From the back - When former vanity license plate inspector Claire Montrose finds a valuable diamond ring embedded in an old stone wall, she's uncovered more than lost jewelry -- she's just unwittingly exposed a fifty-year-old murder. Claire's octogenarian housemate, Charlie, recognizes the ring with shock. It belonged to Elizabeth Ellsworth, a woman who broke off her engagement fifty years earlier, then killed herself. All the "old gang" believed Elizabeth had returned the ring, so how did it get buried inside a stone wall? As half-century-old questions resurface about the incident, Claire discovers more about the terrible secrets Elizabeth kept - and why someone wanted her dead. But the closer she gets to the truth, the more Claire realizes that someone believes old crimes must stay buried...at all cost."Cozy trappings...effectively contrast with chilling glimpses of Charlie's concentration camp days--(and) a vivid cast of elderly characters." Publishers Weekly
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More About the Author
...Every 5 minutes, 24 hours a day, somewhere in the world, someone downloads a Connie Shelton mystery...
A personal Thank You to all my readers who make this little statistic possible. Having fun with my writing, and connecting with readers--that's what being a mystery writer means to me. And I LOVE what I do!
It began in 1985 when I started writing my first novel, without much clue how to go about it. Two years and 500 pages later, when I finally typed 'The End,' I felt a huge rush of excitement. That book took third place in the Southwest Writers competition and began making the rounds of publishers. I simply started writing my second, and then my third books.
After publishing ten of my Charlie Parker mysteries, I decided to branch out with a second series and I created the character of Samantha Sweet. One of the ways in which I earned a little extra pocket money during my high school years was to bake and decorate cakes--hence, a career for Samantha based on my own experiences.
In 2009 I switched publishers and was off on a new adventure, seeing all of my books made available for Kindle and the other ebook devices that were just beginning to take off in the book world. It's been an exciting time in publishing and I'm loving the new formats and the ability to personally connect with readers all over the world via my newsletter and my website at connieshelton.com.
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Besides writing the Charlie Parker and Samantha Sweet mysteries, Connie is an award-winning essayist. Her work has been published in both small and major anthologies, like Chicken Soup For the Writer's Soul, and her short stories have won several prizes. She has also been a commercial hot air balloon pilot and holds the women's world altitude record for size AX-4 balloons. She has been featured in Who's Who and The World Who's Who of Women. She and her husband live in northern New Mexico.
A personal Thank You to all my readers who make this little statistic possible. Having fun with my writing, and connecting with readers--that's what being a mystery writer means to me. And I LOVE what I do!
It began in 1985 when I started writing my first novel, without much clue how to go about it. Two years and 500 pages later, when I finally typed 'The End,' I felt a huge rush of excitement. That book took third place in the Southwest Writers competition and began making the rounds of publishers. I simply started writing my second, and then my third books.
After publishing ten of my Charlie Parker mysteries, I decided to branch out with a second series and I created the character of Samantha Sweet. One of the ways in which I earned a little extra pocket money during my high school years was to bake and decorate cakes--hence, a career for Samantha based on my own experiences.
In 2009 I switched publishers and was off on a new adventure, seeing all of my books made available for Kindle and the other ebook devices that were just beginning to take off in the book world. It's been an exciting time in publishing and I'm loving the new formats and the ability to personally connect with readers all over the world via my newsletter and my website at connieshelton.com.
* * *
Besides writing the Charlie Parker and Samantha Sweet mysteries, Connie is an award-winning essayist. Her work has been published in both small and major anthologies, like Chicken Soup For the Writer's Soul, and her short stories have won several prizes. She has also been a commercial hot air balloon pilot and holds the women's world altitude record for size AX-4 balloons. She has been featured in Who's Who and The World Who's Who of Women. She and her husband live in northern New Mexico.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Refreshing change in setting,
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This review is from: Competition Can Be Murder (Charlie Parker Mysteries) (Hardcover)
Connie Shelton's Charlie Parker Mysteries are usually set in the New Mexico desert, but this entry is set in Scotland, which is a pleasing contrast. Charlie and her husband Drake have agreed to run Drake's friend Brian's helicopter service to the oil rigs while Brian is with his dying mother. They look on it as a lark and an adventure in a new part of the world, but they don't bank on some of the hardships that they will encounter. They are staying in a cottage on the grounds of a castle and they become acquainted with Robert and Sarah Dunbar, the castle's inhabitants. When the Dunbars discover that Charlie is a professional investigator, they ask her to try to recover two of their lambs which are missing. Later, they come to her with a more serious problem when their grandson is kidnapped. The third problem they face is serious opposition to the helicopter business from union workers who fear that the helicopter service will put the union's boat service out of business. There are lots of suspenseful passages in the book and Charlie and Drake are an attractive, loving couple. The main flaw is that the three mysteries are given a big buildup and the solutions to them are somewhat anticlimatic. Other than that, this is a good read.
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