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Free October 10-12 on Amazon - http://getBook.at/DivineIntervention

CFBI agent Jasmine McLellan leads a psychically gifted team in the hunt for a serial arsonist--a murderer who has already taken the lives of three people. 

Jasi and her team members--Psychometric Empath and profiler Ben Roberst and Victim Empath Natassia Prushenko--are joined by Brandon Walsh, the handsome but skeptical Chief of Arson Investigations. In a manhunt that takes them from Vancouver to Kelowna, Penticton and Victoria, they are led down a twisting path of sinister secrets. 

Free October 10-12 on Amazon - http://getBook.at/DivineIntervention

And pick up DIVINE JUSTICE, book 2 in the trilogy for $0.99 during the same dates via Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Get DIVINE INTERVENTION for FREE!

Everyone needs a little DIVINE INTERVENTION. And now you can get it FREE at Amazon, Kobo and Smashwords!

Amazon: http://getBook.at/divineintervention 

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/divine-intervention-20

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/13677

CFBI agent Jasmine McLellan leads a psychically gifted team in the hunt for a serial arsonist―a murderer who has already taken the lives of three people.

Jasi and her team members―Psychometric Empath and profiler Ben Roberts and Victim Empath Natassia Prushenko―are joined by Brandon Walsh, the handsome but skeptical Chief of Arson Investigations. In a manhunt that takes them from Vancouver to Kelowna, Penticton and Victoria, they are led down a twisting path of sinister secrets.

Sifting through ashes and clues, Jasi realizes that there is more to the third victim than meets the eye. Perhaps not all of the victims were that innocent. The hunt intensifies when she learns that someone they know is next on the arsonist's list.

Unleashing her gift as a Pyro-Psychic, Jasi is compelled toward smoldering ashes and enters the killer's mind―a mind bent on destruction and revenge. And in the heat of early summer, Jasi discovers that a murderer lies in wait…much closer than she ever imagined.

Book 1 in the Divine series

"Sci-fi and mystery fans will love this book." ―Writer's Digest

Be sure to share this post so all your friends can enjoy a free ebook and a little DIVINE INTERVENTION of their own.

Goodnight, Tweetheart by Cheryl Kaye Tardif is featured at the Twitter Fiction Festival

Yesterday, I participated in the inaugural Twitter Fiction Festival. I tweeted a short story I wrote live during the evening of this event. You can read the tweets by going to #goodnighttweetheart on Twitter, or you can read the short short below.

GOODNIGHT, TWEETHEART

A Myrtle Murphy Mystery by Cheryl Kaye Tardif

One tweet. That's all it took to send my life spiralling out of control. One goddamn little tweet on that magic social network pipeline. If I had only known it would lead to murder, maybe I wouldn't have tweeted it.

My tweet: Anyone out there live near the Starbucks in SE Edmonton?

The result: Six replies. Two from jokesters who lived in Edmonton, Kentucky. I'm in Canada. The other four I wasn't too sure about. Could be weirdos; could be lonely people. There are a lot of crackpots out there—and I've met a few of them online. Haven't we all?

I mean, I've had the "twalker" (tweet stalker) who has followed me, RTd my tweets…and then hit me up for a "favor," only to get all pissy because I wouldn't give them my first born. I've had the bashers who haven't liked my tweets. Aw, gee, too damned bad. It's a free tweet world!

But on that day last week, I had 4 tweeps. 2 turned into creeps. One ended up in Zimbabwe or some such country. The other…well, there was my mistake. The other convinced me to meet him at that Starbucks I'd tweeted about.

You ever get those weird fuzzy feelings? You know, when you know something's not quite right? Well, I did. I had all sorts of "warnings." But I was too stupid to listen to them.

I met him at Starbucks and my first reaction was: Holy ****! What a hunk! We went back to his place. "For a drink," he told me. But I had other plans.

I tried to reign in my urges, but as soon as he took off his jacket, my palms grew sweaty. I wanted him. Hell, did I want him! I imagined him naked, on the bed, wrists and ankles bound. 50 Shades of Grey, my ass. I'd give him a hundred, and he'd enjoy each one.

Before I tell you what happened next, you have to promise me you won't tell a soul. This is just between you and me—our little secret. And if you tell, I guess I'd have to kill you.

Now where was I? Oh yes…the hunk on the bed, naked, tied up. Sadly it didn't go quite as planned. The drug I slipped into his wine took too long to work and I grew impatient. Patience never has been one of my virtues. Just ask my husband. Oh wait, he's dead. Okay, ask my mother-in-law. Oh wait. She's dead too. Here's another secret: I killed them both.

And on that night, after a delicious chai tea latte date, I slowly undressed that hunk of a man, watched as he stretched out on the bed, his mind trying to comprehend.

"I thought you were just a sweet old lady looking for someone to talk to," he said.

I smiled. "I know, dear. I do look like the grandmotherly type, don't I?"

He didn't fight as I tied him to the bed. He couldn't. His drug-glazed eyes pleaded with me.

I held up my knife, its sleek blade glimmering in the dim light. "I have something for you."

Actually, it was more for me than him. I had missed my old friend Death. It had been too long.

Like Dexter, I have my own "dark passenger" that I just can't shake. Don't know if I want to. Some call me a monster. Others call me a serial killer. But most people call me Myrtle—Myrtle Murphy.

Want to get together for a coffee some day?

~ * ~

If you enjoyed this short Myrtle Murphy Mystery, you'll find longer stories featuring the serial killer you'll hate to love in SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET & OTHER CREEPY STORIES, available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle, and on B&N, Apple, Kobo Books and more.

