Synopsis:

ED EARL BURCH HARD-BOILED TEXAS CRIME THRILLER

 

MAYHEM WITH A BADGE

After wandering the peephole wilderness of a private detective for two decades, defrocked Dallas homicide detective Ed Earl Burch is finally an official manhunter again, wearing the badge of a district attorney’s investigator working in the harsh desert mountains of West Texas.

Big D, it ain’t. And life as a resurrected lawman isn’t everything he hoped it would be. Too many rules. Not enough satisfaction. And a boss who hates him for saving his life.

But Burch is back, playing the same deadly game he mastered as a murder cop, tracking a serial killer who tortured and murdered his ex-lover with a straight razor—an Aryan Brotherhood gang leader Burch thought he killed in a desert shootout.

He’s also trying to protect the fugitive granddaughter of an old friend and her four-year-old son—from this remorseless killer and cartel gunsels hired by her incestuous Dixie Mafia daddy.

Throats get slashed. Bullets smack flesh. Bodies drop. And Ed Earl Burch and his partner, Bobby Quintero, are in reckless pursuit, dodging death, closing in on their prey.

No place Burch would rather be. Unless he gets killed.

Praise for The Fatal Saving Grace:

The Fatal Saving Grace is the Independent Press Award Distinguished Favorite for Action/Adventure 2026

“Nesbitt delivers a scorched-earth tale where every shadow conceals an ambush and every road bleeds history. He paints West Texas in colors of rust, smoke and whiskey, and the result is a story that feels carved in stone. This is cowboy noir at its finest.”
~ Baron Birtcher, Will Rogers Medallion winning author of Knife River

“Ed Earl Burch, who’s partial to Lucky Strikes and Maker’s Mark, makes Mike Hammer look like Miss Marple. Jim’s novels offer wicked humor, an eye for detail, brass-knuck action and language that would strip the paint off a Hummer.”
~ Noel Holston, author of Life After Deaf and As I Die Laughing

“Jim Nesbitt knows his Texas crime and writes one fine line at a time. Hard-boiled with prickly pears, old leather boots, a bit of tobacco, freshly spit of course, he gets it right.”
~ Joe R. Lansdale, champion mojo storyteller and author of the Hap ‘N Leonard crime thrillers

“A gritty and deadly must-read, THE FATAL SAVING GRACE cements Nesbitt’s standing among the best writers in the pantheon of Southern noir.”
~ Bruce Robert Coffin, bestselling author of the Detective Justice Mysteries

“Ed Earl Burch is back, and that’s great news for readers who love classic hard-boiled noir, colorful characters, crackling dialogue and plenty of action. Highly recommended!”
~ R.G. Belsky, author of the Gil Malloy and Clare Carlson mysteries

“Some would call it justice. Some would call it revenge. No matter what you call it, the concept has been a long running theme of the Ed Earl Burch series. The same is very much true in the fifth book of the series, The Fatal Saving Grace: An Ed Earl Burch Novel by Jim Nesbitt.”
~ ‘Ace Texas book reviewer’ Kevin Tipple

Book Details:

Genre: Hard-Boiled Crime Fiction, Western
Published by: Spotted Mule Press
Publication Date: December 15, 2025
Number of Pages: 301
ISBN: 9780998329482 (ISBN10: 0998329487)
Series: Ed Earl Burch Hard-Boiled Texas Crime Thriller, Book 5 | Each is a Stand-Alone Thriller
Book Links: Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | BookBub

Ed Earl Burch Novels, 1-4

The Last Second Chance Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | BookBub

The Right Wrong Number Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | BookBub

The Best Lousy Choice Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | BookBub

The Dead Certain Doubt Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | BookBub

Read an excerpt:

 

 

Author Bio:

Jim Nesbitt has the perfect radio face, bionic knees that can grind coffee beans and tell time and a cat who poaches his cigars and uses his cellphone to place bets on British soccer. He is also a recovering journalist who once chased politicians, neo-Nazis, hurricanes, rodeo cowboys, plane wrecks and the everyday people swept up in a news event who gave his stories depth, authenticity and a distinct voice.

A lapsed horseman, pilot, journalist and saloon sport with a keen appreciation of old guns, vintage cars, red meat, good cigars, aged whisky without an ‘e’ and a well-told story, Nesbitt is also the award-winning author of five hard-boiled Texas crime thrillers that feature battered but relentless Dallas PI Ed Earl Burch — THE LAST SECOND CHANCE, THE RIGHT WRONG NUMBER, THE BEST LOUSY CHOICE, THE DEAD CERTAIN DOUBT and THE FATAL SAVING GRACE.

A diehard Tennessee Vols fan, he now lives in enemy territory — Athens, Alabama — with his wife, Pam, and is working on his sixth Ed Earl Burch novel, THE PERFECT TRAIN WRECK. When he’s off his meds, he’s been known to call himself Reverend Jim and preach the Gospel of Hard-Boiled Crime Fiction.

