About the Author:

Purba Chakraborty is a novelist, poet, English Literature educator, web content developer, and blogger from the City of Joy, Kolkata. She has authored three novels “Walking in the streets of love and destiny”, “The Hidden Letters”, “Canvas of a Mind” and poetry book “The Heart Listens to No One”. Many of her short stories, articles and poems have been published in several anthologies and magazines.







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A book lover's B&B in an idyllic waterfront village becomes the scene of a grisly murder--and a ruthless battle between treachery and the truth.

Nestled in the historic waterfront town of Beaufort, North Carolina, Chapters Bed-and-Breakfast is a reader's paradise. Built in 1770, the newly renovated inn hosts a roster of special events celebrating books, genres, and authors. It's the perfect literary retreat--until a rare book dealer turns up dead in the carriage house during a celebration of Golden Age mystery author Josephine Tey.

The victim's daughter points the finger at forty-two-year-old widow and former schoolteacher Charlotte Reed, who inherited the B&B from her great-aunt Isabella. Charlotte is shocked to discover that the book dealer suspected Isabella of being a thief who founded Chapters on her ill-gotten gains. Charlotte has successfully learned the B&B business in a year, but nothing has prepared her to handle a death on the premises.

Armed with intelligence and courage and assisted by her vibrant older neighbor, a visiting author, and members of a local book club, Charlotte is determined to prove her innocence and to clear her great-aunt's name. But the murderer is still at large, and equally determined to silence anyone who might discover the truth behind the book dealer's death. Now, Charlotte must outwit an unknown killer--or end up writing her own final chapter.

Read an Excerpt from Booked for Death

Twenty-five minutes and several curious stares and comments later, I pulled my car up in front of the carriage house. I often parked there, as it was an out-of-the-way spot that kept the main lot free for the guests. Popping open my trunk, I grabbed two bags of ice and headed for Chapters’ back door.
“Here, can you deal with these? I have to go back out for a couple more,” I said as I entered the kitchen. When Alicia took the bags, I noticed deep lines crinkling the corners of her dark eyes. “Anything wrong?”
“No, just missing a knife. I think Damian must’ve taken it when he stormed out of here. Mixed it up with his own, I guess.”
I turned to head back outside for the other bags of ice. “Well, we can ask him about that easily enough.”
“Sure, but then there’s the key.”
“What key?” I paused, holding the back door ajar.
“To the carriage house. The extra one I keep in the drawer here with all the other duplicates.” Alicia pointed toward an open cabinet drawer, which held an insert that organized keys. “I can’t imagine who would’ve taken that. Mr. Kepler has his own.”
I frowned, but the thought of ice melting in my trunk made me shrug off this anomaly. “I’ll ask around in a minute. Let me grab the rest of the ice first.”
Looking up when I reached my car, I recognized a tall, lanky figure standing in the open doorway of the carriage house. It was Scott.
I waved. “Oh hi. Mind helping? It’ll only take a minute.”
When he stepped forward into the light spilling from a nearby streetlight, I noticed that his skin seemed stretched too tightly over the angular bones of his face. He was pale, too, which threw his freckles into sharp relief and created a vivid contrast with his auburn hair. “Sorry. but I think you’d better forget that,” he said, his voice eerily devoid of emotion.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s Lincoln Delamont.” Scott blinked rapidly, and his hands, which were hanging loosely at his sides, twitched like beached fish. “He’s inside.”
“Doing what?”
“Nothing, I’m afraid.” Scott pressed one shaking hand to his temple. “He’s been stabbed. There’s blood everywhere, and I think”—his lips trembled so violently he had to take an audible breath before speaking again—“I’m afraid he’s quite dead.”

About the Author:

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Raised in a historic small town near the Blue Ridge Mountains, Victoria Gilbert turned her early obsession with books into a dual career as an author and librarian.

Victoria’s Blue Ridge Library Mystery series is published by Crooked Lane Books. Four books – A MURDER FOR THE BOOKS, SHELVED UNDER MURDER, PAST DUE FOR MURDER, and BOUND FOR MURDER – are out now. Book five, A DEADLY EDITION, will be published on Dec. 8, 2020. The first two books in the series are currently under option with Sony Pictures Television.

Victoria is also writing a new cozy series, the Booklovers B&B series, for Crooked Lane. Set in historic Beaufort, NC, the first book in the series, BOOKED FOR DEATH, will be published on June 9, 2020 with book two releasing in 2021.

A member of Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, and Sisters in Crime, Victoria is represented by Frances Black at Literary Counsel. She lives near Winston-Salem, NC with her husband, son, and some very spoiled cats.

