Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Winter Austin to HJ!
Hi Winter and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, A Requiem For The Dead!
To start off, can you please tell us a little bit about this book?:
On a chilly February morning, Dr. Olivia Remington-Thorpe goes missing. And Deputy Detective Lila Dayne is directed to a boneyard the likes of which she has never faced before in her career as a police officer. Sheriff Elizabeth Benoit is brought back onto the job when Olivia’s severely injured husband appears out of nowhere. Loyalties are tested as the Eckardt County Sheriff’s Department is dragged deeper into a twisted killer’s plot.
Please share your favorite lines or quote(s) from this book:
Sheriff Elizabeth Benoit was trapped. Stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place. One rock, ex-husband Joel Fontaine. One hard place, Undersheriff Raphael “Rafe” Fontaine.
Lila turned at the sound of someone’s approach. Fontaine broke through the edge of the
field. He looked like he needed five days of sleep.
“I’m here,” he grumbled. “What was all-fired important it couldn’t be explained over the
phone?”
Lila eyed the tall man before her. Her short stature really grated sometimes when she had
to face off against the likes of Undersheriff Rafe Fontaine, who’s six foot whatever the
hell inches towered over her.
What inspired this book?
- Reruns of Bones the TV series.
- Some podcast episodes from Crime Junkie about finding only bones of murder victims.
- My own twisted mind, it’s pretty dark in there.
How did you ‘get to know’ your main characters? Did they ever surprise you?
This is the fourth book in this series, so I’ve had 3 books to get to know Elizabeth (Ellie) and Lila. But these two still surprise me with the secrets they hold. With each book I write with these two leading ladies, the better I understand them. I also have to take different paths with them that I wouldn’t or hadn’t with past characters. Those two are always fun to write, but if I had to choose between the two, I’d have a hard time. Though I would say their interactions with their love interests are always my best liked scenes I write.
What was your favorite scene to write?
Any scene between Elizabeth and her ex-husband Joel, who made a big splash in book 4. Joel’s been conned by his younger brother to keep an eye on Elizabeth. They’re opening scene in the book was the easiest and most fun to write.
“Why do you keep doing this to yourself?” Joel asked as he got up from the table and
headed for the old-fashioned wood stove.
“I’ll kindly remind you to keep any and all opinions to yourself.”
He poured a cup of coffee from the stovetop percolator, then returned to stand next to her.
“Before you go jumping down my throat, hear me out.”
“I stopped hearing you out when every discussion with you turned into a full-out fight to
prove you were right and I was wrong.”
He resumed his seat across from her and placed his coffee mug on the table between
them. “We were married then. This isn’t about right or wrong.”
She gave him a side-eye. Something in her gaze must have given him the impression to
go on, because on he went.
“Last time I was here, after I got shot, I reminded you of your desire for this job. And
him. It’s been almost four years and here we are. You’re still living like a vestal virgin,
and my brother is walking around with a serious case of blue balls.”
Elizabeth groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Must you talk to me like I’m one
of the guys?”
“Never bothered you before.”
She chuckled, dropping her hand to settle on Bentley’s silky head propped on her lap.
“I’ve been away from that life for a long while now. Like to think we have more
refinement here in Iowa than crass army talk.”
What was the most difficult scene to write?
All of Olivia’s scenes were hard. She’s a character whose career I’m not as steeped in research on as I would like, and she was a tough nut to crack to get to the heart of who she was. Her interactions with her antagonist Horatio always brought sparks and I started to enjoy having him on scene.
His brilliant grin prodded at the embers burning hot inside of her. Horatio returned to his
task. “I see the box enticed you. Anything interesting you’d like to share?”
Slowly, methodically, Olivia worked around her sling-encased arm and got up from the
floor. She noted the gleam in Adrian’s eyes as he watched her struggle. Oh, yes, he’d
never lend an offer of assistance.
“You drag me from my home with a veiled threat that my husband is up to no good and
you’re breaking a decades-long agreement to keep me from something. Then have your
man rough me up, lock me away, and leave me with nothing to do but read old files.”
Horatio faced her during her mini tirade.
“I want answers,” she said.
“Don’t we all.” He went back to serving up what looked like a rice dish.
Would you say this book showcases your writing style or is it a departure for you?
I think this really brought out my best writing and got me to dig deeper into characterization for each character in the book. It’s definitely a book that when a reader picks it up and reads it, they’ll know they have a Winter Austin book.
What do you want people to take away from reading this book?
Cherish every day you have before you. One never knows when it will be your last day.
What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?
I’m in the middle of writing the first book in a new series that’s a departure from my typical police procedural-type of book. Diving into more of a thriller/suspense series playing around in the world of bounty hunting aka fugitive recovery.
Thanks for blogging at HJ!
Giveaway: An ebook copy of A Requiem For The Dead + one additional Tule ebook of the winner’s choice
To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What would you do if you knew or suspected there was something bad or criminal like happening in your hometown?
Excerpt from A Requiem For The Dead:
Chapter One
Day 1: Sunday, February 25, 4:32 a.m.
The leather satchel slid past the edge of her shoulder and slipped off her arm, hitting the floor upside down. Files, papers, and an odd assortment of office paraphernalia scattered across the tile flooring.
“Shit.”
