📰 Book Tour with Guest Post & Giveaway ➱ Crimes and Crevices of the Heart (The Complete Cassie Woods, Reporter Series) Historical Mystery by author Beth Ford

 

Cassie Woods yearns to be a real journalist. But in 1880s New York City, her only assignments are women's interest stories. Until, that is, a cookbook author she's meant to interview goes missing and Cassie finds herself in the midst of a police investigation involving one of the city's major crime families. Surly but handsome Detective O'Neill threatens repercussions to her career if she continues to interfere. Will Cassie get in over her head or will she save the day and solve the mystery?

This collection contains seven connected stories, each centered on an exciting new case for Cassie to solve while navigating the highs and lows of her relationship with Detective O'Neill.

Read an Expert

“A lady reporter?” the policeman at the front desk asked her. “Are you serious?”

“Quite serious, I assure you.” She pointed at the card he held in his hand.

“Anyone could have these printed.”

“Are you going to let me talk to the detective who’s investigating her case or not?”

The man scowled, making his bushy blond eyebrows meet in the middle. Without a word, he walked through a door and out of sight. He returned a few minutes later followed by a fortyish man with strong cheekbones and striking green eyes. The first policeman returned to his duties at the front desk while his handsome superior continued into the lobby. Cassie turned her most charming smile on him.

“Are you the detective?”

“I can’t have reporters interfering in my case.” He spoke in a rough Irish brogue.

Her face fell. Clearly this man was not one to be charmed. “I’m merely asking for information.”

“What does the News Desk want with this story anyway? And why send you?”

“I’m the women’s editor—”

“Women are reading missing persons cases now, are they?”

“I’m simply trying to ascertain where the investigation currently stands. Mr. Walker’s lawyer—”

“What lawyer has he got?”

“Mr. Greene—”

The detective harrumphed. “No good swindler, that one.”

“I’m sure such a description applies to many lawyers you encounter, Mr.…”

The man glared at her. “O’Neill.”

Guest Post:

Topic: Pros and Cons of writing in your genre

Historical fiction is my favorite genre to write in. I always say reading and writing historical fiction feels like the closest you can get to time travel.

On one hand, it gives you a lot of interesting material. Some surprising things have happened throughout history! With history as your basis, you don’t have to start a story from scratch. Historical events can be the scaffold that you build your story on. Historical figures can even appear in your story if you want to go that route (I occasionally do, but only for minor characters). Or those historical figures can inspire your own characters.

On the other hand, it’s also true that historical events and facts can limit your storyline. Unless you want to write alternate history instead, you can’t change who won a war or how an event turned out or when someone died. And however helpful it would be for a character to be able to make a phone call in your 1850s story, that would be anachronistic. But on a smaller scale you can use your imagination. You can envision a conversation between two historical figures or craft the events that could potentially have led to someone making a decision that shaped history. You still have leeway to add the human side of the history. That’s another thing I love about historical fiction.

Writing historical fiction allows you to explore how people are the same and different across time periods, how our struggles are the same. It makes us feel connected to the past. I also like to imagine what I would have done in that time period or in a certain situation. Mostly, I end up feeling grateful for the time I do live in, because I fully admit that I would not do well in a time without modern amenities as my practical skills are pretty nonexistent.

About the Author:

Beth Ford writes historical and time travel stories that transport you in time. She is the author of the novels In the Times of Spirits, Love Between Times, Love Across Time, and After the Spirits Come: A Continuation of Dickens's A Christmas Carol. She also writes the Cassie Woods, Reporter historical mystery romance novella series. Her work has also appeared in a variety of literary journals. She lives in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Website: http://bethfordauthor.com
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Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Crimes-Crevices-Heart-Complete-Reporter-ebook/dp/B0H3811ZPM/ref=sr_1_1

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Beth Ford will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

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