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J. L. Willow voraciously read everything she could get her hands on as a child and continues to this day. She was inspired by the way words on a page could capture the imagination, beginning her journey as a writer at just six years old. When she’s not holding a pencil or a book, she can be found belting her favorite musicals or studying to become a mechanical engineer. Days off are spent relaxing with her family in New Jersey.

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Interview with J.L. Willow

When did you first realize that you wanted to be a writer/ a storyteller?

I’m a classic Harry Potter inspired writer. When I first read the books, I had no idea that a story could make me feel like that before. I wanted to be able to make other people feel like that, like they were swept off their feet by the storytelling.

How did you come up with the idea for your current story?

My current project is a collection of short horror stories. Each of them have had their own journey (some have been easier to write than others). Some I thought of when I started putting together the collection, but one in particular I actually wrote in seventh grade and I’ve been looking for some place to put it ever since. I’m glad it finally found a place where it can be seen and enjoyed.

Are there some stories tucked away in some drawer that was written before and never saw the light of the day?

Oh, 100%. There’s a box in my room that includes a ton of old drafts. Some are of books that were never published, some are really old drafts of The Scavenger and Missing Her. Regardless, they are for my eyes only and will most likely never make it out of that box. If they do, they’re going to need a lot of TLC before they’re ready for readers.

What is your favorite scene in the book? Why?

My favorite scene I ever wrote is probably the prologue to my second novel, Missing Her . It actually started as a short story that I expanded into the full book, but I placed it in front to set the tone for the rest of the piece. It went through a bunch of reworks before the final draft but it was so much fun to write and put together. It definitely starts the book with a bang.

Did any of your characters inherit some of your own quirks?

I think every author puts little pieces of themselves into their characters. Samuel loves musicals, Vanessa enjoys classic rock, Eliza shops at Lush -- I could go on. Readers with a sharp eye will be able to notice them throughout my work.

Do you read? Who are your favourite authors?

I used to read a ton when I was in high school, but I don’t have as much time now that I’m in college. I still do my best to find time, though, because it definitely enriches my writing. Some of my favorite authors include Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff, and Andy Weir. I will read anything the three of them write.

What is the best piece of advice you have received, as a writer, till date?

When I was at BookCon two years ago, I heard a fellow author give this advice: finish the first draft. There are hundreds of aspiring authors out there, but they get intimidated by the blank page and they stop writing. They never get to finish the draft, let alone the book. So when you finish that first draft, you move yourself from a huge pool to a much smaller window of people who were able to follow-through. So push forward and finish that first draft!

How do you spend your free time?

Most of my free time nowadays is put towards studying for my mechanical engineering degree. But when I have free time beyond that, it’s usually spent belting my favorite musicals (recently it’s been Dear Evan Hansen ) or watching movies (specifically horror).

Can you share with us something off your bucket list?

I want to visit all the Disney parks one day. I’ve visited the ones in Florida, California and Paris, but hopefully I’ll be able to make it to the others!

What do you have in store next for your readers?

I’m currently working on a new adult collection of short horror stories. The rough release date is beginning of 2021 -- keep an eye out for it! It’s going to be very spooky.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with your readers?

If you’d like to learn more about me and my work, feel free to check out my website: www.jlwillow.com.


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Vanessa Stockton and her best friend Eliza are inseparable. They’re living the best years of their lives, enjoying high school, boyfriends and planning for their futures. All that changes, though, when Eliza goes out to a party and never makes it home. Months pass without a break in the case, until one day Vanessa wakes up . . . in Eliza’s mind. Even more disturbing, she discovers she’s woken up two days before Eliza goes missing. Vanessa has no choice but to relive her best friend’s memories leading up to the disappearance and discover the truth about what happened before time runs out. But is the past set in stone? Or can Vanessa save her friend from an unspeakable fate?





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About the Author:

Nicholas Holloway is a mystery author based in Texas.

He grew up in southern California and spent his childhood summers hiking the Sierra Nevada mountains where his debut novel, "The Loop," is set. He earned his master’s degree from the MFA Screenwriting Program at California State University Fullerton.

Having written much of "The Loop" while living abroad in New Zealand, Portugal, and Morocco, Nick garners a love of landscapes and utilizes these dramatic backdrops in his stories, believing that a story’s terrain is just as important as its characters.

Nick lives in Austin with his wife, Nichole, and their dog-child, Harvey.

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Interview with Nicholas Holloway

When did you first realize that you wanted to be a writer/ a storyteller?

I started writing stories when I was five years old after reading and re-reading all of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books. I fell in love with books at a very young age.

What inspires you to write?