Catch Up With Jim Nesbitt:

www.JimNesbittBooks.com
Jim’s Substack – @edearl56
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads
BookBub – @edearl56
Instagram – @edearl74
Threads – @edearl74
Facebook – @edearlburchbooks

 

 

#AuthorInterview with Jim Nesbitt:

What was the inspiration for this book?
A perverted sense of charity for the main character of my hard-boiled Texas crime thrillers, cashiered Dallas homicide detective Ed Earl Burch. For two decades, he’s been wandering the peephole wilderness of a private detective, longing for the sense of calling and higher purpose he had when carried the badge he lost. I wanted to give him what he wished for and see how he copes with life as a resurrected lawman, forced to take orders and work with people after living life as a loner and semi-outlaw for a long time. It’s not everything he hoped it would be, as is often the case with magnificent obsessions. Too many rules, too many people, too many years as a lone wolf and semi-outlaw unfettered by rules. I also wanted to show the hard miles he’s racked up, giving him the aches and pains of middle-aged tough guy without turning him into a cripple or a poster child for Geritol. He’s still tough, profane, ornery and reckless. And he’d still just as soon shoot you as look at you — if you’re a bad guy in need of killin’. But it’s harder for him to get out of bed in the morning.

What was the biggest challenge in beginning your writing career?
Getting started. I come from a long line of hillbilly storytellers who taught me the importance of knowing where you’re from and who your people are. Seems like I’ve always had a book in my hand and started writing at a very early age. Had some talent and was able to parlay it into a fairly successful journalism career for nearly forty years. I was lucky to break into journalism when long-format stories that used the tradecraft of fiction writing was in vogue. I was also a hard-boiled crime fiction junkie, a faithful follower of Chandler and Hammett and others who broke free from the confines of the English cozy mystery and amateur sleuths, giving crime back to the criminals of the gritty urban underworld. Wasn’t a huge leap for me to tackle my first hard-boiled crime thriller. But I’m a lazy bastard so it took me way too long to start. Wish I’d cranked it up twenty years ago. Make that twenty-five.

What do you absolutely need while writing?
Used to be George Dickel Tennessee whisky (spelled without the e), preferably hundred proof bottled-in-bond, and a damn good cigar, waiting for me at the end of a writing session. These days, it’s more likely to be cornbread and iced tea, to poach a line from Hank Williams, Jr. And a cushion for my butt.

Do you adhere to a strict routine when writing or write when the ideas are flowing?
I’m not really strict about anything and I hate routine. That said, I know the key to writing a book is the discipline to keep your butt in the chair for hours at a time and writing even when the words don’t flow. If you wait on those mystical ideas to flow, you’ll never get anywhere. I don’t punch a clock or slavishly do periodic word counts but I do put in the time it takes to write a good story. I just don’t brag about it on Facebook or my blog.

Who is your favorite character from your book and why?
Rhonda Mae Mutscher. She’s just as tough and unsinkable as Ed Earl Burch. Maybe tougher. Quicker to shoot somebody, maybe. Very much like many of the women in my books, she’s smarter than most men, Burch included. But there’s a bond between her and Burch based on the earlier experience of him helping her escape from cartel sicarios and gunrunning rivals, including the serial killer of this book, a nasty piece of work named Cleve Chizik, who Burch thought he killed during a desert shootout four or five years ago described in The Dead Certain Doubt. Because of that bond, she thinks of Burch when Dixie Mafia gunsels sent by her incestuous father chase her out of the small Colorado town where the feds stashed her as a protected witness. She also has a five-year-old son she has to protect and doesn’t trust the feds to keep her or him safe. West Texas feels safer because Burch and the family of her son’s dead father are there.

Tell us why we should read your book.
Because it bristles with relentless action, has a pulse-racer of a plot, a solid storyline, and a colorful cast of characters. It’s hard-boiled detective fiction at its finest, centered on a protagonist like no other, the deeply flawed but wildly compelling Ed Earl Burch. It’s a taut, tense, uncompromising tale of revenge and redemption — a damned good story exceptionally well-told.

Give us an interesting fun fact or a few about your book?
To give myself a little more literary license, I created two West Texas jurisdictions that are both figments of my imagination: Cuervo County, because crows are smart and fascinating birds, and the town of Faver, the county seat, named for the pioneering cattle baron of the Big Bend Country, Milton Faver. Faver was an interesting character who is mostly forgotten today. Like a lot of newcomers to Texas, both before the split from Mexico and after, he was escaping something unsavory back east. He killed a man in a duel in Missouri and fled, first to Mexico, where he worked in a flour mill than as a freighter hauling goods over the Chihuahua and Santa Fe trails, surviving an Indian attack that left him severely wounded. Although hazardous, the freighting business was profitable enough for Faver to start a general store in Ojinaga. In 1857, he moved with his wife and only son to the frontier of the Chianti Mountains in the Big Bend Country, bought land around three springs and established the Cibolo Creek ranch, building herds of cattle and sheep as well as fortress houses to repel attacks from raiding Comanche and Apache. He ruled his ranches with an iron hand and meted out justice by his own lights. He didn’t believe in credit and stood at the gate during a cattle sale, taking silver coin for each cow, steer or sheep as it passed into the corral. He died in 1889.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Like my earlier books, The Fatal Saving Grace is the polar opposite of a cozy mystery. There isn’t a lick of cuteness in it. It’s a hard-bitten tale told in the hard-boiled style of Chandler, Hammett and later-day writers like the late, great James Crumley. It’s raunchy and violent with no punches pulled or euphemisms used to protect delicate sensibilities. And most of the people rambling around the stark, harsh beauty of West Texas have been honed, beaten and shaped by this land. They’ve all got some hard bark on them. And even the good guys have a mean streak and do bad things to get the job done according to what they think is right. It’s country that demands rough justice and Ed Earl Burch has been given a badge again to deliver just that.

