Category: Mystery Novel

The Pulse of the City by C. D. “Tony” Hylton, III

Posted on by Joy Held

The Pulse of the City

C. D. “Tony” Hylton, III

Rick Hill, the underdog publisher of The Lawnsville Crier continues his fight to hold elected public officials accountable for Jordan County’s corrupt old-line political machine in this fast-moving novel, The Pulse of the City – the fourth in the award-winning Rick Hill Series.

One of the few times the old-line faction outsmarted the Crier publisher resulted in a takeover of the Lawnsville City Council.

Is it possible that a by-chance invoice approved at a Council meeting could lead Rick Hill to a kickback scheme which leads directly to the Governor’s office? Or will the State’s Chief Executive again walk out of the Federal Court House a free man?

Could his 85-year-old anonymous news source with the creaky voice again provide the Crier publisher with a “tip” that could unravel a carefully planned scam that finally lands the slippery Governor Wilson McDuff in a federal prison? The same Wilson McDuff who was found not guilty in two previous federal trials, while his co-defendants were convicted, and now resides in a federal prison.

The Pulse of the City, expands the behind-the-scenes look at The Lawnsville Crier beyond the duty to hold public officials accountable. It pulls the curtain back to show the everyday routine – less glamorous – things the paper features that draw readers and give the community pride and an identity.

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JOY E. HELD is a busy author, educator, editor, book coach, entrepreneur, and literary citizen responsible for this site and its contents. She is the author of

Writer Wellness: A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity (Headline Books, Inc., 2020)

Writer Wellness Workbook: A Guided Workbook and Journal to Accompany Writer Wellness: A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity (Headline Books, Inc., 2023)

The Mermaid Riot (Fire and Ice YA, 2024) Young Adult Historical Fantasy

Saving Marietta: Journey to Freedom (Headline Books, Inc., 2026) Adult Historical Romance

She is the winner of multiple writing and book awards:

West Virginia Writers, Inc. Annual Writing Contest, Honorable Mention, Novel, 1998.

New York Book Festival, Honorable Mention, Writer Wellness, 2020.

Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Finalist, Writer Wellness, 2021.

Northeast Ohio Romance Writers of America, Member of the Year, 2020.

Northeast Ohio Romance Writers of America, First Book Award, 2020.

She is an adjunct faculty member in the Southern New Hampshire University Online MFA Creative Writing.

She is a proud graduate of Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA with an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction.

She is a member of The Authors Guild and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

Joy is the founder and CEO of My WRITEDAY Subscription Box for writers and readers.

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GUEST POST: EXPLORING THE STORY THAT CAME BEFORE THE STORY BY LYNN SLAUGHTER

Posted on by Joy Held

GUEST POST: EXPLORING THE STORY THAT CAME BEFORE THE STORY BY LYNN SLAUGHTER

Missing Mom by Lynn Slaughter

Saturday 2 August 2025

 

I’ve long been fascinated by real-life mysteries of missing persons, people who suddenly disappeared from their loved ones’ lives. So many questions, and often, so few answers. Were they victims of foul play? Kidnapped? Running from something? Running toward something that they found more appealing than their current lives? So many possibilities, and for loved ones left behind, so much grief and uncertainty.

Given my interest in missing persons’ cases, I guess it’s not surprising that I decided to explore what happens to someone left behind. Thus was born the premise for my latest novel, MISSING MOM, in which Noelle, a seventeen-year-old, is distraught over her mother’s sudden disappearance. Despite the circumstantial evidence, she doesn’t believe that her mother would ever have committed suicide and is determined to unravel the mystery of what happened to her mom.

As writers, we often talk about the importance of digging into the backstories of our characters to understand their choices and reactions. Why, for example, is Noelle so sure her mother did not commit suicide? The answer lies in her unusually close relationship to her mother who is such a great listener and so supportive that even Noelle’s friends flock to her mom for advice and counsel. On the day she went missing, Noelle’s mother had made plans to go out with her daughters to the mall for school shopping and pizza. The idea of her mom deciding, “Never mind shopping and pizza. Now I’m going to kill myself” makes absolutely no sense to Noelle.

So, what did happen to her mother? The mystery turns out to be related to the saga of a young woman nearly twenty years earlier who managed to escape from an abusive marriage. I found this young woman’s story riveting and decided to thread it throughout the novel.

