In the spotlight today is author 

Elaine Macko!

Fans of JANET EVANOVICH and CLEO COYLE will love this series!

Finding a body was bad enough but seeing grandpa naked traumatized me in ways even Freud couldn't unravel. ARMED 

The pungent aroma of a leaf fire came to me on a sudden breeze & I knew everything was right for murder. POISONED

Hunky new husband. Check. Honeymoon in Europe. Check. Dead body. Wait...what? FLOSSED

My story starts two hours ago, before all the guests arrived and one of them had the nerve to die and ruin my party. MAHJONGED

Why would a butcher kill his vegan wife? Then I tasted kale. SMOKED

Stolen Nazi art, chocolate and a pickle. This book's a hoot. PICKLED

Alex Harris is looking forward to some time off with her guests, but when Sheldon Spiegel comes to town and has the nerve to get shot a few days before their arrival, Alex hopes her husband, police detective John Van der Burg, can solve the crime before Friday, say around noonish. GUNNED

It was difficult for me to get excited about my one-year anniversary when my husband just arrested my sister for murder. NAILED

Maybe I was headed down wrong path but it was in Europe so at least it would be scenic. FRIED CALAMARI LOOKS A LOT LIKE ONION RINGS, a memoir.

I love mysteries! I like reading them, solving them, and as it turns out, I like to write them as well. I currently have eight books in my Alex Harris mystery series available: ARMED, POISONED, FLOSSED, MAHJONGED, SMOKED, PICKLED, GUNNED, and NAILED. As you can see, they have fun names, and they're fun to read. I want to entertain you and along with a good mystery you'll have a hard time solving, I want you to have a smile on your face, too, so I keep them light with plenty of quirky characters. Alex, my protagonist, is addicted to M&M's so you might want to grab a bag before you start reading! Oh, and make yourself a cup of tea, too. Preferably Earl Grey!

If you prefer your books on audio, I have great news. NAILED, is now available on audio. NAILED is narrated by Michelle Babb and I know you're going to love the way she brings the characters to life. You can read more about Michelle here: http://adbl.co/29c1Qve

I've also released FRIED CALAMARI LOOKS A LOT LIKE ONION RINGS. It's a lighthearted memoir about my years living in Belgium. I went to Europe for a one-week vacation and met and fell in love with a local and stayed for 12 years! See, I'm impulsive, too, and that keeps my life interesting. I'm also working on a sequel about moving back to America and re-acclimating, which was harder than I thought it would be!

Besides writing, I also love traveling. I'm a native New Englander and my mysteries combine my love of Europe and New England, with each book having a European connection. I've created the fictional town of Indian Cove, but if you look closely, you might recognize it as Milford, Connecticut. I hope you'll follow the links to buy the books or join me on my author page on Facebook.So happy reading and I would love to hear from you!

As you can see from above author 

Elaine Macko

writes the

Alex Harris Mysteries!

NAILED

is the newest book in this wonderful series. 

The Kindle edition is on sale!

Today, September 5 - Friday, September 9

NAILED

is on sale for only .99¢!

NAILED

BOOK EIGHT

Alex Harris thinks finding a place to celebrate her one-year anniversary sounds like a good idea, but when her husband arrests her sister for murder she has some serious thoughts about staying married to the guy! Her sister Samantha is clearly keeping a secret and refuses to give the police an alibi, but when she asks Alex to help solve the crime and clear her name, Alex is only too happy to jump in and prove her husband wrong. And then the police turn their attention to Samantha’s husband—another suspect with no alibi.

Could her sister or brother-in-law really have killed a local building inspector over his refusal to pass their new sunroom addition? Alex doesn’t think so and sets her sights on several others who had more than a good reason to nail the guy. 

Something sinister is going on in this coastal New England town where the bodies seem to be piling up.

MY REVIEW

This was my first book in the Alex Harris Mystery series. I really liked it!

Author Elaine Macko has a new fan in me. NAILED is book eight in her Alex Harris, but I was able to pick up and follow it as though it was a standalone. Don’t get me wrong, I would recommend reading the other books in the series, as I plan to do, because you will get a much better feel of the characters, and where they started in the series.

Well written, with a nicely constructed plot, NAILED, with its short chapters (I love short chapters) was a fast moving read. From page one it was quick paced, and never slowed down until the end.

There were plenty of twists which led to several suspects, and kept me guessing. Not only was I eager to find out “who done it”, I was really interested in seeing how another storyline in the book was resolved.

An all around enjoyable read. 

Check out all the great books in this series!

BOOK ONE

Twas the week before Christmas and all through the mannequin factory things were not quite what they seemed—especially not for the body of the woman splayed out in the dark warehouse. Nothing like a nice little murder to stir things up right before the holidays in this quaint New England town where absolutely nothing ever happens.

When Alex Harris, owner of the Always Prepared staffing agency, stumbles over the body of Mrs. Scott, nothing will ever be the same. Along with her sister and partner, Samantha Daniels, and their assistant, Millie Chapman, the Winston Churchill-quoting, M&M popping Alex probes and plods through clue after clue trying to unravel secrets before the murderer strikes again and really ruins Christmas.

BOOK TWO

With Halloween fast approaching, Alex Harris, owner of the Always Prepared temp agency, has her hands full trying to keep her assistant from turning the office into a house of horrors, but that’s nothing compared to finding the body of one of Indian Cove’s prominent members poisoned by a macaroon his grandmother made especially for him. 

