Hello, Readers,
Loretta Jackson and Vickie Britton are a sister’s co-authoring team. The two of us have been writing together since we published Path of The Jaguar. We have always traveled as an inspiration for ideas and to find the best setting for our novels. While on a trip to the Yucatan, we both returned with the same plans to write a mystery romance, so we decided to pool our resources. Since then, we have written numerous novels in the mystery and suspense genres, those by authors like Virginia Coffman, Victoria Holt, and Phyllis Whitney, which we love to read and write.
Included among our suspense novels are the mystery-romance, Bitter Melody with a highly suspenseful country and western theme, Stone of Vengeance whose heroine is a law enforcer, and Flames of Deceit, whose setting is a Kansas farm. Because we were influenced at a young age by reading the very popular romantic suspense novels, it was only natural that we try our hand at writing tales of women in jeopardy. We penned several gothic romances such as The Dangerous Cliffs of Severon and then shifted to domestic thrillers and historical ones such as The Viking Crown and Wake of Evil.
Our recent novel, The Victim’s Child, centers around a five-year old girl who Lara gains custody of. The girl has witnessed a brutal crime that her young mind cannot process, and Lara believes she has a repressed memory of the person who murdered her mother. We follow-up on this type of book with one where we deal with the concept of what pushes a person over the edge to commit murder--love, revenge, or money. In The Knights of Garland Murder, important members of the community are hiding a deadly secret. Lorene finds herself totally alone, rejected by her father whom she has left a good job to help through his sudden illness. This books centers around a missing childhood friend and her old playmate, who has transformed into a handsome and successful man.
The mystery of a missing person is one we have always found intriguing—where did this person go not to be located? Our liking for this theme inspired us to write the mystery romance, The Vanished Lady, which continues to be one of our best sellers.
One of the great joys of our writing is the places it takes us to. Both of us are drawn to out of the way sites, to high mountains and archeological digs. We love exploring old ruins and the unique legends that surround them. We visit and research each setting we use for our novels and describe to our readers. Our overseas travels have provided a background for our Ardis Cole archaeological series, and time spent in Wyoming has been the basis for our High Country mystery series. But we write about home, too, finding the Midwest a great setting for romantic suspense. We love getting feedback from our readers and hope they all enjoy our stories as much as we have enjoyed writing them!
Author Bio:
Vickie Britton, along with her sister Loretta Jackson, is the author of over sixty novels. The sisters have co-authored the Jeff McQuede High Country Mystery Series: Murder in Black and White, Whispers of the Stones, and Stealer of Horses. They have also written the eight-book archaeological Ardis Cole Mystery Series and the Pre-Columbian Treasure Series.
Title The Victim’s Child
Author Vickie Britton and Loretta Jackson
Genre Mystery Romance
Publisher: Available on Amazon as ebook and paperback, in audio at Books in Motion
Book Blurb
2021 Winner N. N. Light Book Award: Suspense category
A 2020 Reader Ready Awards Recommended Read Author Shout
.AND THE KILLER HAD NO FACE...
Lara Radburn arrives minutes after a crime is committed. She finds her renter, Crystal Mar, a local artist, dead. She has been bludgeoned by one of her own works in progress...the sculpture of a fierce lion. Her four-year-old daughter, Karma, has disappeared. In a frantic search through the surrounding woods, Lara encounters a stranger who helps her find Crystal's child. But she soon discovers that Dane Lanford is the man who has taken her late brother's role as head of the local art retreat, a place shrouded in rumors and mystery, and has ties to Crystal through her artwork. To the traumatized child, the face of the killer has merged with that of the stone lion, so she can identify no one. Lara suspects charming Dane Lanford may be Karma's father...and a cold-blooded killer.
Excerpt
Karma drew in a shuddering breath and began to cry. "I want Mommy! Where is my mommy?"
The woman broke the stillness, but not to answer her question. "Are you hurt, Karma? Did you fall?"
"Were you in the house?" the man demanded.
Karma buried her face against his shoulder. She could not answer—but a scream sounded that she hadn't intended to make.
"This is very important," Lara spoke. "Was someone there with your mother?"
In her mind, Karma pictured the shattered mountain lion. She saw the gleaming eyes, the snarling lips, and the jagged edge where part of it had broken away.
The man's grip on her loosened. Eyes, almost black, seared into hers. "Who was in there? Did you see him?"
The dark figure she had seen clutching the lion wavered before her mind. Through the screen door Karma had momentarily glimpsed his face as he bent over her mother's body...distorted lips, cold eyes, angry like the mountain lion's.
With cheek pressed hard against the man's shirt, Karma struggled to remember. But a protective shield rose up in her mind, blocking his image. She could see his form crouched over her mother's body. But as he raised his head toward her his features melted into a dark, gaping void. The emptiness slowly filled with the snarling lips and the glittering eyes of the shattered mountain lion.
