Elena Reign: Room 12
What if the person best placed to explain a disappearance cannot trust his own memory?
When Marc Mercier wakes, his wife, Clara, is gone. Her phone and keys remain behind, and there is no obvious explanation for her absence. Marc had been drinking – it’s a problem – and the night that might provide answers is a blank. Then an anonymous message arrives: “You know what you did.”
Mercier must investigate Clara’s disappearance while confronting the possibility that he is responsible. His inability to remember offers neither a convincing defense or reassurance.
Room 12 offers an uneasy relationship between forgetting and denial. Is Mercier being manipulated, or is his uncertainty protecting him from something he cannot bear to acknowledge?
M.E. Proctor: The Way You Say My Name
I hope you’ve had the chance to read the Guest Post by M.E. Proctor, on the process for her Declan Shaw Mystery series. So now, let’s talk about The Way You Say My Name.
Hired on New Year’s Day, Declan Shaw investigates the disappearance of Amanda Spencer, a mother of two who walked away from a Christmas concert.
Shaw’s enquiries bring him into contact with Sam Chandler, whose appeal is matched by her talent for concealing information. Declan’s attraction to her complicates the situation, for there’s a real threat posed by Chandler’s rabid boyfriend.
Finding Amanda and keeping Sam safe are competing pressures, placing responsibility and desire on a collision course. The central question extends beyond whether Shaw can solve the case to how clearly he can see it.
Martin Limón: Strip Rules
Ronnie “the Technician” Redfield, Vietnam veteran and accomplished card counter, has survived a ruinous legal battle. While acquitted, he lost his livelihood and as a bonus, became estranged from his daughter.
An old army friend Bill Grimsley arrives with a scheme to get some payback at the blackjack tables of a casino owner.
His assignment, assemble a team of talented players whose collective abilities include: disguise, observation, and the ability to appear unremarkable. The team must play their parts as carefully as their cards.
Martin Limón draws on his own blackjack experience for Strip Rules and is a stand-alone departure from his Sueño and Bascom mysteries.
~ June Lorraine Roberts
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