Firsts on the 1st: New Series Characters Being Introduced in July 2013 Mysteries

The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books recently updated its list of July 2013 hardcover mysteries as well as shelved new July paperbacks on The Mystery Bookshelf.

In this series of monthly posts, which we call Firsts on the 1st, we're introducing readers to new series characters who will make their mysterious American debut in print during July.

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Title: Sugar Pop Moon
Author: John Florio
Series Character: Jersey Leo
Formats: Trade Paperback and ebook

What we know about the character: Jersey Leo is an albino of mixed race. Known as "Snowball" on the street, he makes a living as the bartender at a mob-run speakeasy in Prohibition-era Hell's Kitchen.

His first case: Being neither black nor white, Jersey Leo has no group to call his own. His own mother abandoned him as a baby. And his father — a former boxing champ with his own secrets — disapproves of Jersey's work at a dive owned by one of New York's most notorious gangsters. So when he inadvertently purchases counterfeit moonshine ("sugar pop moon") with his boss's money — a potentially fatal mistake — he must go undercover to track down the bootlegger who took him in.

The clues lead to Philadelphia, where he runs into a cleaver-swinging madman out for his femurs and a cold-blooded gangster holed up on a Christmas-tree farm. Now with a price on his head in two cities, Jersey seeks help from the only man he can trust, his father. As the two delve into the origins of the mysterious sugar pop moon, stunning secrets about Jersey's past come to light. To ensure his future, Jersey must face his past, even if it means that life will never return to normal.

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Title: Final Sentence
Author: Daryl Wood Gerber
Series Character: Jenna Hart, Cookbook Nook
Formats: Mass Market Paperback and ebook

What we know about the character: Jenna Hart is an avid reader, admitted foodie, and owner of a cookbook store and café in picturesque Crystal Cove, California.

Her first case: Jenna Hart is up to her neck in trouble when she finds her college roommate, celebrity chef Desiree Divine, buried on the beach, and a fellow shop owner accuses her of murder.

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Title: Yarn to Go
Author: Betty Hechtman
Series Character: Casey Feldstein, Yarn Retreat
Formats: Mass Market Paperback and ebook

What we know about the character: Dessert chef Casey Feldstein doesn't know a knitting needle from a crochet hook. But after her aunt dies unexpectedly, Casey is left to run her yarn retreat business.

Her first case: When Casey finds out that her late aunt's business, Yarn2Go, has one more yarn retreat scheduled, she decides to go ahead and host the event, despite her complete lack of experience as a knitter. At least the retreat is on the beautiful Monterey Peninsula.

But the idyllic setting is soured when a retreat regular is found murdered in her hotel room. Feeling a sense of responsibility, Casey begins to weave the clues together and detects a pattern which may shed light on her aunt's suspicious death. Despite the danger, the last thing Casey plans to do is retreat. She'll catch this killer … or dye trying.

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Title: First Frost
Author: James Henry
Series Character: Jack Frost Prequel
Formats: Hardcover and ebook

What we know about the character: Strictly speaking, this isn't the first appearance of this character. Detective Inspector William Edward "Jack" Frost is a police detective created by R. D. Wingfield, appearing in six books published between 1984 and 2008. This prequel series features a younger Jack Frost.

His first case: Detective Sergeant Jack Frost is dealing with the disappearance of his mentor. When a twelve-year-old girl goes missing from a department store changing room, Frost is put in charge of the case.

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Title: Faith on the Rocks
Author: Liesa Malik
Series Character: Daisy Arthur
Formats: Hardcover and ebook

What we know about the character: Daisy Arthur is a retired and widowed special education teacher.

Her first case: When widow and retired special education teacher Daisy Arthur takes up romance writing with a quirky group of aspiring authors she finds herself tangled in merry mayhem that suddenly turns quite deadly. Then instead of pursuing her romantic interests she must go in search of a killer or risk becoming the group s next victim.

Enter Gabe Caerphilly father of one of her old students and a single police lieutenant with Littleton Colorado s finest. Daisy sees Gabe as having definite Mr. Right potential. Unfortunately Gabe sees her as a prime murder suspect. What s a woman to do?

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Title: The Man From Berlin
Author: Luke McCallin
Series Character: Gregor Reinhardt
Formats: Trade Paperback and ebook

What we know about the character: Captain Gregor Reinhardt is a military intelligence officer. The series is set during World War II.

