Author: patyjag

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 50 + novels, novellas, and short stories of murder mystery, western romance, and action adventure. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.

Guest Blogger ~ Erica Miner

~ patyjag ~ 5 Comments

Overture to Murder: a violinist who won’t quit sleuthing

It’s strange how a standalone mystery can evolve into a series. I started off with just one book, Aria for Murder, inspired by my 21 years of experience playing violin at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The protagonist, young violinist Julia, trades her violin for a detective’s hat as she finds herself investigating murders that take place on and offstage. I had fun weaving real operas into the mystery plot and was gratified at the number of readers who told me they enjoyed learning about opera for the first time. It never occurred to me to write a sequel until one of my fans asked me for one. As a savvy opera aficionado who knew the opera world inside out, he even specified that Book 2 should take place at the Santa Fe Opera.

I jumped at the idea. Though I had never visited Santa Fe, I knew that its opera house, an outdoor theatre set between two mysterious mountain ranges, would be the ideal setting for an opera mystery. Prelude to Murder was the result. While I was in Santa Fe researching the book, I met with a friend, the dramaturg of the San Francisco Opera who, when I revealed my work in progress, asked if I would be interested in writing a third mystery to take place at his company. Book 3, Overture to Murder,was born a year later.

In the story, a suspicious hit-and-run and subsequent backstage murder drive Julia to continue her relentless sleuthing as she investigates deadly secrets behind the music. Can she uncover the truth before the curtain falls on her family’s safety? The answers lie in Overture to Murder. As always, Julia manages to find trouble lurking in every dark hallway and back stairway of the San Francisco Opera, proving once again that an opera house is the perfect environment for mischief and mayhem.

But there were other reasons why I decided to set my third mystery at San Francisco Opera. First of all, San Francisco is one of the world’s most captivating cities. And it considers its opera only slightly less sacred than the Holy Grail. It’s totally an opera town. It’s also a city of mystery and suspense. Witness “Haunted SF Ghosts, Murder and Mystery: a dark and ghastly tour through the mysterious past of downtown alleys and streets. Get haunted by after-dark tales of strange deaths, ruthless villains, famed ghosts, and shocking assassins.” Oh yes. There’s more to the scary aspects of this city than meets the eye.

My most compelling motivation, however, was my personal history with San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House. Over the years I’ve spent a lot of time there, visiting close relatives and friends who have worked with this illustrious company. When I started researching Overture to Murder, I learned about the fascinating history connecting the opera company with the Gold Rush and other astonishing aspects of the city’s history. But this time, as my friend who had motivated my desire to write the mystery showed me the opera house from top to bottom, I developed a special new intimacy with the place. What I discovered was a theatre steeped in intrigue, with dark creepy basements, ancient creaky elevators, and terrifying catwalks; a place with its own ghosts, whose stories could curl your ears.

What better place to set a mystery?

Overture to Murder

High notes of suspense and danger as the curtain comes down on murder in the third novel of Erica Miner’s Julia Kogan Opera Mystery series. Young Metropolitan Opera violinist Julia heads to the San Francisco Opera to replace ailing concertmaster, Ben, who has suffered serious injuries in a hit-and-run accident. Julia suspects it was no accident, and when one prominent company member becomes the victim of a grisly murder, she cannot resist becoming involved in the investigation. As in her previous sleuthing at the Met and Santa Fe Opera in Books 1 &2, Julia finds danger lurking in the elegant but creepy San Francisco War Memorial Opera house and again finds herself face to face with a ruthless killer. But this time her courage is put to the test when the life of a precious family member is in even deeper peril.

Buy Links:

https://www.amazon.com/Overture-Murder-Julia-Kogan-Mystery/dp/1685127819/

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/overture-to-murder-erica-miner/1146432661?ean=9781685127817

https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9781685127817

Award-winning Seattle-based author, lecturer, screenwriter, and arts journalist Erica Miner believes opera theatres and fiery artistic temperaments are a chilling backdrop for murder, and perfect for creating fictional mischief! Drawing on her 21 years as a violinist at the famed Metropolitan Opera, Erica’s fanciful plot fabrications reveal the dark side of the fascinating world of opera in her Julia Kogan Opera Mystery series (Level Best Books): Aria for Murder (2022), finalist in the 2023 CIBA and Eric Hoffer Book Awards; Prelude to Murder (2023), a Distinguished Favorite in the 2024 NYC Big Book Awards;and Book 3, Overture to Murder (2024), a Distinguished Favorite in the 2025 Independent Press Awards.

