The first draft of Thea Campbell #4 is done and taking a nap. I've been doing my best to leave it alone, and perhaps I'd be more successful if I didn't feel something was terribly lacking -- even at this stage. If I just had a title ...
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| Remember This Name-The-Book Contest? |
Hey, I know! I'll hold (another) contest!
The last one was so successful that I believe I'll go down that road again. Here's the rules;
Read the synopsis below and give me your suggestions for titles -- as many as you'd like, and I don't care if you duplicate someone else's -- either in the comment section of this blog or via email to susan @ susanschreyer dot com.
That's it.
Everybody wins -- Yay! Like last time. Yay! -- a free e-book, and the person who submits the winning title gets their name in the book's acknowledgments. Think of it as immortality :)
Thea Campbell Mystery #4
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| A Rhododendron - see why Thea wants to save it? |
A slippery slope of unpleasant incidents begin the New Year
for Thea Campbell and fiancé Paul Hudson. The last thing they expect to find
when digging up a big rhododendron next to their fire-damaged house are human
bones. Word gets out and speculation runs rampant in the small town of
Snohomish, Washington. Thea's aunt is among those who believe the skeleton
belongs to the ghost she claims haunts the home. Others say it's a pirate from
long ago killed by his captain and left to guard a buried treasure with his
spirit.
Unfortunately, the county forensic team finds it difficult
to make any headway in the investigation when the bones vanish almost as soon
as they're uncovered.
The New Year's Eve party should take their minds off what
will surely delay their home's reconstruction, but generates more commotion
than celebration -- and not just between Thea and Paul. No one seems to be able
to keep from being drawn into conflicts they'd normally avoid.
The problems don't stop there. Much to Paul's annoyance, the
contractor hired to do work on the house seems to have the hots for Thea.
Unfortunately, the contractor's leads for upgraded new appliances and fixtures
provides seem suspiciously hot as well.
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| Wouldn't you be suspicious getting this for cheap, too? |
On returning home from the party they find holes have mysteriously
appeared in the backyard. No sooner are they repaired than they appear again.
Could the rumors be right? Could the bones really have been
cursed?
An annoyed Thea finds herself hosting a séance Paul
suggested as a joke, and stumbles onto a scam to feed the silliness of ghosts
and buried treasure. There is surely no curse, but why go to so much trouble
over a fictional legend? Then someone breaks into Paul and Thea’s temporary
apartment and steals an old diary that could have provided clues to the skeleton's
identity. Sure, the thief tidied up, but that only verifies, to a furious Thea,
the culprit’s identity.
Then there's the issue of those vaguely threatening, digitized-voice phone
calls. Thea, although mildly rattled at first, refuses to respond. But instead of being discouraged, the caller becomes more
desperate and demanding. Paul, nearly frantic with worry since the messages are for Thea, is determined something be done.
There's no doubt every bizarre and unpleasant event since
the discovery of the skeleton is connected. Thea and Paul need to solve the
mystery and put all the madness to rest once and for all, but are they headed
for a trap that will be their final rest?