Tell us a little about yourself and your background?
The Irish say that writers are failed talkers — guilty as charged since I always tell people it’s a damn good thing I write better than I talk because the way I talk is a curious mixture of 40s and 50s tough-guy jargon and cowboy lingo. I was born up North, near Philadelphia, but my parents were both North Carolina hillbillies from around Asheville. My sister and I weren’t Yankee-raised and we spent a lot of time with the country cousins when we were young during extended summer road trips. I was a journalist for almost forty years, nearly twenty of that spent as a roving correspondent for newspapers and wire services, parachuting into big stories of the moment, from presidential campaigns to hurricanes, and chasing big trends like the ongoing battle over public land use in the West, a vicious and long-running fight about grazing rights, mining and logging, or the rise of neo-Nazis and Christian Patriots in the mountain West. That experience taught me to look for the telling detail and listen for the voices of the people swept up in an event. I was also fascinated by the features of the land where people lived and the impact of that place as they tried to extract a living from it. That fascination is very much a result of my parents instilling in me a keen sense of place — knowing where you’re from and who your people are — something I believe is vitally important in storytelling. The place where you set your story should be as alive and vivid as you can make it — a character unto itself, not a one-dimensional stage flat in a play.

What’s next that we can look forward to from you?
I’ve been accused of writing thinly disguised Westerns and, truth be told, that’s a strong undercurrent that threatens to break the surface in all my books. Ed Earl Burch doesn’t wear a white hat, but he has a code he tries to live by and a strong sense of right and wrong. I’ve decided to let him rest a bit and resume writing a Western set in the 1920s in one of the rowdy oil boomtowns of the Texas Panhandle. I’ve created a character I think fans of Ed Earl Burch will like, a morally ambiguous gypsy lawman named Charley Mack Kincaid, whose been a cowhand, a deputy, a Texas Ranger and a Pinkerton agent, tapped by a Ranger styled after the legendary Frank Hamer to go undercover and help bust open the ring running the town. I’ve also got two more Ed Earl Burch novels rattling around my brainpan that I’ll get around to writing after I finish this Western, tentatively titled Boomtown Blood, which is the most unambiguous and straightforward title I’ve ever created. Gotta do something about that.

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Synopsis:

Connie Tucker, a free-spirited beach bartender, has been estranged from her family in New Jersey ever since her actress mother, Simone, disappeared one night during a violent storm at the theatre where she was rehearsing. Uncontrollable and in a rage at the loss of her parent, fifteen-year-old Connie is exiled to California, due to her delinquent behavior, to live with an aunt she doesn’t know. Now, fifteen years later, Simone’s murdered remains are discovered at a construction site and Connie returns to the east coast for the funeral—she owes it to her mother. The cold case unit will take over now and solve the crime. But then she discovers a message her mother left behind. It feels like a dispatch from the grave. Connie must face her tortured past, the guilt of concealing a devastating secret, and the part she played in her mother’s disappearance. Unearthing buried family history and childhood demons, she confronts the agonizing reality that she doesn’t know where she belongs, where to call home. Who to trust. When a second suspicious death occurs, Connie races to unravel the events of the night Simone disappeared. Her mother was the first to die…but not the last.

Book Details:

Genre: Domestic Suspense
Published by: Between the Lines Publishing
Publication Date: November 18, 2025
Number of Pages: 334 (Pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-965059-65-4
Book Links: Amazon | KindleUnlimited | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | BookBub | Between the Lines Publishing

Read an excerpt:

 

 

Author Bio:

Suzanne Trauth is a novelist and playwright. Her novels include The First to Die, What Remains of Love (a first-place winner in Women’s Fiction, Firebird Book Awards; a finalist in General Fiction, American Book Festival; and a finalist for the Hemingway Prize) and the Dodie O’Dell mystery series–Show Time, Time Out, Running Out of Time, Just in Time, No More Time and Killing Time. Ms. Trauth has co-authored Sonia Moore and American Acting Training and co-edited Katrina on Stage: Five Plays. She is a former member of the theatre faculty at a university and is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the Dramatists Guild, and the League of Professional Theatre Women.

Q&A With Suzanne Trauth:

What was the inspiration for this book?

I first got the idea for the book several years ago when I heard a story about an elderly woman. The details about the woman were interesting and I thought she’d make a great character. But as I wrote and rewrote—and received editorial feedback—the murder mystery morphed and the woman, who initially was a witness to a killing, became a background character. Though the plot changed over a number of drafts, the elderly woman hung around! With a name and nationality change by the final version of The First to Die, she remained in the story and helped provide clues and move the plot forward. But she triggered my initial thinking about the story.

What was the biggest challenge in beginning your writing career?

