Death and Donuts
The Frankie and Josh Series, #3
by Stan Schatt
Date of Publication: November
22nd 2016
Publisher: Pen-L
Cover Artist: Kelsey
Rice
Genre: Police Procedure /Mystery/ Paranormal Mystery
BLURB
Hollywood stars! Politicians! Betrayal!
Murder! And a by-the-book cop just trying to do her job in the middle of it
all.
To solve the murder of a movie star just
weeks before the Academy Awards, Detective Frankie Ryan has to navigate through
a web of Hollywood secrets and political landmines, not to mention the
"old boys club" in her own police department. The presence of a new
designer drug and the deaths it is tallying up threaten to hinder her
investigation and leave her without a suspect—and maybe out of a job. Even with
the aid of psychic reporter Josh Harrell, there is more confusion around every
corner. Trusted friends will turn on her, leaving her unsure who to believe and
who might be in on the murder and conspiracy.
Can Frankie discover the killer before it is
too late?
Note: this is book 3 of the series but
each book stands alone
Buy Link: Amazon
Frankie nodded and stepped inside the
curtain. Daniel Martin
wasn’t a large man, but now he seemed
even smaller in the over- sized hospital bed. He stared at Frankie with glassy
eyes.
“I guess now I’m one of the usual
suspects to be rounded up,” he said with a voice just above a whisper.
“We can pin attempted murder on you
for Belmont and probably link you to Hobbs and Gordon, but we can make things a
lot more manageable for you if you just tell me who is behind Ruby Red.”
Martin’s face broke into a rueful
smile. “You just don’t get it. You’re dealing with forces much bigger than you
or me. You’re just a pawn, and so am I.”
Frankie drew her face closer. “You
might not have much time. I can have a priest or minister here if you want to
make your peace. Don’t die with this on your conscience.”
Martin’s smile turned into a sneer.
“The old circling the drain argument. Does that ever work? You’re not even good
material for a Grade B cop movie from the ’40s. You keep digging into this, and
you’ll be busted down to walking South Central on the midnight shift.”
“Is someone in the department dirty?”
Martin just stared at her while his
lips broke into a grim smile. His face became flushed, and his eyes lost focus.
An alarm sounded,
and the room was flooded with nurses.
Frankie led Josh out. She shook her head.
What could possibly be scary enough
for a man on death’s door- step to keep him from talking?
Buy Link: Amazon
MY
INTERVIEW WITH STAN SCHATT
How would you
describe your style of writing to someone that has never read your work?
I think my writing is approachable and straight-forward
more like Michael Connelly than a writer of “literary” fiction.
What mindset or
routine do you feel the need to set when preparing to write (in general whether
you are working on a project or just free writing)?
I find it helps me a lot to re-read what I’ve written so
far to get into the flow. The hardest thing is starting from scratch with a
blank screen. Sometimes I will write what I know is tripe just to get something
on the page so I can proceed. The real work is in the editing anyway.
Do you take your
character prep to heart? Do you nurture the growth of each character all the way
through to the page? Do you people watch to help with development? Or do you
build upon your character during story creation?
Death and Donuts is the third volume of a trilogy even though it stands alone,
so I have several continuing characters. I have tried to show growth from one
novel to another. I even included three of the characters in a novel outside
the trilogy (Hello Again). Continuing characters do represent a real challenge
since you have to keep careful track of names, dates, and incidents to be
consistent.
Have you found
yourself bonding with any particular character? If so which one(s)?
None of the characters are close to me, but I probably
bond most closely with Josh, a former novelist and a reporter for a major
tabloid.
Do you have a character
that you have been working on that you can't wait to put to paper?
Yes, I have a Jessica Fletcher type character that will
be the protagonist in a cozy mystery that now is half-completed.
Have you ever felt
that there was something inside of you that you couldn't control? If so what?
If no what spurs you to reach for the unexperienced?
My predilection for writing about the paranormal
surprised me. I guess it was inside me and just had to get out. In several
novels I deal with the thin line between life and death and Josh has a near
death experience in A Bullet for The Ghost Whisperer.
Author Info
Stan Schatt is the author of forty books
including mysteries, science fiction, biographies of Michael Connelly, Daniel
Silva, and Kurt Vonnegut, and even college textbooks. His novels draw upon
experiences he has had in a wide range of careers that include college
professor, police department administrator, autopsy assistant, telecommunications
consultant, and market research executive.
Schatt has been cited for outstanding teaching by the University of
Southern California, the University of Houston, and DeVry Institute of
Technology.
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