Tag: #NewEngland

Publishing News: Release Date for Bourque #2, Silver Moon Rising

A.M. Potter9 Comments

SILVER MOON RISING, the second novel in the Detective Bourque series set in contemporary New England, will be released by Stark House Press on SEPTEMBER 4, 2024.

Lieutenant Ivy Bourque of the Cape & Islands Detective Unit is called to a Martha’s Vineyard ferry at midnight. The estranged son of Massachusetts’ most famous political family is dead.

Was the victim, Daniel John Fitzgerald, murdered, or was he assassinated? Dan-Dan Fitzgerald was a preeminent eco-activist and whale advocate. His death triggers more deaths. Numerous suspects arise, among them the ferry crew, a megalomaniacal State governor, former Marines, a federal political lobbyist, and anti-whale shipping companies.

The investigation falters until Bourque realizes the key lies below the surface of Vineyard Sound, which leads to a tangled web centered on Cuttyhunk Island off Cape Cod.

“Impressive series launch. Fans of intelligent procedurals will hope for a long series run.” – Publishers Weekly on The Color Red, Detective Bourque Book One

“Silver Moon Rising, Potter’s sequel to The Color Red (2023), portrays Bourque as an increasingly confident, intuitive detective, giving plenty of room for this burgeoning series to grow.” – Booklist, the best book reviews for libraries, the best books for book clubs, published by the American Library Association (ALA)

Book Two in the Detective Ivy Bourque Series

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PUBLISHING NEWS: The second novel in the DETECTIVE IVY BOURQUE series will be published by Stark House Press, CA, USA. RELEASE DATE: September 2024. Title/cover reveal in Summer 2024.

BOURQUE NUMBER TWO: Another son of Massachusetts’ most famous political family is dead: Daniel John Fitzgerald. Enter Lieutenant Bourque of the Cape & Islands Detective Unit. Was Fitzgerald murdered, or was he assassinated? The victim was a preeminent eco-activist and whale advocate. His death triggers more deaths. In Bourque’s domain, most homicides are personal; assassinations, on the other hand, are political. Her team unravels a tangled web which leads to Cuttyhunk Island, Cape Cod.

“Impressive series launch. Fans of intelligent procedurals will hope for a long series run.” ~ Publishers Weekly

Click here for information on the series opener, The Color Red.

Stark House has optioned the third book in the series.

Ron Corbett’s Kudos for The Color Red

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“The Color Red is a first-class mystery that will keep you guessing until the final pages …. Potter’s vivid and memorable descriptions of Cape Cod will leave you smelling salt air and thinking of the Kennedys.”  

~ Ron Corbett, Author of the Frank Yakabuski and Danny Barrett Series (reviewed in the New York Times), Edgar Award and Arthur Ellis Award Nominee

Corbett’s site: https://www.roncorbettbooks.com/

The Color Red: Bleeding Facts into Fiction

A.M. Potter4 Comments

The history of the novel has been characterized by unending experimentation. However, one thing has remained constant. Novels are based on facts, real-world details that are twisted and turned to spin a story.

Every work of fiction sits on a fact-fiction continuum. On one end of the continuum there is pure fact; on the other, pure invention. Much of any novel sits somewhere in between.

What about The Color Red? What facts bleed into its fiction? The novel’s main murderee, Rollo Novak, loosely resembles Robert Herjavec; Novak’s business associate, Karlos Vega, loosely resembles Kevin O’Leary. Readers might recognize the names: Herjavec and O’Leary appeared on Dragon’s Den in Canada and now appear on Shark Tank in the US. However, the resemblance isn’t crucial to the story. Novak’s first wife, Melanya, was born in Slovenia. She might remind readers of a First Lady named Melania, who was also born in Slovenia. Of course, while Melanya Novak may mirror someone – anyone – she’s just a character in a novel. As copyright disclaimers say, “Any resemblance to actual persons is entirely coincidental.”

Then there’s Detective Lt. Ivy Bourque, the main character in the novel as well as the series. She’s not based on anyone “factual”; however, she is a prototypical New Englander: amiable, capable, and perceptive. On her father’s side, her French-Canadian heritage pays homage to Jack Kerouac, whose parents migrated from Quebec to Massachusetts in the early 1900s.

One final note for aficionados of fact-in-fiction and true crime stories. The main crime scene in The Color Red, an indoor pool, echoes the crime scene of a recent double murder in Toronto, Canada: the Barry and Honey Sherman murders. Echoes, I say. Okay, I’ve said enough. 😉 If I keep going, I’ll leak some spoilers.

Click here for sales information on THE COLOR RED.

To preview THE COLOR RED, download the free teaser below.

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The Color Red: Release Day, March 20, 2023

A.M. Potter10 Comments

The Color Red is now available. Click here for sales information.

“Impressive series launch. Fans of intelligent procedurals will hope for a long series run.” ~ Publishers Weekly

The Color Red brings the twisted Balkans to Boston and Cape Cod. A Slovenian-born billionaire and his second wife are found dead, hanging side-by-side at their pool. Some say the man was giving away his fortune; others say he was once an oligarch. Who’s the killer? Old Soviet operatives? His butler, his son? Balkan relatives? Detective Ivy Bourque and her team encounter many suspects, but none of them have a motive. Why would someone kill a benevolent rich man without an apparent enemy in the world?

To preview THE COLOR RED, download the free teaser below.

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