Guest Author - Alison Bruce

Cats! Why did it have to be cats?
By Alison Bruce

First off, I’d like to say that no real cats were harmed in the making of this book. I love cats…even though I’m allergic to them. Only a strong sense of self-preservation stops me from bringing home every stray (cat or dog) I meet.

It’s the cozies that are to blame. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read my share of Lillian Jackson Braun and other cozy authors with series that have cats who assist amateur sleuths or at least soothed them on bad days. Most of the cats I know are more likely to compromise evidence than find it, but I’m not dissing the genre. My intention was to put a twist on the modern cozy by making the cats the victims rather than the detectives.

Someone is killing the cats in East Hills and leaving them on the doorsteps of their owners. The police have investigated but they can’t give the case much more time. Carmedy & Garrett are called. Specifically, Chief Thorsen calls in his goddaughter and former rookie detective Kate Garrett because he knows she won’t refuse the case.

Excerpt

Violent death was never pleasant. The cold hadn’t diminished the smell of blood, piss and stool—or if it had, I didn’t want to think about it.

A dart, the kind animal control officers use in their rifles, was sticking into the ribs. Instead of delivering a tranquillizer, its payload was poison. The feathery stabilizer at the end was red and green. Very seasonal.

“Do we know what the poison is, Chief?”

“Looks like cyanide. Samples were taken from the last victim. I’ll let you know when the latest batch have been processed and compared.”

Igor Thorsen, Chief of Detectives and my godfather, bent down and offered me his hand. I let him pull me out of the crouch I had been sustaining for several minutes while I examined the body. I didn’t need the help, but it was a warm gesture on a cold night.

“I could use your help on this, Kathleen. People are getting nervous but I can hardly free up a detective for a serial cat-killer. I can authorize support services for a week and the East Hills Neighbourhood Group will pay your fees.”

I stripped off my gloves and ran my fingers through my hair, pushing back the auburn strands that had blown into my face. Time for a cut. Or maybe not. I didn’t have to keep up the uniform code for keeping hair short or worn up.

I looked up at the Chief. Way up. And I’m not short. Or particularly tall.

I nodded.

My name is Kate Garrett. Up until recently, I had been a rookie detective in the violent crimes unit. The chief was my boss. Almost one month ago my father, the Joe Garrett of Garrett Investigations, was killed in a pedestrian-vehicle incident. Now I was the Garrett of Carmedy and Garrett Investigations.

Last month I was a homicide detective. Now I was a pet P.I.?


An Imajin Qwickies™ Mystery/Crime Novella

DEADLY SEASON
A Carmedy & Garrett Mini-Mystery #1

By Alison Bruce
Imajin Books
November 2015

Last month Kate Garrett was a Police Detective. Now she’s a Pet P.I.?

Kate recently inherited half her father’s private investigation company and a partner who is as irritating as he is attractive. Kate has been avoiding Jake Carmedy for years, but now her life might depend on him.

Kate and Jake are on the hunt for a serial cat killer who has mysterious connections to her father’s last police case. Kate’s father had been forced to retire when he was shot investigating a domestic disturbance. Is the shooter back for revenge? And is Kate or Jake next?

Available at:

www.amazon.com/Deadly-Season-Carmedy-Garrett-Mini-Mystery-book/dp/B017AFRN02
store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/ebook/deadly-season
www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/deadly-season/9781772231533-item.html
play.google.com/store/books/details/Alison_Bruce_Deadly_Season?id=SzvSCgAAQBAJ
www.smashwords.com/books/view/588711

Alison Bruce has had many careers and writing has always been one of them. Copywriter, editor and graphic designer since 1992, Alison has also been a comic store manager, small press publisher, webmaster and arithmetically challenged bookkeeper. She is the author of mystery, romantic suspense and historical western romance novels. Three of her novels have been finalists for genre awards.

www.alisonbruce.ca 
www.facebook.com/alisonbruce.books
have laptop, will travel
@alisonebruce

New Book - Maverick Publisher

Maverick Publisher: J. Patrick O’Callaghan; A Life in Newspapers  
is the culmination of a labour of love for Pat’s widow, Joan O’Callaghan, a founding member of the Mesdames of Mayhem. Lynne Murphy talked to Joan about her work on the memoir and Pat O’Callaghan’s life.

The launch will be held on November 26th from 7 to 9 p.m.at Owl’s Nest Books, 815A 49th Avenue, S.W., Calgary, Alberta. 

