My Writing Year: A Look Back and a Look Forward

The year 2024 was a busy one for me. In addition to a heavy workload of ghostwriting, I came out with three books under my own name. 

The first was A Springtime Murder in Berlin, book two of The Berlin Murders. Katherine and her friends are faced with another murder, this time on the set of a movie.

Next I published Cordelia Cracks the Case, the first in Cordelia's Cairo Case Files, a new spinoff series from my Masked Man of Cairo books. A lot of you told me you wanted to see more of Cordelia Russell because the male characters underestimate and overlook her. Hey, it's 1919! So now she's getting her own series of cases.

 

I also kept my most popular series going with Book 6, The Case of the Disappearing Dervish, which sees Moustafa having to return to his village in the Soudan to solve a case implicating his cousin. Sir Augustus and Faisal come along too, of course!

 

So now it's 2025, and later this month I'll be heading to Egypt to write book 7, The Case of the Cackling Crocodile. Our heroes are off to the Fayoum this time, and Cordelia is coming along. I'll also be working on the next Cordelia book.

 

In the summer I plan to release A Summertime Murder in Berlin, followed closely by An Autumn Murder in Berlin, which will round out The Berlin Murders except for an epilogue that I plan to release in 2026.

 

There will be a big change in 2025 as I take fewer ghostwriting assignments and eventually stop before the end of the year. Hopefully that will free up time to come out with some more titles. Stay tuned!

A big thank you to all of you who bought my books in 2024, and a special thank you to all those who reviewed them. As a working writer, that helps a lot!

 

Happy 2025!!!

 

 

Back to Blogging!

I've been silent on here for a while. For some reason, blogger won't allow me to log in when I'm in Canada. Not sure why, and tech support has been useless. That's why I haven't posted.

Just a quick update on my work. Book Six of my Masked Man of Cairo series, The Case of the Disappearing Dervish, is now in edits. It will be out in the autumn. Now I'm hard at work on A Summertime Murder in Berlin, book three of The Berlin Murders.

Later in the year I'll be coming out with a novella in my Interzone Mystery series.

You can follow the progress of each of my projects on the sidebar. You might also like to sign up to my newsletter. You get two free ebooks and monthly travel articles, short stories, and updates.

My Latest Historical Mystery is out Now!

A Winter Murder in Berlin, Book One of The Berlin Murders, is now available. This is a slightly darker take on historical mystery than the Masked Man of Cairo series, although there are lighter bits. A blurb is below.

The voyage of a lifetime turns into a nightmare.

When Katherine Schmidt sails for Europe in late 1929, she looks forward to a year of carefree travel thanks to an unexpected inheritance. But when a companion on her steamer is murdered and she becomes a suspect, she needs to find the real killer before the police close in. Now she must delve into Weimar Berlin’s decadent nightlife and radical politics in order to clear her name.

Can an innocent young woman from Missouri outwit fascists, communists, and the denizens of Berlin’s notorious shadow world?

 

A Winter Murder in Berlin is available at Amazon US, Amazon UK, and all the other Amazons. If you have Kindle Unlimited, you can read it for free! Book One is a standalone, but the series will continue with Book Two, coming out this summer.

My Latest Cairo Mystery Novel Now Available in Print!

 

 

My latest book, The Case of the Dastardly Djinn, prequel to the Masked Man of Cairo historical mystery series, is now available in print. While the bulk of my sales are in ebooks, some readers do prefer print so I try to serve these readers as well. You can get in on Amazon US, Amazon UK, and all the other Amazons.

The first in my Weimar mystery series, A Winter Murder in Berlin, should be out soon. I'm just waiting for the cover artist. Later in the year I'll come out with book two in that series and another Cairo novel. Stay tuned!

Faisal is Growing!

Everyone's favorite street urchin has been slowly growing up through the Masked Man of Cairo historical mystery series. Now he's growing in a different way. As I mentioned in a previous post, my plans for book 6 were put on hold thanks to a coup in the Sudan, so I'm working on a set of prequel novellas about each character before they met.

The Case of the Dastardly Djinn, in which a younger Faisal has to solve a case without the help of Moustafa or Sir Augustus, was supposed to be a 30,000 word novella, but now it looks like it will be a short novel coming in at about 40,000 words. I figured that since the average Masked Man of Cairo book comes out to about 90,000 words and each of the three characters gets an equal share, that 30,000 words would do. Now I realize that since they are in lots of the chapters starring one of the other characters, that their page time is much greater.

Live and learn!

The Case of the Dastardly Djinn will come out some time in the first quarter of 2022.

