Maye West Mysteries Book 1: Murder on Lake Haverly
Maye West a professional Realtor lands the deal of a lifetime! She lists and sells the land surrounding Lake Haverly in Punkin Center, Arizona!
She quickly learns nothing is as easy as it seems. The buyers; a corporate lawyer Mi and her stay-at-home wanna-be writer husband, Josh Feldman finally own the Shangri-La of their dreams! Just when everything is coming up roses, a body is discovered floating in their lake.
All hell breaks loose with a couple of cross-bow killings, deputies ambushed, shot, and left for dead. In between the life, and death struggles, a little fun sex to spice it up a bit! A long-lost son is reunited with his Dad. Maye’s BBF falls madly in love, Many of the characters were taken from my 30 years as a professional Realtor.
The ’70s and ’80s was the wild, wild west, of Real Estate! Working in the trenches, with the legal and not-so-legal agents. Some of the exploits were truly stranger than fiction! The names were changed to protect the guilty.
Maye West Mysteries Book 2: Options
What’s a poor Realtor to do? Maye West’s only objective is to sell Nate Harris the home of his dreams.
There’s just one tiny problem! Clarence Poole, the ex-husband of the seller Wanda Poole, was sentenced to ten years in Florence prison. He threatened to kill anyone that helps the seller. That would include Maye and all of their friends.
Maye puts Nate in his dream home, and all hell breaks out. After two grisly murders are committed, Maye realizes this easy sale might not be so easy. The sheriff’s Dept. and the FBI wants to find Wanda Poole who skipped town with the books to put Clarence away for life. Long arms are reaching out from Florence Prison in Arizona to Texas.
There’s something for everyone, sexy love, murder, kidnapping, shooting, and rescuing May’s pain in the ass BBF, Lavonne.
The End of the Road
Imagine waking up in the Ladies Restroom stall wrapped in a musty blanket, on I-5 in Southern Oregon. You are wearing ragged jeans, flip-flops, a big red t-shirt with a smiley face on the front. Your flashes of memory are of a white nightgown and a beach.
You don’t know why your body continues walking south, always south! After three days without food, you finally are reduced to begging. You ask for a meal in exchange for work at a Truck Stop. A nasty cashier tells you they don’t give handouts to homeless people, and screams at you to get out.
Humiliated, head down hurrying to the exit, you get smacked in the face with the door. You fall flat on your back, stunned. Getting hit in the head is the best thing that happens to you in months.
A woman scorned is a bitch, but she can’t hold a candle to a dead woman!
Immortal Enemies
Marissa wants to have her cake and eat it too! Her cake being her adorable sexy Mario. Sexy, energetic, and dark exotic looks. He works all day, keeping her yard blooming, her pool sparkling, and still warms her bed every night with his boundless energy
She can’t get enough of her Mario and flatly refuses to let him go, even when she is warned he may be the enemy.
This sexy romp through a “who’s fooling who” Sci/Fi makes you wonder how life can become so complicated.
Mario loves the sex with Marissa but is looking forward to the big reward he will get when he betrays her to SASHA. (Seek and save humans from Aliens)
Dr. Carl Sanderson head of RAPT (Regenerist’s are people too)and Francesca Montenegro, Marissa’s new housekeeper/nurse are caught in the middle of a dangerous game. How are they going to keep Marissa safe when she slips into hibernation, before the change, with Mario about?
Spirited One : The Protector
When you look at the cover, you might think this is a ghost story, but you would be wrong. It is mystery, love, revenge, and tragedy all rolled into one.
The Spirited One, in the form of a silver bracelet, was given to her by Master Gaakmel-Li after she saved him from a savage beating from three young men. Her Master Ganesha-Kro suggests that she call 911 next time as Police take a dim view of Black Belt Martial Artists street-fighting for any reason.
Jena had just earned enough money to make her rent payment working at Olive Garden when a guy stuck a gun in her face and demanded her money. He jammed the gun right in her face, and pulled the trigger! She thought, “Great I make my rent and I’m dead!” But she wasn’t hurt the would-be robber was shot with his own gun. The Police do not believe her, put her in the car hand-cuffed. She had to return at 10:00 to meet with James MacDonald who told her she had been cleared. James showed up as a new recruit at her Martial Arts class
Spirited One Book 2: James
Lieutenant James MacDonald’s family needs him! The Task Force trying to convict Senator Allen and his son needs him! He only wants to crawl into a hole and die! Jack takes him for a wild ride to knock sense into his head and maybe his body! It works until his life is inundated with bombings, shootings, rapes, and murders. How much pain can one person bear?
The Spirited One can protect him from bodily harm, but he will need a little help to heal his overwhelming need for revenge against those who took Jena from him. It’s one thing right after another! The rape kit disappears from the evidence room, and without Jena to testify, the Task Force is looking at an uphill battle to convict.
#BookReview.
Options: Maye West Mysteries, Book 2, by Brenda Colbath:
Stuart Aken, Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Opinion, Reading
Kidnapping Crime Fiction/Crime Action Fiction/Murder Fiction
I came across this author and her books via comments on websites I visit. I tend not to read much crime fiction, but the comments led me to expect a good story from this author. And that was the case.
The story is full of action, conflict, some hot romance, a spot of police procedure, and many insights into the lives of a certain group of well-off Americans, along with much information relating to real estate, and descriptions of meals that had my mouth watering. At the risk of being accused of sexism, I venture to suggest some female readers will find the clothes also of interest! So, a worthwhile read in many ways.
The characters, the single most important aspect of any novel for me, are well drawn, various, and easy to see as real people. Survivors, fighters, evil men, plucky women, and inventive people populate this story of single-minded, utterly selfish vengeance and the courage of those who oppose it.
One aspect I found unsettling as a UK reader was the obvious ready access to firearms, their abuse, and their function in ending disputes without dialogue. For me, it illustrated the readiness to use killing machines in the US. I’m not suggesting their use was unjustified, or even avoidable, in the context of this story, just wondering if easy availability of such weapons is a fundamental reason for the level of violence and murder in this land of great contrasts.
The writing style reminded me a little of early crime writers such as Raymond Chandler and Mickey Spillane, with a real mix of action, dialogue and description.