AVAILABLE MAY 1, 2022!

A Cat for All Seasons: you never know what you need until he finds you   by R.M. Kinder

AVAILABLE IN NOVEMBER 2021!

Previous News _____________________________________________Worth Revisiting!

Strains of Long Ago — A novelette by B.A.L. McMillan continues the adventures of Galway Evans and Letitia Dunbar in an accessible small paperback or ebook.

Separated by more than a generation, Galway Evans and Letitia Dunbar share a sharp analytical ability, a love of people and kindness, and a deep respect and fondness for each other.  They also share the corner of a Missouri small-town neighborhood, where mystery always finds them. In Strains of Long Ago, an unusual death entangles the two in a tale of love, music, and guilt.

Available through your favorite bookseller.

• Strains of Long Ago by B.A.L. McMillan
• Galway Evans Mystery #2
• ISBN 9780989503419
• 60 Pages

Excerpt:

GALWAY, AWAKENED BY A STORM AND STILL SLEEPY, DREW back the curtain, noting his neighbor’s kitchen light was on. Sometimes he thought Mrs. Dunbar never slept.
He showered and dressed quickly, then went downstairs and out onto the front porch. The rain had already stopped, but the air was misty. His newspaper, unwrapped, lay at the far end of the walk. The newspaper girl either did not have an arm or cared little about doing a good job. He didn’t really mind. He liked moving into the mist, liked the deep green of wet Missouri mornings.

In his kitchen, he carefully unfolded the newspaper, grateful the first page was readable. A brief article caught his attention: A long-time resident, Harold Wilson, had been found dead in his storm cellar, ostensibly from a blow to the head suffered during a fall. Foul play was not suspected, though Wilson’s wife, who found the body, informed police that some young men in the neighborhood had been causing problems. She didn’t know why her husband had been in the cellar at night.

Galway expected Mrs. Dunbar to be at his back door any moment, because this was exactly the kind of news item she always noted—one that posited a mystery and allowed her to conjecture. His previous profession—attorney—had intensified her interest in crime, particularly murder. He could often answer questions about procedure or possibilities. He hadn’t informed her, yet, that his short career as an attorney hadn’t been enjoyable, though he was quite good at it. He preferred to work with his hands, to spend leisurely time with good people, and to allow his mind to wander. He wasn’t lazy. He just wasn’t talented or focused. At least, that was his self-assessment.

At 9:00, concerned that Mrs. Dunbar had not come bustling over as he expected, Galway crossed the wet, thick grass to her house. She answered his knock still dressed in her robe, her hair down, long, gray, with a curl that belied her age. She nudged the screen door open.

“Thought I’d check on you,” he said, going inside.

Something was wrong. Her slate-blue eyes, usually bright with good humor and intelligence, regarded him dully.

“What’s wrong Mrs. Dunbar? Are you ill?”

“Yes. Sick enough.”

“Let me call your doctor.” He headed for the mahogany half-table. The phone wasn’t there.

“I’m just sick about people,” Mrs. Dunbar said, suddenly tightening the belt of her robe and turning toward the kitchen. “Sick, sick, sick, sick.”

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The Tune of Murder by B.A.L. McMillan. — Galway Evans Book #1

The Tune of Murder is the debut of Galway Evans and Letitia Dunbar as a crime solving duo. Look forward to their rare friendship and blend of skills in this budding series of murder and mystery in small town Missouri!

Johnny Rowland is arrested for murder and although his aunt Letitia knows he is hardly innocent, she is convinced he is not guilty.  She enlists the aid of her neighbor, Galway Evans, a former attorney who is now an aspiring handyman, and they begin an investigation into a music community that seems to embrace both God and the devil. Using instinct and common sense, Letitia Dunbar follows leads into family and her church while Galway enters the musicians’ world. Through a maze of possibilities, interesting characters, lies and lyrics, Galway and Mrs. Dunbar discover the ties that bind family and friends and truths that more than solve a murder.

Available through Amazon.com in print or kindle formats!

• The Tune of Murder by B.A.L. McMillan
• Pbk 200 pages
• June 2014
• ISBN 9780989503402
• $9.00