New Release | Mars Hill Murder by Mary Tolan #newrelease #mystery #wrpbks #bookboost
top of page
  • N. N. Light
    • Sep 27, 2023
    • 2 min read

New Release | Mars Hill Murder by Mary Tolan #newrelease #mystery #wrpbks #bookboost



Title Mars Hill Murder


Author Mary Tolan


Genre Mystery


Publisher The Wild Rose Press


Book Blurb


Reporter Miles Harper is on probation at the northern Arizona daily newspaper where he works, because his lack of attention to detail has put him on ice as thin as his notebook pages. His boss wants him out, but gives him one more chance to redeem himself.Maddy Sullivan is new to town, on the run from a violent husband who wants her back. She and Miles meet at a coffee shop, and forge a hesitant friendship.Police Detective Luis Ortega, Miles’s former college roommate, just wants to solve crimes.And someone is supplying those crimes by murdering low-level Flagstaff workers.Will these three figure out who the killer is before more people die? Will Miles help solve the mystery, write about it, and save his career?And will Maddy stay safe from the horrid man she once loved?


Excerpt


Rafat paused in his cleaning, stepped outside, and pulled out his golden fountain pen, a birthday present from his mother. That was the advantage to night cleaning. He could always stop to capture a couple of lines. He couldn't be certain, but it felt like his songs were getting stronger.


Night sky, tight sky


everything all right sky,


soon no moon,


babe, let's croon.


Maybe spoon? Both old-fashioned words which his mom would appreciate, haha.


He was about to start another verse, but before he could write "Light sky," he saw a flash of something in his peripheral vision, something shining in the dusty moonlight.


"No!" he thought, turning to face the assailant, Rafat's pen extended like a weapon.


The knife cut into him before he could lunge. It struck again and again. The young man was dead before he hit the ground, notebook clenched in his hand. His cherished fountain pen rolled quietly away from his body, as steps retreated.


Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub)






Author Biography


Longtime reporter Mary Tolan worked as a community journalist for more than three decades, mostly in Arizona and New Mexico.

She has reported on survivors of gun violence, traveling across the country to interview people devastated by their heartbreak and losses. She taught journalism at Northern Arizona University for twenty years. After retiring from teaching in 2021, she returned to her unfinished mystery novel, Mars Hill Murder, based in Flagstaff. Tolan grew up in Wisconsin, and has lived in the Southwest for more than forty years. Her long-running monthly column The Long & Winding Road can be found in The Arizona Daily Sun. When she's not writing, spending time with friends, or running/swimming/yoga-ing, she and her dog Maxx can be found out in the woods or traveling in their van. Tolan's sons live in California, her stepdaughter in Oregon, and her dog by her side—wondering when the heck she will stop typing and go for a walk.


Social Media Links


Tags:

bottom of page