The Flapper, The Scientist, And The Saboteur
The Flapper, The Scientist, And The Saboteur
by Charlene Bell Dietz
GENRE: Mystery
A workaholic bio-medical scientist, Beth Armstrong, is torn between saving her sabotaged ground-breaking multiple sclerosis research or honoring an obligation to care for her chain-smoking, Cuba Libre drinking, ex-flapper aunt. Nursemaid ranks just above catching the plague on Beth’s scale, yet her ex-flapper aunt would prefer anything deadly to losing her independence under the hands of her obsessive compulsive niece. While a murderous culprit runs loose in the science institute, the raucous aunt entertains Beth’s neglected husband with nightly cocktails and stories form the Roaring twenties. The Flapper, the Scientist, and the Saboteur intertwines a corporate espionage mystery with a generational battle-of-wills story between a dedicated professional intent on fighting chaos to restore order and a free-spirited aunt who needs her niece to live in the moment.
Excerpt:
Beth lunged to the bed, snatched the cigarettes out of Kathleen’s hands, crushed them, then flung the pack into the waste basket. She bent close to her aunt and inhaled deeply.
"Beth, what in the world—"
"I don't know you, but I know people like you. You seriously need help."
"What on earth are you fretting about?"
"Fretting? Not me, I'm happy as a loon." Beth’s lungs needed more air.
"Beth, I didn't start that fire."
"Now you're going to say it was Mrs. Harrison?" Beth's words filled the room. Until today, she never yelled.
"It wasn't her." Kathleen said.
The room felt small, dark, smoky—no air. She heard her breath coming in short little bursts.
"Dear, you didn't mean to, but you started the fire."
Something snapped in Beth's brain. She shook her head. But Kathleen, with innocence etched in her wrinkled face, kept looking at her.
About the Author:
Charlene Bell Dietz writes science and historical-suspense, award-winning mystery novels and short stories. Her award-winning short stories have been published in the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers 2016 Anthology and SouthWest Writers 2019 Anthology. The Flapper, the Scientist, and the Saboteur combines family saga with corporate espionage. The Flapper, the Impostor, and the Stalker propels readers back into 1923 frenetic Chicago during the Roaring Twenties. Both these novels were named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2018, and each won the coveted Kirkus Starred Review. Her latest novel, The Scientist, the Psychic, and the Nut, gives readers a frightening Caribbean vacation. Her current work in progress, a biographical historical novel, starts in England in 1638 and ends in precolonial Maryland. Charlene, a retired educator, traveled the United States as a consultant for Houghton Mifflin Publishers after a career of teaching little ones, older ones, and college graduates. Surrounded by forests and meadows, she currently lives in the foothills of the mountains in central NM several miles from the small village of Torreon. Charlene is the current president of Croak & Dagger, New Mexico Chapter of Sisters in Crime. She belongs to Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, Rocky Mountain Mystery Writers, Mystery Writers of America, and SouthWest Writers. Connect with Charlene on Facebook
Connect with the Author:
https://www.facebook.com/charlene.dietz.9
Buy Link:
https://www.amazon.com/Flapper-Scientist-Saboteur-Charlene-Dietz/dp/1945212519
GIVEAWAY
Charlene Bell Dietz will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteWonderful excerpt, The Flapper, The Scientist and the Saboteur sounds like a mystery that I will enjoy! Thanks for sharing it with me and have a great day!
ReplyDeleteThis book was a ton of fun to write. I'm pleased you like the excerpt. I have to tell you, this book will cause you to breathe a little faster. (Big smile) Thanks for the comment.
DeleteThank you, Literary Gold, for hosting my story!
ReplyDeleteThank you for featuring such a good writer and good storyteller.
ReplyDeleteM. Glenda Rosen
I appreciate your sweet words. Thanks!
DeleteThanks for the giveaway. This sounds like an exciting mystery.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to you, Margie. My son who works at a huge research lab said he couldn't get past the fifth chapter because it stressed him out so much. Giggle. Yes, the science part is stressful, but you get some comic relief with the redoubtable ex flapper and all of her nose-butting in part. Thanks for the comment.
DeleteSounds like a great mystery. I love the cover!
ReplyDeleteSusan, the Taos NM bookstore and the bookstore in Old Town Albuquerque tell me that the cover sells the book. I've been fortunate to have a publisher with an excellent designer. IF you look closely at the cover you'll see a clue about the murderer. No one seems to ever sees it until I tell them to examine the cover closely. It's a head-slapping moment. Just some fun here. Thanks for the comment and I hope you'll read the book and tell me what you think.
DeleteSounds like a great mystery read. I dressed up as a flapper girl for a 20's themed Christmas party one year and won best dressed. Always intrigued by the flapper time period.
ReplyDeleteOh Katie, I wish you'd post a photo of you as a flapper. My next book is the story of the older woman when she ran away from home at 16 yrs to become a flapper. "The Flapper, the Impostor, and the Stalker", starts out in 1923. She hopes to find happiness, fame, and romance. She ends up running for her life. It's a story of dreams and betrayals, with heavily researched details about the Roaring Twenties. I hope you'll read this one about the older woman, and then the one about when she became a flapper and let me know what you think. Again, I'd love, love, love to see your photo!
DeleteReminds me of a few books I read many years ago, lovely mystery!
ReplyDeleteCalvin, the 1920s, prohibition and the Roaring Twenties, brought many changes to our grandparents and parents' lives that still have effects. I never understood how the government could ban alcohol, and still the cities were full of young and old partying hard and the gangsters profited. Only when researching this book did I discover how this all came about and why it could be. I'd love for you to read my mystery and tell me what you think. (And this book is set in the time of the dawn of electronics--dial-up Internet. Hard to imagine that now.)
DeleteI love this time period.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mary. 1920s certainly came with a lot of excitement.
DeleteThanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a great read.
ReplyDeletethis sounds very interesting
ReplyDeleteThe cover is gorgeous and the synopsis and excerpt intriguing, this is a must read for me. Did you spend a great deal of time on research for the historical and scientific aspects of the story?
ReplyDeleteInteresting cover! It sets the tone for the book.
ReplyDeleteThe book sounds very intriguing. Nice cover!
ReplyDelete