I didn’t set out to write a series featuring a sleuth who is kind. All I knew was that to write a private or amateur detective mystery, I needed a main character with special skills. Skills that could help her solve crimes where police failed.
My first choice about Quille C. Davis, the sleuth in the Q.C. Davis Mysteries, was an easy one. I made her a lawyer because I am one and know what skills it requires.
Sleuth, Lawyer, And Former Actress
Like me, Quille appears in court and handles law...
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Who Killed The Basketball Coach?
No Good Plays (A Q.C. Davis Mystery Novella)
His son's basketball coach is dead. She agrees to investigate. But is it worth her life?
After solving a crime but losing a friend, Chicago lawyer Quille C. Davis’ plans for the summer are to have fun, catch up on her law practice, and enjoy time on her boyfriend’s boat.
Then Detective Sergeant Beckwell, who helped Quille investigate the death of someone close to her, calls in a big favor. His son’s high school basketball coach is dead, ...
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Sneak Peek at The Troubled Man (A Q.C. Davis Mystery)
Chapter One
What’s the one thing you want to do before you die?
That question was printed in neon green chalk at the top of a blackboard hanging just inside Niche’s Women’s Room. I hadn’t noticed it when I walked in, but now I studied the chalkboard as I washed my hands. Ten numbered white chalk lines underneath provided spaces for restaurant patrons to write answers. It was early in the evening, and only one diner had filled in an answer. She wanted to visit the Galapagos Islands.
Despite a...
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Tour A Mysterious Historical Mansion In Chicago
Last holiday season my niece, a theatrical scenic designer, asked whether the historical mansion depicted in my mystery The Worried Man was real.
I told her no, but it was modeled after Chicago Gilded Age mansions.
A month or so later she said my Christmas gift wouldn't be ready in time. I never connected it to her question about the mansion.
First, our family has a long tradition of exchanging Christmas gifts in March or May and sending birthday presents months late. Second, she's a de...
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Do You Know A Middle Grade Child Who Loves To Write?
I don't have kids of my own, but I do remember being one. While I loved writing fiction, I didn't know how to turn what I wrote into a complete novel.
When I saw more than one review saying the reviewer passed one of my fiction writing guides on to a high school student who found it helpful, I started thinking about tailoring a workbook to middle grade kids. (I began writing longer fiction around that age.)
But with so many projects on my plate, I didn't get to doing it. (Nothing like too...
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The Fractured Man Book Release Party 4/23/20
Via Facebook Thursday April 23, 2020 7:30 PM Central
Please Join Spiny Woman Press and Lisa M. Lilly for a Facebook Online Book Release Party for The Fractured Man (Q.C. Davis Mystery No. 3).
Video tours of settings featured in the Q.C. Davis mysteries
The author reading Chapter 1
Online Quiz from The Worried Man
Quille C. Davis' Favorite Whiskey Sour recipe
and more!
Share your favorite cocktail recipe, tea flavor (Quille also loves tea), Chicago-based mystery, or phot...
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Happiness, Small Changes, And More Than One Job
Recently I was interviewed by Joanna Penn about juggling multiple careers, happiness, and stress management on The Creative Penn podcast.
I loved talking with Joanna. Through her blog and podcast she's been encouraging creative people and sharing information for over a decade.
Among other things, we talked about:
Solving problems or meeting challenges through many small changes or actions rather than one big fix
Changing the questions we ask ourselves to focus on solutions rather t...
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The Fractured Man (Q.C. Davis Mystery No. 3) Cover Reveal
The cover for The Fractured Man (Q.C. Davis Mystery No. 3) features the Chicago Temple Building.
The 21-floor gothic skyscraper in the heart of downtown Chicago is home to Seminar, a shadowy company whose key leader is dead.
The prime suspect is a long lost friend of Quille C. Davis. In a desperate midnight call, he begs Quille to help.
The Fractured Man - coming November 4, 2019.
Visit here or the Q.C. Davis series page for updates.
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Q.C. Davis Mysteries In Large Print
One thing I love about ereaders is that I can adjust the font size to make it bigger. (It's especially key now that I need reading glasses.)
But sometimes I really prefer a paperback book.
That's why I decided to create Large Print paperback editions of the first two Q.C. Davis mystery/suspense novels.
The Worried Man (Q.C. Davis 1)
The night before they plan to move in together, Chicago stage-actress-turned-lawyer Quille finds the man she loves dead in his apartment.
Suspicious o...
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A Man In Search Of A Ring (Or Is He?)
No New Beginnings
“None of them jumps out at me.” Joe glanced at his phone. Nearly eleven.
He’d spent hours researching online over the weekend, so he hadn’t thought finding the right ring would take more than forty-five minutes. An hour at most.
Now he worried he’d be empty-handed tonight. He had lunch plans with a new client at twelve-thirty and a conference call after that. He could fit in more shopping late in the day, but he needed to stop at the grocery store, too. To get steaks for...
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