NEW SHORT MYSTERIES WAITING FOR YOU!

Posted on by Diana Deverell

I’m excited to be in a Syndicate of award-winning mystery writers contributing brand-new stories to MCM – Mystery, Crime, and Mayhem – the new themed mystery magazine started by writer Leah Cutter.

For this first year, you can find the first THREE issues already available. And I have stories in two of them!

I wrote both before the end of February 2020. I set them in the contemporary Pacific Northwest and none of my characters have a clue of what lies ahead for the country.

In “Lonesome Whistle”, FBI Special Agent Dawna Shepherd makes the trip I wanted to take but couldn’t after COVID-19 forced me to cancel.

Dawna travels via Amtrak from Seattle to Eugene to check out the University of Oregon women’s basketball team. She’s sure the Lady Ducks are headed to the Big Dance and will triumph at the NCAA finals in March. Dawna doesn’t know the season will be canceled because of the pandemic.

Still, she’s distracted from all thoughts of basketball when she spots the FBI’s Number One Most Wanted on the same train. Which is how she and her adventure end up in THE CHASE BEGINS, Issue #3. You’ll love Dawna’s action in this one. You can buy your copy from your favorite online retailer by following this universal link.

In “Gone Gold”, Washington State Trooper Kent Harper tackles a minor Spokane heist as a learning experience. The fictional theft is loosely based on the robbery of a friend of mine. From the real-life victim, I learned that though the law may call a theft petty, the victim may still feel she’s lost everything that matters most to her. The story appears in THIEVES, Issue #2. You’ll enjoy learning what Kent actually learns from this case. You can buy your copy from your favorite online retailer by following this universal link.

You may also want to check out PRIVATE EYES, Issue #1: Leah sweet-talked forensics expert Geoff Symon into writing an essay for the inaugural issue.

Leah already has stories on hand for SINS OF THE FATHER, Issue #4, which will come out mid-November.

Leah’d love to send you a free ebook anthology of short stories from eight of us. All you have to do is come to her website and join her Syndicate of readers. You’ll never miss an issue of Mystery, Crime, and Mayhem. So criminal it’s good!

CALIFORNIA, HERE WE COME!

Posted on by Diana Deverell
Latest release: "Silicon Valley Tango: A Dawna Shepherd Short Story"

In my latest ebook short story release, FBI Special Agent Dawna Shepherd is hot to learn why—and how—an unknown hacker is cyber-stalking an obscure software engineer in the Bay Area.

Hacking’s not Dawna’s specialty.

But her sister Bettijean is the engineer whose life and livelihood are on the line.

And nobody messes with Dawna’s family.

She’ll use every trick in her FBI book to find who’s harming Bettijean.

Even so, can a low-tech Texan face-down the princes who rule in Silicon Valley?

Follow this universal link to your favorite ebook retailer. Buy “Silicon Valley Tango: A Dawna Shepherd Short Story” and see Dawna at work. What she finds tickles her funny bone and you’ll be amused, too!

Let me send you to Siberia!

Posted on by Diana Deverell

Cross Siberia en route to Ulan Bator in “Mongol Mash: A Dawna Shepherd Short Story.”

In my latest ebook short story release, Dawna’s in Siberia, traveling with the USA women’s junior basketball team. She’ll join them on the bench at their next crucial game in the capital of Mongolia.

Undercover and unofficial, Dawna acts like a die-hard hoops fan on summer vacation while she tries to solve a big problem for her friend, the team coach.

Someone is sending anonymous email threats to Alyssa, the team’s powerhouse forward, and Alyssa’s not playing well. The team won’t win in Ulan Bator unless the relentless attacks stop.

Dawna keeps an eye out for Alyssa while she struggles to identify the troublemaker in the jam-packed cars of the Trans-Mongolian Railway. A tougher job when she’s targeted by pair of pickpockets riding the same train.

At the last stop before the Mongolian border, Dawna fights off the two thugs on the platform and she misses the moment when Alyssa is injured during practice nearby.

Was the foiled robbery really a well-timed distraction? Is the plot against Alyssa more complex and dangerous than it first appeared?

Alyssa’s already off her game. Can Dawna crack this case before the player ends up out of the game forever?

Buy “Mongol Mash: A Dawna Shepherd Short Story” today and make an unforgettable journey on one of the world’s most famous trains. You can find your copy of by following this universal link to your favorite ebook vendor.