Category: Guest Blogger

Guest Blogger ~ Greta Boris

~ patyjag ~ 4 Comments

The Lighter Side of Death

Greta Boris

It was March 19, 2020, and I was in San Diego at the Left Coast Crime Convention. I was just leaving my first (or maybe second) panel discussion when an announcement came over the loud speakers. The conference was being cancelled. The governor had just shut down the state. I grabbed my bags and headed for home.

During lockdown a lot of authors shut down just like the country. Their stories dried up. They were too distracted by the pandemic and all it’s accompanying fears to write.

Not me. Writing became my sanity.

There are two basic ways people deal with difficulties. Some are internal processors. They need to sit quietly and think things through. This is the kind of person I wish I was.

I am the second kind, however. I’m an external processor. Often, I don’t really know what I think about things until I get them out of my brain into the atmosphere.

Thankfully for my husband, I’m also a writer. Talking works, but so does writing. It’s saved our marriage. He can only handle so much of my mental meanderings.

Anyway, back to 2020. I was sure, like the rest of you, that this whole pandemic thing would be over in a hot minute. As the weeks of isolation dragged on, however, I realized I was going to have to do something with the growing fear within.

At the time, I was wrapping up book five or six of a seven book psychological suspense series now titled The Almost True Crime Series. It’s written as a if its a true crime podcast with each book representing one season of the show. My podcaster, Molly Shure, delves into the minds of the killers, trying to understand the “whys” behind the crimes. This is a topic that fascinates me, but it’s a little on the dark side.

In the middle of COVID, with all the darkness that it brought, I felt the need for something lighter and brighter. Being the kid that did NOT pull the covers over my head when something went bump in the night, I knew I had to tackle the current zeitgeist head on. I had to find the lighter side of death.

Coincidentally, my daughter had recently introduced me to a YouTube channel—The Ask a Mortician Show. Caitlin Doughty, an actual mortician, was funny and real and so, so interesting. She tackled topics like embalming procedures for people who’d died in various gruesome ways, strange burial rituals from around the globe, and why green burials were the wave of the future.

She, I thought, would make an excellent amateur sleuth. But how or why would a mortician be privy to things the authorities weren’t? By the time she got her hands on a corpse, medical and law enforcement professionals would have already investigated if an investigation was warranted.

Then, I remembered a conversation I’d had at the salon back in the good old days when we were allowed to groom ourselves. A stylist told me about another stylist who moonlighted in mortuaries doing hair for the dead.

What if my character got a request to style a deceased client for that client’s funeral? What if she discovered a hitherto unknown talent when she did? What if she could feel the final emotions or sensations of that person when she touched their hair? And what if the person demanded justice by haunting my main character until the murderer was exposed?

That had legs. I had an interesting protagonist with an interesting gift, a reason she would know things the police and coroner wouldn’t, and most importantly, a reason for her to encounter lots of dead people. No shade on Miss Marple, I love those stories, but the murder rate in St. Mary Meed was hard to swallow.

Thus To Dye For, book one in The Mortician Murders was born. I’m currently writing book nine in Imogene Lynch’s story. She’s found more than a gift and a slew of murderers. She’s found family, a legacy of power, an arch enemy in the Orange County Medical Examiner, and an evil cult she must ultimately confront. She’s also found love with Greener Pastures Mortuary’s hunky night watchman, Elmore Leonard Brown, who later in the series becomes an Orange County Sheriff.

The Mortician Murder world has been a respite for me from the tumult of the 2020s. The scary things Imogene has braved have helped me face my own fears during COVID and beyond. Through her, I’ve discovered a secret weapon—laughter. As hyperbolic as it might sound, writing this series has taught me that embracing the lighter side of death helps to diffuse the power of darkness.

Viva la Cozy Mystery!

To Dye For – A Ghostly Mortician Murder

Death is Permanent. Unless It’s Not.

Imogene’s client has an unusual request. The only problem? She’s dead.

Hairstylist Imogene Lynch agrees to do a simple, if creepy, favor—styling the hair of her favorite client for her funeral. Things take a chilling turn when the body refuses to stay still. Either Imogene is losing her mind, or something far more sinister is at play.

Determined to untangle the mystery, she joins forces with the mortuary’s infuriatingly handsome night watchman. What do they uncover? Turns out her client’s death, like her hair color, wasn’t exactly natural. And worse—she’s not the only victim.

Someone is thinning out the population of Liberty Grove, and if Imogene isn’t careful, she’ll be next.

