I had the pleasure of getting to know Kay Kendall during our work on the Bouchercon Toronto 2017 Crime Writers of Canada Volunteer Committee. Incredibly, while we were both at the four-day conference, we never managed to connect. I hope to rectify this at Left Coast Crime Vancouver 2019, where we are both attending as authors. We’re also part of The Stiletto Gang, a multi-author blog with a rotating schedule. And now, let me introduce you to her latest Austin Starr Mystery. 

Author Name: Kay Kendall

Book Title: After You’ve Gone: An Austin Starr Mystery Prequel

Book Genre: Historical mystery, 1920s

Release Date: February 10, 2019

Publisher: Stairway Press

Synopsis: In 1923 a town’s secrets are uncovered by a sheltered, yet enterprising, young woman. Along with puzzling disappearances and lethal grudges, twenty-three-year-old Wallie finds it all.

Walter MacGregor (aka Wallie) lives in Gunmetal, Texas, during Prohibition. Her calm existence shatters when her father’s rum-running brother returns after a long absence. Rory is fleeing from enraged bootleggers. His tales of adventure and his natural charisma charm Wallie. Yet, these same traits appall her father, a respected judge.

Her mother died when she was young, and her father (after whom she was named) raised her, helped by her strict maternal aunt and the family housekeeper, Athalia. Allowed to hunt, fish, and ride “like a boy,” Wallie still feels her life lacks adventure. Poppa’s tales of courthouse shenanigans and her own deep reading of Sherlock Holmes tales have whetted her appetite. After talking to Uncle Rory, Wallie tells her ever-present beagle puppy Holler that she’s eager to learn about her uncle’s daring life. She’s never known brothers so dissimilar.

When a freak accident rocks the town, the sheriff finds nothing suspicious, yet Wallie sees a crime scene showing foul play. Annoyed no one agrees, she sets out to prove her theory. Snooping into her family’s past, she finds clues pointing to the sinful port city of Galveston on the Gulf Coast. When dour Aunt Ida takes her to Houston to visit relatives, Wallie convinces her to detour to Galveston. They soon tangle with gangsters who rule the town, thugs sent south from Chicago to muscle in on shady businesses, and two flamboyant flappers. “They’re floozies,” sniffs Aunt Ida, but they’re useful, divulging secrets from Gunmetal that are decades old.

Wallie’s curiosity pushes her and Aunt Ida into sinister situations in Galveston, while more danger awaits back in Gunmetal—death, Wallie’s warring suitors, a missing puppy, plus an advancing “blue norther,” extreme autumn weather famous in Texas. Wallie wonders if she’s not meant to be Sherleen Holmes, Texas style. Then again, she knows she must persist.

About the Author: Kay Kendall writes theAustin Starr mystery series. The first two books are set in the 1960s: DESOLATION ROW (2013) in Toronto and RAINY DAY WOMEN (2015) in Vancouver and Seattle. Austin is a young Texas bride, forced to the frontlines of societal change by her draft-resisting husband. Austin copes by turning amateur sleuth. The latter mystery won two Silver Falchion Awards at Killer Nashville. Before Kay wrote fiction, she was an award-winning international PR exec, working in the US, Canada, the Soviet Union, and Europe. She and her Canadian husband live in Texas with three rescue rabbits and one bemused spaniel. Find her at http://www.AustinStarr.com / www.facebook.com/KayKendallAuthor /  and on The Stiletto Gang.

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