I become most inspired to write every time I finish reading anything by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Dark, mysterious, suspenseful, and noir-style stories awaken something in my mind, and ideas quickly flow like an unclogged sink.

How did you come up with the idea for your current story?

The Loop originated as a simple idea to create a murder mystery set in the magnificent June Lake Loop, where I spent my childhood summers camping and hiking. I initially took it on as a challenge to write within a genre I had never touched before, and when the characters began to take on flesh and soul, I never looked back. While not based on anyone in particular, the characters in The Loop embody the bitter and lackluster traits hidden deep within myself and my friends and family, traits that aren’t necessarily revealed in real life. So that was fun, to embrace the darkness.

Are there some stories tucked away in some drawer that was written before and never saw the light of the day?

Not necessarily a drawer, but I have a massive list of book/screenplay/short story ideas compiled in the Notes App on my phone.

Tell us about your writing process.

Being more of an outdoor person, the physical act of sitting down at my computer and writing for hours on end is something I actually quite dread. The method I use to coax myself into that chair includes lighting a woody-scented candle, dimming the lights, pouring myself a whiskey, and listening to soft music that matches the tone I am looking to match in my writing. For example, as I write my next mystery thriller, Three Houses on a Hill, I frequently listen to eerie or creepy instrumental music.

What is your favorite scene in the book? Why?

I don’t want to give away too much in terms of spoilers, but my favorite scene is one in which the protagonist, Gallagher Finch, is seconds from being buried alive. A sacrifice is made by an unlikely family member, and Gal exacts revenge on his captors. I love this scene because when you think you finally understand the family member’s devious motives, he surprises the reader by becoming the tragic hero. It’s such a powerful scene, one that changes Gallagher forever.

Did any of your characters inherit some of your own quirks?

Gallagher definitely inherited my dream of becoming an author, not to mention our shared ability to whip up one hell of a drink. He acts out, is crass and degenerate, and embodies all the secret qualities I possess but never act upon.

What is your most interesting writing quirk?

Readers often comment on my ability to switch between modern and past storylines, to interweave them in such a way that makes the reader, as one person reviewed, “forget about the existence of time.”

Do you read? Who are your favourite authors and how have they influenced your writing style?

I really hope that all authors are readers. You can’t be a great author without reading tons of great (even terrible) books. My favorite author is Carlos Ruiz Zafón, author of The Shadow of the Wind, which is my favorite book. The way he weaves words together is simply surreal. I try to utilize beautifully extravagant words very subtly and very seldom within the text, a trick I learned from reading Zafón.

What is the best piece of advice you have received, as a writer, till date?

Don’t succumb to not finishing. Don’t tell yourself you can’t finish a first draft. You can. And once you do, all you have to do is revise, revise, revise.

What is the best piece of advice you would give to someone that wants to get into writing?

Your story will never be perfect. Your words don’t need to be lavish. The only thing your book needs to accomplish is to tell an effective story that plays with the reader’s emotions. When people read, they want to feel.

What would be the Dream Cast for you book if it was to be turned into a movie?

Gallagher Finch, portrayed by Penn Badgley
Scarlet Finch, portrayed by Emily Hampshire
Brad Finch, portrayed by Armie Hammer
Jimmy Finch, portrayed by Scott Caan

If you were to be stranded on the famous deserted island, what three things would you carry?

A copy of The Shadow of the Wind, a fishing pole, and a bag of sunflower seeds.

How do you spend your free time? Do you have a favorite place to go and unwind?

I spend most of my free time outdoors with my wife and our dog. Austin is such a beautiful, green city. We like to enjoy the lake (kayaking, paddle boarding, or just floating in inner tubes) and hiking the various trails around the city.

Can you share with us something off your bucket list?

Cage diving with great white sharks in Cape Town, South Africa.

Tell us three fun facts about yourself.

I work full-time as a content marketing specialist.
I am the third of four boys.
I bartended for ten years, studying people’s traits to implement into my characters.

What do you have in store next for your readers?

My next mystery thriller, Three Houses on a Hill, will be released in Winter 2020. The book will transport readers to the bitter cold of Alaska’s interior region, where an ex-firefighter takes on the role of groundskeeper for a dying oil tycoon and his wife. The longer our hero remains in the shadow of the Dilbrook Mansion, the more secrets he uncovers about this mysterious family and their haunted past.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with your readers?

Reviews are everything. If you read a book and like it, leave a review. If you read a book and hate it, leave a review. As authors, we are only as good as the impressions our stories leave on our readers

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Can you keep a secret?

