Spotlight: The Desk From Hoboken by ML Condike

A Genealogy Mystery Series

Mystery

Date Published: March 5, 2024

Publisher: Harbor Lane Books, LLC.

In a bid to heal from the grief of a personal loss, forensic genealogist, RaeJean Hunter, takes on a straightforward case —identify human remains found on a nearby college campus, believed to be the 180-year-old remains of Mary Rogers, a woman who died mysteriously in 1841 and was believed to have been buried in the nearby cemetery that had washed away. It should be simple enough, a project to get her back in the game.

Unfortunately, it quickly becomes anything but. In fact, it becomes downright dangerous.

Someone doesn't want RaeJean to investigate the puzzling death of the woman whose death inspired Edgar Allan Poe's "The Mystery of Marie Roget." As she follows clues through four states and discovers living family members who both help and hinder her search, she quickly realizes that the secrets of Mary Rogers' demise were never meant to be exposed.

What lengths will someone go to keep the truth buried in the past? As threats escalate and RaeJean and her family's lives become endangered, she's forced to follow every lead and use every skill she has to find the answers she needs before it's too late. Using DNA from two famous New England families, historical data, modern genealogical techniques, and a little guidance from a seemingly mystical antique desk, RaeJean takes on the cold case despite being given every reason to abandon it.

After all, what truths have been hidden for 180 years that would be worth bribery, kidnapping, and even murder?

RaeJean Hunter is about to find out.

Exerpt

Chapter One

Come on, girl! It’ll be fun.” It was mid March and I stood in my bathing suit on the edge of our pool in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. Our corgi, Sophie, watched from ten feet away, ears !at against her head. Her look suggested she wasn’t joining me. She didn’t like water, never mind "fifty-eight-degree water. It would be shocking. 

Every year, my husband, Sam, and I vied for the title of First-In-The-Pool. Today, I was determined to swim and win regardless of the pool temperature. 

“It’s now or never!” I leaped in, submerged, and then in a split second, shot straight up out of the frigid water. “It’s cold! It’s cold! It’s cold!” 

Sophie circled the pool, barking as I splashed my way to the steps and climbed out. 

“Phew! What a wake up call, Sophie!” I toweled my hair while she licked my wet legs. 

“You win!” Sam shouted from the back door, saluting me with his steaming coffee mug. 

“I’ll be in as soon as I dry of.” 

He grinned, disappearing back inside. 

Five minutes later, I grabbed the hot mug as the last fragrant squirts of Cinnabon coffee gurgled from the Keurig. Something had changed in me overnight. It could have been the promise of spring, with the leaves budding, but I had a hunch it had something to do with the phone call from late yesterday afternoon. A potential client needed a genealogist. 

Whatever it was, I felt alive again. Smiling, I joined Sam in the breakfast nook. 

“You look happy. Finally beat me to the "first dip. How was it?” 

“Bloody cold.” I sipped my coffee in silence. The strong brew made my lips tingle. Or maybe it was simply rekindled optimism. 

I, RaeJean O’Leary Hunter, a notorious workaholic, hadn’t entered my home office since the mental fog set in six months ago. Life’s current had pulled me under. Today, I’d resurfaced, gasping for a breath of fresh air. 

Sam gazed at me over the rim of his mug. “Thinking about returning to work?” 

“Actually, I am. I received a voicemail late yesterday about a case that could be a good segue back to work. Easy, I think.” My stomach $uttered at the prospect, but I knew I had to take the plunge, not unlike diving into the frigid pool in order to feel like a winner again. I smiled to myself. 

Sam grinned. “That’s great. Maybe we should resume the office remodel.” 

“I’d like that.” We’d purchased the house as is and had been remodeling for a while. Actually, it was more of a restoration, but we’d suspended our work when I got pregnant. If I took the case, I’d need a workspace other than our library. 2 The Desk from Hoboken 

“Great. I’ll call the contractor.” He kissed me and disappeared into his office. 

After rinsing my cup, I scrambled upstairs with the intent of checking on my neglected office and preparing it for the work crew. I rushed past the door to the room where I’d wallowed for months. After two steps, I froze. A lingering compulsion sabotaged my plan. Instead, I stepped back and entered the unlit nursery. 

Scooping up the stuffed bunny that Sam had bought the day we’d learned I was pregnant, I sat in the Boston rocker, reliving the months after our loss. The tiny bunny sprawled across my lap as I agonized over the only thing I tended to worry about since that time, the secret I’d kept from Sam. 

