Monday, February 9, 2015

Marilyn Levinson, Guest Author



My guest this week is Marilyn Levinson. While I haven’t read all of her books, I’ve read a number of them and I thoroughly enjoyed the stories. Marilyn is here to give us the scoop on her three series – Wow – three series! I can’t wait to read her new and upcoming Ghost book. Welcome, Marilyn!



Marja has invited me to talk about my three mystery series. I’m delighted to have this opportunity to introduce my sleuths and to say a bit about their various escapades as they go about solving murders. All my series take place on Long Island, but the locale of each novel varies, as do the personalities of my three sleuths.


 Lydia Krause, an attractive, vibrant fifty-eight year old woman solves murders and unearths old mysteries in the Twin Lakes Mysteries. In A Murderer Among Us, Lydia embarks on a new life that brings her adventure, new friendships and romance. After her husband dies, she sells her thriving business and moves to Twin Lakes, an upscale over-55 gated community, to be near her older daughter and her family. While attending her first Twin Lakes social event, Lydia’s introduced to a man she knows under another name, that of the man who drove her baby sister to suicide and was sent to prison for embezzlement. The man’s wife verbally attacks Lydia and Lydia responds with vigor. The next morning the wife is found murdered and Lydia is suspect number one.

In Murder in the Air, the bones of a teenaged boy are discovered on newly acquired Twin Lakes property. Lydia’s elderly neighbor infers he knows something about the dead boy, and then he is murdered. Lydia unearths old secrets and new crimes, much to the disapproval of her boyfriend, homicide detective Sol Molina.


 Writing my Golden Age of Mystery Book Club mysteries is lots of fun because these books give my characters the opportunity to discuss the works of my favorite Golden Age of Mystery authors. In Murder a la Christie, book club members talk about books by Dame Agatha. They analyze Josephine Tey’s mysteries in Murder the Tey Way. My sleuth, Lexie Driscoll, is a 48-year-old English professor who is very bright except when it comes to choosing the men in her life. She facilitates book club meetings as she solves the murders that crop up around her. In Murder a la Christie, Lexie is discussing The Mysterious Affair at Styles in her friend’s manor-style home when another friend takes ill and dies. Convinced that Sylvia’s been poisoned, Lexie investigates. More members are murdered and Lexie begins to think she’s living in Christie’s novel And Then There Were None.

Lexie’s estranged sister pays her a visit In Murder the Tey Way. The following morning, the body of a man is found in Lexie’s backyard, and Lexie fears her sister may have killed him. Lexie and her friend, a former FBI agent who’s now a soccer mom, look into the mysterious pasts of the strange pair of sisters living next door to Lexie. Meanwhile, two men are vying for her attention—world-famous architect Allistair West and Detective Brian Donovan. Will she pick the right man this time?

http://amzn.to/K6Md1O

  In Giving Up the Ghost, Gabbie Meyerson moves to Chrissom Harbor, a former fishing village that’s now a popular summer spot for affluent yuppies. Gabbie has taken a position teaching English in the local high school in the dead of winter. She is virtually penniless after having divorced her husband whom she helped put in prison for embezzlement and other white collar crimes. She rents a cottage situated on the buffs above Long Island Sound and discovers she has a housemate—the ghost of Cameron Leeds, the former owner of the cottage. Cam is an exasperating but lovable scoundrel who was a wheeler dealer and a ladies’ man till the day he died. Though his death was ruled an accident, Cam insists that he was murdered, but he has no idea who did it. He nags Gabbie until she agrees to find out who murdered him. Gabbie starts asking questions around town and discovers that several people might have wanted to do Cam in.

In her classes, Gabbie and her students discuss The Great Gatsby. One of her students is being bullied and runs away. Then one of the bullies is murdered. Gabbie learns that the murderer is the same person who threw Cam off the bluff to the beach below.

Though Gabbie has no interest in romantic entanglements, she falls for Darren Rollins, CH’s local lawman who was Cam’s best friend. Right now I’m writing the sequel to Giving Up the Ghost. The working title is Return of the Ghost. In it, Gabbie’s principal is stabbed to death, and Cam returns to Chrissom Harbor because his daughter is in danger.

Thank you for stopping in, Marilyn! I enjoyed reading about your books and I could hear the passion for writing in your voice.

Marilyn’s website is: www.marilynlevinson.com
Her Amazon page: http://amzn.to/K6Md1O 

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website
CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

COMING SOON: How Now Purple Cow – A Bogey Man Mystery
What could purple cows and elderly spies possibly have to do with each other? How do the Bogey Man and his wife, Pamela, fit in? Fun stuff.

16 comments:

  1. Yikes, three series! I have trouble keeping up with writing two. All three sound delightufl, I've sampled a couple of your books and enjoyed them.

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  2. Marilyn,
    I'm glad you enjoyed reading my books.
    I love writing three series because my sleuths are of different ages, have different careers, and different personalities.

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  3. You are amazing! Congratulations on your success...you are so talented!

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    1. Hank,
      Thank you so much!! I wish I could write faster than I do.

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  4. Oh my goodness, how prolific you are! Congratulations on your books.

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  5. Three series! Marilyn, that is incredible! I've read all of the books in the first two series you mentioned but I have yet to read "Giving up the Ghost." Sounds like a good book for my TBR list.

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    1. Hi Pat,
      I've been told Giving Up the Ghost is a fun read. In fact, a few readers have requested that I bring Cam (the badboy ghost) back & that's the book I'm writing now.

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  6. How nice to see you here as Marja's guest, Marilyn. I'll need a good amount of time to read all those Long Island mysteries. I've only dipped into a few of the books so far, but I'll get to it!

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    1. I look forward to having you read my books. I love using Long Island as a setting because it's so varied.

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  7. Great news, Marilyn. I loved Giving Up the Ghost. Can't wait to read Return of the Ghost.

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    1. Thanks, Evelyn. I must admit, Cam is one of my favorite characters. It's a pleasure to bring him back.

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  9. I'm a week late in reading this since I've been away on a trip and have no idea if you or Marja will even see my comment. I've read all three series and am looking forward to the new Ghost novel. I have written a couple of series, which so far have turned into trilogies. I have no idea if I will go beyond the trilogy format. But how wonderful you can keep three series going.

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  10. Have enjoyed your writing and looking forward to reading more. Enjoyed blog information.

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  11. Thanks, Jake. I wish I could write faster.

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