After months of marital bliss, Jessica Faraday and Murphy Thornton are still discovering and adjusting to their life together. Settled in their new home, everything appears to be perfect … except in the middle of the night when, in darkest shadows of her subconscious, a deep secret from Jessica’s past creeps to the surface to make her strike out at Murphy.
When investigative journalist Dallas Walker tells the couple about her latest case, known as the Pine Bridge Massacre, they realize Jessica may have witnessed the murder of a family living near a winery owned by distant relatives she was visiting and suppressed the memory.
Determined to uncover the truth and find justice for the murder victims, Jessica and Murphy return to the scene of the crime with Dallas Walker, a spunky bull-headed Texan. Can this family reunion bring closure for a community touched by tragedy or will this prickly get-together bring an end to the Thorny Rose couple?
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About the author:
Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose Mysteries—over twenty titles across three fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns!
Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr’s seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, romance, and humor.
Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She lives with her husband, son, and four dogs (including the real Gnarly) on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
Connect with Lauren:
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Guest Post:
Thorny Rose Detectives: Love & Mystery Come Together
By Lauren Carr
I love great couples. By that, I don’t mean sexy couples who look like they were brought together by a modeling agency to sell perfume. Have you noticed that couples like that don’t usually last? I think it’s because they don’t make mirrors big enough for both partners and their egos.
I’m talking about couples who complement and play off each other. They are two halves that, when put together, make one fun whole.
Back when my husband and I were newlyweds, shortly after the extinction of the dinosaurs, we were befriended by the couple who lived next door. Jack and Judy had been married close to forty years at that point and had raised three children. I loved spending time with the two of them. Their personalities played off each other so well.
A retired Navy officer, Jack was distinguished and honorable. Judy was fun and sparkly. When they were together, she would give him that adoring look that told you how much she loved him, even after forty years together. On his part, she made him laugh.
They had been together so long, that they were beyond the adolescent phase of sex and had moved into intimacy of the mind and soul. They were so into each other that they could read each other’s thoughts and finish their partner’s sentences.
That’s the type of couples that I strive to match together in my mysteries—not just sexy glamour-pusses—but two fun people that readers would like to have for friends.
In the Thorny Rose Mystery series, I have paired Mac Faraday’s daughter, Jessica, with Joshua Thornton’s son Murphy.
Don’t be fooled by Jessica’s gorgeous violet eyes (inherited from her famous grandmother Robin Spencer) and spoiled rich girl surroundings. Jessica Faraday is a recent college graduate with a master in behavioral and cognitive neuroscience and is pursuing a doctorate in forensics psychiatry.
Murphy Thornton, Joshua Thornton’s (of Lovers in Crime) son, a graduate of the naval academy, who is up to his ears in top secret clandestine operations with the government.
When these two offspring from top-notch detectives came together, it was a match made in a mystery author’s imagination as you can see in this excerpt from their latest mystery A Fine Year for Murder.
In this excerpt, Murphy Thornton and Jessica Faraday stop for dinner during their trip to southern Virginia. While waiting for their meals, they go over the details of the cold case involving the murder of a family—a murder they suspect Jessica may have witnessed as a child:
Excerpt:
Jessica picked up her drink and took another sip. She watched Murphy dig into his salad. They had been so busy that day that she hadn’t had a chance to observe how hand-some he was—something that the server had instantly noticed and that had caused her to give him an extra broad grin while taking their order.
Yep, I am one lucky lady.
“What are you grinning at?”
Suddenly, Jessica realized that he had stopped eating and was looking across the table at her. A wicked grin crossed her face as a dirty thought crossed her mind. She felt her cheeks turn bright pink.
Seeming to read her thought, he chuckled.
Setting down her drink, Jessica caught sight of the plastic straw and remembered what her brother had said when they’d left a few days before. “Did you really threaten to kill Tristan with a plastic drinking straw?”
He laughed. “That was a joke. I’d never kill your brother unless he gave me a very good reason to.”