Erica’s debut novel, Travels with My Lovers, won the Fiction Prize in the Direct from the Author Book Awards. Her screenplays have won awards in the Writer’s Digest, Santa Fe, and WinFemme competitions. When she isn’t plumbing the depths of opera houses for murderous mayhem, Erica frequently contributes reviews and interviews for the well-known arts websites https://classicalvoiceamerica.org, www.bachtrack.com, and www.BroadwayWorld.com.

Erica has lectured on opera and writing throughout the US, as well as in Australia.

Social Media:

https://www.facebook.com/erica.miner1

https://www.instagram.com/emwriter3/

Author Website:

https://www.ericaminer.com

Guest Blogger ~ John Ferriso

~ patyjag ~ 3 Comments

Why I Write True Crime.            

Many things can lead us to write down our stories. My writing journey did not just begin; it was always there. As a child, I would remember an incident and retell it to anyone interested. A television show or a stickball game were topics that, years later, I retold to my friends and family. As a child, I watched the police-related television drama Barney Miller, and its dry cop humor interested me. Hill Street Blues had the precinct crime that I enjoyed. Movies like Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, and Fort Apache the Bronx showed the gritty portrayal of street-level crime; I was hooked and wanted in on the action.    

Growing up in New York, the nightly news inspired me to want a career in law enforcement. I watched the nightly news as the reporters talked about the 44 Caliber killer who murdered his victims; the newspapers referred to him as the Son of Sam. I looked at the morning newspaper headlines and the horrible photos of the women shot. My neighbors talked about him, and teenage girls had their hair color changed. I understood that the Police were looking for the guy. I was fascinated with the stories adults told about the crimes and the ongoing investigations described.

I read true crime, which interested me. I was a reader before my NYPD career and my writing endeavor began. I was in college when I read about the suspects, the investigations surrounding them, and the detectives who hunted them down.

I was in college, working at a sports bar, and waiting to get called to the police academy. I was standing near the waiter’s station, pondering my future law enforcement career. I had a few tables and only a few dollars in my pocket. It would be five more months until the police academy; what type of cop would I become? I will write down what I experienced in the NYPD.

My childhood dream of being in law enforcement propelled me to write. To become a writer, you must focus on what interests you. I no longer needed to listen to the stories of other cops: I was living the same short stories I once read about. I took note cards to work and scribbled pencils to paper my thoughts and engaging experiences. I kept these notecards secret from my co-workers; it was my writing journey.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was working in Lower Manhattan, half a ½ mile from the towers. The events of that day and all I witnessed would be imprinted on my mind like an ever-playing movie scene. The day’s horrible events would give me a story to tell others. A few days after the events, I began writing in my spiral notebook everything I witnessed. I condensed my thoughts and observations to 17 pages. I wanted to do more than tell my story; I wanted others to read about it. On the 20th anniversary of the attacks, my story was published online. Free for all to read about what I was an eyewitness to on that horrific day.

In a New York Minute: An officer’s eyewitness account of the events of September 11, 2001 – The Juniper Park Civic Association

After retirement, it was time for me to tell my stories and get my work published. I began with one story about an intoxicated businessman who parked his vehicle on the roadway. I wrote it down as a short story and sent it to Psychology Today. What if the Police called all your contacts? What would they say about you? They published my story! I now knew I was more than just a storyteller; others were interested in what I experienced and what I was saying.

In 2023, it was time to take short stories and self-publish them. All in a day’s work: an officer’s accounts 20 Years NYPD. Soon after, I was a podcast guest in the USA, Australia, and England. I was now telling my stories to a broader audience, discussing my writing journey and the interesting cases I investigated.  

ALL IN A DAY’S WORK

When you are a New York City police officer you become a social worker, chauffeur, human relations consultant, and tour guide. You are expected to do all those tasks while stopping crime as it occurs, preventing crime, and keeping the peace in a city that never takes a break. Let’s not forget you get to do all this within a workday or tour as we call it.

These separate tasks come to you at random times, so going to work is like a roll of the dice. One moment, you are driving with your partner, talking about nonsense, and five minutes later, you are coming face to face with dangerous people who just committed a criminal act. The weight of these tasks can become overwhelming and mentally drain you if you allow it to happen. Many times, you do not have time to reflect on the day’s events. You just move on to the next crisis. Within days or a month, NYPD cops will get involved with and witness more toxic events than an average person will see in a lifetime. Active cops must navigate and work with their coworkers, supervisors, the public, and criminals. What people believe cops do daily regarding police work is often far from the truth.

