2024 COVERS

2024 covers

Welcome to the Dark Side!

We are writers mainly from Australia and New Zealand who write speculative fiction with romantic elements. Be it fantasy, paranormal, dark urban fantasy, futuristic and everything in between.

Thursday 10 May 2018

Get Cozy with a Paranormal Mystery

New release!

Magic, Markets & Murder is the second book in the Little Shop of Spells cozy mystery series. This series is such fun to write. I hope you enjoy the following short excerpt.



***


Silence closed around me like a shroud.  
Suddenly I didn’t want to look inside the tent. It did no good telling myself not to be silly, that the women had probably decided not to bother with the party, that right now they were most likely having a quiet dinner somewhere. I wanted to creep away and hurry back to the party. But I couldn’t. My fingers fumbled with the zip. Then the tent was open and I shone my light inside.
The beam picked out jeans and a sweater, which had been thrown over the back of a camp chair. Underneath, footwear—sneakers and flats—had been placed neatly side by side. As I moved my light around, items lying haphazardly on the floor caught my eye—a brush, a purse and an open lipstick that had been squashed into a bright pink mess. Had someone trod on it? I moved the light and other things came into view—a hand mirror, an earring and the bottom of a long black skirt. Protruding from the skirt was a pair of bare feet. I was so shocked, I dropped my phone and the tent plunged into darkness.
Had I really seen a pair of bare feet? No. My imagination must be playing tricks on me. Determined to prove that there was nothing sinister here, I picked up my phone and shone the light inside again.  
A chill swept over me as I once again saw the bare feet with painted toenails and a smear on the sole that matched the pink lipstick on the floor. Had I found another dead body? 
Only a few short weeks ago, I'd found my first body...well, actually, I'd found two bodies in a few days, but who was counting? This couldn't be happening again.



***






Welcome to the Spring Equinox Market—a weekend of magic, shopping and…murder.

When small-town witch, Maddie Goodcharm volunteers to help with the market, the last thing she expects is to stumble upon a murder scene. Even worse the crime appears to have been committed by a witch. Nobody’s talking and the sheriff is powerless until he enlists Maddie’s help.

Investigating a murder is hard enough, but it’s not Maddie’s only problem. Someone has given the mayor a love potion. Suddenly he believes Maddie is The One. He’s talking divorce and his wife isn’t happy.

Can Maddie dodge the mayor and his furious wife until she catches the killer? Or will the magical murderer get away?



Now available


Available on iBooks 10th May.

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