As the youngest of six, I was in the lucky position of inheriting all of my older siblings’ books. And they were in pretty good shape, with the odd exception of “Nancy and Dick in Scrub Up Land” that had crayon markings all over it. No one in my family like to read except me so in hindsight, I might have been the culprit who colored all over that book.
Stories for me weren’t limited to books. I also created stories for TV by drawing all over the screen to play along with Winky Dink. That went over as you might expect, so I mostly stuck to reading books. In the bathtub, hiding behind my dad’s recliner, finding any quiet spot in a busy household to read was challenging, but I became very creative.
And since I inherited this collection of books from sisters and brothers, I got to read various genres. My love of mystery started with the Hardy Boys and moved up to Agatha Christie in no time. But I also read “Call of the Wild”, “Black Beauty”, and “My Friend Flicka”. Pretty much anything and everything sparked my curiosity. Although when I moved on to historical dramas and started reading “The Bastard” I had to keep that one hidden from my parents. The tawdry title alone would have put me in even hotter water than Winky Dink did.
All of which explains my interest in writing multiple genres. Yes, I love mysteries, although mine lean a little heavier into the characters than the clues. Emily from “Cause for Elimination” isn’t looking to solve the murder of her boss, she has a much bigger personal crisis going. But just like in real life, she ends up getting accidentally swept up in someone else’s drama. In “Blood Stains and Candy Canes,” (my only first person cozy at the moment because why make life easier sticking to one thing) Mandy would really love to solve the mystery of why the cop she was dating is all of a sudden ghosting her, but she has to solve the murder of an obnoxious TV exec to save an innocent person. (And yes, the TV exec is based on someone I worked with. I finally got to stab him in the back like he deserved – best reason to write mysteries.)
But wizards, fae, and shapeshifters fascinate me as well. So, it was no surprise that a holiday visit to a local historic inn that has a very gothic vibe spawned “The Keeper Chronicles”. What starts off as Gabriel, and ex-guardian angel, making a sudden and eccentric appearance at the inn evolves into a larger story involving his siblings. Because yes, he’s the Gabriel and the other archangels, including Lucifer, make up his dysfunctional family. They in no way resemble my own large family. Mostly.
All of my characters tend to be caught in a crossroad of trying to figure out what comes next in life. No one personifies that more than Mel O’Rourke, the ex-cop in “The Starlight Mint Surprise Murder” cookie book and soon to be released “Framed for Murder”. Injured on the job, she’s forced to give up the only job she ever wanted and in a twist of fate becomes the owner of a rustic bed-and-breakfast in the tiny mountain town of Pine Cove. And cue the murders.
I find something very relatable and heroic about flawed characters who face tough obstacles, have to make choices they never wanted to, and put their all into making the best they can of a tricky situation. Maybe someday I can grow up to be like them.
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Title Framed for Murder
Author Marla A. White
Genre Cozy Mystery
Publisher The Wild Rose Press
Book Blurb
Old enemies become allies to unravel a deadly mystery.
Mel O'Rourke used to be a cop before a life-changing injury forced her to turn in her badge. Now she leads a relatively peaceful life running a B & B in the quirky mountain town of Pine Cove. That is, until her old frenemy, the charismatic cat burglar Poppy Phillips, shows up, claiming she's been framed for murder. While she’s no saint, Mel knows she’d never kill anyone and sets out to prove Poppy's innocence.
The situation gets complicated, however, when the ruggedly handsome Deputy Sheriff Gregg Marks flirts with Mel, bringing him dangerously close to the criminal she’s hiding. And just when her friendship with café owner Jackson Thibodeaux blossoms into something more, he’s offered the opportunity of a lifetime in New Orleans. Should she encourage him to go, or ask him to stay? Who knew romance could be just as hard to solve as murder?
Excerpt
“Look, I’m truly sorry if you’re suffering ill effects from our frolic across the rooftops, but you have to admit, I did save your life. You owe me at least the courtesy of hearing my side of the story.
“Yes, I wasn’t completely forthright with you, but I need your help. Every cop between here and Las Vegas would love to pin something on me and here’s their big chance, all wrapped in a bow, but I didn’t do it. Simple case of wrong place at the wrong time, mate, I swear. Hear me out, and if you want to ring the coppers after, then I’ll go quiet as a lamb.”
She was so tempted to call Deputy Marks and be done with it. This woman had been at the inn for roughly two hours and had already lied to her. Mel didn’t need any more confusion and uncertainty in her life right now. She was in way over her head running a bed-and-breakfast as it was. Being a cop had been so much easier—all she had to do was chase bad guys, not worry about details like fresh flowers in the rooms. But she trusted her instincts and inexplicably, every one of them screamed the thief was telling the truth. She laid the phone back in its cradle.