You will find within my short stories what is occurring inside those moving police vehicles. What the city was like in the days after September 11, 2001. Take a close, in-depth look at the investigation within the NYPD detective squad room. Within the squad room, the pen can influence like a hammer, and a phone call can arrive like a hurricane. If you want the gritty, alarming, and sometimes comical truth behind police work, you have arrived at your destination.

buy link: https://a.co/d/gHVCzb7

I also began to network with authors regarding my law enforcement experience. I could advise other writers on how to place accurate and interesting police-related material into their stories. I could technically advise about the progression of the cases, how the reports are written, and even cop humor. Beyond storytelling and writing, giving back to the writing community is essential and will propel me in future endeavors.

I mainly write true crime because I lived it, which has always kept my interest.

John can be contacted at:

https://ferrisinvestigations.org/

John.Ferriso1970@gmail.com

www.linkedin.com/in/john-ferriso

Guest Blogger ~ Millicent Eidson

~ patyjag ~ 2 Comments

Three years since my initial guest blog in 2022 (https://ladiesofmystery.com/?s=eidson), my microbial mystery world has expanded to multiple disease threats worldwide. It’s a good time to catch everyone up.

For decades, I was immersed in zoonotic diseases transmitted from animals. Scientists estimate that three-quarters of new or emerging infections are zoonoses.

As a veterinarian working in public health, I dropped smelly baits from a helicopter over the Adirondacks to vaccinate raccoons against rabies. I tracked down people with explosive diarrhea from a scenic New Mexico train ride. I coordinated reporting and collection of dead birds when West Nile virus showed up in the western hemisphere.

Serious illnesses and deaths are tragic but stamping out disease outbreaks is exciting. Each cluster of ill people is a mystery for a disease detective. Everyone knows about Rizzoli and Isles from the wonderful Tess Gerritsen thrillers. But veterinarians exposed to deadly hantavirus when collecting infected mice are less familiar medical heroes.

When I retired from fulltime work as a veterinary epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and two state health departments, I continued part-time teaching about zoonoses to graduate students. It’s rewarding to open up the eyes of new public health practitioners to the fascinating world of zoonoses. But I wondered if I could do the same for the general public.

Our daughter is adopted from China like thousands of orphans with the one-child policy. In my fiction, I wanted to explore how it might feel for someone whose Asian role models are replaced by Anglo, Hispanic, and Native American cultures embedded in a rich landscape.

And many of us struggle with mental and physical health challenges from birth, injury, or illness. Can someone wrestling with that history contribute fully to our demanding, fast-paced world?

So Maya Maguire was born, inspired by my daughter’s heritage and my own with mostly Irish ancestors. Like me, Maya Maguire starts her public health career after completing years of work toward veterinary and master’s degrees. Unlike me, she’s a bit of a genius and completes all her training young, adding further stress when expected to perform at the level of other more mature CDC trainees.

The initial three novels primarily immerse us in Maya’s world, other than diary excerpts from a mysterious young boy facing his own roadblocks near the Arizona/Utah border. In “Anthracis,” Maya is in her first year of training as a CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service officer stationed in New Mexico. Along with veterinary and physician colleagues, she battles perplexing new means of anthrax infection in the Southwest.

Her second year of EIS training still finds Maya in the Southwest, tackling tick-borne Borrelia infections across Arizona and New Mexico. Then she joins a colleague based in Norway on outbreaks in multiple European countries and north Africa. Personal relationships are impossible to balance with her work obligations.

In “Corona,” Maya experiences the COVID-19 outbreak along with all of us, first in Arizona, then in Denmark with infected mink, and finally in her home country of China to find its origin in bats. Like many, she won’t escape the pandemic fully unscathed.

Mosquitoes bring “Dengue” from Puerto Rico to New York City, then New Mexico and Hawai‘i. This novel expands the MayaVerse by alternating point-of-view chapters between Maya and her public health veterinarian mentor, Faye Simpson. Faye’s a kick-ass character in her late sixties, transplanted from a childhood on a Colorado ranch to a career with the New York City health department.

“Ebola,” available this summer, broadens even more with the perspectives of multiple male characters confronting the virus in West Africa, New York City, and New Mexico. Maya’s finishing a final training year with the CDC and Faye is retired from fulltime public health work but still enmeshed in Ebola crises.