I find the first drafts fun…just letting my imagination go and playing with characters and story, knowing that most things will change in the revision process. For me, the revision process is more challenging, less freewheeling, more structured, and requires more attention to detail. Staying patient with the project and letting it develop more deeply can also be challenging for me. Early on, it was challenging to find time to write while I was still working full time. I had to carve out certain hours of certain days; once I had projects completed, the challenge was finding publishers. It took years and hundreds of query letters to finally get a publisher with my first mystery series. I was fortunate to find publishers who believed in my projects.

What do you absolutely need while writing?

I’d like to say I need a clear workspace, but unfortunately, that’s not true! My desk is overflowing with papers, notes, books, to-do lists, and post-it notes. Though it’s rather messy, somehow I am able to keep order in my creative imagination as I work. And I need my mug of tea…usually some herbal blend.

Do you adhere to a strict routine when writing or write when the ideas are flowing?

I am not a 5:30 a.m. writer like some authors I know. I tend to spend the mornings doing life chores and busywork unrelated to writing; then I settle in in the afternoon and write—often rereading yesterday’s work before tackling new material or new revisions. I write most days to keep on a self-imposed schedule, especially when I have a publisher deadline. It’s great to work when the ideas are flowing, but sometimes discipline requires showing up at the computer even when ideas are only coming in fits and starts.

Who is your favorite character from your book and why?

I have a couple of favorite characters. Of course I love my protagonist, Connie Tucker. She is obsessive about finding her mother’s killer and who can’t identify with someone so committed to a goal? So willing to pull out all the stops in achieving her objective. I also love the elderly woman I mentioned earlier—the one who hung around and wouldn’t go away. Her name is Deirdre O’Shaughnessy and she provides a bit of humor in the story.

Tell us why we should read your book.

I feel that The First to Die is entertaining, providing the reader an experience that combines both a suspense story and a family narrative. There is certainly a “whodunnit” element to the novel, but also a “whydunnit,” and, at the same time, there is a story about a family and how it handles the crime at the core of the book. I want my readers to go on a journey with the characters, especially my protagonist, and feel into the story. That may mean laughing or crying, empathizing with the characters’ wants and needs and challenges.

Give us an interesting fun fact or a few about your book.

I used a town near where I live as a model for the setting in The First to Die. It was a perfect location for the action of the mystery. I loved a particular house on a lovely street as one of the homes my characters inhabit. I would pass this house whenever I was in the town and it was my favorite. Fast forward to last month and I am discussing the book with a local library group. We had barely begun the discussion when one participant announced, “I recognized the town you used as a model in the book.” I was impressed! Then she went on to add, “In fact, I know the exact house you also used.” I was flabbergasted…she was correct.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Thanks for the opportunity to talk about The First to Die—in my experience, authors love to discuss current projects. We spend so much time by ourselves with characters and plot points in our heads that it’s great to be able to share the process of creating the novel and the writing life. While all of my murder mysteries take place in New Jersey, the state really is a lovely place to live. And stay alive…

Tell us a little about yourself and your background.

I started writing novels full time when I retired from teaching at a university in the theatre program here in New Jersey, so theatres figure prominently in my mysteries. I started out with a cozy mystery series: the Dodie O’Dell Mysteries, and wrote six of them before I switched genres and published a women’s fiction/historical romance based on a true story and set in part in WWII. But for my recent novel, The First to Die, I returned to the mystery genre and wrote psychological suspense. Before the novels, I wrote screenplays and plays, both of which helped me with structure, creating characters, and writing dialogue.

What’s next that we can look forward to from you?

I am a couple of drafts into a new mystery that again takes place in a small town in New Jersey. The story involves four sisters and includes a historical element; I’m not completely sure whether this is a cozy mystery or a thriller. We’ll see…

Catch Up With Suzanne Trauth:

www.SuzanneTrauth.com
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads, @suzannetrauth
BookBub, @trauths1
Instagram, @suzannetrauth
Facebook, @suzanne.trauth.2025
Facebook, @SuzanneTrauth (Author)

 

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Synopsis:

 

No one but Hannah Johansson believes her father was murdered. Not even her mother. The doctors say he had a stroke, but Hannah knows he was poisoned. She just doesn’t know who did it or why. One thing she does know is that the answers can be found at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, a pristine 9,000 acre nature preserve where her father was superintendent.

When she goes back to the Refuge, instead of answers, all she finds are more questions. Ominous questions. Where are all the birds? Why is there a heavily armed guard at the gate? What’s in the mysterious bundles being dropped off there in the middle of the night? When the police won’t investigate, Hannah is determined to find the answers herself, and she won’t quit until she learns the truth. Not even after she is shot at, thrown in jail, and beaten up by a 300-pound lesbian biker.

Praise for Hard Headed Woman:

“A gamesome detective story, dramatically absorbing and intelligently wrought.”
~ Kirkus Reviews

“Hard Headed Woman is a refreshingly original story, free of many of the tropes often associated with mystery novels. That alone makes it deliciously difficult for the reader to guess who did what, and that makes this story one of the better mysteries we’ve read recently.”
~ The Mystery Review Crew

“The writing was exquisite, with vivid descriptions of all the events. It was a gripping read, especially with all the changes happening in the wildlife refuge. I found the story thoroughly enjoyable and was engrossed until the final page. The conclusion was a major surprise, and I did not expect it at all.”
~ Readers’ Favorite

Hard Headed Woman #AuthorInterview:

What was the inspiration for this book?
Much of the action in Hard Headed Woman takes place at the Jamaica Wildlife Sanctuary, a place I have visited many times. It’s a 12,000-acre forever-wild marshland in the middle of New York City, right across the bay from JFK Airport. I thought it would be a great setting for a mystery-thriller. It always struck me that an ingenious way to smuggle contraband out of the airport would be to ferry it across the bay to the Refuge.