Book Five of The Masked Man of Cairo Available for Preorder!

Book Five of my Masked Man of Cairo historical mystery series is now available for preorder and will be released September 10. The Case of the Asphyxiated Alexandrian was written in Cairo and Alexandria and edited in Madrid and Oxford. Only the first two locations show up in the book, though. A blurb is below.

A mysterious murder. A lost pharaoh.
Sir Augustus Wall came to Egypt to escape his old life, but when a comrade from the trenches is found murdered in a Cairo hotel, Augustus realizes his past has finally caught up.
Now he must discover the reason for the baffling murder, leading him and his friends Moustafa and Faisal on a dangerous hunt for the most sought-after treasure in Egypt.
The long-awaited fifth book in the Masked Man of Cairo series sees the trio on their greatest adventure yet!

 

I'm back in Cairo later this year and will be working on the further adventures of Sir Augustus, Moustafa, and Faisal.

My Latest Historical Mystery Novel is out Now!

The fourth in my Masked Man of Cairo series, The Case of the Karnak Killer, is out now as an ebook. The print edition is coming in July. A blurb is belo.

A scandal in America. A murder in Cairo.
Sir Augustus Wall, antiquities dealer and amateur sleuth, is hired to track down a blackmailer who threatens the reputation of an American millionaire. When blackmail turns to murder, he must travel up the Nile by steamboat to find the killer.
Joining him are Faisal, a street urchin who makes himself equally useful and troublesome; Heinrich Schäfer, a leading Egyptologist; and Jocelyn Montjoy, an adventurous woman who has captured his heart.
But complications set in before the hunt even begins. Unwelcome fellow passengers threaten to derail the investigation, and Augustus has fallen out with his right-hand man, Moustafa Ghani. Can a new team of investigators help him solve his most challenging case yet?

You can get the book here.

My Third Cairo Mystery Novel is out Now!

The Case of the Golden Greeks, the third in my Masked Man of Cairo historical mystery series, is out now. A blurb is below.

They thought the case was solved.
When an eminent Egyptologist is murdered giving a lecture in front of a packed hall, Cairo’s chief of police quickly rounds up those responsible.
Or at least some of them.
Sir Augustus Wall, antiquities dealer and amateur sleuth, knows there’s more to the crime than it seems. With little to go on but an exotic murder weapon, a map of a desert oasis, and some gilded Greek mummies, he sets out across the Sahara with his assistant Moustafa Ghani and the street urchin Faisal, who is the only person to have seen the killer’s face. They soon find themselves in the midst of international intrigue on Egypt’s remote border with Libya.
Can they discover what mystery lies beneath Bahariya Oasis?

The Case of the Golden Greeks is available on Amazon, Amazon UK, and all the other Amazon branches.

My Latest Morocco Mystery Is Out Now!

My latest book has just come out. Three Passports to Trouble is the second in the Interzone Mystery series that started with Tangier Bank Heist. This time Shorty has to cool a tense political situation while causing a bit of mayhem of his own. A blurb is below.

Back in the days when Tangier was an International Zone, the city was full of refugees. People fleeing Stalin. People fleeing Franco. People fleeing the Nuremburg Trials. Tangier offered a safe haven from the chaos of Europe.
The International Council had to keep a delicate balance, tolerating everything from anti-capitalist agitators to Germans with murky pasts. It was the only way to keep the peace, and it worked.
Until an anarchist was found dead with a fascist dagger in his chest.
And I got stuck with the case just when I had to smuggle a couple of Party operatives out of town.

It's available now on Amazon!

Tangier Bank Heist is out now, at an introductory price!

My latest mystery novel, Tangier Bank Heist, is out now, and as a thank you to my readers it's at 99 cents until the end of October!

Right after the war, Tangier was the craziest town in North Africa. Everything was for sale and the price was cheap. The perverts came for the flesh. The addicts came for the drugs. A whole army of hustlers and grifters came for the loose laws and free flow of cash and contraband.
So why was I here? Because it was the only place that would have me. Besides, it was a great place to be a detective. You got cases like in no other place I’d ever been, and I’d been all over. Cases you couldn’t believe ever happened. Like when I had to track down the guy who stole the bank.
No, he didn’t rob the bank, he stole it.
Here’s how it happened . . .

This title is available at Amazon US and all other Amazon stores.

Tangier Bank Heist Cover Reveal

My cover designer has come up for two designs for my upcoming Tangier mystery novel. Which do you prefer and what would you change?

The Case of the Shifting Sarcophagus Out Now!

