Elliot Lake...
... the most stubborn, sarcastic, charming bastard you'd ever want to meet.
Elliot Lake thinks he’s dropped out of life, chosen the slow path, but life is just getting ready to ride his ass. And what a ride it will be. Reporter, introvert, part-time slob, fan of good music and cheap beer, Elliot grew up in the affluent neighborhood of Seattle’s Madison Park with his domineering Chinese mother, passive Caucasian father, and spoiled-rotten sister, Princess Maggie Morning Star. When he turned thirty, he left and ran screaming for the Oregon Coast, where he’s spent the last ten years working at the Alder Bay Examiner and his nights avoiding commitment. But all of that is about to change.
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Part sarcastic cozy mystery, part light romance, with a dash of paranormal urban fantasy fun, The Elliot Lake Mystery Series is very close to my heart. When I left my job as a reporter when we brought our first child into our lives, I discovered I still wanted to write... something... and then these characters and their stories started popping into my head.
Hopefully I did them justice and you love Elliot Lake as much as I do.
Hopefully I did them justice and you love Elliot Lake as much as I do.
(Hey! Small update for 2021 — my plan is to finally finish Elliot's series this year, and rebrand these suckers with some fresh, new titles. I also have a new series planned, and if all goes well, the first novel, The Wonderly Ghost, should also be available this year.)
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When a child and his grandmother disappear, it's a front-page story.
When the grandmother is found murdered, it's a tragedy. But when the second child disappears? It's on. Reporter Elliot Lake knows evil has dripped its way into his sleepy little coastal town. The first-born grandsons of Alder Bay’s coffee club are not only disappearing one by one . . . one of their grandmas is found murdered. Trouble’s also brewing with his girlfriend Rose, so by the time his overbearing parents show up, he’s done! He’s ready to hide in his crappy trailer and spend his days pounding sand until it all blows over, but he can’t: Elliot’s met the mysterious and intuitive Sky, and she’s about to change his life forever in this first installment of The Elliot Lake Mysteries.
(Formerly titled: Stolen Spring. Revised Summer 2015.) |
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An unidentified body is discovered when one of Alder Bay’s McMansions on the beach goes up in flames. But the dead man was not just any drifter, and he didn't die from smoke inhalation. He was a Retriever, and his target was Sky and her people, known to the folks of Alder Bay only as the People of the Cove. Apparently Elliot Lake's one true love did not escape a cult as he'd previously thought, but something much, much worse. Sky also tells him exactly what he doesn’t want to hear—Retrievers always work in pairs, which only means one thing . . . another Retriever has been to Alder Bay, and Sky’s cover might be blown.
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No rest for the weary, no rest for the wicked. The only thing newspaper reporter Elliot Lake wants to do is settle down and live his life with Sky, but his life is turning out to be just one hot mess after another. And this time, all the sarcasm and coffee in the world may not be enough to help. Because as summer draws to a close on the Oregon Coast, and as the leaves change color, and the autumn winds send a chill through the air—Elliot first comes face to face with his past, and then the people of the Cove start dropping like flies. Forced to hide in the sanctuary of their Cove, their lives on hold, with their empathic powers growing stronger every day, Sky and her people, unused to the germs of our world, are fighting an invisible threat—but the only thing Elliot wants to know is, is it just a common cold or is there something more sinister at work?
And speaking of work, there’s a new reporter in town and she’s got her crazy eyes set on our hero. And just as curiosity killed the cat, newby reporter Maxine Turner gets a little too close to the secrets and the mysteries of the Cove, exposing herself to a very sticky situation. And don’t forget Alder Bay’s newest mayor, 4-year-old Annabella Gilroy. She and her mother, Elliot’s best friend Louise, have their own battle on their hands with Alder Bay’s biggest real estate developer, who is, of course, hopping mad at Elliot and taking it out on the whole town. |
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Joining forces, Elliot and Sky return to the frozen world Sky once called home. Carved out of the side of an icy mountain far above the arctic circle, it's a secret world complete with solar panels, a landing strip and a cloaking device, Elliot finally sees what a technological wonderland created by generations of the super-intelligent looks like.
Beginning as a secret Utopian society, people came willingly and added to the collective knowledge. But then the tables turned when it proved to be more lucrative than the founders had ever imagined. The fate of everyone's future falls in the hands of one man, Mr. Elliot Lake . . . but he's going to need all the help he can get. To be released: 2021
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