Fictionalized and True Crime Set in and Around Carlisle, PA.
In Madam Bessie Jones: Her Life and Times, Jones emerges from the shadows of Carlisle, Pennsylvania history — first working in her mother Cora Andrews' bawdy house, then running her own brothel from the Roaring Twenties through the chaotic sixties, until her murder on October 1, 1972. For fifty years, she catered to the area's elite white clientele: lawyers, judges, businessmen, and state senators.
This narrative history traces Jones's struggles to operate a successful, if illegal, enterprise — drawing on actual anecdotes to illuminate the risks, relationships, and resilience that defined her career. The account follows her repeated run-ins with the law, culminating in her murder and the sensational trial that followed.
"This is a a great book, and integral story and a massive spotlight on the misogyny and racism that brought us where we are today." -- Pat LaMarche, author of Still Left Out in America
In the first book of the series, Dying for Vengeance, Carlisle Homicide Detective Erin McCoy battles the jitters as the first woman in Homicide partnered with Senior Detective Christopher Snow. On their first case, they track a serial killer who’s stalking family members embroiled in an inheritance dispute. The criminal dispatches his victims with toxic chemicals. As the detectives chase clues and connect the related victims, their mutual attraction blooms while she nurses him after a shooting incident. But sparks fly when FBI Special Agent Howard offers McCoy a job if she’ll train at Quantico. McCoy returns to Carlisle when she learns she has a rival for Snow’s affections.
Snow’s former partner, Reese Savage, returns to the CPD from Middle-East deployments expecting to resume their bachelor ways. Savage's ire results in a PTSD spike while he’s tailing a suspect. In the interim, Chief March reassigns McCoy to the K9 Unit. When Mac becomes a target, she learns that she needs Chris to shove and shock her into life.
In the second Carlisle Crimes Case, Courting Doubt and Darkness, Homicide Detectives Christopher Snow and Erin McCoy tail a killer who stymies the police with multiple MO’s. While McCoy testifies at the trial of sisters who kidnapped her in Dying for Vengeance, Snow and Savage recover a nude body from the Letort Spring. While tracking sparse clues, another killing surfaces that rings alarms: the victims were connected. The chase leads to an active Marcellus gas well. As police tangle with hostile suspects, they are courting doubt and darkness, leaving the comfort of Carlisle to the wilds of the Raccoon Mountain. When eight-month pregnant McCoy joins the case, she discovers her Native American relatives are involved. Then she stumbles into the killer’s path! Join them on their journey!
In Darkness at First Light, Carlisle Homicide Detectives Christopher Snow and Erin ‘Mac’ McCoy discover an unidentified body, dressed like Molly Pitcher’s statue, lashed to the cannon in front of the folk hero’s gravesite. While at the macabre scene, Mac receives a call from Chief March assigning her and K-9 Officer Shadow to an Amber Alert kidnapping. In the process, the CPD IT guru discovers the girl online on a pay-for-porn site, which brings the FBI on board. The trail leads to the Revolutionary War reenactors’ encampment at Valley Forge. As the detectives track ‘Molly Pitcher’s’ elusive killer and Emma’s obsessed kidnapper, the media dog their movements to get the scoop on the sensational trial that follows.
When Mac receives enigmatic, threatening jingles, she risks her life on a solo investigation. As a result, sparks fly as tempers flare at CPD. As the pressure builds, the danger increases! Can Snow and McCoy’s marriage endure the stress of double cases and an infant at home? Can the detectives corral the criminals before they destroy more lives?
In HAD A DYING FALL, a raging fire greets the Carlisle police and fire crew where Detectives Snow and Savage discover a male body splayed across the kitchen island in a domicile on South Street. Their search for the missing wife, Kelly Sims, leads CPD detectives to one of their own: Shannon Mahoney, one of Three Musketeers cycle team. Clues lead to the Sims extended family members, many of whom have motives to kill. As the evidence mounts and suspects multiply, danger erupts, exposing damaging secrets that could destroy them all.
And what happened to Detective Erin McCoy, who was last seen at a Revolutionary War re-enactment rehearsal in Darkness at First Light?
Then another murder occurs on Jubilee Day in Mechanicsburg. The victim had ties to Dennis Sims, the Carlisle murder victim. Are the murders connected? Meanwhile, the killer stalks the streets. Where will he or she strike next?