His first case: In war-torn Yugoslavia, a beautiful young filmmaker and photographer — a veritable hero to her people — and a German officer have been brutally murdered.

Assigned to the case is Captain Gregor Reinhardt. Already haunted by his wartime actions and the mistakes he's made off the battlefield, he soon finds that his investigation may be more than just a murder — and that the late Yugoslavian heroine may have been much more brilliant — and treacherous — than anyone knew.

Maneuvering his way through a minefield of political, military, and personal agendas and vendettas, Reinhardt knows that someone is leaving a trail of dead bodies to cover their tracks. But those bloody tracks may lead Reinhardt to a secret hidden within the ranks of the powerful that they will do anything to keep.

And his search for the truth may kill him before he ever finds it.

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Title: Woof at the Door
Author: Laura Morrigan
Series Character: Grace Wilde, Call of the Wilde
Formats: Mass Market Paperback and ebook

What we know about the character: Grace Wilde is an animal behaviorist, who is able to psychically communicate with furry and feathered critters.

Her first case: Grace Wilde's job is anything but normal. When she's not helping out at the zoo by comforting agitated lemurs, she's listening to the woes of annoyed house pets. Grace's life gets even more complicated, though, when the cops summon her to a crime scene to help deal with the murder victim's terrified Doberman.

The pooch turns out to be the only one who saw what happened the night of the shooting — and only Grace can get the information out of him. The problem is, how will Grace tell the distractingly gorgeous Sergeant Kai Duncan that it's the dog who's giving her the intel without spilling her big secret or sounding crazy? Left on her own, Grace will have to follow the pup's lead to track down the killer. But she'll have to be careful — or curiosity may end up killing the cat whisperer.

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Title: Death of a Robber Baron
Author: Charles O'Brien
Series Character: Pamela Thompson, Gilded Age
Formats: Trade Paperback and ebook

What we know about the character: Pamela Thompson is a private investigator in late 1890s New England.

Her first case: Novice PI Pamela Thompson is hired by Lydia Jennings to investigate mismanagement at her palatial "cottage" Broadmore Hall, in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts. Pamela discovers the butler living a double life at Lydia's expense. Soon Pamela has to deal with a mare's nest of family problems, mostly generated by Lydia's husband, Henry Jennings, the ruthless and unfaithful Copper King, whose sole purpose in life is to become the richest man in America.

The climax comes at Broadmoar during Henry's 4th July party - a grandiose event that he personally orchestrates. The next morning, his body is found in his study. Pamela's boss, the lawyer Jeremiah Prescott, joins her for the investigation. Now they have to figure out, from among the many suspects, who killed Henry Jennings …

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Title: The Terrorist Next Door
Author: Sheldon Siegel
Series Character: David Gold
Formats: Hardcover and ebook

What we know about the character: David Gold is a homicide detective in Chicago.

His first case: Meet David Gold. He's a third generation native of hardscrabble South Chicago. He's also one of Chicago's most decorated homicide detectives.

Meet Gold's new partner, Detective A.C. Battle. He's a native of Mississippi whose family moved to Chicago to escape the Jim Crow South. He grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes, the penal colony of high rises across the Dan Ryan Expressway from Mayor Daley's house and Comiskey Park.

More than a decade after 9/11, someone is setting off fire bombs in Chicago using untraceable cell phones. An unknown group takes credit for the bombings and demands the release of Hassan Al-Shahid, a University of Chicago graduate student whose plan to set off a bomb at the Art Institute was thwarted at the last minute by Gold and his long-time partner, Paul Liszewski. Their heroic efforts had cost Liszewski his life and put Gold in the hospital.

Shocked and grieving, Gold rallies to receive a Medal of Valor on the steps of that same Art Institute. During the ceremony, a car bomb explodes across the street and moment later Gold receives a text: "It isn't over."

The FBI and Homeland Security believe the new bomber is a "lone wolf" — a freelancer who operates off the grid. That makes him even more dangerous. More car bombs are detonated at the Wrigley Field El station, Millennium Park, the Museum of Science and Industry, O'Hare Airport, the Hyde Park train station, and the upscale Rush Street area near North Michigan Avenue. The bomber has shut down a major US city. Just to free Al-Shahid?