What was the biggest challenge in beginning your writing career?
As a copywriter and creative director on Madison Avenue, with a wife and young daughter at home, it was difficult to carve out time to write. Sometimes, after a long day of sitting, thinking, and writing at a computer, doing the same thing for several more hours was the last thing I wanted to do when I came home. I had to fight the urge just to veg out in front of the TV, then drag myself, mentally kicking and screaming, down to my basement office. Thankfully, once there, the writing adrenaline kicked in.

What do you absolutely need while writing?
I need a few hours with zero distractions. Sometimes I’ll listen to music while working, jazz or classical, but no vocals. The only words I want to hear are the ones in my head.

Do you adhere to a strict routine when writing, or write when the ideas are flowing?
I don’t have a strict routine, but it’s because I’m waiting for a chunk of time, as opposed to waiting for ideas. Many of my most interesting ideas come when I’m nowhere near my computer or even a notepad, like on a walk or while driving. I’ll yell the idea out loud to myself two or three times to help me remember it, which makes for some strange stares from people who are walking near me. Then, when I get a chance, I’ll write it on an index card or sticky note. Hopefully, once I’m at my desk, the note that I wrote to myself will still make sense.

Who is your favorite character from your book and why?
I really enjoyed writing about Hannah’s sidekick Bette, who is struggling through some major life decisions about her career, her sexuality, and her entire identity. That being said, sometimes a minor character pops up and turns out to be more interesting and fun to write than I first thought. Two examples from TV that come to mind are Klinger on MASH, who was only supposed to be in one or two episodes and became a co-star, and Robin Williams as Mork from Ork, who was on a single episode of Happy Days, and wound up with his own show. That character in Hard Headed Woman was Salazar. She’s a wisecracking EMT who was a combat medic in Afghanistan. She was supposed to be a minor character in a scene, and she wound up dominating it. Don’t be surprised if she turns up as a major character in the next Hannah Johansson story.

Tell us why we should read your book.
Hard Headed Woman is a fun and exciting read with plenty of thrills and laughs. Hannah and Bette are unique characters who you won’t find in most mysteries. I also think most readers will be surprised to learn about the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. The book deals with some serious topics on family dynamics, including but not limited to what happens when a headstrong adult daughter has to move in with her elderly but still vital mother. There are also some facts that I discovered about the aftermath of the Iraq War that will intrigue many readers.

Give us an interesting, fun fact or a few about your book.
Hannah Johansson, the Hard Headed Woman of the title and main character of the book, is based on my wife, Chris. Like Hannah, Chris grew up on the Jamaica Wildlife Refuge, where her father was superintendent. She lived there with her mom and dad until she left to attend college. It was from her that I learned what it was like to spend your formative years in an isolated semi-wilderness, miles away from your school and your friends in New York City. Of course, Chris never had the exciting, death-defying adventures that Hannah experiences.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
I’d like to thank everyone reading this for loving books. In today’s multifaceted media landscape, along with attention spans that are ever dwindling, as an author, it’s comforting to know that there are still a good number of people out there willing to devote the time, effort, and energy it takes to read an entire novel.

Tell us a little about yourself and your background.
My daughter wrote this about me when she was 11. She’s now in her mid-thirties. I think it still works.
‘Howard Gimple is a parent to Rebecca Johnson Gimple. He is husband to Christine Johnson. Howard is tall and has big feet. He has a large nose and a beard, and a mustache. He is bald but has hair on the back of his head. Howard has big ears and usually wears weird Goofy clothing in his free time. Howard is very humorous. He tells many jokes all the time. Howard is great fun. He makes things into games. He lets me water ski on his legs and plays games with my friends and me. He makes jokes EVERYWHERE! He likes rock music, and I have to fight with him when we decide what to listen to in the car. He likes the Beatles, Kinks, and Rolling Stones. Howard Gimple is my dad.’

What’s next that we can look forward to from you?
I have a lot of story ideas floating around in my head right now. I’m jotting down ideas for the next adventure of Hannah and Bette. I’m also thinking about a story featuring Mercutio, my favorite character in Romeo and Juliet. In Shakespeare’s play, he dies at the beginning of Act 3. In my version, he is only slightly wounded, fakes his death, and goes back to Florence, where he gets into more mischief, gets involved in a civil war, and wreaks havoc among the young women of the city. I’m also toying with my version of a modern picaresque novel like On the Road, about two young wannabe hippies hitchhiking from New York to San Francisco in 1969, the year of Woodstock, Altamont, and the first lunar landing.

Book Details:

Genre: Mystromedy (a mystery comedy)
Published by: MYSTROMEDY BOOKS
Publication Date: June 22, 2024
Number of Pages: 416
ISBN: 979-8990761513
Book Links: Amazon | KindleUnlimited | Goodreads | BookBub

Read an excerpt:

 

 

Author Bio:

Howard Gimple was a writer at Newsday, the editor of a newsletter for the New York Giants football team, and a copywriter and creative director for several New York ad agencies. He has written English dialogue for the American releases of Japanese anime cartoons, reviewed books for the Long Island History Journal, and written movie scripts for a pay-per-view television network.