“All right, I’m listening.”
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Author Biography
Marla White is an award-winning novelist who prefers killing people who annoy her on paper rather than in real life. Her first full-length mystery novel, “Cause for Elimination,” placed in several contests including Killer Nashville, The RONE Awards, The Reader’s Favorite, and finishing second in the Orange County Romance Writers for Romantic Suspense. Originally from Oklahoma, she lived in a lot of other states before settling down in Los Angeles to work in the television industry. She currently teaches at UCLA Extension and gives seminars about the art of script coverage. When she’s not working on the next book, she’s out in the garden, hiking, cheering on the LA Kings, or discovering new craft cocktails.
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Title The Starlight Mint Surprise Murder
Author Marla A. White
Genre Cozy Mystery
Publisher The Wild Rose Press
Book Blurb
Who knew baking could be so hard…or so deadly?
After injuring herself on the job as a Los Angeles cop, Mel O'Rourke leaves the force battered both physically and mentally. Looking for a fresh start, she moves to a quiet mountain town and opens the Babbling Brook Inn. Excited for her new life, Mel decides to participate in the town's holiday cookie contest, but her newfound joy crashes when one of her guests turns up dead in her lobby.Mel is tempted to attribute the death to natural causes, but when another guest dies, her cop sense kicks in. The local Sheriff tells her to stand down, but with her own life in danger, Mel won't back off. With everything on the line, she has to push through her own fears to catch the killer before more bodies drop, perhaps even her own.
Excerpt
“Keep him in our freezer?”
It took Mel over twenty minutes to get through to the sheriff’s department. After telling the dispatcher what happened, that was the best advice he had to offer. No one was available to come out for a non-emergency until late tomorrow morning at the earliest. She thanked the dispatcher and returned to the Great Room to mentally measure the body. It surprised her when Jackson, apparently over his squeamishness, tagged along behind her.
The Babbling Brook only served breakfast, and when they replaced all the old appliances with gleaming new ones, thanks to her brother Liam being a contractor, Vinnie had insisted they’d be serving fresh food and wouldn’t need the big chest freezer that used to be in the laundry room. Instead, they bought a smaller upright one for the kitchen. Unless someone held the door to this smaller unit closed until Mr. Hubbard froze into an upright human popsicle, it wouldn’t do.
She scrubbed her hand across her eyes and heaved a sigh. “I don’t suppose we could just put him outside? Surely it’s cold enough?”
As she feared, Jackson shook his head. “Unless you’ve got a way to keep him in a high place, bears, coyotes or even dogs might get to him. What about a garage or tool shed?”
She gnawed at her thumbnail. “Nope, not yet anyway. Liam was going to get around to it this summer.”
“Liam?” Jackson’s attempt to act casual sounded strained. “Is he your husband?”
“Ewww, no. He’s my pain in the ass younger brother.”
For the moment, Mel pushed aside how oddly relieved Jackson appeared with her answer. There’s a dead guy under a sheet in her Great Room, and her marital status was what he’s worried about?
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Title Bloodstains and Candy Canes
Author Marla A. White
Genre Cozy Mystery
Publisher The Wild Rose Press
Book Blurb
Attending a swanky cookie exchange is the last thing on veterinarian Dr. Mandy Brown’s holiday to-do list, but she agrees to help a friend out. The party comes to a screeching halt after a body turns up on the kitchen floor, a carving knife jutting out of his back.As if that wasn’t bad enough, Mandy comes face-to-face with Officer Dylan Shaw, a man she thought she was dating until he ghosted her. Tensions escalate as motives for murder come out of the pantry as fast as guests scarf down the pot-spiked brownies, making everything all the merrier.Although the case seems open and shut, Mandy doesn’t believe the evidence. Can she and Dylan put their differences aside and find the real killer, or risk one of the bakers getting away with murder?
Excerpt
“Cheating? It’s not a contest, who cares if they bought cookies?” Shaw asks. For a cop, it’s odd he doesn’t understand cookie exchanges are all about besting the other bakers.
“Because the whole point is for everyone to make homemade cookies and share the recipe. If one of these women stooped to passing off bakery cookies as their own, they might be capable of murder.”
His frown deepens to a scowl. “I think you might be taking this baking thing a little too seriously but fine, I’ll check.”
Dylan Shaw inches to the kitchen doorway, careful not to cross the police tape. The room is crowded with the forensic team doing their thing. I catch a glimpse of one of them bagging the murder weapon, a knife with an elaborate Christmas tree on the handle. I wonder if it belongs to Agnes? It doesn’t seem her style, but would a killer really bring a knife to a cookie party?