In the heart of the Sierra Nevada mountains, a freezing snowdrift blankets the June Lake Loop. For months, aspiring novelist Gallagher Finch has not written a single word. To pass the time awaiting inspiration, Gal satiates his boredom with Adderall, Evan Williams, and one call girl too many. On the eve of his twenty-sixth birthday, he indulges in all three…

And when he awakens, he discovers a bloody secret tangled in his bedsheets.

Still grieving from a tragic murder in the family thirteen years earlier, Gal wonders if old enemies are drawing near once again. He begins to process his nightmares, anxiety, and fear the only way he knows how – he writes. Quickly realizing his own story could be the best-seller he has been dying to publish, Gal weaves together the truth of who killed Daphne Castro, but in the process, he discovers the story that could launch his career may very well be his own deadly ending.

Family becomes foe, dark secrets resurface, and blood can be found on more than one pair of hands.


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Blue Ridge library director Amy Webber learns it wasn’t all peace and love among the “flower children” when a corpse is unearthed on the grounds of a 1960s commune.

Taylorsford Public Library director Amy Webber’s friend “Sunny” Fields is running for mayor. But nothing puts a damper on a campaign like an actual skeleton in a candidate’s closet. Sunny’s grandparents ran a commune back in the 1960s on their organic farm. But these former hippies face criminal charges when human remains are found in their fields–and a forensic examination reveals that the death was neither natural nor accidental.

With Sunny’s mayoral hopes fading, Amy sets her wedding plans aside, says “not yet” to the dress, and uses her research skills to clear her best friend’s family. Any of the now-elderly commune members could have been the culprit. As former hippies perish one by one, Amy and her friends Richard, Aunt Lydia, and Hugh Chen pursue every lead. But if Amy can’t find whoever killed these “flower children,” someone may soon be placing flowers on her grave.

Read and Excerpt from Bound for Murder

My foot, resting next to the macramé purse, vibrated from the loud music blaring from Sunny’s cell phone. “You want to get that? I realize the rule is no phones at the desk but since there’s no one here right now…”
Kurt coughed.
“No one who will care, I mean.” I cast him a smile before grabbing Sunny’s purse and handing it to her. “Go on—I know that ring.”
“Yeah, it’s the grands. Again.” Sunny pulled a comical face as she fished her phone out of the pouch. “They aren’t usually this needy, but ever since the county started that dredging work on the creek, they’ve been calling nonstop.”
“Oh right, they’re worried about damage to the trees and shrubs along the stream bed.” I’d heard plenty about this from Carol and P.J., who were irate over the heavy equipment that had recently descended upon their quiet organic farm. The fact that the county had a right-of-way to the creek, which was part of a larger watershed, did nothing to appease their anger.
“Government barreling in and taking over, like usual,” P.J. had told me, his thin lips quivering with repressed rage. “Didn’t even inform us ahead of time. Just showed up one day and proceeded to rip up my fields with their equipment. Well, they’d better not destroy our trees along the creek, that’s all I’ve got to say.”
I shook my head. “Can’t say I blame them.” I directed my words to Kurt as Sunny was listening intently to her phone. “The county’s been tearing up the stream banks all along its route.”
Kurt’s expression betrayed no emotion, but his jaw tightened. That was odd. The art dealer rarely appeared tense, even in the direst of circumstances, yet the mention of dredging a creek seemed to have distressed him. It piqued my curiosity.
Or maybe I was imagining things. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. “They say it benefits the environment because it allows for better run-off from nearby rivers and ponds. But I don’t know. It seems rather destructive to me.”
When Kurt replied, his voice as calm and charming as ever. “I knew that the dredging work was ongoing but didn’t realize it involved the Fields’ farm,”
“Yeah, unfortunately.” I glanced at Sunny and noticed that all the color had fled her face. “Anything wrong?”
Sunny’s fingers clutched her cell phone so tightly I worried she might crack the plastic case. “Yes. Not with the grands, thank goodness, but dredging crews found something on the farm.”
“Buried treasure?” I asked, with a quick glance at Kurt.
“No, not anything like that.” Sunny’s voice shook. “According to the grands, an operator swung his Bobcat bucket the wrong way and dug deep into the bank, up and away from the stream. And that’s when they found it.”
“Found what?” I asked, my gaze flitting from Sunny’s trembling lips to the carved-in-stone stillness of Kurt’s face and back again.
“Bones,” Sunny said. “Human bones.” She stared at me, her eyes as glazed as glass. “An entire skeleton.”


About the Author:

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Raised in a historic small town near the Blue Ridge Mountains, Victoria Gilbert turned her early obsession with books into a dual career as an author and librarian.