Determined to move on, I sucked in a breath and glanced down at Sophie. “Big girls don’t cry.” 

It worked. Today, I didn’t shed a tear.

 I stood, tossing the toy onto the chair. “Let’s go.” I followed the dog as she padded out the door.

Buy on Amazon Kindle | Hardcover | Paperback | Bookshop.org

About the Author

ML Condike has published short stories in anthologies that include Strange & Sweet, (2019), Tall Tales and Timeless Stories, (2022), Malice in Dallas, Metroplex Mysteries, Volume 1 (2022), and won first place in the fifteenth annual Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Awards, Mystery/Crime category (2019), and 2nd Place in the Tennessee Williams Short Story Contest, Key West Art & Historical Society (2022).

She’s an associate member of Mystery Writers of America Florida Chapter, Sisters in Crime National, Sisters in Crime North Dallas (Treasurer), Granbury Writers’ Bloc, and Key West Writers Guild.

As the result of her study of genealogy for her debut novel The Desk from Hoboken, she researched her own family and she discovered she had a direct bloodline to a Patriot. So, most recently she has been inducted into the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).

Connect:

Website: https://mlcondike.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mlcondike

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mlcondike/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-lou-condike-b16117187/

Follow the Publisher on Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook - @harborlanebooks

Spotlight: How the Heart Breaks by S. Marie

He was her secret, her sin, the heart she couldn’t love.

Emery Robert’s life is everything she wanted. Married to the love of her life, with a good job, and plans for a family in the future. But when Emery’s husband dies tragically, she is the one who stops living.

Three years later, at the age of 30, she’s still struggling to move on. Friends are encouraging her to date again, while her in-laws want to keep her in the past, trapping Emery in the middle.

Deciding to move to a new town to start fresh with a new job and house, Emery’s 17-year-old niece, Addison, moves in with her for her final year of high school, where she instantly forms a crush on the popular and mysterious, Mason James.

At 19 years old, Mason has been through far more than most. A past full of tragedy and loss. Being held back a year in school, Mason is mentally years beyond his peers. Not feeling he belongs anywhere, until he meets Addison’s very sexy aunt.

Overwhelmingly drawn to her, he can’t seem to get this older woman out of his head. And no matter how much Emery denies it, he’s the first one who has sparked life in her, making her feel things she shouldn’t.

As much as she fights her forbidden desire, the sparks between them can’t be denied. When reality crashes down, it’s not just the taboo of their age difference that will rip out their hearts. It’s what fate has in store for them that will show them how the heart breaks.

Buy on Amazon Kindle | Audible | Hardcover | Paperback | Bookshop.org

About the Author

USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR S. Marie lives in the PNW with her dog Cooper, traveling and writing stories that are full of spice, angst, and emotional damage.

Connect:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SMBauthorpage/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/author.s.marie/

Website: https://s-marie.com/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/S.-Marie/author/B0CPBDFCNR

Cover Reveal: If You Loved Me by Brianna Remus

Publication date: April 26th 2024
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis:

My parents would lose their minds if they found out their precious daughter lost her virginity to the town’s notorious bad boy and ex-convict.

Ranger Adams might have been a dangerous pariah after he was released from prison, but he was the only man I wanted. And after I convinced him to take me on a date, I got exactly what my body…and heart desired.

I spent my entire life trying to get away from my parents’ overbearing grasp. They’ve tried to control every part of my life, even down to the man I was supposed to marry. That was the price of being born into one of the South’s richest families.

The second I had a chance to get away, I did. Ten years of pissing them off and making my dreams come true was worth the sacrifice. No fun. No relationships. And no sex.

My life had been all work until Ranger came back into town. Everyone whispered about what he’d done to land in prison. But I didn’t care.

He was rough around the edges, wild, and free.

And I wanted every bit of what he was willing to give me.

About the Author

Brianna Remus is a Florida-based author who lives with her husband, three pups, and terrorizing cat. She started her writing journey in 2016 to ward off the woes of graduate school. The light-hearted hobby quickly turned into a passion filled dream that consistently distracts her from the real world.

When Brianna isn't working as a psychology resident or writing books, you can find her getting lost in the worlds created by others (through writing and movies), spending a day at the ocean, or taking a walk in the forest. She loves to spend her days outdoors surrounded by the beauties of nature.

A true Tolkien nerd, she also spends a lot of her time immersed in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, as well as praying that Amazon doesn't completely fuck up the new LOTR series.

