House of Ashes by Loretta Marion – Blog Tour & Guest Post

Synopsis:

A family patriarch’s dying proclamation, an enigmatic disappearance, and a century-old curse converge in the shadows of a majestic home on Cape Cod’s craggy coast.

Thirty-seven-year-old painter Cassandra Mitchell is fourth-generation to live in the majestic Battersea Bluffs, a brooding Queen Anne home originally built by her great-grandparents, Percy and Celeste Mitchell, and still standing despite tragedies that have swept the generations. Local lore has it that there was a curse placed on the family and the house is haunted, though opinions are divided on whether it’s by malicious or benevolent spirits. Cassie believes the latter―but now she stands to lose her beloved home to mounting debt and the machinations of her dream-weaving ex-husband.

Salvation seems to arrive when a nomadic young couple wanders onto the property with the promise of companionship and much-needed help―until they vanish without a trace, leaving behind no clue to their identities. Cassie is devastated, but determined to discover what’s happened to the young couple…even as digging into their disappearance starts to uncover family secrets of her own. Despite warnings from her childhood friend, now the local Chief of Police―as well as an FBI agent who pushes the boundaries of professionalism―Cassie can’t help following the trail of clues (and eerie signals from the old house itself) to unravel the mystery. But can she do so before her family’s dark curse destroys everything in its path?

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Guest Post from Author Rodney Page

Hello everyone. Please join me in welcoming Rodney Page, author of recent release “The Fourth Partner” (available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble), to The Book’s the Thing.

The Fourth PartnerAll Detective Leroy Meriwether wants is to coast to retirement and restore his ’65 GTO, but Billy Howell will change all that.

Howell, a well-liked local business owner, disappeared in 1991, the presumed victim of a boating accident. When his skeleton is discovered in a shallow grave on Saint Simons Island, Leroy’s considerable but underutilized talents are put to the test.

Initially, the cold case investigation goes nowhere. But the hardheaded and persistent detective is soon bedeviled by a ‘high class’ problem: too many suspects…Howell’s wife, his estranged teenage son, his bookie, his clients and the shadowy ringleaders of a nineties drug-smuggling operation.

Leroy gets closer to the truth and runs afoul of his boss. Trumped-up sexual harassment charges lead to his suspension, but Leroy continues to pursue the investigation at his own peril. 

The murderer is determined his twenty-five year-old secrets must never be discovered.

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