Marcia Talley – författare

When a man is murdered in the woods and the main suspect appears to be a giant ape, Hannah steps in to solve the mystery. Does Bigfoot really exist? Hannah is delighted to reconnect with her former roommate, Susan Lockley, owner of Scarborough Fairs, at a college reunion, and agrees to step in when Susan's assistant drops out of managing the Sasquatch Sesquicentennial in Granite Falls, Oregon. But when Martin Radcliffe, a professional debunker, is found murdered, surrounded by gigantic footprints, the culprit appears, or was meant to appear, obvious: Bigfoot. Fantasy or fact? As the conference disintegrates into a chaos of finger pointing, mistrust and fear, it falls to Hannah to restore order. Working closely with Jake, a retired policeman and his K-9, Harley, Hannah hastens to stave off the vigilantes and solve the crime before Bigfoot, if he exists, comes one step closer to extinction.

A trip to the local cemetery draws Hannah into a puzzling case stretching back forty years. It may seem creepy, but Hannah Ives enjoys her expeditions to the local cemetery to help people find their deceased relatives. Usually a quiet affair, Hannah is surprised when she encounters Isabel 'Izzy' Randall laying flowers on the grave of Amy Madison, a college senior who was killed in 1978. Last seen in a popular Annapolis disco bar, Amy's murder remains unsolved.Hannah's interest in the case leads her to join Silent Sleuths, a small, passionate group of 'citizen detectives' dedicated to trying to solve cases like Amy's, and their research soon suggests that Amy may have been the first of several victims targeted by a serial killer. As DNA from the scene of the murder throws up surprising results, their investigation takes them down unexpected avenues. Is Amy's killer still alive, or has an untimely death taken them beyond justice?

Hannah Ives uncovers a deadly connection between disturbing discoveries in the past and present in this gripping mystery.Hannah Ives and her husband are staying at their idyllic vacation cottage on Maryland's eastern shore when a young friend, Noel Sinclair, stops by for a visit. As Hannah shows Noel around the property, they notice some bald eagles in a neighboring cornfield who look seriously ill.Could these magnificent birds have been poisoned? Hannah's investigation soon clashes with powerful commercial agricultural interests. Meanwhile, Noel uncovers some shocking news of her own when she and her sister receive the results of their DNA tests. As Hannah tries to discover who is tormenting the birds while also delving into Noel's family tree, the last thing she expects to uncover is a deadly connection between the two . . .

"One thing I’ve learned during a long career as a writer is that a good short story is one of the hardest things to write. To capture mood, character, tension, and a satisfying climax in a few pages requires more skill than having the luxury of a novel to get things right. That’s why I’m so impressed that the writers of Chesapeake Crimes seem to deliver quality work in anthology after anthology. This one is especially fun as the theme is holidays. And who hasn’t wanted to commit a murder at a family holiday celebration?" -- Rhys Bowen

Donna AndrewsTimothy Bentler-JungrShaun Taylor BevinsCarla CoupeMaddi DavidsonLinda EnsignBarb GoffmanKim KashAdam MeyerAlan OrloffKM RockwoodLauren R. SilbermanMarianne Wilski StrongArt TaylorRobin Templeton

"The diabolical sisters of the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime have raised the stakes: not only asking their astute members to offer up a gem of a short story, but to add a degree of difficulty. It has to be about the weather…. Rain, snowstorms, hurricanes. The glare of the sun. The shrouding fog. Clouds, mist, hail, and icy roads. The Chessies have used their writerly talent to embrace the weather, to relish it, and to provide us with a raft of meteorological (and deadly) delights." -- Hank Phillippi Ryan, bestselling author of the Jane Ryland series

Super-sleuth Hannah Ives must conjure up all her detective skills when her niece does a vanishing act on a family cruise.Hannah, her sisters and fourteen-year-old niece Julie set sail from Baltimore on a bonding cruise, and have a dramatic first night when Pia Fanucci, a bubbly bartender magician's assistant whom Hannah befriends, narrowly escapes injury during an illusion. But while Pia may make light of the incident, it's no laughing matter when Julie suddenly disappears. Has she gone overboard, or is she injured somewhere on the enormous ship?To make matters worse, Hannah meets David Warren, a grieving father whose twenty-two-year-old daughter vanished without trace from an earlier cruise. With claims of a proper investigation proving to be an illusion too far, Hannah teams up with David and Pia in desperation. Can they see through the ship's smoke and mirrors to reveal the identity of a dangerous sea-faring predator?