Mystery, Contemporary Western, Native American Literature
Date Published: 04-30-2026
Publisher: Jackdaw Press
New Badge. Old Blood.
Nick Drake traded his past for the Sheriff’s star, but Harney County
doesn’t do election honeymoons. His tenure kicks off with a double
homicide staged as a murder-suicide—a lie Nick isn't buying. As he digs
into the crime’s rotting core, the rookie Sheriff finds himself fighting
a war on two fronts: a lethal learning curve with unproven deputies and a
political recall designed to bury him. In the high lonesome where secrets
kill, Nick must strike first and strike hard. Because in this office, the only
thing shorter than his term is his life expectancy.
Dwight Holing is the award-winning author of twenty books, including the
bestselling Nick Drake Mysteries and the popular Jack McCoul Capers. He is a
member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and Western Writers of
America. He lives beside a coastal river in California with his wife and two
dogs who’d rather swim than walk.
As the Kelly Can Saga continues, Charlie and his wife, Susan, must deal with
continued conflict as they attempt to grow their fledgling Kelly Oil Company.
Like many other oilmen, Charlie and his partner, Hank Thomas, want to acquire
oil and mineral rights to the Osage Nation’s land in northern Oklahoma.
This leads them to confrontations with an adversary from their recent past.
Susan’s life is imperiled by those evil characters. How will her cowboy
come to her rescue and deal with dangerous direct threats on their lives?
Charlie rapidly steps up to the challenge as any past Top Hand at the
world-famous Miller’s 101 Ranch would.
E. Joe Brown is an award-winning author of
novels, short stories, and memoirs. His current projects include a series of
historical fiction novels set in his native Oklahoma. Publication of the first
book in the series is scheduled for August 2022. His memoir ‘Mickey and
Me’ about meeting his hero, Mickey Mantle, is now featured in the
National Baseball Hall of Fame. Joe currently serves as President of New
Mexico Westerners, an Advisor to the SWW Board of Directors, and is a member
of Western Writers of America and Military Writers Society of
America.
He supports his love of music and performance through
active membership in the International Western Music Association. He served on
the organization’s board of directors for three years. In 2013, Governor
Susanna Martinez appointed him a New Mexico Music Commissioner.
Veterans
Portrait Project, Military, USAF
Photo Courtesy of
Stacy
Pearsall's
Veterans Portrait Project
Joe concluded his lifetime
military and civil service careers upon retirement on June 30, 2010. An
exciting multi-faceted career of firsts included leading the USAF Range
Instrumentation Team to aid the original NASA Space Shuttle program. His team
helped create the Shuttle Worldwide Network and supported the first six
missions of Space Shuttle Columbia. As the Air Force Flight Test Center
Project Manager, he guided the design, construction, and implementation of the
Benefield Anechoic Facility on Edwards AFB. The facility tests
state-of-the-art electronic warfare systems in a secure environment. His final
assignment was in direct support of the two-star Major General at Edwards AFB
where he advised on strategic planning to assure future readiness to test USAF
and Department of Defense weapons systems.
An alumnus of the
Oklahoma State University College of Engineering, Joe continued his
engineering education during both his military and civil service careers. He
completed coursework at the University of Colorado, Georgia Institute of
Technology, George Washington University, University of Tennessee, Chapman
University, and the University of California at Los Angeles. He later
completed a BS in Business Management at Phoenix University and the Executive
MBA program with a Strategic Planning emphasis from Webster University.
Joe
has been married to his wife Linda for over fifty years, and their sons have
given them five beautiful grandchildren.
The Guilt of Others opens with the sound of a gunshot in an overcrowded
office. But who was shot—and who pulled the trigger—remains a
mystery. Told through the intertwined perspectives of multiple characters,
each harboring secrets and scars from past and present, the story slowly
unravels the emotional and psychological web of trauma, secrets, and buried
motives binding them together. With nine suspects, three possible weapons, and
a detective whose instincts are starting to betray her, the search for the
truth unearths secrets no one was prepared to face.
Sara Burrell grew up in Mableton, Georgia. She is a graduate of Young Harris
College and The University of Georgia. Sara is in her twentieth year of
teaching, and is currently a teacher at an elementary school in Georgia where
she is the gifted program coordinator for third, fourth, and fifth grade
students. Her husband of 18 years, 2 children, 2 hound dogs, and 2 cats
provide plenty of adventure and excitement to her already-busy days. Through
all that, she also writes books. The Guilt of Others is her second novel. Her
first, Newsworthy, released in 2023, was praised for its suspenseful plot and
surprising twists.
Meat Cove combines saga and thriller via Fundy's lurid diary, which appears
between each chapter, forming a tale within a tale. As Fundy's grim memories
slowly come back to life, her past and present collide in a riveting
conclusion worthy of the first sagathriller.
