Now, here's Kathleen Kaska:
My new release, Run
Dog Run, was the very first mystery I wrote. I finished the first draft
fifteen years ago. It came close to being published several times, but no
cigar. I finally put it on the back burner and let it simmer for a few years.
The manuscript has been revised and updated so many times I almost have the
thing memorized. Two years ago, I updated it again (for technology changes faster than automobile designs) and
sent it out. Black Opal Books sent me a contract, and there you have it.
The story takes place in the Texas Hill Country west of
Austin. If you’ve never been there, you should treat yourself to a trip in the
springtime when I wildflowers are in bloom.
Excerpt from Run Dog
Run:
She’d been
foolish and gone off alone, now she might have to pay the ultimate price…
The rocks along the bottom of the creek bed seemed to
disappear. Kate felt the ropy, gnarl of tree roots instead.
The cedar break. She was approaching the road and soon the
water would pass through the culvert. She knew that she would not make it
through the narrow tunnel alive. Her lungs screamed for air. With one final
attempt, she grabbed hold of a long cedar root growing along the side of the
creek bank and hung on. Miraculously, it held. She wedged her foot under the
tangled growth and anchored herself against the current. Inching her way
upward, she thrust her head above water and gulped for air. But debris in the
current slapped her in the face, and leaves and twigs filled her mouth, choking
her. Dizziness overcame her ability to think—exhaustion prevented her from
pulling herself higher.
She must not give in. Fighting unconsciousness, Kate inched
her way up a little farther, and at last was able to take a clear breath. Her
right arm hung loosely by her side, the back of the shaft had broken off in the
tumble through the current, but the arrow was lodged in her arm. Numb[KK1] from cold water
and exhaustion, she lay on the bank as the water swept over her, and then, as
quickly as it had arrived, the flow subsided and the current slowed. If she
could hang on a few moments longer, survival looked promising. As thoughts of
hope entered her mind, Kate feared that her pursuer might not have given up the
chase. Perfect, Kate Caraway, just
perfect. You screwed up again, she chided herself as the lights went out.
Synopsis:
After five years in Africa, researching
the decline of elephant populations, Kate Caraway’s project comes to a
screeching halt when she shoots a poacher and is forced to leave the country.
Animal rights activist Kate Caraway travels to a friend’s ranch in Texas for a
much-needed rest. But before she has a chance to unpack, her friend’s daughter
pleads for Kate’s assistance. The young woman has become entangled in the ugly
world of greyhound abuse and believes Kate is the only one with the experience
and tenacity to expose the crime and find out who is responsible. On the case
for only a few hours, Kate discovers a body, complicating the investigation by
adding murder to the puzzle. Now, she’s in a race against time to fine the
killer before she becomes the next victim.
Animal rights activist Kate Caraway travels
to Texas for a much-needed rest. But before she has a chance to unpack, her
friend’s daughter pleads for Kate’s assistance. She has become entangled in the
ugly world of greyhound abuse. On the case for only a few hours, Kate discovers
a body, complicating the investigation by adding murder to the puzzle. Now,
she’s in a race against time to fine the killer before she becomes the next
victim.
Bio:
Kathleen Kaska is the author two awarding-winning
mystery series: the Sydney Lockhart Mystery Series set in the 1950s and the Classic
Triviography Mystery Series, which includes The
Sherlock Holmes Triviography and Quiz Book. Her first two Lockhart
mysteries, Murder at the Arlington
and Murder at the Luther, were
selected as bonus-books for the Pulpwood Queen Book Group, the largest book
group in the country. Her latest Sydney Lockhart mystery, set in Austin, Texas,
is Murder at the Driskill. When she
is not writing, she spends much of her time with her husband traveling the back
roads and byways around the country, looking for new venues for her mysteries
and bird watching along the Texas coast and beyond. It was her passion for
birds that led to the publication The Man
Who Saved the Whooping Crane: The Robert Porter Allen Story (University
Press of Florida).
Run Dog Run Kathleen’s her first mystery in
the new Kate Caraway animal rights series.
Books
are available through Black Opal Books, Kathleen’s website, and Amazon.