Gold and Battle hunt him across Chicago's colorful neighborhoods: from the high rises of the Magnificent Mile to century-old churches where mass is still celebrated in Polish to the ivy-covered buildings at the University of Chicago to crumbling old synagogues and gritty seafood shacks next to the ghostly expanses of vacant land where the steel mills once stood.

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Title: Lawless & The Devil of Euston Square
Author: William Sutton
Series Character: Campbell Lawless
Formats: Mass Market Paperback and ebook

What we know about the character: Campbell Lawless, aka "The Watchman", is a Metropolitan policeman in 1860s London.

His first case: London 1859-62. A time of great exhibitions, foreign conquests and underground trains. But the era of Victorian marvels is also the time of the Great Stink. With cholera and depravity never far from the headlines, it's not only the sewers that smell bad.

Novice detective Campbell Lawless stumbles onto the trail of Berwick Skelton, an elusive revolutionary, seemingly determined to bring London to its knees through a series of devilish acts of terrorism.

But cast into a lethal, intoxicating world of music hall hoofers, industrial sabotage and royal scandal, will Lawless survive long enough to capture this underworld nemesis, before he unleashes his final vengeance on a society he wants wiped from the face of the Earth?

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Title: Hard Road
Author: J. B. Turner
Series Character: Martha Meyerstein and Jon Reznick
Formats: Trade Paperback and ebook

What we know about the characters: Martha Meyerstein is the FBI Assistant Director, and Jon Reznick is a covert assassin.

Their first case: Since his wife died in the Twin Towers, Jon Reznick has cared about nothing except his eleven-year-old daughter.

But when he's ordered by his handler to kill a man in an exclusive Washington DC hotel, he discovers his intended victim is really a government scientist working on a secretive military project.

Reznick is quickly ensnared in an extraordinary web of murder, extortion and double-crosses — and then his daughter's safety is threatened as well.

But Jon isn't just up against the shadowy group who want the scientist eliminated. FBI chief Martha Meyerstein wants Reznick captured as well.

And soon both Reznick and Meyerstein find themselves in the middle of a terrifying plot by a foreign government to launch a bio-terrorism strike against the United States.

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For a list of more hardcover mysteries scheduled for publication during July, please visit our New Mysteries home page. If you're interested in new paperbacks, visit The Mystery Bookshelf, where you can discover a library of new mysteries, also updated with July 2013 releases. See also our regularly updated eBook site for new mysteries, suspense novels and thrillers, MysterEbooks.com.

Please also visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books where we are committed to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

Digital Fortress, a Suspense Thriller by Dan Brown, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Digital Fortress by Dan Brown, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Thomas Dunne Books.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $2.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (07/01/2013 at 3:00 PM ET). Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Digital Fortress by Dan Brown
A Suspense Thriller
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

When the NSA's invincible code-breaking machine encounters a mysterious code it cannot break, the agency calls its head cryptographer, Susan Fletcher, a brilliant and beautiful mathematician. What she uncovers sends shock waves through the corridors of power. The NSA is being held hostage … not by guns or bombs, but by a code so ingeniously complex that if released it would cripple U.S. intelligence.

Caught in an accelerating tempest of secrecy and lies, Susan Fletcher battles to save the agency she believes in. Betrayed on all sides, she finds herself fighting not only for her country but for her life, and in the end, for the life of the man she loves.

From the underground hallways of power to the skyscrapers of Tokyo to the towering cathedrals of Spain, a desperate race unfolds. It is a battle for survival — a crucial bid to destroy a creation of inconceivable genius … an impregnable code-writing formula that threatens to obliterate the post-cold war balance of power. Forever.

      

Important Note: This book was listed at the above mentioned price on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

The Fitzgerald Ruse, a Sam Blackman Mystery by Mark de Castrique, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Fitzgerald Ruse by Mark de Castrique, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $2.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (07/01/2013 at 2:30 PM ET). Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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The Fitzgerald Ruse by Mark de Castrique
A Sam Blackman Mystery (2nd in series)
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Read our review of The Fitzgerald Ruse by Mark de Castrique

Former Chief Warrant Officer Sam Blackman lost a leg in Iraq and emerged from the V.A. hospital in Asheville, NC, as a bitter civilian without a job or a future. But when he solved a series of local murders, Sam not only brought the guilty to justice but found meaning for his life. Now he and his partner, Nakayla Robertson, are opening a detective agency. They have high hopes that the thriving mountain region will provide a steady stream of cases.