(Interview first published on Mesdames of Mayhem Blog)

L.M.: First I want to ask about the title. Why the term “maverick”?

Joan: We took the title from a comment by Brian Brennan, a former Calgary Herald journalist, on his blog. He described Pat as a “maverick publisher.” Editor of the book, and former employee of Pat’s at the Windsor Star, Ed Piwowarczyk, thought it was an apt title and I agreed. Pat did not run with the herd. He lived and breathed newspapering and did not hesitate to stand up to government, Southam head office, or anyone whom he felt placed obstacles in the way of an effective and free press. He was something of a pioneer. He was one of the first to appoint women, outside of family-owned newspapers, to senior editorial posts (The Sun used to refer to the “girls who ran the Herald”) and was the first in Canada to convert a large auditorium in the Herald building to a daycare centre for the children of Herald employees. This did not endear him to other publishers who found themselves lobbied by their own employees to follow suit. He also broke the sex-barrier at the Petroleum Club in Calgary, which prior to this, did not accept women as members.

L.M.: Pat was born in Ireland. What brought him to Canada?

Joan: Pat was born in Ireland but grew up in England. He was working at the Liverpool Daily Post when it bought the Red Deer Advocate in 1958. Pat was sent to Red Deer in 1959 as Managing Editor to turn the paper from a weekly to a daily. But before going to Red Deer, he spent six months at the Peterborough Examiner learning about the Canadian newspaper industry. He worked for Robertson Davies!

L.M.: He worked on a number of Canadian newspapers before ending his career at the Calgary Herald.

Joan: Yes, after Red Deer, he went to the Edmonton Journal as Assistant to the Publisher, later to the Windsor Star as Publisher, back to the Edmonton Journal as Publisher, and then to the Calgary Herald as Publisher.

L.M.: Mme. Rosemary McCracken, who was a reporter on the Calgary Herald during Pat’s time there, says he was the best publisher she ever worked for. What made him so good at his job?

Joan: A combination of factors, I’d say. First of all he was a working journalist. Exactly four weeks before he died, he wrote an article that was published in the Globe and Mail. He was one of the last publishers to come up through the editorial stream so he knew what constituted a good newspaper and insisted on putting out as good a product as humanly possible. His battles with Southam’s head office over new presses for the Edmonton Journal nearly cost him his health, but in the end he got them. Reporters and editors respected him for his talent, his skill, and most of all his integrity. Second, he believed in his staff and supported them wholeheartedly but at the same time he wouldn’t put up with nonsense. There was a reporter at the Herald who was just obnoxious – as an example, he had a habit of driving staff cars out onto the prairie until they ran out of gas, then calling the paper, cursing and swearing until someone drove out to get him. Pat fired him.

L.M.: I understand a number of members of the Mesdames have helped you with getting the memoir ready for publication.

Joan: The Mesdames have all been wonderfully supportive and cheering me on. I have to give credit to Rosemary McCracken. I don’t think this day would have come without her invaluable advice, support and encouragement. And I have mentioned Ed Piwowarczyk, and of course, Carrick Publishing.

L.M.: As Pat’s widow, was it difficult for you working on his memoir?

Joan: Actually, no. To the contrary, I enjoyed it. Pat wrote the memoirs with a light touch and a conversational tone. When I sat down at the computer to work on the book, it felt like I was having a visit with him, that he was sitting next to me, telling me his stories. It was very comforting – so much so that once I have the actual print copy in hand, I intend to put it at my bedside where I can dip into it.

L.M.: You are a writer too. What influence has Pat had on your work?

Joan: Pat was wonderfully encouraging! When Scholastic Canada sent me the contract for my first book, Amazing Days, he ran around the house shouting, “Author! Author!” When Scholastic told me that they wanted the manuscript for the second book submitted on disk (this was the mid-nineties), he went out and bought me what was then a state-of-the art computer. He would get excited when we saw my books displayed prominently in bookstores or when Scholastic’s clipping service sent me reviews. I could not have asked for a more wonderful life partner. He made me believe that I could be whatever I wanted to be!

L.M.: Thank you, Joan. We look forward to reading Pat’s memoir.


Maverick Publisher: J. Patrick O'Callaghan: A Life in Newspapers 
Carrick Publishing, 2015

Paperback: $16.99
www.amazon.com/Maverick-Publisher-Patrick-OCallaghan-Newspapers/dp/1772420298

Kindle ebook: $6.99
www.amazon.com/Maverick-Publisher-Patrick-OCallaghan-Newspapers-ebook/dp/B0181BV9WM