These brief summaries only touch on the lively characters in the stories. Fred Grinwold and Nancy Bingham are Maya’s physician supervisors in New Mexico and Arizona. Their early romance and outbreak puzzles are available along with other Faye Simpson stories in “Microbial Mysteries,” my short story collection.

Sci fi thrillers are entertaining but sometimes based on pure imagination. For a peek into the exciting real world of zoonotic disease control through the perspective of colorful and compelling characters, join me in the MayaVerse!

Dengue: A Microbial Mystery

Is dengue the next pandemic? Two veterinary medical detectives, decades apart in age and experience, battle the tropical disease on the mainland, then in Hawai‘i. Even in paradise, people can’t escape blood-thirsty mosquitoes spurred on by a warming climate. Join these resilient women as they push through personal challenges to discover the scientific truth and stop the relentless death toll.

From reviews:

Maya Maguire is a deeply complex character, with a backstory that contains both heartache and joy. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her … As for the medical terminology in the book … You’re in capable hands. Dr. Eidson uses real-life medical words and situations in the book, but they’re always put into a context that allows the reader to understand exactly what’s going on. (As an aside, the research that must have gone into this book is mind-blowing.)

Buy Links: https://books2read.com/millicenteidson/  or  Dengue: A Microbial Mystery (MayaVerse): Eidson, Millicent: 9781955481168: Amazon.com: Books

Millicent Eidson, a master of intrigue and suspense, weaves her literary magic through the pages of the Maya Maguire microbial mystery series. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for scientific puzzles, she invites readers into a world where microbes hold secrets more treacherous than any criminal. Millicent’s career as a public health veterinarian and epidemiologist began at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. After days filled with pathogens and outbreaks, the nights belonged to whispered tales of microbes dancing in her imagination. Upon retirement, her passion for storytelling blossomed into the MayaVerse, https://drmayamaguire.com/.

She can be found at Facebook, Millicent Eidson, | LinkedIn, Millicent Eidson (@EidsonMillicent) / Twitter, and Millie Eidson (@drmayamaguire) • Instagram photos and videos

Left Coast Crime Conference

~ patyjag

This month is sneaking up on me! I thought I had all my blog posts and events for the month taken care of and “poof!” I realized I still had this post to write.

I ended last month with a book-selling event that rolled into a week at the beach with two of my best friends. It was supposed to be a working week to get the next Spotted Pony Casino book moving along. However, we ended up doing more playing than me working. But I needed it.

Agate Beach on the Oregon Coast

Then I started out the beginning of March with family things to deal with and now, in two days, I’m headed to Denver for the Left Coast Crime conference. It is one of my favorites because there are readers there and authors get to be on panels and talk about how our books fit into whatever the panel is about. Authors also get to host special events with readers. I signed up to do this, however, I noticed I’m not on the list, so they must have lost my email in the myriad of emails they get. I will host a table at the banquet with author friend Sheri Lewis Wohl. We are excited about our table decorations and giveaways!

this will be on the table I’m hosting

I was lucky to get on two panels this year. One is about Animal Sidekicks, which we all know plays into all of my mystery series. Every one of my main characters has a dog sidekick. I’m excited to talk about Sheba, Dog, and Mugshot during the panel and how they help their people. This panel is at 3:45 on Thursday. Friday at 2:45, I’m on a panel about crime in small towns. Again- spot on for my books since they are all set in small towns/rural areas. This will be another fun panel.

The conference always needs volunteers I’m helping by being a runner for a few of the panels. I did this at last year’s conference and found it an easy way to help out without having to do too much peopling.

As an introvert, these conferences take a lot out of me. I usually spend at least one session a day in my room, regrouping. Even though it makes the conference more expensive, I don’t have roommates. I need complete quiet when I go to my room at night. I feel like my ears ring for hours afterward. It takes a lot for me to put myself out there but I know that the more exposure I get, the more likely readers will pick up my books and try them.

I also enjoy talking to readers. When I can engage with them and talk about my books and what they like to read, I feel I’m gaining more perspective for what I write and how the reader perceives it. That is invaluable.

My bag is packed. I have 16 books to give away after my panels. They have either damaged covers or were printed wrong. And I have the mugs I’m giving to the people at my table, bundled in with the books and my clothes. My suitcase should be much lighter on the way home. I’m just counting down the days until my hubby takes me to the airport and I head for Denver.

If you’re at the Left Coast Crime conference, attend one of my panels and come say “hi!”