Their first client, a quirky elderly woman in a retirement community, makes a strange request. She wants Sam to right a wrong she committed more than 70 years ago. Her victim was F. Scott Fitzgerald. Her crime was stealing a manuscript. Sam's task seems simple enough: retrieve the woman's lockbox and deliver the manuscript to Fitzgerald's heirs.

But nothing is simple for Sam. The lockbox is sealed with a swastika, a symbol his client insists predates the Nazis and reflects a scene from The Great Gatsby. Then a security guard is killed and the lockbox disappears. Not only has this investigation triggered a murder, but Sam's final military case has followed him from Iraq and neither he nor anyone close to him is safe. Are the mysteries connected? Or is one a ruse luring him into the crosshairs of his enemies?

      

Click on the Amazon button to see also the special Whispersync offer associated with this title.

Important Note: This book was listed at the above mentioned price on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Raw Deal, a John Deal Mystery by Les Standiford, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Raw Deal by Les Standiford, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $2.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (07/01/2013 at 2:00 PM ET). Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Raw Deal by Les Standiford
A John Deal Mystery (2nd in series)
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

John Deal's life is finally coming together — he is reunited with his lovely wife, they have a beautiful baby, and DealCo, his Miami construction business, is booming with post-Hurricane Andrew contracts rolling in. The future looks bright … until the night that his house is engulfed by an arsonist's flames and his wife is terribly burned. Unbeknownst to him, Deal has stumbled into the path of the sickly sweet plans of sugar cane magnate and Cuban imigri power broker, Vicente Luis Torreno, a man obsessed by his dreams of a repatriated Cuba and the juicy profits of the sugar monopoly he is sure will come with it.

Torreno's sugar-coated influence reaches to the highest levels of the U.S. Government, a fact that more than complicates Deal's efforts to find out who is responsible for this latest tragedy and to avoid joining the string of bodies that litter the South Florida landscape, all the way from the vast cane fields of Lake Okeechobee to the shores of Biscayne Bay.

      

Important Note: This book was listed at the above mentioned price on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

MystereBooks: Cat in the Dark by Shirley Rousseau Murphy, Available this Month at a Special Price

Every month Amazon releases a new selection of Kindle books priced $3.99 or less.

Today's featured title from the Mystery & Thrillers category is Cat in the Dark by Shirley Rousseau Murphy. This Kindle book was listed at $1.99 as of the date and time of this post, Monday, July 01, 2013 at 1:30 PM ET, and should be available at this price through the end of the month.

More information about the book is below; if other vendors have priced-matched this title, links to their sites are also shown.

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Cat in the Dark by Shirley Rousseau Murphy
A Joe Grey Mystery (3rd in series)
Publisher: HarperCollins

There's a new pair of thieves in Molena Point, California, a renegade yellow-eyed-tom-cat with a cold disdain for the law,and a scruffy human partner who is no better. The two, clever and silent at their work, are bad news indeed to crime-solving cats Joe Grey and Dulcie.

But when Joe learns the pair's connection to a good friend, and then an innocent couple turns up dead in the library garden, Joe and Dulcie must engage in some fancy paw work to unmask the deceptions and route the real killer — before his brazen criminal crime spree careens madly toward them.

  

Important Note: Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

Adrenaline, a Sam Capra Thriller by Jeff Abbott, Now at a Special Price

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Adrenaline by Jeff Abbott, now available at a special price, courtesy of the publisher, Grand Central.

The ebook format of this title was priced at $0.99 from the listed vendors (below) as of the date and time of this post (07/01/2013 at 1:00 PM ET). Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Adrenaline by Jeff Abbott
A Sam Capra Thriller (1st in series)
Publisher: Grand Central

Sam Capra is living the life of his dreams. He's a brilliant young CIA agent, stationed in London. His wife Lucy is seven months pregnant with their first child. They have a wonderful home, and are deeply in love. They have everything they could hope for … until they lose it all in one horrifying moment.

On a bright, sunny day, Sam receives a call from Lucy while he's at work. She tells him to leave the building immediately. He does … just before it explodes, killing everyone inside. Lucy vanishes, and Sam wakes up in a prison cell. As the lone survivor of the attack, he is branded by the CIA as a murderer and a traitor.