For fans of reluctant heroes, ghostly mysteries, and murder with a side of dark humor.

Buy link:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WG2SVDC

Greta Boris is the USA Today Bestselling author of The Mortician Murders, a ghostly mystery series, and The Almost True Crime series, stories of psychological suspense. She hails from sunny Southern California, where—based on her books, which are all set there—things are darker than you’d expect. 

She’s also a popular workshop instructor with books and online courses on a variety of writing topics.

Author Links:  http://gretaboris.com and  https://www.facebook.com/greta.boris

Guest Blogger ~ Seren Star Goode

~ patyjag ~ 3 Comments

Why I Write Cozy Mysteries — A Beach Walk Answer

On foggy mornings along the California coast, the world feels suspended.

The horizon disappears. The ocean and sky blur into one soft gray. Even the familiar curve of the shoreline looks different, as if something has shifted overnight.

Those are my favorite mornings to walk the beach.

After a strong swell, the tide leaves behind driftwood, kelp, and the occasional glint of something unexpected. I look for sea glass. At first, it’s easy to miss — a cloudy fragment half-buried in sand. But once you learn to spot that soft glow, you can’t unsee it.

Mystery writing feels like that.

I write cozy mysteries because I’m drawn to what hides beneath ordinary life. A marina on a bright afternoon. A small-town festival. Neighbors chatting on a front porch. On the surface, everything looks steady. But if you stand still long enough — you’ll notice tension, history, secrets.

Mystery readers understand that instinct. We read to uncover. To test our suspicions. To follow currents that weave through waves.

For me, the cozy branch of the genre offers something I love: community. In a small coastal town like my fictional Ocean Wood, relationships overlap. Loyalties complicate things. A crime doesn’t just affect one person; it ripples outward. That emotional web gives a mystery weight without turning it bleak.

My protagonist, Amanda Warren, arrives in town trying to rebuild her life. She carries loss. She’s not looking for trouble, but it keeps finding her. Each case she investigates is about justice, yes — but it’s also about steadiness. About putting the pieces back together.

And then there’s Grok.

Grok is a very large, very opinionated Maine Coon cat who may — or may not — have abilities that defy easy explanation. Some readers meet him expecting whimsy and stay for the sharp observations. Cats notice everything. They watch quietly. They sense shifts before humans do. Grok often catches emotional truths before Amanda does.

Writing him is a way of honoring intuition — that small internal nudge that says, something isn’t right here.

Whether you prefer hardboiled detectives or classic puzzles, that feeling is universal in mystery fiction. The tightening awareness. The moment when a clue lands differently. The fog beginning to thin.

On the beach, when I find a piece of sea glass, I always pause. It began as something whole — a bottle, perhaps — broken and tossed aside. The ocean didn’t erase its past. It reshaped it. Edges softened. Surfaces turned luminous.

That’s what draws me to this genre. Mystery is about disruption, but it’s also about restoration. Order doesn’t return untouched; it returns altered, wiser. In my most recent release, Monterey Bay Malice, chaos erupts at a seaside festival, and the crime cuts through friendships and reputations. Yet by the end, what matters most is not just who did it, but how the community stands afterward.

I don’t write cozies because I want to avoid darkness. I write them because I’m interested in what survives it.

Readers don’t turn to mysteries because they love crime. They turn to them because they love discovery. They love that moment when the scattered details align. They love the sense that someone — whether a detective, an amateur sleuth, or a watchful cat — was paying attention.

Fog eventually lifts. The tide recedes. That’s how finishing a mystery feels to me. Something once scattered has taken shape. The surface is clear again.

That’s why I write the genre I do.

Because beneath even the calmest shoreline, there are stories waiting to be uncovered.

And sometimes, if you’re lucky, they shine.

Monterey Bay Malice, the latest installment in the Amanda Warren Cozy Animal Mystery Series, strikes a deadly note when a music festival organizer is electrocuted onstage. As sabotage ripples through the seaside town of Ocean Wood, Amanda and Grok—her 35-pound psychic Maine Coon cat—must uncover the truth before celebration turns to catastrophe

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0FVWFN352

Free story in the series: Kerfuffle at the Border https://dl.bookfunnel.com/bjbbxrovgs

Seren Star Goode writes coastal cozy mysteries set along California’s Monterey Bay. Her Amanda Warren series follows a reluctant sleuth, a close-knit community, and a very large Maine Coon cat named Grok who may be the smartest one in town. When she’s not plotting fictional murders, Seren can often be found walking the beach in search of sea glass, where many of her story ideas begin.