I creep closer to see if the butcher block is missing a knife when Shaw turns and plows smack into me. I stumble backwards—darn these high heels anyway. Shaw has quick reflexes and grabs my arms to hold me steady. I don’t fall, but my knees turn to jelly at his touch.
“You’re right, the box is stamped with Queen Bea Bakery. I’m going to let the detective know. You should rejoin the rest of the, um…”
He couldn’t quite finish the sentence, so I finish it for him. “Suspects?”
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Title The Angel by the Tower
Author Marla A. White
Genre Magical Realism/Contemporary Fantasy
Book Blurb
Awakening naked and stranded in the unforgiving desert, Gabriel clings to one vital memory: finding Abby Campbell. As her guardian angel, this task should be effortless, except that a celestial quarrel with his heavenly superior has stripped him of wings, powers, and any idea of what he’s supposed to protect Abby from.
Now, grounded in mortality, Gabriel struggles to convince Abby he’s not completely bonkers. Finally convinced, she helps him unlock the secrets of a cryptic tower housing an ancient malevolence. In a race against time, Gabriel must navigate treacherous terrain, including schemes from his former lover turned demon, Evie. But will he risk eternal banishment from his Heavenly home to save Abby?
Excerpt
The loose, coarse gravel grating his cheek like sandpaper when he inhaled was Gabriel’s first clue something was wrong. The scorching sun cooking his back was his second. Somehow, he’d ended up flat on his face in a desert. He opened his eyes, blinking away sandy grit to discover he was naked. Again. Of course. Bollocks.
The last thing he remembered was raised voices: his own and his boss’s. A disagreement? Almost certainly since here he was, naked and alone with a mouthful of dirt. He spat it out, groaning as he rolled over on to his back, and saw a strange object waver into focus. What the—a wooly mammoth? He rubbed his eyes and realized it wasn’t just a mammoth but a ginormous five-story tall wooly mammoth. His body bolted into flight mode, limbs lurching in all directions to crab-crawl away until his fuzzy brain processed it wasn’t an actual mammoth but merely a statue of one. Why in the name of all that’s holy would anybody build a mammoth and put it… now there was a good question. Where was he?
Whether it was sunstroke or the way he had been unceremoniously dumped in the middle of nowhere, Gabriel’s memory was almost a complete blank. He knew who he was, but where he was and why he was here was where everything got a bit fuzzy.
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Title The Angel at The Gate
Author Marla A. White
Genre Magical Realism/Contemporary Fantasy
Book Blurb
The ex-archangel Gabriel, now living in Riverside, California, struggles to find his new normal. However, a surprise visit from his older brother, Michael, brings disturbing news. There’s a key to the backdoor of hell and if their errant brother, Lucifer, finds it, he’ll unleash a horde of blood-thirsty zombies on humanity. Zombies? Seriously? Can Gabriel not get through his identity crisis first?
Abby Campbell is a newly minted Keeper—the guardian of one of the heavenly Books of Knowledge. The ancient relic might contain the cure to save her dying mother but searching the pages could reveal the key that Lucifer seeks.
Gabriel and Abby, along with his former-demon lover and her all-too human boyfriend, race the clock to stop the ravenous zombie horde. But even the best-intended choices have consequences when the fate of heaven, hell, and earth hangs in the balance.
Excerpt
Why hasn’t my Father taken me home? Deep down, he feared he already knew.
“Because you, Gabriel St. John”—he let his Scottish brogue roll thickly—“are no longer an angel or a human. You’ve become something else.” Worries about exactly what left his stomach churning.
When sorting out how to save the world nearly cost him his life, Evie, his friend, ex-lover and powerful demon, infused him with some of her energy to save him. The maneuver worked but changed him somehow. Now his human form possessed some of his angelic powers—or some of her demonic powers? Or both? He’d give anything to ask Evie about it, but for the crime of helping them save the world, his younger brother, Lucifer, had summoned her back to Hell. He hadn’t seen or heard from her since.
The cat gave a short sneeze as if allergic to Gabriel’s moodiness and trotted away. He rose with a grimace and leaned against the rough-hewn stonewall running the length of the historic, beautiful, but eclectic, inn. Between all the brooding and pining, he supposed he hadn’t been much fun to be around lately. Abby continued to try, but everyone else at the Inn had learned to steer clear of him. To be fair, the twin scars from the dragon’s claws raking down the left side of his face from eyebrow to below his prominent cheekbone kept strangers away. Before she’d gone, Evie remarked the scars improved his boyish face, but apparently, she was alone in her opinion.
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