is this week’s scene.
“That road, if you can call it that, wasn’t here in May. This is crown land, leased to Hydro Quebec as an easement to allow them to get to the lines when and if required. I’ve come here plenty of times. There’s a good swimming area at the end of what used to be a narrow trail, wide enough for dirt bikes or small ATVs, but it looks as if something larger came through here. I wonder if Phil knows about this. Sit tight while I check it out and see if we can safely take the bike through.”
“Be careful.”
I got off the bike, removed my helmet, and stood on the far side of the Harley, away from any potential traffic.
Al walked over to the makeshift road and disappeared into the trees. I swallowed, suddenly aware of how isolated I was here, with the sun roasting me alive inside the leathers. I unzipped the jacket but left it on since I couldn’t get to the sunscreen in my bag. I shifted nervously from one foot to the other, trying to figure out if there were some way this renovated path could have anything to do with the other strange happenings around here.
After what felt like an eternity, Al came out of the trees, his leather jacket open the way mine was. I stepped away from the bike and hurried over to him.
“What did you find?”
He put his arm across my shoulder and led me back to the motorcycle.
“A mess. Whoever did this doesn’t care about the environment, but I only went as far as we used to go in the ATVs. We can ride in about a hundred and fifty meters, but the trail is hilly and rocky beyond that. I’m sure that hasn’t changed, although it looks like whatever made this mess drove in all the way to the river. I don’t think anyone has been here since Friday and the rain. There are still some wet spots without fresh tire markings. As curious as I am about what happened here, I don’t think we should go in there alone. Something doesn’t feel right. I’m going to call Phil and tell him about this, and then we should head over to Raoul’s. It’s only half a kilometer from here. He probably knows all about this, too, considering how close it is to his place. Whoever did this wouldn’t have been too quiet in the process. We may get answers from him, but we won’t get any here.”
Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends and followers. I’m wishing you all the best for the day. And to those who have to prepare the meal, I’m hoping you have plenty of help with everything from early prep to final cleanup. And once you get to sit down and relax, why not do so with a new book?
Sworn to Protect, book one of the Protecting the Innocent series is on sale for the next seven days starting today for only 99 cents USD to start, but once the sale ends, it will be going up to $4.99, so here’s your chance to pick it up for a song!
Four years ago, a car accident robbed Nancy Frost of her child and her mother, taking what was left of her marriage with it in the process. A forensic accountant, she agrees to look at a company’s books in a divorce case, trying to find hidden assets, but her meeting with the lawyer goes terribly wrong when the restaurant is attacked.
The moment US Marshal Neil Copeland discovers his wife has been shot in a Baltimore restaurant, he rushes to her side, determined not to let her down again. As the police investigate, evidence suggests the attack was a ploy to hide a specific hit. When a professional assassin tries to kill Nancy a second time, it’s clear that she was the target and whatever’s going on is a lot more complicated than they think.
When Nancy awakes after a month in an induced coma, not only does she not remember the attack on the restaurant, she doesn’t remember marrying Neil. Faced with the challenge of protecting his wife from a powerful, faceless enemy, Neil must bring her up to date, dredging up all the sorrow that tore them apart in the first place, hoping something will jar her memory. As he races against time, can he save her from an unknown assassin and convince her to give the love they once had a second chance?
Sworn to Protect is available from all Amazon online stores. Check out the teaser! This book is also available in paperback or in Kindle Unlimited. Watch for another Kindle Countdown Deal in December!
Living the Dream 