Escaping from the agency, Sam launches into a desperate hunt to save his kidnapped wife and child, and to reveal the unknown enemy who has set him up and stolen his family. But the destruction of Sam's life was only step on in an extraordinary plot — and now Sam must become a new kind of hero.

    

Important Note: This book was listed at the above mentioned price on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Second Trailer for Suspense Thriller Prisoners

Last week when we made note of a new poster for the suspense thriller Prisoners, we should have guessed it was a "character" one … and at least one more would follow. And here it is (right; click for larger version). The tagline: "Every moment matters".

Also, a second trailer has been released by Warner Bros. for the film (embedded, below).

Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) is facing every parent's worst nightmare. His 6-year-old daughter and her young friend are missing, and as minutes turn to hours, panic sets in. The only lead is a dilapidated RV that had been parked on their street. Heading the investigation, Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) arrests its driver, but a lack of evidence forces the only suspect's release. Knowing his child's life is at stake, the frantic Dover decides he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands. The desperate father will do whatever it takes to find the girls, but in doing so, may lose himself, begging the question: When do you cross the line between seeking justice and becoming a vigilante?

Directed by Denis Villeneuve from an original screenplay by Aaron Guzikowki, Prisoners opens in theaters September 20, 2013.

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Telemystery: Falcón and Last Resort, New This Week on DVD

Telemystery, your source for one of the most comprehensive listings of crime drama, amateur sleuth, private investigator, mystery and suspense television series, mini-series and made-for-television movies, now available on or coming soon to DVD, Blu-ray disc, or Video-on-Demand, is profiling two series from our site being released this week.

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Falcón
Series 1

Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón (Marton Csokas) prowls Seville's serpentine alleys to uncover the malice lurking in the magnificent city. A smart, intuitive detective, Falcón exposes hard truths and corruption — even when it costs him dearly.

In the two feature-length thrillers included in this set, based on the crime fiction of Robert Wilson — "The Blind Man of Seville" and "The Silent and the Damned" — Falcón investigates a murder connected to his father's murky past and the apparent suicide of a businessman whose former misdeeds impact the present. Falcón also contends with his attraction to a glamorous widow (Hayley Atwell) and simmering tensions with his ex-wife, Inés (Emilia Fox), and her handsome, high-flying lover, Judge Esteban Calderón (Santiago Cabrera).

Falcón premiered in the UK and Spain in late 2012, and while the DVD set is labeled "Series 1" we haven't heard whether or not additional episodes will be produced.

  

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Last Resort
The Complete Series

When the crew of the U.S. ballistic submarine Colorado are ordered to fire nuclear missiles at Pakistan, both Captain Marcus Chaplin (Andre Braugher) and XO Sam Kendal (Scott Speedman) question the legitimacy of the order and are then attacked by another U.S. submarine. Left for dead on a remote island, they must clear their names and solve the mystery behind the attack.

This action thriller premiered on ABC in Fall 2012 but never attracted an audience and was quickly pulled from the schedule, with the remaining unaired episodes being shown in Spring 2013.

      

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Visit the Telemystery website to discover more television mystery series currently available on and coming soon to DVD, Blu-ray disc, or video on demand.

Please Welcome Robert J. Ray, Author of the Murdock Mystery Series

with Robert J. Ray

We are delighted to welcome mystery author Robert J. Ray to Omnimystery News, courtesy of Partners in Crime Tours, which is coordinating his current book tour. We encourage you to visit all of the participating host sites; you can find his schedule here.

After a long absense, Robert's series character Matt Murdock returns in Murdock Tackles Taos (Camel Press; June 2013 trade paperback and ebook formats).

A popular and widely read expert on writing and writing techniques, Robert is sharing with us today some advice on the importance of feedback and how to get it.

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Photo provided courtesy of
Robert J. Ray

Congratulations. Your rewrite is done and you feel good about the manuscript. The story is solid, the subplots writhe like snakes under the surface, which is glassy-smooth. Now you're smelling money, you're tasting the tang of writerly fame. You want action. So you print the manuscript, find a literary agent on Google Search, and then you mail the manuscript off.

But wait! Before you send off your pages, get some feedback. The writing business is crazy. The worst mistake you can make is sending off a half-baked product.