The second book in my Masked Man of Cairo series, The Case of the Shifting Sarcophagus, is out now. It's the next adventure for Sir Augustus, Moustafa, and Faisal, who we met in The Case of the Purloined Pyramid. I'll be writing the third book in the series late this year when I go back to Egypt. A blurb is below.

An Old Kingdom coffin. A body from yesterday.
Sir Augustus Wall had seen a lot of death. From the fields of Flanders to the alleys of Cairo, he’d solved several murders and sent many men to their grave. But he’s never had a body delivered to his antiquities shop encased in a 5,000 year-old coffin.
Soon he finds himself fighting a vicious street gang bent on causing national mayhem while his assistant, Moustafa Ghani, faces his own enemies in the form of colonial powers determined to ruin him. Throughout all this runs the street urchin Faisal. Ignored as usual, dismissed as usual, he has the most important fight of all.

Available as an ebook on Amazon, Amazon UK, and all the other Amazons. Print edition coming soon!

Back from Tangier and Working on a New Mystery

As I mentioned in my last post, I went to Tangier for ten days to work on a novella, which has now morphed into a short novel. I got 27,000 words done while I was there but the weather was too beautiful and my friends too friendly for me to get the entire thing done. Then I came home to two big ghostwriting deadlines. Oh well.
The first draft of the book, tentatively called Tangier Bank Heist, is almost complete. It takes place during the days of the Tangier International Zone, when from 1924–1956 Tangier was run by several different European nations plus the United States. My gumshoe is a veteran of the Lincoln Brigade of the Spanish Civil War and he now lives in Tangier solving crimes and trying to help the poor. He gets his biggest case yet when his girlfriend loses her savings when the bank she put her money in gets stolen. No, not robbed, stolen. The book is based on a true story, and a bizarre story it is.
Watch for it soon!

My Second Cairo Mystery Novel is in the Editing Stage!

The Case of the Shifting Sarcophagus, the second in my historical mystery series The Masked Man of Cairo, is now in the editing stage. I finished the rough draft a couple of days ago, finally squeezing out some time from my busy ghostwriting schedule.

The sequel to The Case of the Purloined Pyramid sees Augustus, Moustafa, and Faisal teaming up again to solve another murder. This time an Old Kingdom sarcophagus appears in Augustus' house while he is asleep. He opens it to find the former chief of Paris police dead inside! How did such a huge sarcophagus get into his house unnoticed, and why did the murderers deliver the body to Augustus? You'll find out when it's released.

If you want to know about the release of this and other books of mine, consider signing up for my newsletter. It comes out every two months or so and includes a short story, travel article, news, and a coupon for a discounted or free book.

The Case of the Purloined Pyramid Has Been Selected For Publication!

My detective novel The Case of the Purloined Pyramid has been selected for publication by Kindle Press. Thanks to everyone who voted for it during my Kindle Scout campaign, and a big thanks to my brother-in-law Andrés for the great cover! Everyone who voted for it will get a free ebook copy when it comes out in a couple of months. When I have an exact publication date I'll post it here.

Thanks a million!

I'm off to Cairo in December to write the next book. More on that later. . .

Help Me Win Another Book Contract Through Kindle Scout!

I've just launched a campaign for my latest novel, The Case of the Purloined Pyramid, on Kindle Scout. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the program, writers upload their unpublished book for 30 days, and readers get to vote on them. Those with the most votes are considered for electronic publication via Amazon, with a $1500 advance and 50% royalties. If the book is published, those who voted for it get a free copy of the ebook. It's the same contest that got The Last Hotel Room a contract.

My new book is the one I was writing while in Cairo. It's the first in a mystery/suspense series titled The Masked Man of Cairo in which each book is a standalone novel. A blurb is below.

An ancient mystery. A modern murder.

Sir Augustus Wall, a horribly mutilated veteran of the Great War, has left Europe behind to open an antiquities shop in Cairo. But Europe’s troubles follow him as a priceless inscription is stolen and those who know its secrets start turning up dead. Teaming up with Egyptology expert Moustafa Ghani, and Faisal, an irritating street urchin he just can't shake, Sir Wall must unravel an ancient secret and face his own dark past.

You can check out the book's page and read a sample here. Voting requires you to sign in to your Amazon account or create one if you don't have one. Also check out the other titles, there are some good ones.

Blurb and Cover Help Please!

My brother-in-law is designing the cover for my next book, a historical adventure/mystery. Which of these do you prefer?

