I know. I know. I haven’t posted a blog entry in months. That’s because I’ve been on hiatus, working on the sequel to All That Glisters. Well, I have big news. I just signed a contract with The Wild Rose Press for Volume 2 in the Thad Hanlon & Bri de la Guerra Mystery Series. Woohoo!  

Elevator Pitch

Here’s the pitch for Oceano Beach Bedlam:

Hanlon & de la Guerra have gone full service. In this second book in the surfing crime-fighter mystery series, Thad Hanlon and his martial-arts-obsessed partner, Bri de la Guerra, hang out their shingle as newly licensed private investigators. Now in addition to fraud-busting, the two detectives do it all. Background checks. Surveillance. Even finding lost souls. Just about anything that requires sleuthing or going undercover.

All they need is a client.

That’s when a former exotic dancer from Bakersfield CA shows up looking for her surf prodigy son who’s gone missing in the wake of cult violence terrorizing the California Central Coast.

Oceano Beach Bedlam picks up where the action left off in Topper Jones’ debut novel All That Glisters. Thaddeus Jude Hanlon and Abril (Bri) de la Guerra are rebuilding their lives. Thad as a single father. Bri as a twenty-something now in touch with her inner warrior.

Parenthood and rage management. Not the easiest things to work through when getting a fledgling PI practice off the ground. Especially when the case you’re working on crosses over into your private life.

Under Contract

Oceano Beach Bedlam was a total kick to write, especially the field research in the Five Cities area of the California Central Coast. Much of the action in Book 2 takes place in Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area (SVRA), home to primitive camping in the dunes and the only place in California where driving on the beach is legal. Such fun! And, of course, the surfing was fabulous.

Looking forward to working with TWRP and my amazing editor to get this new volume into bookstores late this year or early next.

Stay tuned for the cover reveal and news on the release date.
 

In Other News

A couple weeks back I was a guest on mystery author Rebecca Grace’s My Writing Corner blog! Check out the conversation about how I turned my weakness in plotting into plotting strength. Rebecca was such a great host.

Link: https://rebecca-grace.blogspot.com/2024/01/23-Topper-Jones-All-That-Glisters.html

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