Category: M.A. Lee

mysteries and romantic suspense

Mystery and Murder ~ Portrait with Death

Posted on by writer35_bg

It’s Mystery and Murder in 1921.

Into Death series with Isabella Newcombe

Portrait with Death continues with Isabella while introducing two new characters to the series.

Flick Sherborne, intrepid photographer. Flick is brand-new to this series, and she quite surprised me when she appeared.

DI Michael Wainwright of Scotland Yard. DI Wainwright first appeared in Christmas with Death. He has a stronger role now.

A Murderer paints with Blood.

Why would anyone kill a school master? Motives abound, and suspects increase. Fellow teaching masters. A former soldier haunted by the nightmares of the war. Three ladies were rivals for Webberly’s attentions. Their husbands may have clubbed him and cracked open his head. A photographer. Three fishermen. A medic. The pub owner and his wife. The local constable.

Who committed the murder? Can Isabella find the answer?

A tangle of motives and hidden evidence complicate the murder in Portrait with Death, an amateur sleuth mystery set in a 1920 sleepy English village.

Portrait with Death is the third novel in the series Into Death, with artist Isabella Newcombe Tarrant.

What is Portrait with Death?

https://maleebooks.blogspot.com/2021/07/portrait-with-death-3rd-in-into-death.html

Read the first chapter here.

https://maleebooks.blogspot.com/2021/07/portrait-with-death-read-1st-chapter.html

Another bit with Isabella

https://maleebooks.blogspot.com/2021/07/portrait-with-death-heres-more-with.html

A bit more with Flick

https://maleebooks.blogspot.com/2021/07/portrait-with-death-heres-more-to.html

Meet Detective Inspector Michael Wainwright, sent by Scotland Yard to solve the murder … although someone else is on his mind.

https://maleebooks.blogspot.com/2021/07/meet-detective-inspector-portrait-with.html

Intrigued? View the trailer here!

Click this link. https://youtu.be/6cfEOGy-fXQ

 

Portrait with Death Celebrates its Publication Anniversary this Month.

Mystery and Murder. 1921. Enjoy your last-of-summer reading.

Amazon, ebook and paperback https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0973GVKSQ

Online distributors Worldwide https://books2read.com/u/b6vrjZ 

“Black Heart” ~ an Into Death Short Story

Posted on by writer35_bg

“Black Heart”

~ the 3rd Short story with Isabella Newcombe Tarrant!
Cover design by Deranged Doctor Design

Pranks and tricks cause inconvenience, misery, and embarrassment.

After one prank goes too far and injury occurs, will Isabella locate the trickster before the next mishap turns deadly?

“Black Heart” is the third short story in the collection Sailing with Mystery. The collection continues the mystery adventures of the artist Isabella Newcombe Tarrant, featured in the Into Death series. Her introduction is in the novel Digging into Death.

~ What’s Up with “Black Heart”? ~

Writing “Black Heart”

This story–with pranks revealing evil hearts–kept stumping me for a while. I launched into the writing without a clear idea of the types of pranks. The only clear idea was that I hate pranksters.

You see, I taught teen-agers for a long, long time. I loved their energy. I also loved their welcoming and compassionate hearts. Their idea of fun gave me lots of fun as a spectator of it …. unless that idea of fun was more about laughing at other people, setting them up for ridicule, and mocking them when the results of their “fun” developed. Mild pranks were never the problem. Hurtful pranks, embarrassing pranks, pranks intending to hurt people or their property merely for a laugh: those pranks are ones that I despise.

During the writing of the Sailing with Mystery collection, in the week before I started this story, I spent an hour mapping out an itinerary for the collection. Isabella boards the ship Nomadic in Southhampton, England. The ship stops along the French and Spanish coasts. The first story occurs on the approach to Gibraltar; the second, into the Mediterranean. This third is set in Port Said, Egypt … except it isn’t.

I decided to visit the pyramids, and that gave me the first prank and the launching point of the story.

Everything developed from the launch point along with additional pranks and the black heart required for a prankster.

A couple of twists developed. A research-based conversation changed a planned event to one that had more reality.

Then the ending was upon me. With the last words, I leaned back in my chair. “Whoo! That was fun!”

I hope you enjoy it as well.

How to Purchase

Sailing with Mystery  ~ Mystery and Peril are dangerous shipmates for an ocean voyage.

Here’s a link to purchase the short story.

From Amazon or from other online, worldwide distributors like Kobo and Barnes & Noble and others.

If you would rather wait for the entire short story collection, Sailing with Mystery, then use these links to online distributors.

Zon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJL28Z5W Ebook and Paperback, use the Same Link

Worldwide https://books2read.com/u/3R5QJR  Ebook and Paperback use the Same Link

View the Trailer here: https://youtu.be/csAe72b5X2I 

 

Anniversary ~ “Purple Poison” / Short Story

Posted on by writer35_bg
cover by Deranged Doctor Design

“Purple Poison”

the 2nd Short Story with the artist Isabella Newcombe Tarrant

A flurry of poison pen letters unsettle the passengers on the ship Nomadic. Even Isabella is not immune from the vicious invective.

Will the culprit be discovered before dangerous secrets are revealed?

“Purple Poison” is part of the collection Sailing with Mystery.

The collection continues the mystery adventures of Isabella Tarrant, featured in the Into Death series. Her introduction is in the novel Digging into Death.

Link to Worldwide Distribution.

Link to Amazon here.

. ~ . ~ . ~ .

