I am so excited to share with you the cover for A MURDEROUS MALADY, Book 2 in the Florence Nightingale Mysteries! So excited that I couldn’t wait until the next newsletter to do so! (Psst – if you’re not already on my mailing list, go ahead and subscribe. The newsletter sign up form is in the sidebar area. My subscribers get all my announcements FIRST before anything is shared on this website or appears on social media.)
The publisher did a great job of creating a striking cover which pulls the reader in. What’s in all of those bottles? Are they cures…or poisons? Who does that cabinet belong to?
Leave a Comment below and tell me what you think. I’d love to know your thoughts.
A MURDEROUS MALADY is now available for pre-order. >> https://amzn.to/2A1aZT5
Be sure to visit the Amazon page to pre-order your copy of the book. You will get the best price match guarantee from Amazon should the price drop later on. Plus, Amazon has been known to ship pre-ordered books to customers a couple days ahead of the release date.
It’s true. Pre-orders are really important to authors because they tell the publisher readers are interested in the series. And interest in series means authors get the “Go ahead!” to write more books you love around the characters you adore…or love to hate.
Feel free to forward this e-mail to other readers and friends whom you think might enjoy Florence’s adventures—nurses, Victorian-era buffs, historical mystery lovers, etc. We’re working hard behind the scenes to get the word out and having you join our efforts is icing on the cake. So, share the news and tell your friends about the characters in the books you’ve been reading.
What’s the story about?
Cholera has broken out in London, but Florence Nightingale has bigger problems when people begin dying of a far more intentional cause―murder.
The London summer of 1854 is drawing to a close when a deadly outbreak of cholera grips the city. Florence Nightingale is back on the scene marshaling her nurses to help treat countless suffering patients at Middlesex Hospital as the disease tears through the Soho slums. But beyond the dangers of the disease, something even more evil is seeping through the ailing streets of London.
It begins with an attack on the carriage of Florence’s friend, Elizabeth Herbert, wife to Secretary at War Sidney Herbert. Florence survives, but her coachman does not. Within hours, Sidney’s valet stumbles into the hospital, mutters a few cryptic words about the attack, and promptly dies from cholera. Frantic that an assassin is stalking his wife, Sidney enlists Florence’s help, who accepts but has little to go on save for the valet’s last words and a curious set of dice in his jacket pocket. Soon, the suspects are piling up faster than cholera victims, as there seems to be no end to the number of people who bear a grudge against the Herbert household.
Now, Florence is in a race against time―not only to save the victims of a lethal disease, but to foil a murderer with a disturbingly sinister goal―in A Murderous Malady.
An exclusive excerpt
And now, in celebration of the book’s upcoming release, here is a snippet for your reading pleasure:
But even as I considered making another visit to the priest, a story was forming in my mind. It was a tale full of anger and hatred, and was so malicious as to be unfathomable, given how many people could have actually died had the killer’s entire plan worked properly. If my theory was correct, Liz might not ever feel safe again.
The killer’s face loomed large in my mind and I shuddered. But I was still missing one important piece of the puzzle.
“Goose, I believe I know what happened,” I said quietly to her as we made our way back to St. Luke’s.
Mary gave me an expectant look. “So I was correct in thinking that Caroline Norton would do anything possible to destroy the Herberts’ domestic bliss? That she would not only attack Caroline herself but murder her servants?”
I sighed. “The reality is much more sordid than that. There’s just one connection I cannot seem to make, and I’m not sure how to do so.”
“How can I help?” she asked.
“Right now, you can stay at my side. Strength in numbers, right?” I laughed weakly, but I was becoming deeply concerned that the killer might know by now that I was figuring things out.
I took a deep breath. The sooner I finished my investigation, the sooner a murderer could be arrested.
Be sure to click here to visit the Amazon page to order your copy of the book. And don’t forget to leave a Comment below and tell me what you think may be inside the bottles shown on the cover. I truly do want to read your guesses.