Connect:

https://www.briannaremus.com/

https://www.instagram.com/authorbriannaremus/

https://www.tiktok.com/@authorbriannaremus?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/brianna-remus?list=about

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19147144.Brianna_Remus

Spotlight: Famous Last Words by Claudia Burgoa

From USA Today bestselling author Claudia Burgoa pens a page-turning tale of hard losses and second chances. This angsty romance will destroy readers' hearts and then put them back together again. Prepare to ugly cry like never before!

I shouldn’t be alive. 

I should’ve died in that plane crash.

Instead, I survived. 

Thrived, even. 

After all, I’m a rock star and a billionaire. 

There’s nothing I can’t buy. 

Nothing, except peace. 

And when it all comes crashing down around me… 

The guilt. 

The pain. 

The sorrow.

That’s when she appears. 

The one woman I’m not allowed to love. 

I needed her to fill the void after everything was lost. 

There she was, ready, and grieving too.

Both of us are broken, shattered people. 

So why does she make my heart want to beat again?

I need a new reason to keep breathing.

And I think that reason—is her.

Famous Last Words is a story of pain, forgiveness, and the faint, lingering hope of rekindling a love that once meant everything. 

Buy on Amazon | Audible

About the Author

Claudia is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling author. 

She writes alluring, thrilling stories about complicated women and the men who take their breaths away. Her books are the perfect blend of steamy and heartfelt, filled with emotional characters and explosive chemistry. Her writing takes readers to new heights, providing a variety of tears, laughs, and shocking moments that leave fans on the edge of their seats.

She lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband, her youngest two children, and three fluffy dogs.

When Claudia is not writing, you can find her reading, knitting, or just hanging out with her family. At nights, she likes to binge watch shows or movies with her equally geeky husband. 

Keep up with Claudia Burgoa and subscribe to her newsletter: https://bit.ly/NwsletterCB%20%20

To learn more about Claudia Burgoa & her books, visit here!

Connect with Claudia Burgoa: https://claudiayburgoa.com/wp/contact/

Spotlight: The Berman Murders by Doug Kari

Unraveling the Mojave Desert's Most Mysterious Unsolved Crime

True Crime

Date Published: March 5th 2024

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

At daybreak on January 6, 1986, a couple on a camping trip in the Mojave Desert set out for a stroll and never returned. The local sheriff’s office eventually discovered that Barry and Louise Berman had been murdered. As years passed and the double homicide remained unsolved, the Berman case spawned speculation and conjecture. Despite extensive investigation by local and federal authorities, to date there’s never been an arrest made in the case – let alone a conviction. But this doesn’t mean the crime is unsolvable.

After years of investigation, research, and interviews, Kari was able to link the Berman murders to a Cambodian sex crimes and trafficking case involving a former Marine. This is the first book to tell the full story of the Berman murders and uncover the likely suspect.

Excerpt

To Deputy Boyer’s way of thinking, the call from Chili Bob wasn’t cause for alarm. Maybe the missing couple went backpacking into the wilderness, or maybe they hitched a ride into town to buy more supplies. Although the call warranted follow up, it seemed no different from any of the other minor incidents that the sheriff’s office regularly handled. 

From this benign beginning, the case of Barry and Louise Berman would become a years long saga of near misses and dead ends – confounding Boyer and other law enforcement officials and tormenting the missing couple’s family and friends. How did Barry, the heir apparent to the Kahlua liqueur fortune, and Louise, a 1960s wild child turned spiritual seeker, end up dead in the desert – murdered while on a romantic getaway?

Buy on Amazon Kindle | Hardcover | Bookshop.org

About the Author

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DougKariAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Journada

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dougkari/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dougkariauthor/

Spotlight: The Devil and Mrs. Davenport by Paulette Kennedy

The first day of autumn brought the fever, and with the fever came the voices.

Missouri, 1955. Loretta Davenport has led an isolated life as a young mother and a wife to Pete, an ambitious assistant professor at a Bible college. They’re the picture of domestic tranquility until a local girl is murdered and Loretta begins receiving messages from beyond. Pete dismisses them as delusions of a fevered female imagination. Loretta knows they’re real―and frightening.

Defying Pete’s demands, Loretta finds an encouraging supporter in parapsychologist Dr. Curtis Hansen. He sees a woman with a rare gift, more blessing than curse. With Dr. Hansen’s help, Loretta’s life opens up to an empowering new purpose. But for Pete, the God-fearing image he’s worked so hard to cultivate is under threat. No longer in control of his dutiful wife, he sees the Devil at work.