The bodies at Gilgo...

Detectives were looking for a young woman that had disappeared... like so many others. She was pretty once, someone's little girl, but drugs and prostitution ravaged her... and now she was missing. Cops searched a lonely stretch of beach in Long Island, a place of gray sands and wretched tufts of grass and weeds. There is no laughter here, no smell of suntan lotion or picnic lunches. Even the ocean, as gray as the sand and sky, seems to refuse to lend its song to the greasy waves that roll onto the shore and then recede... as if ashamed.

The cops haven't found that young lady, but they did find the bodies of ten others very much like her... all wrapped in burlap, and all discarded along this mostly wild and untidy finger of sand and surf. Who they are, thanks to the marvels of forensic medicine, was fairly easy to determine. Who put them there and why is another matter altogether. The NYPD and the FBI have teamed up to investigate the work of yet another serial killer, they have even stretched their dragnet overseas and have enlisted the aid of Interpol.

It is all so sobering, and yet so scary and fascinating at the same time. That initial young lady lost, in a quiet and most profound way, led to the discovery of ten more young women who might otherwise have never been found. In their search for her, those detectives unearthed the works of a monster... and now the hunt grows in scope and in urgency. They want to stop this killer before he kills again. I hope they succeed.

Guest blogger Pat Bertram talks about what makes a sociopath

Today author Pat Bertram is our guest blogger here on Criminal Minds at Work as part of her online virtual blog tour. She's going to share some of her thoughts on criminal behaviors. Her post below is informative...and chilling. ~ Cheryl

Anyone who writes crime fiction, especially novels about a serial killer, is familiar with the sociopathic personality. But not all sociopaths are killers. Some psychologists estimate that there are thirty thousand psychopaths who are not serial killers for every one who is. So who are these non-killing psychopaths? Your neighbor, perhaps, or your mother-in-law. Maybe even the psychologists who came up with the sociopathic profile. Possibly even you.

Abused children who were not born with a sociopathic personality usually grow up to lead normal lives. Sociopaths who were not abused usually grow up to lead normal lives or lives that mimic normalcy. Sociopaths sometimes become killers because of childhood abuse, and sometimes they become killers simply because they want to. (The killer in the Dutch version of The Vanishing was a classic sociopath who killed to see what it would feel like.)

Even if you don't write crime fiction, familiarity with the sociopathic personality can help you create dynamic characters and even interesting dialogue. For example, sociopaths frequently use contradictory and illogical statements such as "I never touched her, and anyway, she wanted it."

A sociopath has difficulty connecting to others, though people often like them. They are charming, glib, witty, and use captivating body language. Because of their impulsiveness, need for excitement, poor behavior controls, and lack of responsibility, they can be fun companions, but because they lack empathy, conscience, and remorse, they can never truly connect with anyone.

Other characteristics of the sociopath are shallow emotions, egocentricity, lying for no reason, no need to conform to societal standards, the skill to detect and exploit the weaknesses of others. They are also well satisfied with themselves, never looking back with regret or forward with concern.

One characteristic that keeps a sociopath from being a good fiction hero is that in fiction heroes need to change during the course of the novel, and sociopaths have solid personalities that are extremely resistant to outside influences. But, being the manipulative creatures that they are, they can make us believe they have changed.

The villains of both my novels, More Deaths Than One and A Spark of Heavenly Fire are sociopaths, hiding their true natures under the famed scientific detachment. If they were real people, their crimes would be of such incredible scope that the crimes would be labeled “scandals.” When a CPA bilks a few thousand from a customer, it’s a crime. Yet when a CEO of a major corporation bilks a few million from customers, it’s a scandal. Either way, it sounds like sociopathic behavior. With or without the killing.

Here is Pat's VBT schedule: http://ptbertram.wordpress.com/2009/04/04/bertrams-global-blog-blitz/

Pat Bertram is a native of Colorado and a lifelong resident. When the traditional publishers stopped publishing her favorite type of book — character and story driven novels that can’t easily be slotted into a genre — she decided to write her own. More Deaths Than One and A Spark of Heavenly Fire, available at Amazon and from Second Wind Publishing, are Bertram’s first novels.

Another severed foot found on BC beach

Is this a case of one foot in the grave; the other washed up on a beach? Another severed foot was found along Vancouver Island's shore. This makes 6, or some would think. But this recent find isn't quite what it appears to be.

"A forensic pathologist and anthropologist examined the running shoe found on Wednesday and determined a “skeletonised animal paw” had been placed inside the shoe and packed with dried seaweed," states the Globe and Mail.

Some might call it an innocent prank; I call it a cruel slap in the face. What appeared to be the remains of a human foot have led to one conclusion--someone has a twisted mind. Someone actually had the nerve to stuff animal bones into the sneaker and pack it with seaweed? And leave it on the beach to be discovered by an innocent passerby? There's just one word for that--SICK!

Five actual severed feet have been discovered in the past year in the same area, an area that was once famed pig farmer/serial killer Robert Pickton's hunting ground.

Not to mention that a plane went down in the Gulf Island area. To date, none of the feet provided a DNA match to the victims of the plane crash.

My opinion: this is either a disgusting prank or there is a serial killer, as some suspect, who is taunting investigators. If it's a prankster, I vote he gets a hard kick in the ass. If it's the latter, I vote off with both his feet!

Read the article in Globe and Mail.

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
http://www.cherylktardif.com/