And the killer had no face.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub)
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50348077
Title The Knights of Garland Murder
Author Vickie Britton and Loretta Jackson
Genre Mystery Romance, Romance Suspense, Domestic Thriller
Available on Amazon in ebook and paperback, in audio from Books in Motion
Book Blurb
2021 VOTED ONE OF THE BEST 50 BOOKS OF THE YEAR! ReadFree.ly
Three children playing in a barn. A deadly accident…and then a void.
When Lorene Whitten returns to Garland, Kansas, because of her father’s illness, she is shocked to find that her childhood playmate, Cassa, has been missing all of this time. The Lander farm evokes haunting, ghost-like memories of her little playmate, as if Cassa were beckoning to her from the grave. Lorene starts asking questions and encounters resistance from the close-knit group of three long-time friends and town leaders who call themselves the Knights of Garland, of which her father is a member. Ethan Lander, the boy who was with them in the barn that day, offers to help her locate Cassa. But Lorene wonders if his real goal is to prevent her from finding out the truth. And what of her own disturbing memories? Lorene must find out what really happened that day. Was Cassa the victim of an ill-fated accident, or murder?
Excerpt
Abruptly her rush of sickness merged with a terrifying image. Just as if the sight were real, Lorene could see little Cassa sprawled motionless, lifeless, at the bottom of the hayloft.
She released her hold and stumbled back away from the door, immersed into the balmy light and the stifling scent of hay. Shaking had started throughout her body. She moved as quickly as she could across the loft toward the ladder.
Ethan Lander emerged from behind one of the center stacks of hay. Anger tightened his lips, altered his features, void now of the teasing, the lightness, the charm. Dark eyes, cold and challenging, did not stray from hers.
An image passed before her of his stealthily climbing the ladder—as he might have done so long ago. She could see him quietly stepping forward, rope in hand, ready to launch a surprise attack on Cassa. A shudder passed through her.
“I thought you were in such a hurry to get back home.”
She answered with a question, trying hard to maintain a steadiness she did not feel. “What are you doing here?”
“I own this barn,” Ethan said, his words holding the same condemnation she read in his eyes. “The question is: what are you doing here?”
Without replying, she started to walk around him toward the ladder, but he stepped directly in front of her, blocking her path. They stared at each other like two enemies locked in combat.
During the long silence, Lorene barely drew a breath.
When Ethan finally spoke, a sharp edge cut into his words. “Just what answers,” he asked, “are you expecting to find out here?”
Buy Links:
Boookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-knights-of-garland-murder-by-loretta-jackson-and-vickie-britton
Title The Vanished Lady
Author Vickie Britton and Loretta Jackson
Genre Mystery Romance, Romance Suspense
Available on Amazon in ebook and paperback, in audio from Books in Motion
Book Blurb
What happened to Amy?
Dana Lawrence doesn’t imagine when she buys the quaint Victorian house in the remote mountains of Colorado that her life will soon be in danger. She has heard the legend of Lelia Glenn and how she vanished in the 1800’s, but no one told her about the more recent disappearance of Amy Walden two years ago.
On the night of her arrival, Dana spies someone digging on her land. The sheriff tells her that on the day Amy disappeared Glenndale’s jewelry store was robbed. Amy’s boyfriend, Donnie Thorpe, is still on the run, and his accomplice, Jed Hoyt, has just been released from prison. Bennett believes a third party masterminded the robbery--her handsome neighbor, Logan Rand.
While Dana tries to beat the thieves to the stolen goods, she uncovers a grave. Threats and attempts on her life follow in rapid succession. Dana must identify the killer before she becomes the next vanished lady.
Excerpt
“You mean Suzy didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“About their daughter, Amy, a girl in her early twenties. One day she just disappeared.”
“Disappeared?” Kara repeated hollowly. No wonder the Waldens were so anxious to sell! Suzy had left this little bit of information out of her sales-pitch. “I heard all about the woman the inn was named for, the vanished lady of the late 1800’s. I sure didn’t know...” Kara’s voice trailed off.
“I’m afraid history repeated itself. Amy Walden has been gone for a little over two years. Her parents were crushed, decided to sell out and leave Glenndale.”
“Amy must have run off with some young man they disapproved of,” Kara said, hoping her words were true.
Luke shook his head. “They tried everything to find her. Probably no one will ever know what happened to her.”
He smiled at Kara again. “But not to worry. By now, all the ghosts are gone, too.”
Kara followed him outside, her foot catching on a loose board. She would have fallen had not Luke reached out to steady her.
“I’d say this porch is in serious need of repair,” he said. “That, I think, should be our first order of business.”
Our? Again, like when he had turned the key into the door and stepped into her house, Kara felt astounded.
"If you'll hire me, that is." Luke handed her a card. “Here’s my name and number. If you need a handyman, I'm at your service. Best rates in town."
Filled more than ever with disconcertion, Kara watched Luke depart, tall form blending into the darkness. So far two women had disappeared from this inn. Kara felt suddenly threatened, as if she were somehow slated to be the third vanished lady.
Buy Links:
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