Cozy mysteries with a paranormal twist!
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THE DEAD GAME SERIES
&MEET ME IN MAINE,
the first book in THE BLUE HARBOR SERIES
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Showing posts with label ebooks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ebooks. Show all posts
Sunday, December 17, 2023
Wednesday, November 1, 2023
IF YOU DARE
A town laden with mystery
and cursed by dark history
appears peaceful by day
until the cursed ones play
with the inhabitants’ lives
like bears attacking bee hives.
MEET ME IN MAINE
Wednesday, October 4, 2023
CHURNING
The waves are churning.
My face is burning.
They rise from the deep.
When all are fast asleep.
The Dead come ashore.
For me, they’ve come for.
There’s nowhere to run or hide.
I refuse to take their side.
The Dead will not win,
For they're dripping with sin.
THE DEAD GAME
Thursday, February 16, 2023
MEET ME IN MAINE RETURNS FOR MORE FUN
Let us return to MEET ME IN MAINE for the next chapter. Will our heroines be faced with another dead body?
Chapter 10
David parked between the police cruisers blocking the street in front of a brown, shack-looking building, flashing red lights illuminating the bystanders standing in groups on the sidewalk. We hurried beneath the hanging wood sign, Blue Sea, and into the restaurant. A whiff of fish hit me as we entered. Round tables rimmed the perimeter, where three walls of windows faced the pier and moonlit water. A circular bar with bamboo stools took center stage in the darkened room. The half-eaten dishes filling the glass tabletops and the fallen bamboo chairs hinted at the patrons’ quick retreat. Police milled around a table beneath a shattered window sprayed with blood in the right corner.
David stepped in front of me when I gasped, blocking my view of the scene. “Stay here.”
“But—”
“No buts.” He took my arm and guided me to a chair and a small table beside the front door. “Don’t move until I return.” Then he rushed to join the officers.
“I can’t believe there’s a murder during the grand opening,” a woman’s voice near me whispered.
“Yeah. And this time, it’s a woman,” a high-pitched voice replied. The police shooed them to the far left corner, where the other customers waited in a tight group, quiet and grim-faced.
I jumped to my feet, jarred by the thought: Jonathan had taken Scarlett to a new restaurant on a pier. What if the body belonged to her? I hurried across the room to where David stood beside the chief.
“Is it Scarlett?” I clutched David’s arm, getting a glimpse of a headless body draped across the table. So much blood. The woman wore a black dress. She wore a black dress, while Scarlett had twirled in a red dress for me.
“No.” David yanked me from the scene, but I’d seen enough: blood covered the window, table, and floor. He scowled at me, gripping my arm. “Why didn’t you listen to me?”
I tugged my arm from his grasp. “I was afraid it was Scarlett; she and Jonathan went to a new restaurant on a pier tonight.”
David pointed to the left. “She’s standing with Jonathan. Go join them.” He marched away as I slunk toward them.
“Elizabeth.” Scarlett wrapped her arms around me. “What are you doing here?”
“The chief interrupted our date,” I replied, nodding to Jonathan.
“Why?” Scarlett narrowed her teary eyes at me.
I sank into the chair Jonathan had brought me. “Logan was attacked.”
“Is Logan okay?” Jonathan asked.
“The chief didn’t sound concerned.”
Jonathan said, “Lively is only worried about his career.”
“What happened?” I asked. “I saw the body.”
Scarlett twisted her hands together. “We were eating at a table beside the window. The view was spectacular; there was music and plenty of tequila flowing. Then a woman’s head exploded at the next table. The woman sitting with her got covered with her friend’s blood before she screamed and fainted. Once the ambulance arrived, the paramedics revived the second woman and helped her to her feet. She didn’t appear hurt… but soaked in blood.” Scarlett grimaced as she gulped for air.
“Does this happen often?” I squinted at Jonathan in the dim light. “This is the second dead body we’ve seen in two days.”
“We’re having an outbreak of violent episodes.” He dragged shaky fingers through his shaggy blonde hair. “In March, two people turned to stone.”
