Justine Manzano Today’s Author Spotlight is all for Liza O’Connor, a fellow indie author I met at my first monthly round-up for Distinguished Press. Not a Distinguished Press author herself, she’s a good friend and a wildly talented author. Please enjoy this introduction to her latest release, Well Kept Secrets on this stop on her blog tour.
Guess which Criminal Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Stone believes in a historical perspective to have been the biggest threat to London
The Mesmerist can control a person from afar.
Sonny Tubs has killed over a hundred men, but he’s never been convicted of anything.
Lord Robert Conrad murders and steals with impunity and he’s blackmailing much of Parliament.
Sojourn Seth is the strongest and deadliest of all the Crimelords in London.
It’s a tough call, no?
Let’s ask Chief Inspector Stone to provide the answer.
Excerpt from Well Kept Secrets:
(Xavier assigned Tubs to watch the office and take appointments, only when people enter and see him, they run for their lives, which hurts Tubs feelings. Then Chief Inspector Stone from Scotland Yard arrives…)
Stone’s brow furrowed. “I cannot imagine you are enjoying your current assignment.”
Tubs huffed. “Not a bit.”
“Nor would I think you’d be very effective at it.”
“Couldn’t be worse.”
Stone smiled faintly. “What was Xavier thinking?”
“No idea.” Tubs cracked his knuckles. Usually knuckle popping would stop people from asking him stupid questions.
Evidently, it didn’t work on Inspector Stone since the man stepped closer. “I came here to ask Xavier if I could use you for the evening.”
Tubs eyes narrowed, thinking the man had some nerve given only six months ago he accused him of a theft of gold. “Need a patsy for another crime? Maybe a bank robbery?”
“I already apologized for that.”
“Not to me you didn’t.” The Inspector had apologized to Mr. Thorn and Vic, but he’d never said a word to him.
Stone stared at him a long moment then said, “I’m sorry.”
Tubs thought that too short and too easy for his liking. “For what?”
“For failing to apologize to you personally. To be honest, I am most conflicted in this matter. For years you have been the deadliest, yet craftiest criminal in London. If you were involved, the crime always went unsolved. As the person in charge of solving crimes, this made you my number one enemy.”
Tubs hadn’t expected such high praise. “Sojourn wasn’t your number one criminal?” The man ran almost all the crime in Lower London.
“No. He was second. You were my worst criminal. And you were untouchable, not because you had connections, but because you never left evidence and no one would ever testify against you.”
Tubs smiled at the Inspector’s words and breathed in with pride. “Thank you.”
“That wasn’t a compliment, Tubs. I am trying to explain where you stood in my opinion before Vic inexplicably hired you while Xavier was on his death bed.”
Tubs shrugged his shoulders. Didn’t matter to him how Stone meant it, he thought it a grand compliment. Even while his skills were mostly being wasted, he still managed to rank as the best criminal in London.
The great Victorian sleuth Xavier Thorn and his partner Vic Hamilton take a case close to home. Their youngest staff member, L’il Pete, discovers his mother murdered in the alley. Jacko is called up from the country to assist in solving the crime. The good woman’s murder proves to be tangled up with a much larger and shocking list of crimes perpetrated by a powerful man who may truly be above the law. Making matters more complex: Vic discovers her recent weight gain may be the result of a condition that could destroy her life and everything she loves.
Book 4
Well Kept Secrets
Free with Amazon Kindle Unlimited
Need to catch up?
Book 1
Book 2
Book 2.5
Book 3
All Xavier books Free with Amazon Unlimited
Liza O’Connor was raised badly by feral cats, left the South/Midwest and wandered off to find nicer people on the east coast. There she worked for the meanest man on Wall Street, while her psychotic husband tried to kill her three times. (So much for finding nicer people.) Then one day she declared enough, got a better job, divorced her husband, and fell in love with her new life where people behaved normally. But all those bad behaviors have given her lots of fodder for her humorous romances. Please buy these books, because otherwise, she’ll become grumpy and write troubled novels instead. They will likely traumatize you.
You have been warned.
Mostly humorous books by Liza:
Ghost Lover—Two British brothers fall in love with the same young woman. Ancestral ghost is called in to fix the situation. And there’s a ghost cat that roams about the book as well. (Humorous Contemporary Romance)
Untamed & Unabashed—The youngest of the Bennet sisters, Lydia, tells her story. A faithful spinoff from Pride & Prejudice.
A Long Road to Love Series: (Humorous Contemporary odd Romance)
Worst Week Ever — Laugh out loud week of disasters of Epic proportions.
Oh Stupid Heart — The heart wants what it wants, even if it’s impossible.
Coming to Reason — There is a breaking point when even a saint comes to reason.
Climbing out of Hell — The reconstruction of a terrible man into a great one.
The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Sleuth series: (Late Victorian/Mystery/Romance)
The Troublesome Apprentice — The greatest sleuth in Victorian England hires a young man who turns out to be a young woman.
The Missing Partner — Opps! The greatest sleuth in Victorian England goes missing, leaving Vic to rescue him, a suffragette, and about 100 servants. Not to mention an eviscerating cat. Yes, let’s not mention the cat.
A Right to Love — A romantic detour for Jacko. Want to see how amply rewarded Jacko was when he & Vic save an old woman from Bedlam?
The Mesmerist — The Mesmerist can control people from afar and make them murder for her. Worse yet, Xavier Thorn has fallen under her spell.
Well Kept Secrets — L’il Pete’s mum is murdered, and discovering who & why reveals a great many secrets.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT
Investigate these sites:
Liza’s Blog and Website Facebook Twitter
