Murder at Blue Falls by Maggie Bishop

Out in 2006, "Murder at Blue Falls, The Horse Found the Body", Detective Tucker sets out to investigate a mystery and interviews Jemma, daughter of the owners of a North Carolina guest ranch. Jemma’s horse finds a body and her CSI wannabe instincts set in. Is his interest in her purely because he thinks she’s guilty or is it personal?

Here’s an excerpt from the book:

Brandy, Jemma’s horse, finds a body on the family dude ranch. Jemma, a CSI wannabe, starts to investigate.

Handsome, the horse behind Jemma, neighed followed by other horses answering. Brandy’s stride shortened and her head came up. Under Jemma, Brandy’s skin shivered. Her ears and eyes locked to the right, her hindquarters slipped away, bulging into Jemma’s left leg. A familiar knot came into Jemma’s stomach, Brandy was going to spook.

Jemma snapped her weight into her heels. She opened her right rein and closed her left leg and clicked Brandy forward to push her on. Brandy’s tail was up as if asking what? what?

Jemma leaned forward and stroked the long neck of the brown mare.

"What is it, girl? Still unsettled from this morning?"

Jemma looked ahead. No branches had fallen since her last ride. Brandy flicked back her left ear. Jemma urged Brandy forward. Brandy lifted, lowered, then wove her head to see better. She flared her nostrils.

Brandy let out a snort then reared up on her hind legs. Jemma leaned forward, stayed in her saddle and called out whoa to stop the riders behind her. Jemma’s heart pounded.

Bo cantered up to Jemma’s side as Jemma dismounted. "What’s up?"

"I don’t know. Something’s riled up Brandy," Jemma said quietly. Aloud to the ten guest riders in line, she said, "It’s probably a pole cat. Once you’ve been sprayed by that black and white beauty you learn to respect them. Why don’t ya’ll rest a minute?"

Jemma handed the reins to Bo and jogged up the trail until it hit her, stopping her in her tracks. A pungent, sweet stench filled her nostrils triggering her gag reflex. One whiff was all she needed. It was not a skunk.

Jemma stumbled and swallowed hard. The cold sweat of nausea gurgled up from her stomach. She would not be sick. Even breathing through her mouth almost triggered nausea. She unknotted the bandanna around her neck and covered her nose and mouth. Not that it helped much. Within yards of the trail she spotted something blue under a rhododendron bush. She held her breath and approached.

Blue jeans and sneakers–with what was left of a body inside.

"Emeralds in the Snow" -  Emerald Graham and Lucky Tucker are an unlikely pair. She, accustomed to a life of privilege in which everything’s a bit of a game, including her teaching career. He, who has not let his life of struggle keep him from giving to his family, his community and the skiers he rescues on Sugar Mountain. Yet they seem to be finding an uneasy bliss when a treasure hunt and an old murder mystery threaten all they value.

Book of the Year for 2004

 

 

 

 "Meow Means Me!" - A Rhyming Feline Allegory

 Hunter the cat conveyed to author Maggie Bishop his tale, part biography, part fantasy. He thinks in rhyme and meows in verse. Many black and white photographs accompany his story which are twelve lines of poetry for each of his 20 years of life.

Like the guardians he lives with, he starts out cute and simple, grows in depth and sophistication, and gradually acquires wisdom and achey joints.

 

"Appalachian Paradise"  - is a fast paced novel of romance in which the heroine has to face the challenges of the outdoors, her inner restlessness, her estrangement from her father as well as the laid-back attitude of the Southern mountain man accompanying her.  Suzanne’s plan to hike alone to "get the city grime off her body" is thwarted by her uncle and father who con Wes into being a reluctant escort. Take this 5-day backpacking trip in Pisgah National Forest along with Suzanne and Wes.

Book of the Year for 2002

 

 

 

All books can be ordered from Maggie’s website by clicking HERE or going to http://maggiebishop1.tripod.com/id2.html.

Author Maggie Bishop

Maggie Bishop hikes, skis, climbs, explores and writes in the mountains of North Carolina where she settled in 1993 with her husband and cat.  Every time they travel, they seek out other mountains but none are as exciting as the ancient Appalachians.

She’s an Air Force brat who put herself through East Carolina University and received a MBA degree, a former manufacturing executive, founder and past president of High Country Writers, past Secretary of Central Pennsylvania Romance Writers, and is a member of Romance Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. When not writing, she’s a hiker, swimmer, golfer and skier.  Oh, yes, she’s also a Red Hatter. 

Maggie’s the current Treasurer of High Country Writers in Boone, NC. She’s given workshops on Plotting a Novel in 60 Minutes, On Stage! Book Signings, Your First Chapter, and Getting Organized. She is part of the Dames of Dialogue and gives talks on … dialogue.

Her first two Award Winning novels in the Appalachian Adventures Series, Appalachian Paradise and Emeralds in the Snow, are now available.  Murder at Blue Falls will be available Fall of 2006. 

Maggie Bishop hikes, skis, climbs, explores and writes in the mountains of North Carolina where she settled in 1993 with her husband and cat.  Every time they travel, they seek out other mountains but none are as exciting as the ancient Appalachians.

She’s an Air Force brat who put herself through East Carolina University and received a MBA degree, a former manufacturing executive, founder and past president of High Country Writers, past Secretary of Central Pennsylvania Romance Writers, and is a member of Romance Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. When not writing, she’s a hiker, swimmer, golfer and skier.  Oh, yes, she’s also a Red Hatter. 

Maggie’s the current Treasurer of High Country Writers in Boone, NC. She’s given workshops on Plotting a Novel in 60 Minutes, On Stage! Book Signings, Your First Chapter, and Getting Organized. She is part of the Dames of Dialogue and gives talks on … dialogue.

Her first two Award Winning novels in the Appalachian Adventures Series, Appalachian Paradise and Emeralds in the Snow, are now available.  Murder at Blue Falls will be available Fall of 2006. 

Please go to Maggie’s website for more information and to order these great reads by clicking HERE.