Courting Trouble ~ Summer Writing Challenge

Posted on July 31, 2025July 31, 2025 by writer35_bg

Courting Trouble

114% Complete

57,000 of 50,000 words

These three novelettes create a tie-in series to M.A. Lee’s Sailing Into Mystery stories and Into Death novels, which feature the artist Isabella Newcombe Tarrant. Nedda Courtland enters 1925 America with these stories as she is Courting Trouble.

“Spanish Moss” is now available.

A Death, a Will, and a Way

“Poison” is one of the last words Nedda Courtland’s employer says to her.

Private secretary to a wealthy financier, Nedda has maintained a very British poise as she traveled the world. The New Orleans of 1925 brings it own unique flavor to her experiences. Yet nothing prepares her for Hyatt Ingram’s claim of murder in the hours before his death.

With no evidence as proof, she can only fulfill Mr. Ingram’s last wishes. Holding his absent son’s voting proxy and a new will, Nedda expects the murderer to emerge in the chaos she will create as executrix.

She never expects another murder.

LINKS

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FF2PTG9W

Books2Read https://books2read.com/u/bPM11l

For a sneak peak with the opening chapter, head over to the MA Lee blog: https://maleebooks.blogspot.com/2025/07/spanish-moss-opening-and-links.html

Coming Second is “Texas Sun”. Published July 23.

Texas Sun ~ Means. Motive. Opportunity

The grime of a working oil field draws together people at odds with the summer heat and with each other.

In the heady flush of a new romance, Nedda tries to ignore the blazing tensions, yet troubling shadows have gathered.

Then Death makes his entrance, and the grim pressures erupt.

Available Now at these links:

Zon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FH5VHQ4V

B2R https://books2read.com/u/4XM6k6

Read the opening chapter on the MALblog on August 1.

Finishing is “Gulf Storm”. Preorder now for the August 23 Release Date

Gulf Storm ~ Bribe. Conspire. Die.

A hurricane threatens to disrupt the wedding festivities of Nedda and Hank.

With the approaching storm are a whirl of human crimes, and an accusation of a past misdeed rages from the shadows.

Will the hurricane’s landfall shred Nedda’s dreams, or will Death wreak its lethal destruction?

Zon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FK5TB4YW

B2R https://books2read.com/u/mZM2O2

Opening Chapter available 8/20 on the MALblog https://maleebooks.blogspot.com/2025/08/gulf-storm-opening-and-links.html

The trio collection will release September 23.

Enjoy A Trio of Hazards

Posted on July 28, 2025May 23, 2025 by writer35_bg

Welcome to A Trio of Hazards

twisty mysteries in Regency England

A Trio of Hazards offers people from the many spheres of life as they clash against each other—

and against murderers!

Complex Schemes, Dangerous Pasts :: The Hazard of Secrets

Clarey Parton crosses the Atlantic to steal an inheritance. She hopes that no one discovers the rightful heir lies in a cold grave.

Jem Baxter returns to the England he fled three years before. He assumes the name James Axminster to conceal his past, one littered with misdeeds.

When a press gang sees two people traveling alone, they seize the opportunity for quick cash: they plan to sell Clarey to a brothel and impress Jem on a merchant ship. Fate brings these two lonely souls together. Chance helps them escape.

Yet escape traps them in another secret—one with murder as a bloody solution.

The Hazard of Secrets offers twists and turns as tight as knots. Can Clarey and Jem keep their secrets, or will murder force them to reveal all?

Treacherous Traitors, Murders Past and Present :: The Hazard for Spies

Disguised to Spy.

Conrad Hoppock works with the Bow Street Runners to locate a French master spy. His search sends him undercover in a firm of solicitors.

Phinney Darracott wants justice for the murders of her sister and brother-in-law. Clues lead her to a firm of London solicitors. Disguised as a cleaning maid, Phinney prowls for the evidence. There she encounters Conrad.