“What do you mean they turned to stone?” Scarlett grabbed his arm.
Jonathan patted her hand before directing her to a chair across from mine. “Two new statues appeared on the dock, resembling a husband and wife living in Blue Harbor. The couple went missing as the statues appeared out of thin air.”
“You believe the couple turned to stone?” I asked, shaking my head at this absurd thought.
“The chief does.” He stared at the police surrounding the dead body. “He’s investigating with the help of Logan and David.”
My opinion of Lively plummeted to even lower than before. “I understand Lively having bizarre fantasies but not Logan or David.”
Jonathan looked at me. “This is a peculiar town.”
“These episodes have happened before?” I asked.
He nodded, his expression solemn.
“Have they called the FBI?” Scarlett asked, her eyes widening.
He shook his head. “Lively wants to keep it local; he doesn’t want the Feds traipsing through his crime scenes.”
“But if the chief can’t solve the crimes, he needs help.” Scarlett lowered her face. “This is ridiculous, and the whole situation borders on the ludicrous.”
Jonathan hunched on his knees in front of her, his bright blue eyes focused on Scarlett’s face. “I shouldn’t be telling you, but the town has secrets.” He shook his head, stopping himself from speaking further. “I shouldn’t be divulging them to strangers.”
Scarlett raised her face. “We aren’t strangers but will soon be owners of an inn.”
“What?” I stood, my head spinning. “When did you decide to stay?”
She turned tired eyes to me. “We can’t leave now.”
“No. You can’t leave.” Jonathan lifted her hand, bringing it to his lips. “We just met.”
“Wait a second.” I sat as the surrounding voices became muffled in my ringing ears. “The contract requires two signatures. And one is mine.”
“You don’t want to live here?” a deep voice whispered.
I turned my head to David. “My plans don’t include moving to a town of exploding heads and people turning to stone, where a psycho killer fulfills his delusions of grandeur by using Blue Harbor as his evil playpen.”
He took my hand, bringing me to my feet. “I can help make this town peaceful again.” His penetrating gaze pierced through me. “Please, let me try.”
“I don’t know.” I swallowed the lump growing in my throat.
“Give me a chance to make this right.” David wrapped an arm around my waist, backing me against his hard body, his warm breath tickling my ear. “I’ll keep you safe. I promise.”
I leaned against him with a sigh.
“I’m going to visit Logan at the hospital? Do you want to join me?”
I raised my face to his beseeching stare.
“We’re joining you.” Scarlett jumped to her feet.
When a police officer blocked her and Jonathan from leaving, David said to her, “You have questions to answer first,” before turning to me and extending his hand, “Join me, please.”
I took his hand and followed him past the officers surrounding the bloody scene to the police cars and camera crews flashing their lights across the night sky. When a reporter shoved a mic at my face, David pulled me against him and said, “No comment,” before leading me to his car.
I settled in my seat, my thoughts jumbled, my heart pounding. I don’t want to live in Blue Harbor, where the unusual becomes the usual. Then I glanced at David; I was not ready to say goodbye to him.
Friday, September 2, 2022
MOONLIT FOREST
Walk with me through the moonlit forest.
Let our feet graze the tips of the grass,
Never touching down,
Held aloft by our love and passion.
Follow me through the endless night,
To a land where no man walks.
Only creatures as dark as the sky
Dare to venture forth alone.
Love has no bounds or shackles.
We will be free to display our passion,
Without retribution from humanity,
As long as you remain mine.
Come with me, my ice princess.
Step award from the burning plains,
Where the heat burns your soles,
And love is hampered by the living.
Wolf holds his hand out for me.
The words flow from him,
His lips never uttering a sound,
But his meaning is as clear as can be.
We can be together forever more.
But the other has followed us to the clearing.
He will try to take me back,
And never give up his hold on me.
His eyes burn red with passion.
Fire follows close in his footsteps,
Scorching a trail through the grass,
Melting his enemy’s cold path.
They face each other.
Hot and cold from opposite poles,
Dueling until the end of time,
Both fighting for me.
