UC authors do it right

UC AUTHORS archive

Or browse alphabetical list by author

 

Mysteries

The Bad Season
by Dennis Latham, A&S '92

A monstrous entity exists in a foggy hollow, deep in the Kentucky hills. It becomes active on humid summer nights -- the "bad" season -- and thoroughly destroys any living thing that trespasses too near its lair. Whether tourists, DEA officers or drunken locals, those who stumble into the hollow at that particular time of year are not likely to survive, although a stubborn Vietnam vet will make the effort, on behalf of a missing friend.

Latham is a talented storyteller. He keeps a reader so involved in the action that it is extremely difficult to put down the book before the tale is resolved. Somehow, that seems fitting for a writer rumored to live in a Victorian haunted house.

Author of numerous short stories and a first novel, "Michael in Hell," Latham sold his first story to a fellow Marine, who bet him $10 he couldn't write something he would enjoy, in less than half an hour. Latham won.

Order information:
Amazon.com
or Clocktower Books
ISBN: 0-7433-0905-7

Well-Founded Fear
by Tom LeClair, professor of comparative literature, A&S

Imagine being without a homeland, experiencing constant fear, enduring persecution, living as a refugee. In Tom LeClair's second novel, the heroine, an empathetic young attorney from Cincinnati, yearns to make a difference. She takes a job with the United Nations in Greece, where she has the power to recommend asylum for Kurdish applicants with proof of a "well-founded fear of persecution." After befriending one of the refugees, a Kurdish nurse, the attorney finds herself inexplicably entangled in the girl's life and becomes unwittingly involved in a scheme of international terrorism, with the U.S. as target. This is LeClair's second international thriller; the first was "Passing Off" (1996), a mixture of Greek League basketball, deception, blackmail and eco-terrorism.

Order information: major Internet booksellers, local bookstores


The Scent of Murder
by Jeffrey Marks, Ed '05

The body of a perfume model is discovered in Marissa's business office. The police are even more interested to learn that the victim was her ex-husband's new sweetheart. In self-defense, Marissa follows her own investigative clues through Greater Cincinnati's urban streets and seemingly quiet neighborhoods. As she searches for the truth, mystery fans will be led through an intricate web of red herrings, plot twists and dead ends. The journey is worth it.

Marks, whose UC degree is in education, has established himself as an award-winning mystery novelist, book editor and short-story writer with 10 volumes to his credit. Among them are mysteries starring Ulysses S. Grant ("Ambush of My Name" and "A Good Soldier"), several Silver Dagger anthologies ("Criminal Appetites," "Derby Rotten Scoundrels," "Magnolias and Mayhem") and a how-to guide to successfully market genre novels.

Order information: Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Joseph-Beth

Accrual Way to Die
by C.M. (Cora Price) Miller, Eve '84

A perverse proverb says that no good deed goes unpunished. That's perilously true for Miller's heroine, financial planner Audrey Wilson, whose willingness to help a friend entangles her in an elaborate embezzlement scheme. Before she can confront her two-faced pal, the woman is killed. Tagged as prime suspect, Audrey must discover the murderer's identity before she loses her freedom as well as her business.

This is former accountant Miller's second Audrey Wilson novel, a follow-up to "Taxes, Death and Trouble," published in 2000. Readers get to know her energetic heroine, her colorful family, romantic encounters and unsavory characters through Miller's lively dialogue and tantalizing details about the fictional Cincinnati suburb, Rosemont.

Order information: IUniverse, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble local bookstores. Miller has a Web site.


 

Dead Broke

by C.M. (Cora Price) Miller, Eve ’84

Too many of Rosemont’s young children are dying. Could the drownings, poisonings and lethal falls merely be bad luck in a poor neighborhood where children aren’t carefully supervised? Audrey Wilson, Miller's admirable amateur sleuth, thinks it’s something more sinister and begins following her own leads. Incredibly, the master criminal is someone so close to her that Audrey nearly becomes a victim herself.

This is the fourth mystery adventure Miller has written about her smart and sassy heroine. Previous reviews: “Accruel Way to Die” and “What She Left Behind” Visit Miller's site.

Order information: IUniverse, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or local bookstores.

What She Left Behind
by C.M. (Cora Price) Miller, Eve ’84

Only brotherly love can compel Miller’s financial-planner heroine, Audrey Wilson, to put herself in mortal danger again. When Wilson’s basketball-pro sibling becomes a prime suspect in the death of his son’s mother, Audrey follows clues into Atlanta’s seedy underworld to try to prove his innocence. Along the way, she discovers evidence in the dead girl’s journal that a close friend of the Wilson family is involved with pornography and violent criminal activity. Could this trusted friend be a murderer, as well?

The third novel in the Audrey Wilson series continues to please fans of Miller’s savvy, down-to-earth heroine. With a mix of sassy dialogue and clever plotwork, the author creates likeable characters, a dash of danger and a pinch of romance.

Order information: Internet booksellers: IUniverse, Amazon and Barnes and Noble, or order at local bookstores. Miller has a Web site.


Caviar Dreams
by Judy Nichols, MA (CAHS) '85

A tale of duplicity, extortion and double murder turns into terrifying reality for struggling photographer Lisa Watson. Not only is she haunted by her discovery of a friend’s strangled body, she begins to suspect the murderer is not the girl’s thieving boyfriend but his wealthy male lover.

Nichols’ first book, “Caviar Dreams” is set in Cincinnati and contains plenty of references to local neighborhoods, businesses and products. One character is a student at CCM; fortunately, he is cast as one of the good guys.

On her way to becoming a novelist, Nichols worked as a journalist, elementary school teacher and customer service rep, and earned her master’s in audiology at UC. She currently is crafting a second novel, “Tree Huggers,” set in coastal North Carolina.

Order information: On the Web: judy5cents.com, zumayapublications.com, booksurge.com, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com, and at New World Bookshop, The Bookshelf and Duttenhofer’s Books.


River Rats
by Dorothy Weil, MA (A&S) '69, PhD (A&S) '74

Buoyed by river lore and legend, three long-time Cincinnati friends begin a dangerous search along the Ohio for a crossbow-wielding sniper. Struggling through an undercurrent of romance and jealousy, they follow clues to an ominous river town, a backwoods Kentucky village and the ruins of an old steamboat on the banks of the Mississippi. The killer, however, is much closer to home.

Author Weil, a self-proclaimed “river rat” whose childhood was spent on steamboats and other river craft, has written widely about her Ohio River heritage, but this is her first murder mystery. “Cincinnati Horizons” reviewed her entertaining memoire, “The River Home,” in November 2002.

Order information: Internet booksellers: Amazon and Barnes & Noble, local bookstores and Publish America.

^ Top