Websitehttps://www.serengoode.com/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SerenGoode
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/serengoodewrites/
Pinteresthttps://www.pinterest.com/SerenGoodeWrites/
TikTokhttps://www.tiktok.com/@serengoodewrites
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Authorhttp://bit.ly/SerenGoode

Guest Blogger ~ CB Wilson

~ patyjag ~ 5 Comments

Beyond the Teacup: Cozy Mystery in the Modern World

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve always been the one asking, “What if?” What if the rules could bend just a little? What if the story ventured further than expected? What if a cozy mystery—beloved for its comfort and familiarity—could also genuinely surprise you?

My relationship with mystery began early and rebelliously. I was the kid who read her first Nancy Drew book, then promptly rewrote the ending. Not because I disliked the story, but because I craved something sharper, deeper, perhaps a touch more dangerous. Nancy opened the door to mystery, but Agatha Christie sealed my fate. Once I discovered intricate puzzles, layered motives, and the quiet brilliance of intelligent women navigating hostile worlds, my reading preferences were forever transformed.

That tension between comfort and risk? That’s exactly why cozy mystery resonates so powerfully. At its heart, cozy mystery has always rested on a solid foundation: an amateur sleuth; a close-knit setting; quirky, memorable characters; and a crime that disturbs but doesn’t overwhelm everyday life. Readers seek that familiarity, that sense of place, and the reassurance that justice will ultimately prevail. But here’s what excites me: cozy mystery is evolving.

Today’s cozy readers welcome more complexity. They want adventure that challenges their protagonists. They appreciate emotional depth that reflects genuine human experiences. They enjoy romance that feels real to the characters rather than formulaic. Most importantly, they’re drawn to strong female protagonists who think critically, adapt resourcefully, and sometimes make mistakes while holding their ground.

When I created The Gem Hunters Mysteries, I deliberately chose to push beyond the traditional cozy framework while honoring its essentials. My protagonist isn’t a baker or bookstore owner who stumbles into crime—she’s a diamond investigator whose job is to recover stolen gems. She operates in a world where money, power, and obsession collide, where the stakes carry genuine weight. She’s smart, she’s tough, and she’s navigating a dangerous, high-stakes environment typically reserved for thrillers while maintaining the heart and accessibility that cozy readers cherish.

For me, this isn’t about breaking the rules. It’s about expanding them.

Diamonds, much like mysteries themselves, are inherently layered. They carry history, symbolism, and powerful motives. They inspire obsession, loyalty, betrayal, and sometimes murder. Using gemstones as the driving force behind a cozy mystery allows me to explore global intrigue, family secrets, and personal risk while keeping the focus squarely on character development, relationships, and puzzle-solving.

The response? Readers have enthusiastically embraced this expanded vision. What I’ve learned about the genre is thatcozy mystery isn’t fragile. It doesn’t collapse when you introduce international travel, genuine danger, or a heroine carrying emotional scars. Instead, the genre shines brighter when writers trust both the framework and their readers enough to ask challenging questions. What if the amateur sleuth brings professional expertise to her investigations? What if the small-town setting connects to a much larger, more complex world? What if comfort doesn’t require predictability?

I still love the classics, and I honor the genre’s roots every time I write. But I also firmly believe cozy mystery has room to grow, stretch, and reflect the realities of modern women—women who simultaneously juggle careers, relationships, fears, courage, and insatiable curiosity. While the cozy mystery genre has always celebrated intelligence, community, and justice, I’m discovering that it can also celebrate ambition, expertise, and courage in the face of genuine danger. These additions don’t diminish what makes cozies special. They enhance it.

So yes, perhaps it’s simply who I am: the explorer, the one who rewrites endings, the one who views cozy mystery not as a restrictive box but as an invitation. After all, isn’t that where the real mystery begins? In the space between what is and what could be? In the questions we dare to ask and the boundaries we’re brave enough to test?

The beauty of cozy mysteries is that they welcome us home while encouraging us to venture a little further each time. That balance—between the familiar and the unexpected—is exactly what keeps readers turning pages and writers like me pushing the envelope.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Every diamond has a story… but some are worth killing for.

When Sunset Peak’s legendary Peak Diamond disappears during the town’s glittering centennial gala, Taylor Hunter knows one thing: this was no ordinary theft. As a renowned “Diamond Detective” and reluctant heir to a family legacy of jewel thieves, Taylor has solved high-profile cases around the globe—but this time, it’s personal.