The police want to send granny to prison, but Alex has other ideas. She thinks the woman was the intended victim all along and that another attempt to take her out is imminent. But can she convince a certain police detective that she’s right before it’s too late?

There’s something sinister going on in Indian Cove and before Halloween is over, Alex will discover up close and personal that there are more than just witches and goblins trick-or-treating in her normally peaceful New England neighborhood.

BOOK THREE

Honeymoon in Europe. Check. Hunky husband. Check. Dead Body. Wait…What? With her wedding over and the words I do just a memory, Alex Harris, now van der Burg, boards a plane with her new husband, John, bound for Brussels. Along for the ride are her sister, Samantha, and dentist brother-in-law Michael. Having your sibling along on your honeymoon might sound strange but when the body of a young woman is found, Alex is glad her sister is along to keep her company while John is off helping the Belgian detective in charge of the crime. Alex and Sam find themselves alone in a foreign country with nothing better to do than sightsee and shop. Of course, Alex can’t leave the murder alone and starts interrogating suspects. But when another body turns up her sister thinks she should leave it to the police. With John in a funk because he thinks his good friend is a killer, Michael single-handedly trying to convert the Belgian population into floss users, and Sam trying to figure out how to get all her purchases across the Atlantic without incurring the national debt, it’s up to Alex to solve the crime. And when she finally figures out who the culprit is, she ignores all common sense and walks straight into the lion’s den. Join the cast as they traipse across Belgium eating chocolate and croissants and finding that there are more sinister things to occupy one’s time than visiting museums and haunted castles.

BOOK FOUR

It was a dark and stormy night…
Inviting a group of women over for a night of Mahjong sounded like a good idea to new bride Alex Harris Van der Burg, but with a storm raging outside and a battle brewing between two of the players inside, things aren’t working out quite as planned. And then the lights go out adding one more catastrophe to the evening. 
When a guest is discovered with Alex’s brand new cake knife, a wedding gift, stuck in her back, the party really starts to head downhill. With the roads closed and a bridge washed out, the Mahjong players are stuck in the “murder house” for the rest of the evening.
In the following days Alex is stumped to find a reason why a woman would be killed in her home, especially when only one person there had met her before, and that person happens to be the mother of Alex’s assistant, Millie Chapman.
With her detective husband away on a weekend camping trip that turns longer than expected, the entire town is talking about the young bride whose husband took off. Alex tries to shut out the rumors while snooping and sleuthing but when her nephew is involved in a hit and run, she wonders if the killer is after her and maybe she should just forget the whole thing.
Join the crazy cast in this, the fourth Alex Harris mystery, as they sift through clues that will lead to a shocking conclusion.

BOOK FIVE

When the vegan wife of a local butcher shows up dead, the police think the husband is the most likely suspect. But the dead woman’s daughter is certain her father did nothing wrong and hires Alex Harris to find the real killer.

What Alex discovers is Maria Kravec had a nasty streak, using her blog to take revenge on her philandering husband. But the more Alex probes, a whole slew of suspects presents itself. From the woman’s business partner, to her husband’s current mistress, to her own daughter, Alex has her hands full keeping the list of people who could benefit from Maria’s death straight. And with her grandmother hanging out with a local rosary bead-making tattoo artist, her mother adopting a lively dog and her nephew acquiring a pet rat, things couldn’t be more complicated. 

BOOK SIX

When Alex Harris and her grandmother Meme attend a pickleball supper hoping to sell some of their Calendar Boys calendars to their ideal demographic—women on hormone replacement therapy—they never thought the evening would turn deadly. But when local lecherous bully, Humphrey Bryson, ends up in the ladies room with one of his beloved dill pickles shoved down his throat, Alex springs into action to find the murderer. 

Everyone at the party is a suspect, but Meme worries the investigation may lead to one of the senior Calendar Boys.
Despite the worst winter in Indian Cove history, Alex is determined to find the killer even with her growing health concerns and a less-than enthusiastic husband hindering her sleuthing efforts. Is one of Meme’s friends headed for the pokey or did the wife do it? What Alex uncovers reaches much further than her peaceful little town and the pickleball group.

BOOK SEVEN

Alex Harris Van der Burg is looking forward to some time off with her guests, Gerard and Annie Willix. But when Sheldon Spiegel comes to town and has the nerve to get shot a few days before their arrival, Alex hopes her husband, police detective John Van der Burg, can solve the crime before Friday, say around noonish.

But their guests have different ideas. Gerard, a police detective in Belgium, immediately joins forces with John to find the murderer, while Annie and Alex conduct their own clandestine investigation trying to figure out why Mr. Spiegel thought his daughter had been switched at birth. With the help of Alex’s friend Shirley, a private investigator, and her lovable grandmother Meme and her cadre of white-haired accomplices, Alex and Annie are determined to find out if the person who switched the babies almost thirty years ago is also the person who put a bullet in Mr. Spiegel’s forehead. 

Which dynamic duo will find the guilty party first—or will Annie and Gerard return to Belgium never having solved the crime. It’s a race to the end, or as Annie would say, Game on!

You're going to enjoy this series so much! 

Don't forget to pick up your Kindle copy of 

NAILED

for only .99¢!

The .99¢ sale is available 

today, September 5 - Friday September 9!

As always, please leave a comment and 

let me know what you think!

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