Howard was Chief Creative Officer at TajMania Entertainment, a film and TV production company dedicated to creating socially conscious programming. He wrote the award-winning documentary, ‘The Garbageman,’ about a waste management executive who helped save the lives of more than 50,000 children with congenital heart disease. He was a writer and sports editor for the Stony Brook University alumni magazine. He also taught two seminars at the university, ‘Rock & Relevance,’ about the political influence of 60’s rock & roll and ‘Filthy Shakespeare, ‘ exploring the dramatic use of sexual puns and innuendos in the Bard’s plays and poems.

He grew up in Brooklyn, lived in Manhattan and Long Island, and now lives in Glendora, California, with his wife and goldendoodle.

Catch Up With Howard Gimple:

howardgimple.com
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads
BookBub – @howardgimple
Facebook – @authorhowardgimple

 

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Giveaway: Murder, Mayhem, and a Hard Headed Heroine

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Synopsis:

A BOUNTY OF SHADOWS

 

In bounty hunting, clean jobs are a myth. Dot knows—she’s seen the blood.

Dot Ybarra doesn’t bluff. Fresh into her bounty hunting career, she’s already earning a reputation for results. But when a “routine” rogue bounty—taken as a favor to her lawyer cousin—turns lethal, she’s staring down a case with international reach, bodies in its wake, and the stench of power.

Her business partner, T.J. Roman, is hiding a secret. If Dot finds out … well, she can’t find out. It would end the effective partnership they’ve built. But the trail won’t wait. What should have been a clean pickup of a fellow military veteran spirals into a hunt through the shadows, where one wrong move could see them both buried in an unmarked grave.

To stop the predators at the center of a violent trafficking ring, they’ll have to go straight into its core—and make themselves the bait. Every step makes them vulnerable to each other as well.

The devil’s coming for them.

Dot plans to be the one still standing after he bites.

Bait the Devil Trailer:

Book Details:

Genre: Modern Western Thriller
Published by: Tule Mystery
Publication Date: January 19, 2026
Number of Pages: 285
ISBN: 9781969218651 (ISBN10: 1969218657)
Series: A BOUNTY OF SHADOWS, Book 2 {Amazon, Tule}
Book Links: Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | Apple Books | Goodreads | BookBub | Tule Mystery

Bait the Devil #AuthorInterview:

What was the inspiration for this book?
I don’t think I really had any inspiration. This series, A Bounty of Shadows, is more about where the characters lead me, and Dot Ybarra is running the show. If there was any real inspiration, it was to bring forth more about the plight of U.S. veterans and their silent warfare.

What was the biggest challenge in beginning your writing career?
If we’re talking about the very start of my publishing career, it was gaining traction and readers. It’s very hard right out of the gate to get as many interested readers as possible and hold them. Once you build that backlist and connections, those readers come easier and more often.
It’s also hard to make the right connections at first. But if you stick with it and network in the right circles, you will make the connections that will help drive up visibility.

What do you absolutely need while writing?
Being left alone. I’m at the point in my life where I have an empty nest, but I still have to send my husband out the door in order to focus, or he’ll drive me nuts while he’s goofing off and watching videos and such online. Course, during football season, that becomes even more difficult, but I find ways around it.

Do you adhere to a strict routine when writing or write when the ideas are flowing?
Routine? What’s that? The only thing routine for me is the day job four days a week and the farm chores I need to handle on a daily basis. I try to get writing in early in the morning before I leave for work, and on the weekends. Most of the time I’m looking down the barrel at a deadline and that’s when the butt in chair has to happen and then the words come. Otherwise, I’m such a pantser that most of the writing hits me in spurts.

Who is your favorite character from your book and why?
I love Dot, I really do, but the precocious Bethany has really taken over. Her interactions with Dot and T.J. are some of my favorite scenes in the book. If things progress as I hope, Bethany will be to Dot what Wonder Girl was to Wonder Woman. Bethany got a rough start to her life, but her newly adopted aunt in Dot has changed her path drastically and that girl will have her own starring role if ya’ll help keep the series alive. 😉

Tell us why we should read your book.
If you love anything western, thriller, mystery, and action driven, these books are right up your alley. And if you truly love having a female lead who can kick some serious bad guy butt, then you’ll really love Dot.

Give us an interesting fun fact or a few about your book?
Dot’s love of cigars stems from some wonderful women in my life who have taken up cigar smoking. In addition to being a cigar consignor, Dot does not drink. She might have a beer on a rare occasion, but her preferred drink of choice is coffee. Dot has a few other neat quirks that you’ll need to read in Ride a Dark Trail and Bait the Devil to learn what those are.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
If you enjoyed reading the book, liked it, or even loved it, please let the author know in some form or fashion. If that means reaching out to the author directly or leaving a rating/review for the book. We can’t do this without the readers.