As Loretta’s powers grow stronger and the pleading spirits beckon, Pete is determined to deliver his wife from evil. To solve the mysteries of the dead, Loretta must first save herself.

Excerpt

Excerpt from THE DEVIL AND MRS. DAVENPORT by Paulette Kennedy @2024 Published by Lake Union Publishing March 5, 2024.

All Rights Reserved

Loretta stood in front of the police station doors for a long moment. There would be no going back after this. Her fears crowded around her. They might think she was a deluded crackpot. Or worse yet—that she had something to do with Darcy’s murder. If she was arrested, what would Pete and the kids do?

“Are you okay?” Dora asked, nudging Loretta’s elbow. “Shouldn’t we go in now?”

Loretta stiffened. The cold air whisked around them. “Maybe I should talk to a lawyer first.

Just in case they think I had something to do with this.”

Dora frowned. “I know you didn’t.”

“But that won’t matter to them. This looks suspicious, doesn’t it? My coming in here with information out of the blue.”

“But you don’t know that much. Not really. Besides, you’re just a housewife. And you’re meeker than a mouse. No one would ever think you were a murderer.”

Just a housewife. Loretta’s face fell. Dora’s chiding hit close to the bone. It reminded her of the smooth, beautiful girls she’d known in high school, who’d teased her for her hand-knitted sweaters, her homely looks, and her shyness.

“Come on,” Dora pleaded, tugging on Loretta’s coat sleeve. “The worst they’ll do is ask you a few questions, just like they did with me. I lost my sister. She’s never coming back. Please?”

Loretta nodded. “All right. But if things turn and they arrest me, promise me you’ll go to my husband. He works at Bethel University. Peter Davenport. He’ll know what to do.”

“I promise. Now get brave, and let’s go in. It’s freezing out here.”

Dora swung open the door and ushered Loretta inside, following after her. The lobby was too bright—garishly lit with fluorescent lights. A gray-haired woman sat pecking away behind the Lshaped front desk, pince-nez glasses perched on the end of her bulbous nose like an afterthought. She looked up at their entrance. “May I help you?”

Dora stepped forward. “I’m Darcy Hayes’s sister. Dora. Maybe you remember me? I was here in September.”

The secretary, whose name badge read NANCY FOSTER, sucked on her teeth with a hiss and nodded. “Yes. I remember. So sorry. How is your mother doing?”

“Not well. But the reason why we came in is because Mrs. Davenport, this lady right here, has a lead on Darcy’s case.”

“Oh?”

Loretta’s palms itched and sweated. She clenched her fists until she could feel the bite of her nails in her palm. The pain calmed her. Gave her focus. “Yes. I’m Loretta Davenport. I have some new information that might be useful.”

“All right.” Nancy Foster stood, removing her glasses. “I’ll go get a detective. The two of you can wait in that room, over there.” She motioned to a room with a tiny window centered in the door.

“That’s the same room where they talked to me,” Dora said.

Loretta followed Dora into the room, which held a table, three chairs, and a water cooler stacked with paper cone cups. Another door stood opposite the first. The only thing on the wall was a large mirror that reflected Dora’s and Loretta’s images.

“It’s not really a mirror,” Dora whispered. “It’s a one-sided window, so the other cops can see in, and watch.”

“You probably shouldn’t have told me that,” Loretta said. “I’m nervous enough as it is.”

“I watch Dragnet. That’s how I know these things.”

A few moments later, the door on the other side of the room opened. A middle-aged man dressed in plain clothes entered, carrying a manila folder, his shirtsleeves rolled to the elbow. “Richard Eames, Myrna Grove PD. I’m the lead detective on the Hayes case.” He flashed his badge at them, then quickly pocketed it again. “Please sit down, ladies. Can I get you some water?”

“No thank you.” Loretta sat, her spine rigid, her pocketbook balanced on her lap. Dora sat next to her, slouching in the chair as if she had done this a thousand times.

“Nancy said you had a tip for us?”

“I . . . maybe.” Loretta fiddled with the clasp on her bag. Detective Eames didn’t seem the type to suffer fools, and Loretta felt quite foolish being there.

“She does,” Dora said, confidently. “Tell him what you saw, Mrs. Davenport.”

“I know this may sound ridiculous, Detective, but I have had visions about Darcy’s murder.”

Detective Eames tilted his head, raising one bushy, black eyebrow. “Come again?” “Visions.”

