Welcome to my tour stop for Dead Lies by Cybele Loening! Dead Lies is a mystery novel and the tour runs October 22-30 with reviews, interviews, guest posts and excerpts. Check out the tour page for more information and read chapters for free at DeadLiesBook.com.
Dead LiesAuthor: Cybele Loening
Book Description:
Former NYPD cop Anna Valentine just landed her first homicide case: the grisly double murder of a wealthy young couple. But it couldn’t have come at a worse time. Recovering from personal tragedies, the young police office just moved with her traumatized child to the suburbs where she hoped to pursue a quiet life and heal. To complicate matters, although she’s sworn off men until she and her son are happy and whole again, Anna feels the pull of attraction to the handsome twin brother of one of the murder victims, a man who has yet to be crossed off the suspect list. Teaming up with lead detective Jerry Kreeger, a 57-year-old veteran cop who’s lonely, broke and close to burnout, Anna chases a crafty killer and ultimately exposes a family’s shocking secrets that will rock a town.
REVIEWER QUOTES
“Top marks…five stars…” Self-Publisher’s Showcase
“Loening is a master of her craft.” Main Street Magazine
“Top marks…five stars…” Self-Publisher’s Showcase
“Loening is a master of her craft.” Main Street Magazine
Excerpt
The man began running toward the house. He was big, at least six-foot-three or -four, and broad-shouldered. With blond hair that shone white in the beam of the headlights, he looked like a Viking charging into battle. Even with his speed and the intensity of his movement, Anna detected an awkwardness to his gait, as if one leg was longer than the other. The imbalance was barely noticeable, but it was there.
“Police, freeze!”
He didn’t stop. She repeated her command. The man kept running. Anna chased him.
She was half his size but clearly faster, taking only seconds to catch up with him. One swift kick to the back of his right knee sent him crashing to the ground. He groaned and rolled over, looking up at her with a mixture of outrage and desperation.
“You’ve got to go inside,” he gasped, breathing heavily, his face a mask of pain. “My sister…she’s hurt.”
Anna paused, sizing him up even in the heat of the moment. With a shadow of a late-afternoon beard and a nose that had obviously been broken at one time, he wasn’t exactly good-looking. He had more of a rough-and-sexy appeal. She liked that type, in part because he was the exact opposite physical type as her ex-husband. Anna guessed a smile from the man might bump him into the handsome category, but he was glaring at her angrily, so for now she could only wonder.
His female companion, a woman with dark brown hair and matching brown eyes, rushed over, with Paul in tow. “We’re the ones who called you,” she screamed in desperation.
The woman was clearly telling the truth. Neither of the two was wearing a coat, which suggested they had rushed over here. That also meant there was no place for either of them to hide a gun.
But there was an even better reason to believe them. They were both wearing dress shoes. No criminal she’d ever run across had worn shoes like that to a robbery.
“Please,” the man pleaded. “You have got to get in there.”
Anna ignored him. “Does your sister own a gun?” she demanded.
The man shot his sister a look. Neither answered.
“Does she have a gun?” Anna repeated more forcefully. It was a question she was used to asking witnesses since it seemed like every criminal in the city had one.
“I think Bill does,” the man spat. “He’s a defense lawyer in New York City…”
“Bill’s your sister’s husband?” she interrupted.
“Yes. He’s a lawyer now, but was a cop.” His eyes darted toward the house. He looked furious now, like the kind of man who wasn’t used to getting knocked to the ground or following commands by others. He was the kind of guy used to giving them. “Officer, please,” he growled.
Anna nodded and drew her gun. She looked at Paul and said quickly, “Go around the other side and meet me in back.” Then she told the pair, “You two stay here. And don’t move.”
The man looked like he wanted to argue, but a glance at the lower half of his still-prostrate figure told her he wouldn’t. There was a jagged protrusion where his left shin should have been. Anna suddenly realized why he hadn’t tried to get up after his fall. The man had a prosthetic leg, and it must have snapped loose when she took him down. No wonder he couldn’t stand.
Anna felt a mild flash of shame for further disabling a crippled man. But of course she hadn’t known. And even if she had, she wouldn’t have done anything differently. She was doing her job.
About the Author
Becoming a novelist was a dream come true for Cybele Loening, and one that was many years in the making. Like many aspiring writers and creative types, when she completed her education, she didn’t think she could make a living doing what she loved. So, she took a job that was related to writing but not actually writing: She became an editor. She loved editing but never gave up her dream of writing a novel someday.
It wasn’t until she was in her late thirties that she finally realized “someday” was right now. After many years of working in Corporate America, she was burned out of her job and exhausted by city living. She realized she was giving her best energy to a career and life that no longer fit. So, she took a huge leap of faith and quit her job to write full-time. The book she began writing eventually became Dead Lies.
Quitting her job was a scary step, but it changed her life. Tapping away at her keyboard, she realized she was happier than she had been in a while. She felt creative and energized again and was thrilled to have discovered her passion, her life’s work.
That one brave step into the unknown led to other wonderful changes in her life. For years she had dreamed of living in the country, so she began renting a cottage in Litchfield County, Connecticut, to see how it felt. She never looked back. And it was in this idyllic place that she met her soul mate and now husband, the life and business coach, Brooke Loening. They married a few years later, and together they renovated a home in which they now both live and work.
Spending her days writing and living in a place she loves, she has found bliss she never thought possible.
A spiritual seeker and lover of all of life’s mysteries, Cybele is hard at work on the next book in the Anna Valentine Detective Series and a memoir. She is also a blogger with a global mission: to help women achieve their dreams and live their very best lives.
You can find her at www.cybeleloening.com, and on Facebook (Cybele Loening and Cybele Loening Mysteries) and Twitter (@CybeleLoening).
Author Links:
***GIVEAWAY***
5 audiobook copies (through audible.com) of DEAD LIES by Cybele Loening (INT).
Ends Nov. 4
Prizing is provided by the author, hosts are not responsible.
Blog Tour organized by:
Thank you so much for hosting a tour stop!
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