Victoria’s Blue Ridge Library Mystery series is published by Crooked Lane Books. Four books – A MURDER FOR THE BOOKS, SHELVED UNDER MURDER, PAST DUE FOR MURDER, and BOUND FOR MURDER – are out now. Book five, A DEADLY EDITION, will be published on Dec. 8, 2020. The first two books in the series are currently under option with Sony Pictures Television.

Victoria is also writing a new cozy series, the Booklovers B&B series, for Crooked Lane. Set in historic Beaufort, NC, the first book in the series, BOOKED FOR DEATH, will be published on June 9, 2020 with book two releasing in 2021.

A member of Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, and Sisters in Crime, Victoria is represented by Frances Black at Literary Counsel. She lives near Winston-Salem, NC with her husband, son, and some very spoiled cats.

Victoria Gilbert on the Web:

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Someone wants Vikramaditya Seth Jr. dead.

He refuses the Z+ security option offered by the government. With too many variables trust is hard to come by…

Esha Sinha prepares for her first assignment outside of active army service, oblivious to the fact that she has to baby-sit a man who has no respect for rules or protocol—a man who is headstrong, workaholic and a tenacious flirt. As the attraction between Vikram and Esha simmers and sizzles, another attempt is made on his life.

The killer is resourceful and determined.
The motive is unclear and perplexing.

Will they be able to nab the assassin before he gets to Vikram?

Read and Excerpt from The Bodyguard

"You must have been hurting a lot, I remember my head rammed into your stomach when Nick, the idiot, pushed me down." He lit the cigarette.
"I'm good." Esha tried to shift further away on the sofa, but there was no space and she was already on the edge of the seat.
A ringtone broke the silence in the room. Mahajan handed Seth the first-aid box and moved to the balcony with his mobile phone.
Her gaze flickered from Seth to her watch and then back to him. "Should be going." Get a grip, she chided herself, she was thirty, not thirteen.
"What's the hurry? Someone's waiting for you at home?" Seth opened the box and examined the contents.
She scowled. Was it a deliberate reference to her relationship status or just an innocent question?
"They have an off-the-shelf ointment here. But first, we need to clean it, right?"
"I really don't need anything, it's a minor bruise." Esha stood up ignoring her aching muscles when he picked up a cotton swab.
What was he playing at, behaving like a perfect host in a hotel to a virtual stranger? Shouldn't they be discussing the shooting? He had been shot at in the afternoon and, instead of treating the incident seriously, he was brushing it away like a minor mishap. Maybe he was in denial. Or maybe he didn't trust the observation of a woman. She tightened her lips as the thought invaded her mind. From her point of view, it was wise and professional to come back to the disturbing topic of the shooting.
She cleared her mind, locked her hands behind her back and stated clearly. "I think you should look for a reason or motive for someone to harm you. In my opinion, the bullets were aimed at you."
His eyebrows went up as he scanned her from head to toe, taking in her rigid stance. "You think so?" A corner of his mouth lifted in amusement.
"I don't think so, I'm sure." Her hands fisted behind her back.
"How can you be so sure?"
"I have been trained to assess situations like this one."
"Baggah was not the target?"
"The elaborate way this has been executed—both the sniper and the rifle had to be top class to shoot from such a distance—shows that this was a highly paid or a resourceful and skilled assassin. If I were assigned to kill Baggah, I would have used a motorcycle, shot him at point blank and driven away. He doesn't have the protection you have. Then there is the question of the second bullet. If the target was Baggah, there was no need to fire a second shot."
Vikram Seth sat there staring at her lips, and she knew he had just then noticed her lisp, a speech impediment she had since childhood, a minor movement of her tongue touching her front teeth on certain sounds. She had tried hard to overcome it, but it was noticeable when she spoke at length.
"Mr. Seth?"
To her acute irritation, he chuckled. "You would have killed Baggah just like that?"
"Mr. Seth, I'd like to take your leave."
"I have offended you."
"I have absolutely nothing to lose if you choose to ignore my observations."
"Are you trained to be polite as well? Why don't you tell me to fuck-off? I know you are dying to say that. Come on... say it. You'll feel good."
"Fine, Mr. Seth. You may... ... fuck-off."
He grinned, displaying a carefree boyish charm this time. She raised her eyebrows but it had no effect on him.
About the Author:




Author of the bestselling romantic thriller ‘The Bodyguard’, Ruchi Singh is an IT professional and novelist. Her other notable published novels are ‘Jugnu (Firefly)’ and ‘Guardian Angel’. Winner of TOI Write India Season 1, Ruchi also publishes short stories under ‘Hearts and Hots’ series, besides being a contributing author to many anthologies. For more visit www.ruchisingh.com

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