So what is feedback?

Feedback comes when you hand your work to someone else and say, Can you please give me some feedback? When you ask for feedback, you give up control. Time to relax, pull out your trusty ballpoint, and take notes. Feedback opens up the manuscript, rips holes in the fabric of your prose. Better to sew up the holes now, before you send off the manuscript to an agent. There are four ways to get feedback:

1. Scene Performance. For feedback on a scene, recruit a group of friends — actors are better at scene performance than writers — and assign roles. Assign one reader for each character; assign one reader to read the narration (action and description). Keep yourself out of the scene-read. Your job is to listen, to take notes, to view your work from a perspective not your own. Use a timer on each scene. If a scene runs long, you'll know to cut. If a scene is too short, you might merge it with another scene.

Don't interrupt the reading with helpful hints to the readers. Surrender your words and see what happens. Take notes and let yourself sweat. Button your lip and learn fast.

Pay attention to your emotions — awe, horror, shame, nausea, joy, the taste of greatness, a whiff of fame — during the read. When the reading is over, ask for feedback from your cast. Author restraint is the big secret here. Keep the lines of communication open. You asked for feedback. Write down everything and don't try to fix anything until you have your notes typed and printed. Let the notes cool. Read them over. Find a spot where readers had trouble, where they ran into a roadblock or ran off the tracks. Find those pages in your manuscript and deploy Operation Ratio.

Don't fret about the work. Instead, use your tools. You started this rewrite with an empty tool kit. Your toolkit now bristles with writerly tools. Hang tight, keep writing. Let your left brain editor locate the problems. Let your unconscious do the fix.

2. Cold Read. Read with a friend across a table. Keep the page count low — 5-8 pages per session is max — and then you find a neutral zone like a coffee house and you sit across the table from your friend. There are two copies of the work. One for you, one for your friend. When you read, alternate paragraphs. When you come to dialogue, alternate voices. The balance is better if your friend also has pages that need reading. Take the mind off your sweat by listening to your friend's voice. Where does it hesitate? Where does it sound bored? Where does it have trouble with a word or a sentence?

When the reading is done, ask your friend for feedback. Where did it slow down? How do I fix it? Help me with that word on page 3.

3. Single Reader Alone. Here's where you ask a reader to read your manuscript and offer suggestions for making it better. You hand over the pages and wait. You bite your nails when you should be doing writing practice. You wonder what's gone wrong. Is the book any good? What will my friend say? Be careful with your pages. Find a reader who can see deep into structure and story.

4. Critique Group. Here's where you sit in a circle with a roomful of writers. Some groups listen while the author reads aloud. Some groups want copies of the work distributed earlier, to give people time to read and ponder. Other groups want the pages at the same time as the meeting. Reading aloud is better here. Everyone gets up to speed on the same words. Much less confusion. Some people read fast; some read slow. With an oral read, there's less focus on line-editing.

Warning to the sensitive: Critique groups are really dangerous. If you are fragile, stay away. If your manuscript is unwieldy, think twice. You need rules for behavior. If the group is big — six or more — then you'll need a time-limit for each critique. If there are wide gaps in skill-levels, don't bite your lip. Instead, do lots of deep breathing.

To get the most from a critique group, take notes and say nothing. Keep your lip zipped. Don't try to defend your work. If it hums, most people will hear the hum. If it needs work, use the tools. Thank the group for its insight.

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Robert J. Ray is a writer/teacher. A native of Texas, Ray holds a Ph.D. from the University of Texas, Austin and is the author of several reference books in "The Weekend Novelist" series.

For more information about Ray and his work, visit his author page on the Camel Press website or find him on Facebook.

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Murdock Tackles Taos
Robert J. Ray
A Matt Murdock Murder Mystery

Weary but wise private-eye Matt Murdock is back, and he has met his match — a vital and attractive writer and cop's daughter, Helene Steinbeck.

Helene is hiking in the hills of Taos when she happens upon the corpse of a young woman downed by an arrow. Murdock appears on the horizon just in time to prevent a team of archers from using Helene as target practice. Murdock has been scouring Angel Mountain and vicinity for evidence that will help him discover the whereabouts of Barbi Bellini, the missing daughter of a friend. Now that Helene has stumbled onto the scene, she has no choice but to join Murdock in his search for answers.