Date Published: January 22, 2026
Publisher: Seacoast Press
Constable Fundy Sutherland is a buff, gruff Mountie with a price on her
head and a veritable ossuary of skeletons in her closet. A former JTF-2
sniper, Fundy is quietly raising daughter Skye in Cape Breton Island, Nova
Scotia when three events upend her careful obscurity: Skye brings home a DNA
ancestry kit; the doppelgänger of Fundy's runaway mother settles in tiny
White Point; and an erratic Venezuelan ship passes through the Cabot Strait.
As local disturbances and international tensions escalate around a NATO
conference in Halifax, Fundy must leave her safe lane and resurrect an
implacable past. Generational love story meets geopolitical suspense in a SAGA
THRILLER barreling across the North Atlantic.
Janice Weber grew up in Ridgewood, New Jersey and graduated summa cum laude
from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.
At the time of her Carnegie Recital Hall debut at age nine, she was writing
her first short stories. She has continued both pursuits, with her novels
providing counterpoint to the staid world of a concert pianist, or perhaps
with her recitals offsetting the staid world of a writer.
Janice’s novels have a worldwide following. Her debut, The Secret Life
of Eva Hathaway, enjoys near cult status and is widely recognized as iconic
Chick Lit – though appearing years before the genre was invented. Its
colorful characters, verbal virtuosity, wit, and sensuality established the
hallmarks of a style that has earned Weber comparison with Mark Twain, Fran
Liebowitz, Harold Pinter, and Robert Ludlum (if such a hybrid can be
imagined).
Janice’s novels happen between (and occasionally during) concerts. Music
on some level infiltrates almost every book: Eva Hathaway writes hymns between
trysts, Floyd Beck met the love of his life at Carnegie Hall, Leslie Frost is
a concert violinist, and Ross Major listens to Beethoven when the going gets
rough. Characters without music in their lives fill the void with swinging,
murder, and treason, activities musicians tend to eschew since this would
detract from practice time.
Janice divides her time between fishing villages in Massachusetts and Cape
Breton.
IN 1939, A DEADLY CONFRONTATION IN THE CANADIAN WILDERNESS shatters
young Albert Pingree's life and leaves him the keeper of a truth so staggering
it could tear apart mankind's understanding of itself. Sixty years later, his
granddaughter Mallory - a small-town veterinarian in rural New Hampshire,
inherits more than his fortune; she inherits his secret. When Albert is found
dead behind his remote British Columbia cabin, Mallory is drawn into a world
of deception, lost identity, and scientific obsession. Inside a locked candle
box, she uncovers a horrific relic - a severed hand too large to be human -
and a note that beckons her toward the impossible.
Mallory recruits Dr. George Avery, the world's leading field zoologist to help
her identify what she has found. At first, he is reluctant, unaware of the
magnitude of what she has brought to him. As the puzzle begins to take shape,
he is confronted by what the answers they find, reveal.
Exploring deeper, their growing affection ignites a sense of purpose, even as
they face the shadows of the past and the dangers of their pursuit. In the
haunting wilds of the Pacific Northwest, nature's grandeur and brutality are
ever-present. Tangled forests and untamed rivers, bears, wolves, and the
ancient reverence of Indigenous traditions surround them, blurring the lines
between myth and reality. Their quest becomes a journey not only to solve a
mystery, but to reconcile love, loneliness, and the immortal question of our
place in a world still ruled by secrets.
Maxim Langstaff is a Grammy-and Emmy-nominated writer, producer, and
author whose creative and editorial work has reached millions of people
worldwide. He is recognized for his innovative vision and exceptional
versatility and reach, crafting narratives that reflect powerful insight into
the natural world and our relationship to it.
His debut novel, SASQ’ET will be released on April 7, 2026.
Max holds an honorary doctorate from Connecticut College and a degree in
Anthropology. He is a member of The Writer’s Guild and past participant
at the Breadloaf Writer’s Conference. His editorial and creative writing
has been published by The New York Times, Philadelphia Enquirer, Gannett,
Wildlife Conservation Magazine, PBS, Disney, and the Wildlife Conservation
Society.
Max produced the multi-media Making of Sgt. Pepper with Sir George Martin,
featuring Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and Phil Collins.
He wrote and produced the most complete filmed history of the Beatles through
the eyes of Sir George who signed them, produced their work, and played on
many of their recordings. A part Max’s film became the award-winning PBS
series Soundbreaking.
Many of the greatest pop culture icons of the 20th century have collaborated
with Max on projects he has created, written, and produced including Herbie
Hancock, Brian Wilson, Elton John, Joni Mitchell, B.B. King, Tony Bennett,
Vince Gill, Burt Bacharach, Bonnie Raitt, Mark Knopfler, Michael Tilson
Thomas, Gordon Lightfoot, Smokey Robinson, Jack White, Dave Grohl, Run-DMC,
and Willie Nelson. A more complete listing of artists he has worked with can
be found at: www.maximlangstaff.com
Known for his work with John Denver, Max created and produced the acclaimed
television event, the Wildlife Concert, spawning the highest rated music
program in cable TV history upon broadcast, two multi-platinum CD sets, and
one of the best-selling music video programs ever released by SONY.