Guest Blogger ~ Mike Nemeth

~ patyjag

Why Does a Nice boy from Wisconsin Write Murder Mysteries?

The simple answer is: I grew up reading detective stories, from John D. MacDonald to Ross Macdonald to Eric Ambler. I admired the intricate plotting that kept me guessing as their stories unfolded. Later, I discovered Elmore “Dutch” Leonard, a prolific writer of tales about ex-cons and petty thieves looking to strike it rich with their next caper and usually failing miserably. You may know Dutch by the many movie adaptations of his novels including, Be Cool, Get Shorty, Fire in the Hole, Killshot, Jackie Brown, Out of Sight, 3:10 to Yuma, Cat Chaser, 52 Pickup, Hombre, The Big Bounce, Stick, Mr. Majestyk, and Freaky Deaky. As much as I enjoyed Dutch’s stories, I was influenced most by his cinematic style. He never got in the way of his characters and let them tell their stories through dialog and action scenes.

The second reason I write murder mysteries is that the genre allows the writer to fold in subplots from other genres that become clues in the solution to the murder. In most of my novels an unexpected love story comes from out of nowhere and smacks the protagonist upside the head, the sort of romance that causes the protagonist to wake up and pay attention. Such is the case in The Two Lives of Eddie Kovacs. Eddie, a grieving widower, goes undercover to solve suspicious deaths at a luxury condo complex and runs into Madeleine, a wealthy widow who awakens long-dormant feelings in Eddie but is also the key to the mystery. She becomes the focal point for Eddie’s decisions about the case, his desire for redemption, and his future.

My third reason for writing murder mysteries is that a good story must contain high stakes for the protagonist and few stakes are higher or more enticing than murder. And two murders are better than one. In The Two Lives of Eddie Kovacs, the unsolved murder of Eddie’s investigative partner during his stint in the Army has haunted him for decades. Eddie has always wondered if he had inadvertently set his partner up for the crime. When another murder occurs at the condo complex during his surreptitious investigation, Eddie begins to connect the dots and sees the truth.

And finally, the murder mystery genre allows for an underlying theme that isn’t preachy and doesn’t detract from the pleasure of solving a complicated crime. In The Two Lives of Eddie Kovacs, the solution to the murders calls into question the boundary between personal freedom and the encroachment of the law. This question is a dilemma for Eddie as he grapples with love, his integrity as a lawman, and his desire for redemption.

Murder mysteries are such fun!

Propelled by two murder cases, separated by decades, The Two Lives of Eddie Kovacs is, at its heart, a provocative and suspenseful love story that explores the unbreakable connection between the past and the present, and the boundary between personal freedom and the law.

Eddie Kovacs is tormented by his experience in Vietnam when he derailed an illegal CIA plot, and deflated over his forced retirement as a DA’s investigator. When the sheriff of Chatham County, Georgia offers him an undercover assignment, Eddie jumps at the chance to end his career in a blaze of glory. His assignment is to solve the riddle of suspicious deaths at a luxury condo complex on Tybee Island before the DEA exposes the scandal that would dash the sheriff’s political ambitions.

Eddie has spent his life looking over his shoulder for the vengeful CIA agents who have tirelessly pursued him. As he investigates the deaths, he discovers that a former agent has remained vigilant for fifty years and is in the building, stalking Eddie. To make matters worse, Eddie is a grieving widower irresistibly drawn to a resident named Madeleine, and his infatuation feels like infidelity, not to mention a betrayal of his badge. In a race with the DEA and hunted by the CIA, Eddie lays a trap for his suspect and discovers Madeleine’s darkest secret—a secret that forces Eddie to choose between love and redemption.

The Two Lives of Eddie Kovacs can be found on Amazon at amzn.to/3CVzMY4 (that’s Bit.Ly short form link).

It is also in the Ingram system and can be ordered at any bookstore or online from Ingram. 

Mike Nemeth is the author of Defiled, which became an Amazon bestseller, The Undiscovered Country, which won the Beverly Hills Book Award for Southern Fiction and the Augusta Literary Festival’s Frank Yerby Award for Fiction, and Parker’s Choice, which has won a Firebird Award for Thrillers, and American Fiction Awards for Romantic Mystery and Diverse & Multicultural Mystery. Creative Loafing named Mike Atlanta’s Best Local Author for 2018.

The recurring theme of Mike’s novels is that morality and legality are two different things. The stories are romances tucked inside mysteries.

https://mikenemethauthor.com/