The stakes spiral when a perfect replica of the diamond is found, a notorious diamond broker turns up dead, and her twin sister Hope’s fingerprints are discovered at the crime scene. With Sunset Peak’s future—and her sister’s freedom—on the line, Taylor must partner with the one man she swore she’d never trust: Police Chief Rocky Rockman, her ex-husband’s dangerously charming best friend.

Armed with her expertise, her sharp instincts, and Glimmer, her diamond-sniffing dachshund, Taylor races to unravel a tangled web of stolen gems, buried secrets, and hidden betrayals stretching far beyond her small Arizona town. But someone is willing to kill to keep the truth buried—and if Taylor’s not careful, she could be their next target.

Perfect for fans of Janet Evanovich, Ellery Adams, and Jenn McKinlay, The Fire Diamond is a fast-paced cozy adventure mystery where family secrets cut deep, small-town gossip hides deadly truths, and every diamond comes with a price.

BUY links:

Amazon: https://mybook.to/TheFireDiamond

Barnes & Noble:https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-fire-diamond-cheryl-wilson/1148442601

Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-fire-diamond/id6753361681

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-fire-diamond

Award-winning author, CB Wilson, writes two beloved cozy mystery series: the Gem Hunters Mysteries—beginning with The Fire Diamond—and the Barkview Mysteries, set in the dog-friendliest town in America. A GIA-trained gemologist and lifelong dog lover, she fills her books with sparkling clues, warm humor, and unforgettable canine sidekicks. She lives in Arizona, where she writes stories rich with diamonds, danger, laughter, and loyal dogs.

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/cbwilsonauthor

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/137800079

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/c-b-wilson

Instagram: www.instagram.com@cbwilsonauthor

Linktree. https://linktr.ee/cbwilsonauthor

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1HfOVqN7aBccTW70_wlL0w

tikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@author.cb.wilson

Guest Blogger ~ Rob Bates

~ patyjag ~ 3 Comments

I’ve been a journalist covering the diamond industry for 30 years, and I’ve always had a creative outlet in addition to my day job. For a while, I did sketch comedy and stand-up. But when I got married and had a son, I knew I couldn’t spend my free time running around to clubs.

I always thought if I was going to write fiction, it would probably be about the diamond industry, because, as they say, you write about you know, and this is one of the few fields I feel I really know. I guess I could write about being a middle-aged writer who lives in New York City, but that’s pretty well-trod territory. 

I wanted to write a mystery because they have a specific formula that makes them enjoyable to both read and write. If I was just going to write a regular novel about the industry, I’d be a little lost. But with a murder mystery, it’s much simpler. You know there’s going to be a murder, and you know the hero will solve it. I think readers enjoy that familiarity as well. 

Before I started the series, I knew I wanted to have an amateur sleuth, and that it shouldn’t have a lot of violence (as I’m squeamish and kind of a wuss), and that it should be funny. Which, it turns out, is almost the exact definition of a cozy mystery. The only difference between my books and traditional cozies is that my books are set in New York’s Diamond District (47th Street), whereas the traditional cozy is set in a small, tight-knit town (or a bookstore, with a cat). However, 47th Street is definitely a tight-knit community. Maybe I’ve invented a new genre: the urban cozy. Also, murder mysteries tend to have punny titles, and as you can tell, I like punny titles.

After writing three books, I wasn’t sure I was going to write another one. I knew if I was going to continue this series, I’d have to write about lab-grown diamonds, because they are the big issue in the diamond industry right now, and I’ve probably had hundreds of conversations about them. 

I decided to write a fourth for two reasons. First, I was relatively happy about how the third book, Slay It With a Diamond, came out, and hoped that it would be my breakthrough. Which it wasn’t. Not sure what I was thinking.

But I also became interested in ChatGPT, and resultant freak-out from the creative community. It made me consider how the diamond industry’s recent travails mirror what’s happening in other sectors. Just like a diamond grown in a lab is just as “real” as one from the ground, a song written by ChatGPT is just as real as one written by a person. But does that matter? Should it? I thought those were all interesting questions, which I explore in the book. 

So while the book is mostly about diamonds, I also wanted to reflect on bigger questions about disruption, technology, and how we define what is  “real.”  

I read a lot of sci-fi—mostly classic sci-fi—while writing the book; it turns out authors have been thinking about these things for a long time! I wanted the book to have some sci-fi elements, just like the third book incorporates some gothic elements. Not everything I write about in the book is possible. There’s a tech company in it that I made up, with the goal of coming up with the stupidest idea for a business possible. And the funny thing is, people asked me if it was real.

