Officially one year from today, the first in my Waverly Jones Mysteries will release. It’s been up on Kobo for a while, but now it’s live everywhere.
Waverly Jones has been called misanthropic. Distant. Obsessive. Manipulative. And that’s without people knowing she talks to the hallucination of her dead sister.
She’s also a private investigator.
After a lengthy absence, she’s returned to Port Milton amidst the biggest homicide investigation her hometown has seen in over a decade. Bodies of middle-aged men have been washing ashore and the police have confirmed foul play but not much else—making it the perfect case for someone like her.
Particularly when she’s the one to find the latest body.
It’s not a coincidence Waverly happened across the newest victim. She’s been combing the beach because these men match the age and appearance of Detective-Sergeant Sebastian Kyle, missing these past eleven years after investigating the now-dormant serial killer who made Waverly’s sister his last victim.
Her familiarity with the murders has left her well-prepared when hired by the wife of one of the dead men, giving her a professional reason to dig deeper into these crimes. Have the police unintentionally fumbled this case in the wrong direction, or does the widow not know as much about her husband as she thought?
Port Milton has always had its secrets, and Waverly will drag every single one into the light to get to the bottom of this mystery. And maybe somewhere along the way, she’ll get another step closer to who killed her sister and what happened to Sebastian Kyle.
Preorder up at the usual places:
“I’ve already seen that cover,” you say, “and I thought this post had a cover reveal?”
It does! Read on! Because it’ll also be in paperback next fall and in hardcover.
But not just any hardcover.
See, I’ve always loved mysteries. Other than horror, it’s my first love (I didn’t start reading fantasy until I was in my mid-teens, outside of paranormal horror). Everything from Trixie Belden to Hercule Poirot, I devoured mysteries of all kinds.
But of course my very favourite, the very top choice, was always Nancy Drew.
I still love Nancy Drew. I have the more recent movies. The TV show is the only one where I subscribe to the full season on iTunes instead of waiting for streaming or discounts (despite it’s occasional missteps, McMann is a fantastic Nancy). I have all of the HeR Interactive video games (I used to preorder before the company seemed to implode) and play them regularly.
Those old 1950s hardcovers, though. I LOVE them. I’ve been doing a puzzle of the book covers and reflected on how much I love them, and it was a short leap from there to thinking, “What if I did Waverly Jones hardcovers in that style?”
First I thought I’d need to hire an artist for the vintage painting look, but that’s entirely unaffordable. Then I mocked up a version using the existing ebook cover, just tweaked a little to show the town.
But still, I thought…why can’t I mock up something that looks like an old cover? I’ve got skills. I’ve got resources. So I put together some stock photos, played with layers and filters, did some digital painting, and I’m quite pleased with the results (on the main page, click to read more; directly on the page, scroll down).
CLICK TO SEE AND READ MORE!!!
Writer of horror, mysteries/thrillers, and urban fantasy.