Dead body found in a burning kitchen in latest Carlisle Crime Cases

CARLISLE, Pa. - May 13, 2017 - PRLog -- Sunbury Press has released Had a Dying Fall, J M West's fourth installment of Carlisle Crime Cases thrillers.

About the Book:
In HAD A DYING FALL, a raging fire greets the Carlisle police and fire crew where Detectives Snow and Savage discover a male body splayed across the kitchen island in a domicile on South Street. Their search for the missing wife, Kelly Sims, leads CPD detectives to one of their own: Shannon Mahoney, one of Three Musketeers cycle team. Clues lead to the Sims extended family members, many of whom have motives to kill. As the evidence mounts and suspects multiply, danger erupts, exposing damaging secrets that could destroy them all.

And what happened to Detective Erin McCoy, who was last seen at a Revolutionary War re-enactment rehearsal in Darkness at First Light?

Then another murder occurs on Jubilee Day in Mechanicsburg. The victim had ties to Dennis Sims, the Carlisle murder victim. Are the murders connected? Meanwhile, the killer stalks the streets. Where will he or she strike next?

About the Author:
Had a Dying Fall is the fourth in the Carlisle Crime Cases series of murder mysteries featuring Homicide detectives Christopher Snow and Erin McCoy by Jody McGibney West, pseudonym for Joan M. West, Professor Emerita of English Studies at Harrisburg Area Community College, The Gettysburg Campus. She also taught at Messiah College and Shippensburg University as an adjunct and served as Assistant Director of the Learning Center (SU). She is a member of Sisters in Crime. She has previously published poetry and Glory in the Flower, her debut novel. It depicts four coeds who meet during the turbulent sixties.

She and her husband live near Carlisle, Pennsylvania. They have two sons and two grandsons. In her spare time, West volunteers at the Bookery—Bosler Memorial Library's used bookstore, participates in the Litwits Book group, and reads voraciously.

Excerpt:
Black smoke plumed over orange flames from the backyard. Sparks like fireflies flew. The shed's roof splintered, pieces somersaulting skyward. Flames erupted, feeding on the fuel. The Explorer screeched to a halt in front of a limestone Cape Cod on a corner lot. Requesting fire trucks, the CPD detectives raced around back, waving back curious neighbors. "Stay back! Other explosions may follow!"

Just as the words left Snow's mouth, a second eruption boomed. Wood and metal spewed from the flames, hot and dangerous. Sirens approached, pump and hook and ladder jutting to the curb, with men jumping off and flying to their tasks.

Dressed in full gear, Fire Chief Lane Rusk jumped down from the cab, motioned his men to hook into the nearest hydrant. Lowered his Plexi-glass shield and raced to the carnage. Water spewed forth on the grass and house while white fire-retardant foam arced over that. "Bet the gas grill blew," he muttered. The detectives sprinted to the back door, pounding to raise someone. The house sat mute, dark windows shuttered and curtains drawn against Dawn's fingers of resurrecting light. The light yawned in ribbons, rolling back the grey blanket of night.

"Sorry about Mac and . . . ," Savage said while he and Carlisle Police's lead homicide detective Christopher Snow had sped to the suspicious fire on South Street. "We took up a collection for flowers—had them sent to your house for the family plot."

"Yes, thanks," Snow swallowed hard and nodded. "I can't talk about that right now. It's just too raw." He scrubbed his hands over his face and shook his head. Swallowed over the lump in his throat.

Reese flipped open his cell, called HQ to find out who owned the house. "Court records list that domicile belongs to a Dennis and Kelly Sims." Always the first on the job, Sonja Hamilton, CPD admin extraordinaire, had her pulse on the department and its personnel. She hadn't missed a day of work in five years despite two kids, a husband, and night classes.

"We can't raise anybody here. Their shed just blew to smithereens, but nobody came outside to investigate. Could be on vacation, but we should notify them," Savage said.

Had a Dying Fall: A Christopher Snow & Erin McCoy Mystery
Authored by J. M. West
List Price: $19.95
6" x 9" (15.24 x 22.86 cm)
Black & White on Cream paper
258 pages
Sunbury Press, Inc.
ISBN-13: 978-1620068243
ISBN-10: 1620068249
BISAC: Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Police Procedural

For more information, please see:
http://www.sunburypressstore.com/Had-a-Dying-Fall-9781620...