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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Q.C. Davis
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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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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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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The Corner of Ida B. Wells and Wells
In a scene in my novel The Worried Man, main character Q.C. Davis becomes disoriented. She uses Congress Parkway as her guide to get back home. Chicago recently renamed that street Ida B. Wells Drive.
The name change reflects changing times, yet shows how slowly change occurs.
The City And The Street
The short street now known as Ida B. Wells Drive forms the border between downtown Chicago and the Printers Row neighborhood just south of downtown where I live.
It's a street a lot of C...
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Smarter Characters Than Authors?
As a reader, I often wonder how much of the characters I love are based on their authors' lives.
I imagine Sara Paretsky as an outspoken champion of those who struggle, just as is her character V.I. Warshawski. I wonder whether John Sandford has a lot in common with Lucas Davenport, the main character in his Prey novels. (Maybe better if he doesn't, depending which one you're reading.)
I wish I could live in Three Pines and want to visit the town in Canada Louise Penny modeled it after.
...
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Release of The Charming Man: A Blizzard, A Killer, A Missing Woman
The Charming Man (Q.C. Davis 2)
It's new release week for the latest novel in the Q.C. Davis suspense/mystery series.
As a blizzard rages through Chicago, a killer lurks in the halls of an isolated apartment complex on the river's edge.
And Quille must find a missing woman before it's too late.
Buy Today:
Kindle
Nook
Apple Books
Kobo
Google Play
Paperback
P.S. Haven't read Book 1, The Worried Man, yet?
You can start with The Charming Ma...
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