5th Story! "Red Mask" ~ last in the *Sailing with Mystery* series with Isabella Newcombe Tarrant

Newest Release ~ "Red Mask"

5th and Final Story in the Sailing with Mystery collection

Isabella receives a disturbing letter—only for it to be stolen before she deciphers it.

The letter claims that a spy is aboard the Garipoola, but is that the only person hiding their true identity and purpose on the passenger ship?

Link to Wide Distribution

Link for Amazon

While the stories are complete on their own, 

the greatest enjoyment comes 

when you read them in order.

"Amber Dreams"

1st 

in the Sailing With Mystery collection

Blackmail threatens a young bride when her secret diary is stolen. Her marriage of convenience is threatened if the contents are revealed to her new husband and his autocratic mother.

Can Isabella recover the diary before the bride loses all hope?

Link to Wide Distribution.

Link for Amazon.

"Purple Poison"

2nd 

A flurry of poison pen letters unsettle the passengers on the ship Nomadic. Even Isabella is not immune from the vicious invective.

Will the culprit be discovered before dangerous secrets are revealed?

Link to Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and more.

Link to Amazon

"Black Heart"

3rd

Pranks and tricks cause inconvenience, misery, and embarrassment.

After one prank goes too far and injury occurs, will Isabella locate the trickster before the next mishap turns deadly?

Link to Worldwide Distributors like B&N, Kobo, and more

Link to Amazon

Silver Web

4th

Lady Bernhardt’s diamond necklace is stolen. Other jewelry is missing. Suspicions and accusations fly among the passengers of the ship Garipoola.

Then the thief dies in a freak accident, proof of his theft in hand. Will Isabella locate his accomplice and the missing jewelry before they reach the next port?

Link to Worldwide Distribution

Link to Amazon

Sailing With Mystery ~ 

Travel presents opportunities to meet new friends and see new places. Isabella also encounters puzzling crimes and dangerous intrigue as she sails from England to India.

The fifth and last short story is "Red Mask", coming soon. Then the entire collection will be collected into a single anthology. (cover below).

. ~ . ~ . ~ .

In discussing  the covers with Kim, the design project manager at Deranged Doctor Design, we decided to avoid the problem with so few accurate images from 1921. Instead, we chose to emphasize the protagonist Isabella's art with five watercolor images. Finding similar images became the next design challenge. We hope that the ones we have picked not only represent Isabella's venture into watercolors but also the atmosphere and settings for the story.

The covers represent the coastlines that Isabella would have seen during her ocean voyage. "Amber Dreams" focuses on the French and Spanish coasts. "Purple Poison" would be anything she saw from Gibraltar to Rhodes.

The primary cover harks to Isabella standing to one side of the image. The ocean and the railing of the ship evoke where she is while the tumultuous sky echoes the mysteries she encounters while aboard the passenger ship.

Enjoy!

Summer Newsletter

 Snail Speed in Summer

Hi all! It’s Summertime. Is your living easy?

My summer living is better than this past spring when I had a lingering sickness for a solid month which continued as the doldrums until mid-May.

Needless to say, my writing schedule exploded and rained the fragments upon me.

publications to announce for Summer

Even with all of the problems, the ideas never stopped, just the time and energy for the writing of those ideas. Here's what has developed --

Sailing with Mystery ~ a short story collection that follows artist Isabella Newcombe Tarrant on her ocean voyage from England. She sails on a passenger ship to join her husband Madoc in India.

Four of the five stories are currently available in e-book.

“Amber Dreams” ~ Blackmail threatens a young bride. Can Isabella recover a stolen diary before the bride loses all hope?

“Purple Poison” ~ Poison pen letters filled with vicious invective attack the passengers on the ship Nomadic. Will Isabella discover the culprit before tragedy occurs?

“Black Heart” ~ A trickster targets the passengers aboard ship. When one prank causes injury, can Isabella locate the trickster before the next mishap turns deadly?

“Silver Web” ~ Accusations fly when passengers discover a jewel thief at work. When the thief dies, proof of theft in his hand, will Isabella locate his accomplice and the missing jewelry before they reach the next port?

Here are links to the first story.

Worldwide Distribution:   https://books2read.com/u/3yWAAl

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C1YG2J6Q

 

The fifth and final story for Summer is “Red Mask”.

Isabella receives a disturbing letter—only for it to be stolen before she deciphers it. The letter claims that a spy is aboard, but is that the only person hiding their true identity on the passenger ship?

. ~. ~ . ~ .

Sailing with Mystery, the collection, will publish very soon after the final short story. The ebook will be up very quickly, with the paperback and the audiobook in the following weeks.

 

After Summer Fun, Autumn Mystery

These short stories injected themselves, wholly unexpectedly, into my writing schedule. I thought I waved goodbye to Isabella when I published Portrait with Death. Imagine my surprise when she demanded this ocean voyage while my writing brain was telling me to write something else.

That something else is the next novella in the series Miss Beale Writes: a Touch of Mystery, a Touch of Gothic, a Touch of Romance

The Bride in Ghostly White is a Victorian gothic, and I can’t wait to see this mystery develop.

The Bride will pair with The Dark Lord, which came out in Winter 2022.

Following in the Miss Beale Writes series are medieval / renaissance and cavalier / Georgian novella.

All of these stories will definitely keep me busy.

And that’s a good thing!

 

Visit the Writers’ Ink website ~ www.writersinkbooks.com or https://maleebooks.blogspot.com/ for updates about the publication of “Red Mask” and Sailing with Mystery.

Survive the Heat!

M.A. Lee