Q. What is the Carson McAllister Mystery Series about?

A. A crime reporter who is compelled to pursue justice after enduring a personal tragedy, often coming face-to-face with life situations that grow her faith.

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Q. Who is Carson McAllister?

A. Carson is a young woman who returns to her small, southern hometown to put her life back together after witnessing the murder of her fiancé. With a strong sense of personal and professional responsibility to uncover and report the truth, she often finds herself at odds with the local police, public officials, and townspeople, asking uncomfortable questions few want to answer.

 

Buoyed by the love of family and friends, and a deep faith in God, Carson faces life with determination and humor. Sometimes she’s too quick to speak, blunders in where angels fear to tread, and reaches the wrong conclusions, but she's always the person you'd want in your corner when the going gets tough.
 

Q. What drives her to solve mysteries?

A. After witnessing the murder of her fiancé, Carson identifies with crime victims, especially those for whom justice is illusive. Plagued by the guilt of not being able to save her fiancé's life or solve his murder, she is compelled to go to great lengths to help others facing similar pain.

 

Q. Who are the people in Carson’s world?

A.  Along with Carson, the main characters are:

     

• The Reverend Wyatt McAllister, Carson's recently widowed father whom she  dearly loves and lives with.

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• Granville “Granny” Nash, the newspaper editor who gave her a chance as a cub reporter and now nurtures and guides her professional life.

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• M. J. George, newspaper photographer, best friend, and frequent partner in trouble.

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• Detective James Bartley Quinn, a handsome homicide investigator determined to keep Carson on the far side of the crime scene tape.

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Q. Where are the Carson McAllister Mysteries set?

A. In Sullivan’s Cove, a fictional town nestled among the mountains of the Chattahoochee National Forest in Northeast Georgia.

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Q. What is the first novel in the series about?

A. Up in Smoke takes place soon after Carson returns home from St. Louis, heartbroken and questioning her faith after losing her fiancé in an armed robbery. She gets a job at the local newspaper and is struggling to put her life back together when, late one night, she is called to the scene of a fire. While there, she realizes that the man who died in the blaze is her childhood friend. When she discovers that he was murdered, she vows to do for him what she could not do for her fiancé - bring his killer to justice. In her pursuit, she sets in motion a chain of events that endangers the life of someone she dearly loves.

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Q. Where are you on your path to publication for Up in Smoke?

A. I am seeking an agent or publisher.

 

Q. What’s next for your daring heroine?

A. She is investigating the untimely death of a young, female veterinarian in The Company You Keep, my current work in progress.