After I’d written MISSING MOM, I discovered that what I had done is called a “time slip novel,” in which interconnected stories from different time periods appear. Although time slip novels are not uncommon, this marked the first time I’d ever attempted one, and I found it exciting to try something that was new for me as a writer.

All in all, I loved exploring the story that came before the story I set out to tell. Sometimes our curiosity takes us into new and unexpected places, which makes writing and reading especially pleasurable.

 

 

BIO:

Lynn Slaughter is addicted to the arts, chocolate, and her husband’s cooking. After a long career as a professional dancer and dance educator, she returned to school to earn her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. Her six published novels have received numerous accolades, including a Silver Falchion Award, an Agatha nomination, an Imadjinn Award, and a Moonbeam Silver Medal. Midwest Book Review called her most recent work, Missing Mom, a “remarkable book” that “invites readers to immerse themselves in a narrative that beautifully captures the essence of struggle and triumph.”

Lynn’s website: https://lynnslaughter.com

Purchase links for MISSING MOM:

Amazon
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BOOKS BY MY FRIENDS

Posted on by Joy Held

This article may contain affiliate links which may result in the author receiving a commission when readers purchase items through the links.

Today we’re featuring authors LAURY A. EGAN, ALLE C. HALL, LYNN SLAUGHTER, and LINDA BALLOU.

BOOK: The Firefly

AUTHOR: Laury A. Egan

GENRE: Romance and coming of age portrait

BLURB: 1964: A dark summer night on a still black lake. A lantern is lit at the end of a dock. A blond girl in white appears and begins to dance, her body illuminated like the fireflies surrounding her. A second girl emerges from a house and is beckoned forward. The two meet, swim, and then kiss, beginning an ethereal romance and a young woman’s journey into adulthood. Robin Bennet, 14, has been abandoned at a lakeside rental. Her parents argue and leave, each believing the other has remained with Robin. Alone, Robin discovers someone has been sleeping in the house and stealing food. A fifteen-year-old, Kieran, the charming intruder, invites himself to dinner. He is the brother of the beautiful girl who magically appeared on the dock the night before. After he departs, the “Firefly” returns, but in the morning she has disappeared, leaving Robin on a quest to find her all the while pursuing her dream of becoming an architect. Heat rating: 2

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Laury A. Egan is the author of eleven novels, The Firefly; Once, Upon an Island; Wave in D Minor; Turnabout; Once, Upon an Island; Double crossed; The Swimmer; The Ungodly Hour; A Bittersweet Tale; Fabulous! An Opera Buffa; The Outcast Oracle; and Jenny Kidd; in addition to a collection, Fog and Other Stories. Four limited-edition poetry volumes have been published: Snow, Shadows, a Stranger; Beneath the Lion’s Paw; The Sea & Beyond; and Presence & Absence. Eighty-five of her stories and poems have appeared in literary journals.

BOOK: As Far As You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back: A Novel

AUTHOR: Alle C. Hall

GENRE: Literary fiction

BLURB: As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back is a-girl-and-her-backpack story with a #MeToo influence: Carlie is a child sexual abuse survivor. As a teen, she runs away to Asia. Falling in with an international crew of Tai chi-practicing backpackers, Carlie’s journey becomes one to find the self-respect torn from her as a child and the healthy sexuality she desires. Trigger warnings for: child sexual abuse, addictions, and suicide.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Nominated for The Pacific Northwest Booksellers Book Award, Alle C. Hall’s debut literary novel, As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back was winning prizes before its publication, including the National League of American Pen Women’s Mary Kennedy Eastham Prize. The novel was also submitted by the publisher for The National Book Award. Hall lived in Asia and traveled there extensively. She has a daily Tai chi practice that spans 35 years.

BOOK: Missed Cue

AUTHOR: Lynn Slaughter

GENRE: Mystery

BLURB: While dealing with her own messy personal life, Lieutenant Caitlin O’Connor investigates the most complicated case of her career, the suspicious onstage death of a revered ballerina.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: After a long career as a professional dancer and dance educator, Lynn earned her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. MISSED CUE (Melange Books) is her first mystery for adults. She is also the author of four award-winning young adult romantic mysteries: DEADLY SETUP, LEISHA’S SONG, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU, AND WHILE I DANCED. Lynn lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where she’s at work on her next novel, serves on the board of Louisville Literary Arts, and is an active member and former president of Derby Rotten Scoundrels, the Ohio River Valley chapter of Sisters in Crime.

 

LINDA BALLOU

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