The Yamacraw Moon and Kate Gallagher

I'm so excited about The Yamacraw Moon! So far, those who have read it have liked it for different reasons than the St. Augustine series. It doesn't feature the supernatural, so some readers will be disappointed . . . but what it does show is what I've learned as a middle-aged and getting older woman who grew up in the South.

In these stories, Kate Gallagher, the protagonist, starts out as a very timid woman who is quietly drowning in grief. I know many people like her. In the South, one point of pride is not to let people see what's going on inside. Our outsides are polished and pristine. We can smile through almost anything.

That doesn't mean we don't hurt.

Sometimes grief takes strange pathways, and Kate learns this when she becomes involved in a murder investigation. She is by far my favorite female protagonist; while I don't necessarily see a lot of myself in Kate, she's who I'd like to think I would be in her circumstances. She is Southern through and through, and I hope the quiet humor and wisdom of our culture shines in her words.

Kate is pulled into this investigation by her friend Gary, who is as flamboyant a creature as I have ever written. I can't help but love him. He's loyal, kind, funny, and takes himself far too seriously sometimes. Best of all, his love for Kate has kept her afloat, although she didn't realize it, through the eighteen months after her husband's sudden death.

Enter Brenda, Gary's cousin. Her husband is murdered and, although she is the prime suspect, she manages to deflect both suspicion and criticism with impermeable dignity. Kate is suddenly taken up with defending Brenda, although she, too, is confused about the events leading up to the murder.

Finally, we have John Mitchell. He's the quiet, devastatingly good detective who will investigate, and he notices everything. Kate is left wondering exactly what is going on behind those dark eyes . . .

I hope you will love this book. It's one of my favorites that I have written so far. I live with my characters--they are real people to me. And Kate is exactly the type of woman you'd meet at church, in the neighborhood . . . or one dark night when a man is brutally murdered and she just happens to land right in the middle of the mystery!