Drawn to the detective's integrity and quiet strength, she becomes both his apprentice and his lover. Their quest leads them to a cult of locals whose charismatic leader believes the "weak" are fair game. But this unholy brotherhood is just the poisonous tip of the arrow. The hunters have forged deadly alliances with the rich and powerful of Taos.

Who can Helene and Murdock trust? Will they be able to outthink — and outrun — their many adversaries?

        

Immaculate Deception by Leighton Rockafellow is Today's Third Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Immaculate Deception by Leighton Rockafellow as today's third free mystery ebook (A Legal Thriller; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, July 01, 2013 at 7:30 AM ET. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

For a summary of all of today's featured titles, plus any that may have appeared before and are repeat freebies, visit our Free MystereBooks page. This page is updated daily, typically by 8 AM ET.

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Immaculate Deception
Leighton Rockafellow
A Legal Thriller
Publisher: Wheatmark

Attorney Larry Ross has made a name for himself by getting a not-guilty verdict in an impossible first-degree murder case and driving a major automobile manufacturer to its knees in the process. On the heels of his success, Larry and his new partner, Bill Wilson, find themselves embroiled in cases filled with mystery, intrigue, conflict, and deceit.

Larry is working on a huge claim against another auto manufacturer. Matters grow complicated when his expert witness is murdered and a string of similar murders across the county is discovered. Lead homicide detective, Greg Kelly, is charged with the task of finding the killer and bringing the masterminds to justice.

Meanwhile, Bill takes on the sheriff of Pima County in a "case that can't be won". Bill must prevail in the Supreme Court of Arizona before he can even go to trial. Can Bill and Larry overcome insurmountable odds to ensure that their grieving clients receive justice?

  

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

An Unlikely Hero by Tierney James is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature An Unlikely Hero by Tierney James as today's second free mystery ebook (A Suspense Thriller; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, July 01, 2013 at 7:20 AM ET. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

For a summary of all of today's featured titles, plus any that may have appeared before and are repeat freebies, visit our Free MystereBooks page. This page is updated daily, typically by 8 AM ET.

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An Unlikely Hero
Tierney James
A Suspense Thriller
Publisher: CreateSpace

Tessa Scott is living the American dream - big house, successful husband, and three beautiful children. No one would suspect a Libyan terrorist is at work nearby. When Tessa sends her family on vacation after another fight with her husband, she is expecting a relaxing week of solitude. Instead she is confronted with a bomb in her backyard, and the terrorist group who are looking for it. Tessa survives only due to the entrance of Captain Chase Hunter, a man who seems just as dangerous as the terrorists. Unsure who she can trust, Tessa is drawn into his secret world of terrorists and national security. Powerless to resist Tessa is forced to survive the unthinkable, from confronting perilous brushes with death to becoming a sitting duck for men who are out to savage the world as we know it.

Meanwhile, the self-possessed Captain Hunter finds that Tessa Scott is affecting him in a way he thought no woman could. The two are forced into a complicated partnership as they work together to unravel a terrorist plot that will affect thousands of people. The stakes are raised when Tessa discovers that her family is in danger from the same terrorists. Will Captain Hunter save them, or is he looking to Tessa to save him?

  

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

Parallax View by Allan Leverone is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Parallax View by Allan Leverone as today's free mystery ebook (A Tracie Tanner Thriller; Kindle format only).

This title was listed for free as of the date and time of this post, July 01, 2013 at 7:10 AM ET. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

For a summary of all of today's featured titles, plus any that may have appeared before and are repeat freebies, visit our Free MystereBooks page. This page is updated daily, typically by 8 AM ET.

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Parallax View
Allan Leverone
A Tracie Tanner Thriller
Publisher: Rock Bottom Books

It's spring, 1987, late in the Cold War, and CIA clandestine operations agent Tracie Tanner is tasked with what should be a relatively simple mission: deliver a secret communique from Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

After smuggling the document out of East Germany, Tracie believes she is in the clear. She's wrong. A shadowy cabal is work, people who will stop at nothing to prevent the explosive information contained in the letter from reaching the White House.

Soon, Tanner is knee-deep in airplane crashes and murder, paired up with a young Maine air traffic controller and on the run for their lives, unsure who she can trust at CIA, but committed to completing her mission, no matter the cost …

  

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.