And Here It Is

Here is the cover for Methods of Madness. I hope it's showing up better on your monitor than it is on mine, because the colors are faded on my screen. The eye should be browner, "a novel by" is blue, and the green lettering is much more striking. But you get the idea, anyway.



And here is the backliner blurb:

It’s been three years since the terrible night Emily Ramsey suffered a double tragedy—the death of her sister and the disappearance of her fiancé. She deserves another chance at happiness, and gentle, adorable Zach Sullivan is just the man to mend her shattered heart. But from the moment Emily opens the hand-carved box holding a glittering diamond solitaire, she’s seized by an unshakeable fear: she’s going to lose Zach.

That’s exactly what Monica, Zach’s ex-girlfriend, is banking on. Bitter with envy, Monica will stop at nothing to sabotage Zach and Emily’s romance. A troubling note shows up in Emily’s mailbox, fanning the flames of suspicion. A bloody photograph sends her reeling. But when someone is brutally murdered, will Emily be able to escape suspicion and the possibility that she might be next?

Whitney Award-winning author Stephanie Black treats readers to another of her brilliantly thrilling stories that will leave the reader no choice but to keep reading well past the stroke of midnight.

It’s always interesting to read the backliner for the first time and see how your publisher describes your book, what they chose to emphasize, and how they provide a hook for the story without giving too much away. I’m pleased with this backliner (and not just because they said nice things about me).

Release date is August 1st—one month from today—so I figure I ought to do some promotion or something. Okay . . . um . . . go buy my book in August! Buy copies for all your friends and relatives and visiting/home teachees! My mother loved it and you will too! Okay, actually, my mother hasn’t read it yet, so scratch that . . . How about “buy a book: feed a college student”? My daughter will appreciate that one.

How about this: I’ll just do a simple book giveaway. In the comment trail, post a comment giving the title and author of a mystery or suspense novel that you’ve recently read and enjoyed and would recommend to me. This can be either an LDS or a national-market title. (One stipulation: please don’t recommend anything that would curdle my innocent young eyeballs. Nothing gruesome or filled with bad words, please.) Everyone who leaves a book recommendation gets his/her name entered in a drawing for a copy of Methods of Madness. Next Wednesday, I’ll draw two winners (I know, I know—Jeff’s giveaway was a better deal, but Jeff’s cooler than I am. So is J. Scott).