I'm also working on the tagline and blurb, to be submitted to the Kindle Scout Program. The tagline can be no more than 45 characters, while the blurb can be no more than 500. Here's what I have so far:

An ancient mystery, a modern murder.

Sir Augustus Wall, a horribly mutilated veteran of the Great War, has left Europe behind to open an antiquities shop in Cairo. But Europe's troubles follow him as a priceless inscription is stolen and those who know its secrets start turning up dead. Teaming up with Egyptology expert Moustafa Ghani, and Faisal, a street urchin who knows all the city's hidden places, Sir Wall must unravel an ancient secret, and face his own dark past.

Free Summer Reading: A Western from the Apache Point of View

My Western novel, Warpath into Sonora is free through Monday. A blurb is below:

Arizona 1846
Nantan, a young Apache warrior, is building a name for himself by leading raids against Mexican ranches to impress his war chief, and the chief’s lovely daughter.
But there is one thing he and all other Apaches fear—a ruthless band of Mexican scalp hunters who slaughter entire villages.
Nantan and his friends have sworn to fight back, but they are inexperienced, and led by a war chief driven mad with a thirst for revenge. Can they track their tribe’s worst enemy into unknown territory and defeat them?

You can get it on Amazon, Amazon UK, and all the other Amazons. Enjoy!

Back From A Writing Retreat In Egypt

I'm back from Cairo! Actually I've been back for a few days but returned to a heap of ghostwriting I needed to get done. I'm just now coming up for air.

This is my new writing buddy, the priest Padiamenopet, shown here posing as a scribe. He worked at the vast temple of Ra at Karnak in the 25th dynasty (760-656 BC). His right hand would have held a reed pen, which is now missing. You can see the scroll he's working on. I wonder what his daily word count was? Now he lives in the Egyptian Museum, which was just five minute's walk from my hotel. I ended up going there a lot! I also, of course, visited Giza, Saqqara, and Dashur. The last is the home to the famous Bent Pyramid, seen below. The last time I was in Egypt, way back in 1991, it stood inside a military base and was closed to visitors, so it was nice to finally get there.

I was very fortunate to attend the Cairo Video Festival, an experimental film festival, early in my stay. Because of this I met an interesting circle of Egyptian and Sudanese filmmakers, artists, historians, and writers who kept me busy for the rest of my trip.

Of course I was there for writing, and I got 35,000 words into a novel set in Cairo during the 1919 Revolution, an early major push for independence. Called The Masked Man of Cairo, it's a neo-pulp adventure story of a disfigured WWI veteran who, disgusted with Europe, moves to Egypt and starts a business selling antiquities. Soon he finds just as much trouble as he had during the war! More on that novel as it progresses. Our hero (more like antihero) lives in Old Cairo, a labyrinth of medieval streets and centuries-old buildings. I spent much of my time wandering this wonderful part of the city catching inspiration.

I'll be posting lots of Egyptian photos here and over on Black Gate, where I blog on Wednesdays. You can also see more pictures on my Instagram account. Stay tuned!

Military History Photo Friday: Tunnels Under the Western Front

While I'm busy writing the fourth installment of my Toxic World post-apocalyptic series, I'm also in the research phase for Under The Front, the fourth in my Trench Raiders WWI action series. In this book, the men of Company E won't be going over the top under  hail of machine gun fire or sneaking into No Man's Land in the middle of the night, instead they'll be burrowing under the German trenches.

As the Western Front stagnated and neither side could make any significant headway, new tactics evolved in an attempt to break the deadlock. One of these was digging tunnels under the enemy trench, filling them with explosives, and detonating them.

Digging these tunnels was a grueling job. The Germans and British, who were the main tunnelers, hired miners and made sure only to take the smallest men, often those who were too short to make it into regular service. Age restrictions were relaxed in order to get experienced miners. The men had to work in cramped, dark conditions, digging by hand through thick clayey soil. They had to work silently too, because the enemy would be listening. If a tunnel was detected, the opposing side would try to dig a counter-tunnel and break through. Then there would be a hellish underground fight in the near darkness.

A mine going off during the Battle of the Somme

Some of the most extensive tunnels were dug in preparation for the Battle of the Somme in the summer of 1916. This will be the setting for Under the Front, as I continue my habit of having the book written on the centenary of the events they cover.

This tactic met with varying degrees of success. Like with everything else the generals tried, it didn't prove to be a game changer, and the war dragged on for years before Germany was finally too exhausted to continue.

Photos courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Even after a century of erosion, some of the craters made by mines at the Somme are still huge. For scale, note the people on the right edge.