There was a long beat of silence. The detective studied her, his eyes boring into hers so intensely she had to look away. “Visions?”

“I . . . I see things. Get impressions. Sometimes they’re only vague feelings—notions. But with Darcy, I’ve had two visions that were so clear I almost felt as if I was there when she died, watching it happen.” Loretta’s fingers tightened on her purse strap. “I’ve been working with a psychologist to understand things more. He can vouch for me. Dr. Curtis Hansen.”

“I see,” the detective said with a slight smirk. “And what did you see in your visions?”

“I saw Darcy, being buried alive. There were two men with her, arguing. I couldn’t make out what they were saying—it was garbled. But one of them was very angry.”

He opened the folder and scratched inside with a pen. “Anything else? What did these men look like?”

“I . . . I couldn’t tell you. I never really saw them. They were only shadowy figures.”

The detective sighed, ceased writing, and leaned back in his chair.

He didn’t believe her. Loretta could see that much. Instead of frustrating her, though, his disbelief emboldened Loretta—made her want to prove herself. She sat up straighter, steeling her voice so it wouldn’t quaver. “I’m the one who called in the tip. The anonymous tip that led to the search party. I knew she was buried near the Finley. Because I could hear the mill and the river . . . in my vision.”

Eames nodded. “Interesting.”

Dora sat up, uncrossing her legs. “She does know things. At Darcy’s vigil, she told my mother about a mobile that hung over Darcy’s crib when she was a baby and described her nursery. She couldn’t have known that. There’s no way.”

Detective Eames sighed wearily. “I’ve seen this type of thing before, Miss Hayes. You’re vulnerable. Grieving. And this woman saw an opportunity. How much have you paid her?”

Loretta’s anger began to simmer, then, like a slow pot boiling. “I have not received one red cent from Dora, or her mother, sir. I wouldn’t take their money, even if they offered it. Dora came to me, wanting my help. That’s why I’m here.”

“Well. I’m a very busy man, Mrs. Davenport.” He steepled his fingers and peered at her. “I don’t have time for witchy nonsense. What you’ve told me today, even if it were true, won’t get us any closer to solving this case.”

“But it will! You’re only looking for one killer, and there are two!” Dora stood, her face blazing. “My sister deserves justice, and the way I see it, you all are just sitting on your asses and not doing a damn thing to solve her murder.”

Detective Eames stood, crossing his arms over his chest. “Please sit down, Miss Hayes. I understand you’re upset, but you must see our side of things. We have limited resources. Our investigation hasn’t turned up anything new. Until we have something concrete, our hands are

tied.”

“I know what you’re really saying. You’re saying my sister doesn’t matter. Well, she matters to me!”

Dora yanked open the door, storming out. Loretta followed her, murmuring an apology to Detective Eames and the stunned secretary. She caught up to Dora outside. She found her crumpled against the wall, beneath the blocky silver letters that read MYRNA GROVE POLICE DEPARTMENT, fists tangled in her hair as she banged her forehead steadily against the bricks. Her breath fogged the frigid air as she wailed. Loretta knelt next to her, gently easing her away from the wall. “Come on now. You’ll hurt yourself, doing that.”

“I don’t care! I don’t care about anything anymore.”

“That’s not true. You care about Darcy.”

“Darcy.”

The girl wilted into Loretta, and Loretta held her, rocking her gently as she cried. “There, there. It’s going to be okay. We’re going to find out what happened to your sister, one way or the other.

I promise.”

Buy on Amazon | Audible | Bookshop.org

About the Author

Paulette Kennedy is the bestselling author of The Witch of Tin Mountain and  Parting the Veil, which received the prestigious HNS Review Editor’s Choice  Award. She has had a lifelong obsession with the gothic. As a young girl, she spent  her summers among the gravestones in her neighborhood cemetery, imagining all  sorts of romantic stories for the people buried there. After her mother introduced  her to the Brontës as a teenager, her affinity for fog-covered landscapes and  haunted heroines only grew, inspiring her to become a writer. Originally from the  Missouri Ozarks, she now lives with her family and a menagerie of rescue pets in  sunny Southern California, where sometimes, on the very best days, the mountains  are wreathed in fog.  

Paulette’s next release is THE DEVIL AND MRS. DAVENPORT, a mid-century  domestic gothic set in the Missouri Ozarks, about a housewife who develops  psychic abilities after a viral illness, pitched as Shirley Jackson meets Sharp  Objects. Coming March 2024 from Lake Union Publishing.