As far as my writing “process”—and I use the term lightly—first I come up with an idea, then I write an outline, then I disregard most of the outline, and spend the next year or so writing and procrastinating and worrying about the deadline (not necessarily in that order).   

I also listen to music while I write—generally, songs with lyrics, which everyone tells me not to do, but at this point I’m so used to it, I can’t help it. (In fact, I have music with lyrics on while I’m writing this.)

I give myself a goal of writing an hour a day, though that’s not always possible. I try to do it early in the morning but sometimes end up doing it late at night, because of the procrastination thing.

A lot of my best ideas come when I’m reading other stuff; it will give me an idea that I’ll think is great and jot it down. Then, the next day I have to decipher my handwriting, and wonder why I thought that idea was so great. 

My process is not particularly disciplined or thought out and I don’t recommend it to anyone. 

MAKING A KILLING IN DIAMONDS

DIAMONDS SO REAL, NO ONE KNOWS THEY’RE FAKE

Journalist-turned-sleuth Mimi Rosen is back with another fun and exciting mystery set in New York City’s Diamond District.

A brilliant scientist has discovered a way to produce synthetic diamonds so close to the real thing, not even incredibly sophisticated equipment can tell them apart from natural gems. But then, the scientist disappears, just as these high-tech imitations begin to turn the diamond market upside down.

As Mimi tries to locate the scientist and his mysterious formula, she uncovers a trail of murder and intrigue, where executives double-cross each other and use people as pawns in a deadly game of money and power.

A fast-paced adventure ripped from today’s headlines, Making a Killing in Diamonds is both a clever, twist-filled mystery as well as a heartfelt look at the ways humans try to hold onto what’s true and meaningful in an increasingly fake-filled world.

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/Killing-Diamonds-Diamond-District-Mystery/dp/1684923220/

Rob Bates is the award-winning News Director of JCK, a leading jewelry industry publication, and the critically acclaimed author of the Diamond District Mystery series. With over 30 years of experience covering the global gem and jewelry trade, Bates is widely recognized as one of the industry’s most trusted voices. His reporting has shaped conversations on conflict diamonds, sustainability, and technological disruption, earning him more than a dozen editorial honors, including the GEM Award for Media Excellence and the American Gem Society’s Triple Zero Award. As co-host of The Jewelry District podcast, he brings together leading thinkers from across the luxury and diamond worlds. Bates’s Diamond District murder mystery novels blend insider knowledge with page-turning suspense, offering readers a rare look into the power dynamics, ethical tensions, and facades of the jewelry world. He lives in New York City.

Social Media Links:

https://www.facebook.com/robbatesauthor

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-bates-4a14576/

https://www.instagram.com/robbatesauthor/

Website: https://robbatesauthor.com/ 

Guest Blogger ~ Kathy Sechrist

~ patyjag

From Memoirs to Mystery: Crafting a New Narrative Through Healing
Writing has always been my sanctuary—a place where I can sift through the cacophony of life’s experiences and find meaning. After penning two deeply personal memoirs about my journey through domestic violence and the healing that followed, I never imagined that my next literary endeavor would take a sharp turn into the realm of mystery and murder. Yet, here I am, sharing with you the unexpected evolution of my writing journey.

The Healing Power of Words
Before I delve into the origins of my latest book’s premise, I must first acknowledge the role my memoirs played in my life. They were not merely books; they were lifelines. Writing them gave me the courage to confront my past, the compassion to forgive myself, and the empowerment to advocate for change. Each word was a step toward healing, an act of defiance against a world that often silences survivors.

As I shared my story, I realized how deeply connected I was with others who had walked similar paths. This connection fueled my desire to continue writing—not just for myself, but for those who needed their voices amplified and their stories told. But after two memoirs, I found myself at a crossroads. I wanted to explore new narratives and challenge myself creatively while continuing to honor the themes of courage and resilience.

The Birth of a Mystery
The idea for a mystery novel came to me unexpectedly, like a whisper in the quiet moments of reflection. It began with a question: What if the very skills I had honed while writing my memoirs could be used to craft a story that was both thrilling and meaningful? Could I weave a tale that captivated readers while subtly addressing themes of empowerment and justice?

The premise for the book took root in my mind while I was reflecting on the concept of duality. In life, as in writing, we often wear many hats and navigate different roles. I was intrigued by the idea of exploring the dual nature of people and circumstances—the light and the dark, the seen and the unseen. This duality became the cornerstone of my mystery novel.