Dispatched to a possible kidnapping site, Carlisle Homicide Detective Erin McCoy, her K-9 Officer Shadow, and other K-9 units are beating the bushes behind the warehouse where the star of the Frank W. Woolworth documentary film crew was last seen. The dogs soon locate a body dressed in period costume lashed and nailed to a tree. Extracting the nail, Mac sees fresh blood. Quickly, the men free him and laid him down. Shadow jumps on his chest. The mystery begins when he opens his eyes.
Tension mounts as the detectives dig into the murky business of murder—into the depths of the actors, cast, crew, and childhood of the suspects until they reveal the evil hearts of the killers.
Meet the Author
Hello and welcome. I’m the author of the award-winning Madam Bessie Jones, Her Life and Times, a historical tapestry of a local brothel owner's struggles and sacrifices to survive.
My second historical book is Carlisle's Molly Pitcher.
I’ve also written a series of the fact-based Carlisle Crime Cases — featuring homicide detectives Christopher Snow and Erin McCoy — which includes Dying for Vengeance, Courting Doubt and Darkness, Darkness at First Light, Had a Dying Fall, and Things Strangled. My debut novel, Glory in the Flower, depicts four coeds' struggles during the turbulent sixties.
Now retired, I’m Professor Emerita of English Studies at Harrisburg Area Community College, Gettysburg Campus and taught at Messiah College and Shippensburg University, where I also served as Assistant Director of the Learning Center.
My debut novel, Glory in the Flower is a coming-of-age story. I’ve authored five fact-based Carlisle Crime Cases and two local histories: Madam Bessie Jones and Carlisle’s Molly Pitcher. I’ve also co-wrote two anthologies, American Roulette and Fatal Introductions, a collection of short story mysteries.
For four years, I co-hosted Milford House Mysteries — author interviews and writing tips — on the Bookspeak Network and volunteered for eleven years at Bosler Memorial Library's "The Bookery," a bookstore of used books, artwork, festive gourds, DVDs and other items for the holidays.
I live in Carlisle, Pennsylvania with my husband. I have two sons, two grandsons, and a Border Collie mix. In my spare time, I participate in a book club and writing group and read voraciously.
One unremarkable Friday in April, a stream of ordinary people make their way to Liberty Mall in Anywhere, USA, to shop, work, keep appointments, or catch a movie. A typical day in an average town. American Roulette tells the story of eight of those people.
Emma Franz is a store security guard with a secret. Earl Bricker, a retired factory worker, loves his country, his wife, and his good-old-boy network. Roger Elliot, mid-twenties and miserable, has more than a few axes to grind. High school senior Caitlin Browning, having triumphed over personal challenges, hopes for a quiet evening with her boyfriend. Reverend Chris Deitrich has a special surprise for his weekly Bible study group. Leah McCall, TV personality and teacher, drops by the food court to visit with her best friend. Will Humphreys’ part-time job at the mall offers him little relief from the relentless bullying that plagues his existence.
At 5:17 PM, one of these characters’ actions will change the lives of all the others. Later that night, professional crisis consultant Steven Bradley arrives to help the community deal with the aftermath.
An eclectic group of authors spent six months collaborating on American Roulette, a blockbuster novel full of tension, dread, and anguish. Each author created one of the eight key characters—complete with a supporting cast—who find themselves sharing a common destiny. Readers have but a single day to get to know each of the protagonists before time and circumstances seal their fate.
by the American Roulette Team: Pat LaMarche, Sherry Knowlton, J.M. West, Matthew Best, Phyllis Orenyo, Robert Bradshaw, Andrew Carey, and James Dodds. Foreword by Cheryl Woodruff Brooks. Other contributions by Cheryl Dunn Bychek.
Fatal Introductions is a collection of 20 mystery and thriller short stories written by 21 authors. With each short, you'll be introduced to the main characters featured in their own novel or series published by Milford House Press.
In this rite of passage, Ginny Flowers meets Marsha Fox, Merri Freelove, and Sunny Wheeler; they become college roommates at Morehead State University (KY) during the tumultuous sixties. At times, their quest feels like a baptism in fire and ice. Yet they accept the challenges: the coeds struggle and stumble with courses, dating, sexual assaults, a canoe trip and a sit-in. Confronting the dangers, they forge a lasting friendship, despite taking separate paths as adults. Will their reunion cement their bond, or will it crumble during a crisis?