Our games have just begun.
THE DEAD GAME
by Susanne Leist
Sunday, August 21, 2022
WHO WILL SURVIVE?
Are you invited to a party?
Can it be at End House?
A deserted house at the edge
Of the forest in Oasis, Florida.
People have disappeared from this house,
Never to be seen or heard from again.
Are you going to this party?
I admire your courage.
Your tenacity.
I will tell you what you may expect.
No one will answer your knock on the door.
The door will open by itself,
Inviting you to step inside.
Flickering candles and gargoyles line the staircase.
Your group will divide into two.
The first group will follow the staircase candles.
Your group will follow the flickering
lights in the right hallway to the basement.
Which group will find the elusive host?
Who will survive to tell the tale?
Only I know.
For I am one of The Dead.
We love our games.
Welcome to THE DEAD GAME.
Kindle
Nook
Monday, July 18, 2022
FIRST KISS
PREY FOR THE DEAD
If you dare step inside,
there’ll be nowhere to hide.
A new dimension you’ll cross
on the back of a black horse.
Are you ready for this?
Lean in for my first kiss.
PREY FOR THE DEAD
Monday, July 4, 2022
THE DEAD AND GONE
I should have listened to my heart’s song,
Listened to reason and right from wrong.
I’m now trapped in this horror of despair,
Waiting for death to take me in its arms.
The shadows are growing larger,
Surrounding me from all sides.
There’s nowhere to run or hide;
I will stand strong against the tide.
He’s here.
I can feel him.
He’s come back for me.
No one is safe from his wrath.
The cold wraps around my body.
My hair drips icicles down my neck.
I shiver in dread of my future.
My future as queen of The Dead.
THE DEAD GAME
Tuesday, February 22, 2022
DARK FEAR
A town where the snow is black,
bringing coldness & fear.
Old remnants of tears held back,
& times too hard to bear.
Woven from black sheets of rain,
fear covers in disarray.
Anguished & frozen with pain,
dark petals fall in dismay.
♦THE DEAD GAME♦
by Susanne Leist
Monday, February 21, 2022
WHO ARE THE CURSED ONES?
A weekend retreat turns into horror
as the curse threatens their new friends.
Can Elizabeth & Scarlett find peace
in a town destined to fall?
MEET ME IN MAINE
Sunday, December 19, 2021
I WALK ALONE
I walk alone at night
when the moon is full height.
The sky black as tar,
but I won’t walk far.
I search for the shadow
on a road so narrow.
I want to see who he’s become;
The Dead leader, the evil one.
THE DEAD GAME
Monday, November 29, 2021
MEET ME IN MAINE
Elizabeth and Scarlett travel to Blue Harbor, Maine, hoping to buy a bed-and-breakfast. On their first evening in the picturesque town, they visit the local ice cream parlor. As the charming owner introduces himself, a man rushes through the doorway, clutching his throat and dying in a pool of blood.
The Chief of Police questions them. David and Logan, the handsome men they met earlier in the day, join him in the interrogation. Elizabeth regrets agreeing to a date with the dashing, blue-eyed David. She can’t wait to pack her bags and leave Blue Harbor. Scarlett insists they keep their appointment at the quaint bed-and-breakfast. After the tour, she then encourages Elizabeth to sign the papers.
Elizabeth and Scarlett move into the inn and meet the residents. They hear of the curse placed by the Penobscot Indians on the original settlers of Blue Harbor and their descendants. The curse returned that year when an entire block sank into the ground, including the buildings and people. Their fears mount as an intruder breaks into the inn. At Scarlett’s date with Jonathan, the ice cream parlor’s owner, a women’s head explodes at a nearby table. Then a suspicious explosion rocks the harbor, destroying boats and part of the dock.
Once becoming involved with the town’s descendants, have Elizabeth and Scarlett placed their lives in jeopardy? Should they sell the inn and flee Blue Harbor, or stay and fight the curse alongside David, Logan, and Jonathan?
MEET ME IN MAINE
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