Blanche Day Manos – Grave Heritage

I’m so pleased to have, Blanche Day Manos, as my first guest author for 2017.

A retired kindergarten teacher turned to a life of crime? No, not really. The teacher part is correct but the life of crime Blanche Day Manos turned to occurs only on the pages of her cozy mysteries.

     Writing has been a lifelong pursuit and joy. Two years ago, Pen-L Publishing launched Blanche’s first cozy mystery, The Cemetery Club, written with co-author Barbara Burgess. Two other mysteries written by the Manos-Burgess duo followed, Grave Shift, and Best Left Buried. The fourth cozy in the Darcy Campbell, Flora Tucker series, Grave Heritage, written solo by Blanche, debuted in September.

     In between the third and fourth of the Campbell/Tucker series, Blanche wrote the first book of a new cozy mystery series, Moonlight Can Be Murder. She is now working on a sequel to the Moonlight mystery.

     Living in Oklahoma for most of her life, Blanche and her husband moved to Arkansas a few years ago to be near their son and his family. In between writing mysteries, she enjoys reading, drawing, painting, playing the piano, and working in her herb garden.

Grave Heritage

During the rainiest July on record for the people of Ventris County in Oklahoma, in the midst of a violent thunderstorm, a stranger is murdered. When a friend becomes the second person to die under suspicious circumstances, local sleuth Darcy Campbell is drawn into the investigation. Evidence points toward someone she cares about, but has loyalty blinded her to the truth? Danger is closer to Darcy and her mother, Flora, than either of them suspect. And, if the human threat is not enough, Lee Creek and the Ventris River flood, bringing Mother Nature into the fray.

Here is an excerpt from, Grave Heritage

“Faster, Darcy, faster!” Mom yelled as I rammed the car into reverse, backed out of the driveway and, tires spinning on the wet gravel, aimed for our bridge.

     In only a few minutes, the creek had risen. It now poured across the bridge. Saying a prayer that the raging water would not wash us downstream, I pressed on the accelerator and drove onto the planks. Thankful that I knew it so well, I could only guess where the bridge ended and the stream began. Catching us like a giant hand, the heavy current pushed us sideways. The tires lost traction. I stomped the accelerator. The struggling engine revved, but we were being swept ever closer to the thundering current of the creek.

Grave Heritage can be purchased from Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B01KPDTHX2

Blanche and I would love to hear from you, so please feel free to leave a comment.