Characters with Depth and Purpose
My transition from memoir to mystery was guided by the essence of character development. In my memoirs, authenticity was paramount. I had to be truthful, raw, and vulnerable. In crafting my mystery, I applied the same principles to my characters. They had to be real, flawed, and relatable.

At the heart of my story is a protagonist who embodies resilience and strength. This character is a survivor, much like myself, and her journey is one of empowerment. She navigates a world filled with secrets and shadows, using her intuition and determination to unravel the truth. Her past, marked by adversity, becomes her greatest asset as she faces new challenges.

A Plot Rooted in Reality
The plot of my mystery novel is woven with threads of real-world issues that resonate with me deeply. It’s not just a tale of whodunit, but a narrative that examines justice, moral ambiguity, and the power dynamics inherent in society. These themes emerged from my lived experiences and my advocacy work, reminding me that fiction can be a powerful vehicle for change.

The setting, too, is steeped in authenticity. Drawing on my life’s journey, I crafted environments that reflect both beauty and menace. The juxtaposition of a seemingly idyllic community with its hidden undercurrents of treachery underscores the novel’s central conflict. Just as survivors often navigate the complexities of their own environments, my characters must traverse a landscape where nothing is as it seems.

Empowerment Through Storytelling
Writing a mystery allowed me to explore empowerment in a new light. While my memoirs focused on personal empowerment, my novel broadens the scope to include communal and systemic empowerment. It challenges readers to question their assumptions and consider the broader implications of justice.
The process of writing this book was an empowering journey in itself. It required me to step beyond my comfort zone, to trust my instincts, and to embrace creativity as a tool for advocacy. Every twist and turn in the plot was an opportunity to highlight the resilience of the human spirit and the importance of standing up for what is right.

A Message of Hope and Courage
Ultimately, my mystery novel is a testament to the transformative power of storytelling. It is a reminder that we all have stories worth telling and that our voices matter. Through the lens of fiction, I hope to inspire readers to confront their own truths, to seek justice, and to find strength in vulnerability.
In writing this book, I discovered that the line between memoir and mystery is not as stark as it seems. Both genres require honesty, courage, and a willingness to explore the depths of human experience. Both offer the chance to connect, to heal, and to advocate for change.

As you turn the pages of my mystery novel, I invite you to embark on a journey of discovery—a journey that echoes the resilience of survivors everywhere. May it inspire you to embrace your own story, to seek the truth, and to find empowerment in unexpected places. Together, let us continue to write new chapters of hope and courage in the book of life.

Bodies Under the Bluebonnets (no cover)

Book 1 in the Secrets Never Sleep series.

Sara Matthews comes to China Grove searching for peace. After a lifetime shaped by control, fear, and survival, she buys a neglected house on the edge of a small Texas town, hoping distance and silence will finally offer her a fresh start.

But peace is hard to find when bodies begin turning up beneath the bluebonnets.

As the town reels, Sara becomes entangled in a murder investigation that exposes long-buried secrets, betrayals, lies and dangerous loyalties. Police Chieff Dean Williams believes the deaths are connected—and the closer he gets to the truth, the clearer it becomes that Sara’s past has sharpened instincts others ignore.

Having learned to read danger long before it shows its face, Sara recognizes the warning signs no one else wants to see. Yet each step toward the truth draws her deeper into a web of threats, where trust is fragile and survival is never guaranteed.

When the case finally closes, Sara learns one unsettling truth: China Grove has been hiding secrets for decades—and the land remembers all of them.

Bodies Under the Bluebonnets is the first novel in the Secrets Never Sleep Series, a gripping small-town Texas mystery in which buried crimes resurface, and a woman who survived one kind of violence must face another to reclaim her life.

Available Late Spring 2026.
Be the first to know when Bodies Under the Bluebonnets is released—follow kathysechrist.substack.com for launch updates, behind-the-scenes details, and early announcements.

Parris Blue Photo

Kathy Sechrist is a survivor of domestic violence and a dedicated advocate for those who have experienced similar trauma. Through her powerful and honest writing, she shares her journey of healing and resilience, offering hope and support to others. Kathy is passionate about raising awareness of the prevalence of abuse and breaking the cycle of silence that often surrounds it. Critics and readers praised her work for its raw vulnerability and its ability to connect with readers on a deep emotional level. Kathy resides in the Hill Country of Texas with her companion, Dean, and Toby the cat, Warlord of the house.

www.kathysechrist.com