Working with the Wildlife Conservation Society, Max helped lead the largest
fundraising effort ($100mm) ever undertaken for wildlife conservation, seeding
the first integrated global conservation initiative to save endangered tigers.
On any given day you will likely find him on a wilderness river or mountain
trail. A three-time Boston Marathoner, he lives in North Carolina.
SASQ’ET is his first novel.
Loneliness gnaws and chews like the relentless prairie wind. Dakota
homesteader, Digger Dancy, props his feet in the oven and waits for the storm
to end. His brother, George, barges into the soddy in a swirl of blowing snow.
George announces he will abandon his claim to seek a wife. He can’ t
stand the loneliness. Digger slaps a stack of old newspapers on the table and
convinces him to place an ad for a correspondence bride in the Montana
Matrimonial News. Doctor Gamla, the almost-doctor and midwife, treats
George’ s frostbite, and offers a cure for his melancholia. She tells of
two sisters living in tar-paper shacks along the Mad Dog River. The brothers
cannot imagine how Doctor Gamla’ s cure will change their lives.
Nickelbo’ s whole world is wheat. The homesteaders talk about crops,
worry about the weather, complain about prices, and dream what they’ ll
buy after the harvest. Asa Wainwright busts sod with a grasshopper plow.
Ingrid Larson dallies over planting to avoid her sister’ s wedding.
Drunken Oscar Borgom gets lost in a storm on the way to the outhouse. Through
it all, Doctor Gamla delivers babies, treats ailments, and offers advice.
“My cures work if you can stand them."
Candace Simar likes to imagine how things might have been. She combines her
love of history with her Scandinavian heritage in historical novels that
examine the early days of Minnesota and North Dakota. “I write
historical novels to share painless history lessons about the fascinating and
unique history of our region.”
Her historical novels include: Sister Lumberjack, book five in the Abercrombie
Trail Series (North Star Press, March 2024) Follow Whiskey Creek (Sweet Honey
Press 2023) Escape to Fort Abercrombie (Five Star Cengage 2018) Shelterbelts
(North Star Press 2015), Blooming Prairie (North Star Press 2012) Birdie
(North Star Press2011) Pomme de Terre (North Star Press 2010), and Abercrombie
Trail (North Star Press 2009). Her short story collections: Dear Homefolks
(River Place Press 2017) and The Glory of Ordinary Time (Wolfpack Press 2018).
Farm Girls (River Place Press 2013) is a book of poetry co-written with her
sister, Angela Foster. Candace’s short stories have been published in
the anthologies: Spoilt Quilt (Five Star Cengage 2020), Librarians of the West
(Five Star Cengage 2021); and Why Cows Need Cowboys (Two Dot Press 2021).
Simar is a Spur Award winner and Spur finalist from the Western Writers of
America for her Abercrombie Trail series. Shelterbelts was a finalist in both
the Willa Literary Awards in Historical Fiction and the Midwest Book Awards.
Escape to Fort Abercrombie holds a Will Rogers Gold Medallion and a Peacemaker
Award from Western Fictioneers.
Her short stories and poetry have received awards from the Bob Dylan Creative
Writing Contest, Lake Region Review, League of Minnesota Poets, National
Federation of State Poetry Societies, Dust and Fire, and the Laura Awards for
Short Fiction.
Candace enjoys sharing her research and writing with groups and book clubs
across the nation.
Sarah Vosburgh has often felt misunderstood by her mother, a woman who lived a
quintessential suburban life. But when her mother is diagnosed with
Alzheimer’s, Sarah’s world unravels, and she must confront a
disease that will only worsen. As roles reverse between mother and daughter,
Sarah faces the guilt of making decisions she hopes are the right ones while
also carrying the grief of losing her mom bit by bit everyday. She navigates a
labyrinth of health services amid the heartbreaking, and at times darkly
humorous, realities of caregiving.
There are the white lies and midnight phone calls, the misbuttoned blouses,
and the second slice of chocolate pie that tastes just as good as it did the
first time. And then there’s the quiet awe at the persistence of
connection even when language falters and names are forgotten.
Told in finely wrought prose and lyrical fragments of memory, Who Will
Name the Bees? is a daughter's unflinching love letter to the flawed, fierce,
and unforgettable woman who raised her.
It was never in Sarah Vosburgh’s plan to be an author or to write a
memoir. As a busy mom, wife, and psychologist, she always saw her life as full
(sometimes overfull). But in the dark of night, memories knocked on her brain,
compelling her to commit them first to paper, then to bits and bytes.
Sarah
is a member of the International Memoir Writers Association and San Diego
Writers, Ink. Her work has been published in A Year in Ink and numerous
volumes of Shaking the Tree: brazen. short. memoir. A native New Englander,
she now lives in San Diego with her husband, her daughter, her granddog, and a
most extraordinary feline.