Dr. Olivia Remington-Thorpe kicked the garage door shut and flung aside her pocketbook, keys, and coat. This was just the crap icing on the shit cake after the night she had. God, how she hated working the ER on a full moon in late February after Juniper, Iowa, had seen another snowstorm blow through and melt away. Between the cabin fever overtaking the younger generation with their attempts to pull off some stupid stunt they saw on social media and a sudden uptick in drug overdoses, she’d had enough. The lone saving grace to redeem this awful night? She hadn’t been needed for an autopsy. Thank God for small mercies.
Squatting down, she surveyed the mess. Fatigue dragged on her shoulders. The tight muscles in her back and neck made for an unrelenting pounding in her head. She could barely hold her eyes open.
Screw it.
If Dominic didn’t like it when he came home, then he could damn well pick it up. It wasn’t like her husband was going to be around any time soon. He’d turned scarcity into a fine art. Taking all the shifts opposite of her so as to not be in the house at the same time as she.
Her skin tightened as she grew flush. Dominic did this on purpose. For more than a year he’d used these types of passive aggressive tactics instead of speaking with her. Which was fine by her, since all they seemed to do when they were together was fight. If she didn’t know any better, she’d swear he started the arguments in order to keep her at bay.
Olivia had noticed fractures in their marriage before the clashes—before she’d committed a grievous faux pas—and had brushed them off as mere nuisances of their professions, but it seemed the cracks were more than skin deep for Dominic. No one in their circle of friends knew about their strained relationship. They’d retained the facade of a happy marriage in front of prying eyes of those who could discover they were strangers living in the same house. No matter what she did to repair the damage, Dominic would retreat or cut her down. Divorce had been brought up, but neither of them seemed to want to get around to putting it into motion.
Olivia stepped over the chaos, leaving it behind to head upstairs to the master bedroom she had commandeered. As she shuffled along the hallway, she let her hair loose from its tie and scratched her scalp. Soaking in a hot Epsom salt bath sounded wonderful. Maybe a bit of lavender to ease the aches and pains and soothe the raging beast inside. Add a cup of chamomile tea and it would do her good. Probably help her go right to sleep.
A squeak from the kitchen brought her to a halt. Slowly, she turned, listening. The faint click of bone china made her stiffen. Was Dominic home? How could he be? He should be in the ER. Olivia saw his vehicle in the doctors’ parking lot before she left. She had, hadn’t she? As tired as she was, it was probable she mistook someone else’s SUV for his.
The soft sound of the refrigerator resealing made her scrunch her nose. There was no mistaking that noise for her wearied brain playing tricks on her. Someone was in the kitchen.
Maybe Dominic was home. Olivia consulted her watch: 4:41. Was he running late? Or did he have a delayed start at the ER, so he hadn’t left yet? All possible.
Despite their animosity toward each other, Dominic—ever the gentleman—left the garage space for her use and put his car behind the house under the car port. When he parked there, she didn’t see his vehicle because she pulled straight into the garage and entered the house through the connected doorway.
More sounds came from the kitchen, further piquing her interest. She abandoned her plan for a hot bath and redirected course for the swinging door dividing the hall from the kitchen. She pushed the door inward and peeked around the edge.
No one was there.
The lights mounted under the wall cabinets were on, the only illumination in the kitchen. A single teacup and saucer sat in the center of the island counter. Steam rose from the delicate china. Olivia stepped inside the kitchen and glanced around, but there was no sign of whomever made the tea and left it. She crept up to the counter and studied the teacup.
The tea had just begun to steep, the water not quite dark enough. She moved to the stove where the kettle sat and found it hot to the touch. Why hadn’t she heard the whistle?
Olivia wrenched around at the scuffing noise behind her.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Book Info:
The dead can no longer keep their secrets …
On a cold February morning, ME Olivia Remington-Thorpe’s severely beaten and bleeding husband stumbles onto Sheriff Elizabeth Benoit’s retreat. Before slipping into unconsciousness, he begs her to find Olivia. Hours later, Deputy Detective Lila Dayne discovers a mysterious boneyard with dark secrets.
The timing is catastrophic. Still reeling from the horrific events of the past autumn, the deputies of Eckardt County are spread thin, and tempers are short. Elizabeth’s relationship with her lead investigator is sour. Still worse, her ex-husband moved back to Iowa with a devilish deal.
As Elizabeth and Lila race the odds to uncover the truth of the skeletal remains and find their missing friend alive, Olivia seeks a way to escape from an abductor who is proving that she didn’t know her husband as well as she thought.
More bodies turn up, mysterious visitors arrive in Juniper, and one mistake from the Eckardt County Sheriff’s team will spell their own deaths in their most dangerous murder investigation to date.
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Meet the Author:
Winter Austin perpetually answers the question: “were you born in the winter?” with a flat “nope,” but believe her, there is a story behind her name.
A lifelong Mid-West gal with strong ties to the agriculture world, Winter grew up listening to the captivating stories told by relatives around a table or a campfire. As a published author, she learned her glass half-empty personality makes for a perfect suspense/thriller writer. Taking her ability to verbally spin a vivid and detailed story, Winter translated that into writing deadly romantic suspense, mysteries, and thrillers.
When she’s not slaving away at the computer, you can find Winter supporting her daughter in cattle shows, seeing her three sons off into the wide-wide world, loving on her fur babies, prodding her teacher husband, and nagging at her flock of hens to stay in the coop or the dogs will get them.
She is the author of multiple novels.
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