Sailing With Mystery ~ A Short Story Collection

Travel presents opportunities to meet new friends and see new places. Isabella also encounters puzzling crimes and dangerous intrigue as she sails from England to India.

The next short story is “Black Heart”.

In discussing  the covers with Kim, the design project manager at Deranged Doctor Design, we decided to avoid the problem with so few accurate images from 1921. Instead, we chose to emphasize the protagonist Isabella’s art with five watercolor images. Finding similar images became the next design challenge. We hope that the ones we have picked not only represent Isabella’s venture into watercolors but also the atmosphere and settings for the story.

The covers represent the coastlines that Isabella would have seen during her ocean voyage. “Amber Dreams” focuses on the French and Spanish coasts. “Purple Poison” would be anything she saw from Gibraltar to Rhodes.

The primary cover harks to Isabella standing to one side of the image. The ocean and the railing of the ship evoke where she is while the tumultuous sky echoes the mysteries she encounters while aboard the passenger ship.

Enjoy!

 

Fuse Faeries with the Legends of Robin Hood

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What do you get when Faeries are Fused with the Legends of Robin Hood?

Into Wild Sherwood

an Anthology of 5 Short Stories

For lovers of #fantasy and #medievaltimes & the legends of #Robinhood

 

View the Trailer https://youtu.be/O9qWTwRZgoI

I love this music!

 

Dangerous Faeries Lurk in the Forest

Pursued by the Sheriff of Nottingham and his guards, five people take refuge in the wilds of Sherwood Forest ~ only to encounter the Faeries of British legend.

~ ~ ~

Cover by Deranged Doctor Design

“Tod the Fox and the Faeries in the Ring”

Never enter a Faerie Ring. The Faeries like to play.
How can Tod escape them?
~ ~ ~

“The Poisoner and the Faerie Huntsman”

Never reveal weakness to a Faerie.
Melly and her hound encounter strange black hounds. Then the Huntsman of the Wild Hunt arrives. Has she fallen into greater trouble?
~ ~ ~

“Three Yule Feasts for Faeries”

Will the cook become the final dish?
A Faerie sentinel tempts Ellen to cook three dinners. For each, she’ll receive three purses, copper and silver and gold. But what does the Faerie mean by final feast?
~ ~ ~

“Friar Tuck and the Faerie at the Pool”

Beauty is terrifyingly dangerous.
Friar Tuck encounters a Faerie at a forest pool. Can he convince her that he is a man of peace?
~ ~ ~

“Alan-a-Dale and the Harp of Elandrielle”

Who can trust a Faerie?
At his lowest point, a Faerie finds Alan and offers her aid. Should he accept her bargain?
~ ~ ~

If you love the historical legends surrounding Robin Hood and you’re intrigued by perilous Faeries, then explore the world of Wild Sherwood, from Edie Roones and M.A. Lee.

Paperback and Ebook available at Kobo, Apple, Google, Barnes & Noble, and other online distributors.

 

LINKS

Worldwide outlets, ebook only https://books2read.com/u/bOzoDE

Amazon, ebook and paperback https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09YX79TMH

“Amber Dreams” / a Short Story Mystery / Happy Birthday!

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1st Short Story in the Sailing with Mystery anthology

featuring Isabella Newcombe Tarrant from the Into Death series.

Aboard the Passenger Ship Nomadic

A short story mystery featuring Isabella Newcombe Tarrant from the Into Death series.

Amber Dreams ~~

Blackmail threatens a young bride when her secret diary is stolen. Her marriage of convenience is threatened if the contents are revealed to her new husband and his autocratic mother.

Can Isabella recover the diary before the bride loses all hope?

Find the individual short story at these links:

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C1YG2J6Q

Books2Read  https://books2read.com/u/3yWAAl

The “Amber Dreams” cover represents the rocky coasts that Isabella would have seen along the French and Spanish coastlines during her ocean voyage.

Visit this website for the first section and more links. https://maleebooks.blogspot.com/2025/02/amber-dreams-opening-and-links.html

Sailing With Mystery ~ the short Story Collection

Travel presents opportunities to meet new friends and see new places. And confront DANGER!

Follow Isabella through the Mediterranean Sea and into the Indian Ocean as she sails from England to India … and encounters puzzling crimes and mysterious intrigue.

All five short stories are available in the collection.

Link for Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C1YG2J6Q

Link to Wide Distribution ~ Books2Read https://books2read.com/u/3yWAAl

A Word on the Covers: My designers manipulate stock photos to create vibrant colors. Few images are available that present 1921 accurately. Rather than be limited in cover choices, we avoided that problem and chose to emphasize Isabella’s art. Five similar watercolor images became the covers for the short stories, each one symbolically depicting the story’s conflict or theme or setting. Finding those similar images became the next design challenge.

The cover for the collection Sailing with Mystery echoes the covers for the original three-book series Into Death. The ocean and the railing of the ship depict her location while the tumultuous sky echoes the mysteries she encounters while aboard the passenger ship.

Enjoy!

The Into Death series:

Digging into Death ~ Love and murder on an archaeological dig. Has the love of her life beguiled Isabella straight into death?

Christmas with Death ~ An English country manor offers Christmas merriment, miracles, and murder. Will Isabella be the next victim?

Portrait with Death ~ When murder paints with blood, will Isabella and her new friend Flick discover that the murderer? Or will the murderer stop them?

Collected into Into Death

LINKS:

https://books2read.com/u/baDN1L

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MRBNCH7

Available ebook and paperback