cozy mysteries – SUZANNE RUDD HAMILTON

Rewrite

It was a dark and stormy night… No that’s stupid. Every damn dumb novel starts that way. It’s gotta be better than that. Suddenly, the lights went out. Great, now I’m starting in the middle of the action. There’s no backstory. It makes no sense. The reader can’t follow it. The opening line is theContinue reading “Rewrite”

The Solution

Walking always clears my head. Maybe it’s something about the fresh air or the freedom of moving in any direction I want. I love the dense warm summer air as a myriad of sensations hang in the thick atmosphere. The city has its own rhythm. The melody of sounds is deafening and chaotic, but whenContinue reading “The Solution”

Cheating Time

I keep having this reoccurring dream that I’m running down an empty street. It’s darker than a midnight where the dim shadow of a sliver blue moon and the intermittent blink of a couple faulty streetlights cast cruel lonely silhouettes. All I can hear is the haunting echo of my kitten-heeled slingbacks against the pavementContinue reading “Cheating Time”

Innocent?

Rachel felt as though she were living in a sinkhole of absurdity, delving deeper and deeper into the ridiculous with every passing day. The problem was her husband Hal, but really what he morphed into… a giant ogre of idiosyncratic annoyance.Trapped somewhere between the twilight zone and the worst fraternity house on campus, she wasContinue reading “Innocent?”

Pineapple Means Welcome

I was in the bar in the new adult community I recently move to nursing my Jack Daniels and watching the game when I overheard the strangest conversation. “Are you a pineapple?” the man said. “I’m a green pineapple,” the lady smiled. My interest piqued, I couldn’t help but glance in their direction. “Green aye.Continue reading “Pineapple Means Welcome”

The Rule of Three

Author’s Note: This is a continuation of the story last week, Rule 30 from the sequel to Beck’s Rules, When Walls Talk. With ideas of green ink, government paper and presidential profiles swirling in my head, I’m ready to get to work uncovering Carrington’s plot. I rush through the newsroom ignoring the wail of policeContinue reading “The Rule of Three”

Rule 30

Author’s Note: This is a sneak peek of the prequel to the cozy mystery novel Beck’s Rules where we discover the origin of hard-nosed reporter May Beck as she cuts her newspaper teeth and develops her skills on the streets of her urban city. Sometimes being right is an overwhelming burden to bear. But IContinue reading “Rule 30”