Murder In The Choir Loft

It is the mid-1990s in the small, peaceful oil field town of Pierce, California, when one of its residents is suddenly found dead in a drainage ditch beside the road. Known as a happy-go-lucky alcoholic who wouldn’t hurt a flea, Verlin Simpson’s unanticipated death is quickly deemed suspicious. Verlin’s devoutly Christian wife, Shirley, is naturally devastated and relies on her faith and her friends in her church choral group, the Golden-Agers, for strength. Meanwhile, Officer Tom Phillips begins working the case. Although Pierce hasn’t seen a murder in over ten years, Phillips must rely on his instincts as a former LAPD officer as he begins questioning residents and church members, and investigating clues he hopes will help him solve the case and learn why someone would want to kill a drunk old man. But after the case goes cold, another body is found in a bathroom stall a few months later, leaving Tom to realize he now must consider the worst-case scenario. Pierce may have a serial killer in its midst. In this Christian murder mystery, a small-town police officer and several church members work together to solve a complicated case and find a determined killer.

They are back, that delightful bunch of folks from coastal North Carolina, in this, the last of the series of Beryls Cove mysteries. Steve and Suzanne Thomas are in their mountain retreat, when someone is killing the choir master and choir members of the local congregational church of Ridgeville. Because the first murder occurred in the Nest O Rest Lodge, just up the path from the Thomas home, naturally, our heroes are going to be involved. Steve's best friend, from Navy days is visiting his sisters lodge, and is called upon to help with the investigation, and add his own special insights and zaniness to the proceedings. When two more murder victims show up, the plot thickens, with a twist that sends the town reeling. Gregg and Steve need all the help they can get. When the hometown gang from the Cove show up for the 4th of July festivities, more adventure ensues when they end up stranded late at night on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Things are never quite settled, even when our two amateur sleuths return home, there is unfinished business and some shady dealings afoot! Come along for this final, raucous adventure with the two best amateur detectives the old North State ever saw. Laugh and cry along with the citizens of Beryls Cove, and of course, Elvis and that donut munching bulldog, Dawg are here to add their own special touch to the story.

When Berry Himmel signs on as the new choir director at a large church on the California/Mexico border, she is unaware that the two directors preceding her have died in what the police are calling"mysterious accidents." Charlene, her organist at the church - a 4ft 10 musical genius with Tourette Syndrome - believes the directors were murdered; and so the two women team up to track down the culprit. A few investigative trips to a hilarious gay bar in Tijuana not only shed light on Berry's ambiguous sexual persuasion, but also introduce her to some of the more colorful members of her congregation. Berry's New Age parents, some Mexican "cousins," the choir from hell, and a moderately psychic dog, Amigo, all add fun to the chase....and also help turn up an abundance of reasons for murder.

Roland Spencer, a well-known bass singer in the Holy Living Waters Church choir, dies following a rehearsal for the Messiah. The choir director and organist, Belle Franklin is the last person to see him alive, landing her at the top of the suspect list. To prove her innocence and find the real killer the budding detective must solve the case. Once again, Rich Baldwin weaves a tale of intrigue and suspense with interesting characters and unexpected plot twists.

Murder mystery written by a Catholic priest in the 1950's. finally back in print!

Jan McCanless has served up another delicious murder mystery, this time involving the unassuming, but, very capable Abbot Jerome from the Monastery of the Blue Ridge, located in Ridgeville, NC that just happens to be down the road a couple miles from the summer home of Steve and Suzanne Thomas. On a Mississippi cruise with his meddlesome sibling, a body is discovered hanging on the paddle wheel that sits off the stern of the boat. With just 72 hours before returning to port in New Orleans, the Abbot gets involved in solving the murder. With no one aware that he is a monk, he sets about to find the murderer, hindered by the women passengers who consider him fair game. Once back at the monastery, things do not go well, as Abbot and his new found friend, a federal agent, become embroiled in even more skullduggery, along with the group of monks and misfits that occupy the monastery. Come along for the cruise of a lifetime with our principals, and guest appearances along the way from that delightful Beryl's Cove bunch, and of course, Dawg and Elvis, and their new friend, Max, the Basset Hound.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The Vidocq Society was filled with eccentric, moody geniuses who had thrown in their lot with Fleisher. Walter was the coolest eye on murder in the world, and he spoke with a clipped propriety that had earned him the nickname the Englishman. #2 The team of detectives was made up of Walter Bender, the artist, and William Fleisher, the federal agent. They were blood brothers and partners on major cases. They had met that morning in Bender’s hall of bones, where a legendary and especially terrifying mob hit man had been the force that brought them together. #3 The gathering in the Coffee Room and Subscription Room of the tavern was full of forensic specialists from around the globe. They had gathered to reunite with their peers and rivals, and to discuss something special was happening. #4 The chamber on the second floor of the City Tavern was the historic Long Room, where General George Washington had toasted his election to the presidency in 1789. It was arranged to re-create the atmosphere of a second-floor chamber in Paris in 1833.

Thrilling, true tales from the Vidocq Society, a team of the world's finest forensic investigators whose monthly gourmet lunches lead to justice in ice-cold murders Three of the greatest detectives in the world--a renowned FBI agent turned private eye, a sculptor and lothario who speaks to the dead, and an eccentric profiler known as "the living Sherlock Holmes"-were heartsick over the growing tide of unsolved murders. Good friends and sometime rivals William Fleisher, Frank Bender, and Richard Walter decided one day over lunch that something had to be done, and pledged themselves to a grand quest for justice. The three men invited the greatest collection of forensic investigators ever assembled, drawn from five continents, to the Downtown Club in Philadelphia to begin an audacious quest: to bring the coldest killers in the world to an accounting. Named for the first modern detective, the Parisian eugène François Vidocq-the flamboyant Napoleonic real-life sleuth who inspired Sherlock Holmes-the Vidocq Society meets monthly in its secretive chambers to solve a cold murder over a gourmet lunch. The Murder Room draws the reader into a chilling, darkly humorous, awe-inspiring world as the three partners travel far from their Victorian dining room to hunt the ruthless killers of a millionaire's son, a serial killer who carves off faces, and a child killer enjoying fifty years of freedom and dark fantasy. Acclaimed bestselling author Michael Capuzzo's brilliant storytelling brings true crime to life more realistically and vividly than it has ever been portrayed before. It is a world of dazzlingly bright forensic science; true evil as old as the Bible and dark as the pages of Dostoevsky; and a group of flawed, passionate men and women, inspired by their own wounded hearts to make a stand for truth, goodness, and justice in a world gone mad.