“Well, for some reason, he believed you and now thinks that it really is possible to kill a man with a plastic drinking straw.”
“That part is true.”
Jessica let out a laugh.
Across the table, Murphy’s lips curled. He arched an eye-brow in her direction.
“You’re joking,” she said.
“You don’t believe me. You told me that your father sent you to all sorts of self-defense classes—and that they taught you that anything can be used as a weapon if you know how to use it.”
“But a plastic drinking straw?” She continued to laugh.
Murphy jerked his chin in the direction of the server, who immediately appeared at their table to ask how she could help him.
“May I have a straw and a potato?”
“What would you like on your potato?” she asked. “Butter? Sour cream? Chives? Loaded?”
“Raw.”
The server stared at him. She then turned to Jessica, who was almost as confused as she was. “Raw?”
“Raw,” Murphy said. “And a fresh straw.”
Jessica’s amusement turned to confusion and then to curiosity when the server returned with a potato on a fresh plate.
After handing him the plate, the server made no pretense of leaving, instead preferring to stick around to see what he intended to do with it.
Similarly curious, the children at a nearby table sat up in their seats and craned their necks to watch.
“Daddy, what’s he doing with that potato and straw?” the younger boy asked in a loud voice, prompting his mother to shush him.
“Maybe he’s going to drink it,” the older boy said with a loud laugh, which made their mother shush them again before muttering an apology in Murphy and Jessica’s direction.
Murphy set the potato in the middle of the table for Jessica to study. He tore off the end of the straw’s paper wrapper and shook out the straw. “Now, the purpose of this demonstration is to show you how anything, even an extremely innocent-looking object, can be used as a weapon.” With one hand, he picked up the potato and held it out to her. “Do you agree that this raw potato is stronger and tougher than human flesh?”
Jessica was aware of the many customers who were watching them. Some had even turned around in their seats to observe the experiment. She quickly handed the potato back to him. “Yes, I agree with you about that.”
“Then you probably assume that this potato is tougher than this straw.” Murphy held up the straw for her to see. He placed his thumb over one of the open ends.
“Which is why I am con—”
“Yet if you hit it just the right way—” With a stabbing motion, Murphy plunged the straw into the potato.
The customers and servers around them, caught off guard by Murphy’s sudden motion, audibly gasped.
“You can shove this plastic straw all the way through the potato so that it comes out on the other end.” He held up the potato to show that he had, with one movement, forced the straw all of the way through it.
He leaned across the table, closer to where Jessica was sitting with her mouth hanging open. “Imagine what damage that straw could have done if I had jabbed it into a man’s throat or eye.”
There was a flurry at the table across from them as the mother disarmed her two boys, who suddenly wanted to try out Murphy’s demonstration on each other.
What will become of Murphy and Jessica? If Jessica finds herself in danger, will she remember Murphy’s advice about defending herself with a seemingly innocent-looking weapon?
Find out the answer to these questions and more. Get your copy of A Fine Year for Murder today.
BOOK SPOTLIGHT TOUR SCHEDULE:
Feb 9 -
fuonlyknew - book spotlight / author interview / giveaway
Feb 17 -
T's Stuff - book spotlight / guest post / giveaway
BOOK REVIEW TOUR SCHEDULE:
March 9 -
T's Stuff - review of A Fine Year for Murder / giveaway
March 16 -
fuonlyknew - review of A Fine Year for Murder / giveaway
March 29 -
Pause for Tales - review of A Fine Year for Murder / author interview
April 3 -
Bound 4 Escape - review of A Fine Year for Murder / giveaway
(2015), 
(Feb 2016) and The Drawing Game (Dec 2017). Deirdre’s interest in green living inspired her to create an off-the-grid character, CeCe Prentice, who Dumpster dives her way through the Sketch in Crime mystery series. “Verne’s mystery is a winner…” Kirkus Reviews. A member of Sisters in Crime, Deirdre’s stories appear in all three NY chapter anthologies – Murder New York Style, Murder New York Style: Fresh Slices and Family Matters.