And the lawyer at the center of the tangle of clues is shot dead while they watch from hiding.

Will Phinney and Conrad discover the connection between past and present murders? Or will two bullets solve the problem for the murderer and the French master spy?

Will murder destroy their chance for love?

Knotty problems turn into bloody events in The Hazard for Spies.

Rumors, Lies, Superstition, & Murder :: The Hazard with Hearts

The bride of the Earl of Sheldrake, Vivienne Northrup encounters ghost stories from venomous neighbors when she arrives at the Hall. Her husband is busy with the concerns of the estate, and his relatives are less than welcoming.

Then, while exploring the ruins of Sheldrake Castle, she barely escapes a stone dislodged from a tower.

Rumors whisper the Earl is a Bluebeard, killing his two previous wives. Others claim the first committed suicide while the second fell on the stairs. Which version is the truth?

Or were his wives murdered?

Two wives haunt the castle. Will Vivienne the third to die?

The Hazard with Hearts offers a determined heroine who confronts doubts, superstition, and the dark passions of a killer who wants every countess of Sheldrake dead and buried.

A Trio of Hazards

This collection is the last three books in the Hearts in Hazard series, mysteries and suspense with a dash of sweet romance. Set in Regency England, the novels are loosely connected and are complete, without cliffhangers.

Amazon shoppers: Ebook and Paperback Find it here!

Online distributors worldwide: here is that link, ebook only.

Mystery and Murder ~ Portrait with Death

Posted on July 15, 2025May 23, 2025 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.

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? More is here! 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

Anniversary ~ “Purple Poison” / Short Story

Posted on May 15, 2025January 20, 2025 by writer35_bg

“Purple Poison”

Another 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 the second short story in 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 (not yet available)

. ~ . ~ . ~ .

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!

Enjoy The Hazard for Spies

Posted on April 29, 2025January 20, 2025 by writer35_bg

It’s Anniversary Day for The Hazard for Spies.

Disguised to Spy.

A young constable tracks treacherous traitors. A spinster hopes to find a killer. Will murder destroy their chance for love?

Conrad Hoppock left his village and the girl he secretly loved for a chance at a better livelihood. He joined the London constabulary and began working with the Bow Street Runners. Now he hunts the master spy stealing information for Bonapartist France. His search sends him undercover in a lawyer’s office.

When Phinney Darracott’s sister and brother-in-law died, their children whispered “murder”. She dismissed that claim as unreasonable terrors caused by the tragic loss. Yet after repeated burglaries and an arson that destroyed their home, Phinney believed the whispers. Now she wants justice for their murders.

The clues lead her to London. There, she disguises herself as a cleaning maid for the very law office where Conrad is disguised as a clerk. Phinney’s young niece Elise and the street urchin Vic secretly pursue a different tangle of clues to the murders.

In the night hours, when all is still, Phinney prowls for the evidence. Then she encounters Conrad.

And the lawyer at the center of the tangle of clues is shot dead while they watch from their hiding place.

Can Conrad discover the identity of the French mastermind? Will Phinney’s single-minded pursuit lead her into the murderer’s snare? Will the children be caught and sold into London’s underworld?

Will they discover the connection between past and present murders?

Or will two bullets allow the murderer and the French master spy to continue their work against the British government?

The Hazard for Spies is Book 11 in M.A. Lee’s Hearts in Hazard series of Regency mysteries and suspense. The novels are loosely connected, and each story is complete in one book.

Vic the lockpick and Phinney (disguised as Mrs. Coates) were minor characters in The Hazard of Secrets. Chief Constable Hector Evans, who returns here after his inclusion in The Hazard of Secrets, had his introduction in The Dangers to Hearts and received his own story in The Key to Secrets. The fight against French spies on British soil began with the first Hearts in Hazard

Find it here, ebook or paperback, from online distributors everywhere

OR Amazon.

View the Trailer here:

Dream it. Believe it. Do it.

Courting Trouble ~ Summer Writing Challenge