Tell us a little about yourself and your background?
I’m Midwestern by birth and still. I’m a Jane of all trades kinda woman with a burning desire to run my own homestead with a huge herd of goats while I pour out more thrilling books. All of my writing education came at the feet of learning from other successful authors and professionals in the publishing industry and still learning as I grow. I love to pay it forward and when given the opportunity, I teach workshops for the younger/budding writers.

What’s next that we can look forward to from you?
I’m finishing up the 5th book in my police procedural/mystery Benoit and Dayne series and gearing up to write book 3 in the Bounty of Shadows series. I’ll be making appearances at a lot of local or Iowa-based bookstores when I can with a run out to Chicago for a one day mystery conference in April. And digging in for the upcoming show goat season with my nieces that will round out with our county fair and the Iowa State fair shows.

Read an excerpt:

From Chapter 1

Two hours later, they had managed to corral the quickly sobering Freddy into the back of the Suburban, with no more eventful chases, and turn him over to the county jail. Freddy’s bail bondsman paid out their fair share of the bond and a huge tip after some hard pressing on T.J.’s part about the circumstances leading up to Freddy’s apprehension. Once the check was cashed, a celebratory late lunch at one of the best Basque eateries Dot had found in Boise was the best way to top off a successful day of bounty hunting.

Parked behind the Bar Gernika, she and T.J. sat in the back end of the Chevy Suburban with the hatch up eating chorizo sandwiches with smoked cod croquetas and a bowl of green olives dripping in garlic olive oil. Dot slurped down half of her Coke, then shook the ice in her cup.

T.J. pointed the remains of his smoked beef chorizo at her. “We should register for the SHOT show in Vegas.”

“Why?”

“Because we can.” T.J. pulled his duh face.

Dot rolled her eyes and bit into her sandwich.

“Have you ever been there?” T.J. asked.

She shook her head, wiping smokey chorizo juice from the corner of her mouth.

“The woman raised to be a hunter and a firearms collector has never been to the great SHOT show?” He lowered his reflective sunglasses and eyed her over the top of the rims. “Never?”

“You do realize my family wasn’t made of money.” Dot popped one of the croquetas into her mouth. “And that’s in the dead of winter, when we couldn’t just up and run off while we were in the middle of lambing season.”

“All the more reason you should go now.” T.J. grinned. “A lot of the best bounty hunters meet up there.”

Dot scowled at her partner and sometimes bunk buddy. “Lemme guess. You wanna show off your shiny new partner to the boys?”

“Maybe.” His grin turned devilish. “Or maybe I wanna see you kick their asses.”

Dot wadded up the sandwich wrapper and chucked it at T.J.’s head. “I’m not a toy.”

The crumbled ball of waxed paper bounced off his forehead and landed on the Suburban floor between them.

“Really? Then why are you so easy to wind up?”

“You sonofa—” Dot lunged for his throat but was quickly subdued.

Their moment of levity was interrupted by a shrill ring from T.J.’s phone.

“Damn it,” he snapped and patted down his body in search for his cell.

Dot found it lying on the makeshift floor behind his hulking frame. She snatched it up and checked the screen. She batted her eyelashes at T.J.

“Don’t you dare,” he snarled.

She pressed the green icon to answer the call. “Well, hello, cousin dearest.”

Lawyer-extraordinaire and covert purveyor of information, Vivian Montgomery was Dot’s second cousin. And apparently had earned a spot on T.J.’s contact list under the moniker of Hot Ass Lawyer.

“Dot? When did you start taking business calls?” Vivian asked, her brisk tone underscored by the sound of her heavy breathing.

“What are you doing?” Dot asked. “You sound like you’re saving the horse and riding a cowboy.”

“Oh, grow up. I’m on a treadmill. Put T.J. on the phone.”

“You shouldn’t run on those things. They destroy your knees and back,” Dot chided.

“When I want health advice from a cigar smoker who jumps from helicopters for fun, I’ll call.”

“I don’t jump from the helo. Unless it’s crashing. Even then, that’s sketchy shit.”

T.J., giving a rumbling growl, jerked the phone from Dot, and pressed it to his ear. “Vivian, what do you need?” He waited a moment, then with another low growl, pulled the phone from his ear and put it on speaker. “You’re on speaker.”

“I need a huge favor from the two of you.”

“When you say huge favor, how huge are we talking?” Dot asked.

“You know, I think I liked you better when you were a brooding, isolated eremite whose main goal in life was equal parts trying to piss off her mother and keep her out of trouble,” Vivian shot back.

“Love you too, coz.”

“Now shut up and let me finish.” The whining sound of the treadmill belt slowing echoed over the phone connection. “I just got a call from one of my colleagues. She had a client fail to appear today.”

“Shouldn’t the defendant’s bail bondsman be calling us?” T.J. asked.

“It’s … complicated.”

Dot smiled as T.J. groaned.

“Vivian, every time you rope us into one of your firm’s problems with their unruly children, we’re out money, time, and patience. We’re called bounty hunters for a reason. Bounty is in the name.”

“Roman, if you keep up the condescending behavior, I’ll expose your dirty little secret.”

“Dirty secret, huh,” Dot piped in. “What’s that?”

He thrust a finger at her nose. “None of your business. Vivian, if you so much as breathe out of line, I’ll make you regret it.”

“Will you do me the favor?”

T.J. stared at Dot, who shrugged as if to say, Why not?

“Fine. Mark my words, I’ll be cashing in on this huge favor sooner than you think.”

“I wouldn’t have bothered you with this, expect the guy is a veteran, and you two being veterans yourself, I figured he’d be more likely to work with you than anyone else.”

“What’s on his file?” Dot asked.

“That’s the complicated part. Officially, his file says he was picked up a third time for carrying with the intent to sell. Unofficially, he’s … classified.”

Dot frowned as she and T.J. locked eyes. As a former army ranger who spent a lot of time flying in and out of forward operating bases in Afghanistan, T.J. knew all about classified situations. Dot, as the main helicopter pilot shuttling him and his team back and forth, though never read in on his actual missions, typically was under strict orders of her own.

“Vivian, I’m not getting fuzzy feelings about this,” T.J. said.

“Neither am I. It’s why I’m calling the two of you in. The judge wants to issue a bench warrant. My colleague was able to ask for a delay before it’s submitted. She was given three hours to present her client or the warrant is released. If you’d rather, you could consider this job PI work instead of fugitive recovery.”

The shingle hanging outside their business office did say private investigators. At this point, that title belonged to T.J. and T.J. alone.

“Still not selling me on this,” he said. “If there’s no bench warrant, there’s no cash for catching him.”

“Hang on.” Vivian spoke to someone, her voice muffled, then she was back. “The firm will pay you a finder’s fee.”

T.J. continued to stare at Dot. She could sense what he was thinking. He was torn. Take this off-the-cuff job and cash in on the favor department with Vivian to help a fellow veteran? Or say fuck it and play hooky for the rest of the day like he’d planned?

Dot didn’t really have much of a say in the business dealings of their partnership since she was eight months into the training phase as a fugitive recovery agent and she wasn’t a licensed PI. It didn’t stop T.J. from pressing her for her opinion, who argued that, because she was about to start taking bounties on her own, she needed to take the reins more often.

“If it helps you make a decision, I’ve got his last known address and a phone number along with a photo,” Vivian said. “This won’t be a hard catch.”

“Stop saying that. Every time you tell me it’s an easy one, it turns into a disaster,” T.J. snarled.

“He’s right,” Dot added.

“Okay, I retract my statement. But, please say yes. Huge favor to me. I’ll do anything.”

“Anything?”

Dot glared at him.

“Within reason,” Vivian shot back.

“We’ll do it,” Dot said, tired of T.J.’s runaround. “Send us the four-one-one, and we’ll go check it out.”

T.J. glared at her; his dark eyes flashed a warning. Dot returned his glare with a smug look of her own that dared him to bring it.

“Thank you, coz. Hurry. There’s only two hours left before the bench warrant goes out. Then it’ll be a free-for-all.”

“You couldn’t have called us about this an hour ago?” T.J. groused.

“Shut your yap, Roman,” Vivian said. “There. Info sent.”

His phone dinged.

“His name is Cade Porter. He was a staff sergeant in the Marine Corps.” Vivian sucked in a breath. “Oooh.”

“Oooh, what?” T.J. insisted.

“If this is right, he was in an artillery unit.”

“Oh my God.” T.J. groaned.

Dot grinned. Not only did acting on a favor for Vivian chafe T.J. in the chaps, but doing it for a Marine with explosives expertise was going to make that chafe burn. Throughout their long, storied history, there had always been a deep-seated friendly animosity between the army and the Marines. Push came to shove, however, they still had each other’s backs.

“If that crayon eater blows us up, I’m going to haunt you,” he said.

“I look forward to the visits. Now get going.” Vivian ended the call.

T.J. shoved his phone in a side pocket of his cargo pants. “Tell me again why we let Vivian help us out?”

“Because,” Dot said as she scooted out of the SUV’s backend, “she’s good for the money. And I trust her intel more than I would some of your bail bondsmen.”

“You say that because you’re biased.”

“Nire familia da. Garrantzitsua da.”

T.J. paused before closing the hatch. “I speak Pashto, Arabic, some Spanish, and Oklahoman. I do not speak Basque.”

Dot chuckled. “Time to learn, Danger Ranger.”

“Load up and let’s roll.”

***

Excerpt from Bait the Devil by Winter Austin. Copyright 2026 by Winter Austin. Reproduced with permission from Winter Austin. All rights reserved.

 

 

Author Bio:

Winter Austin perpetually answers the question: “were you born in the winter?” with a flat “nope,” but believe her, there is a story behind her name.

A lifelong Mid-West gal with strong ties to the agriculture world, Winter grew up listening to the captivating stories told by relatives around a table or a campfire. As a published author, she learned her glass half-empty personality makes for a perfect suspense/thriller writer. Taking her ability to verbally spin a vivid and detailed story, Winter translated that into writing deadly romantic suspense, mysteries, and thrillers.

When she’s not slaving away at the computer, you can find Winter supporting her daughter in cattle shows, seeing her three sons off into the wide-wide world, loving on her fur babies, prodding her teacher husband, and nagging at her flock of hens to stay in the coop or the dogs will get them.

She is the author of multiple novels.

Catch Up With Winter Austin:

AuthorWinterAustin.com
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads
BookBub – @WinterAustin
Instagram – @iasuspensewriter
Facebook – @author.winteraustin

 

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