Hi. I’m Heather.
I write mysteries.
Cleopatra Almost Slept Here, Book 11 of the Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries Debuted August 15, 2026. Yippee! This is my favorite book. But, of course, I would say that! Like a proud mama, I love all my books as I give “birth” to them. As to writing this story with the Alvarez family in Egypt, it was huge fun. Anything that can go wrong does and nobody knows why! Until …
| THE ALVAREZ FAMILY IS ON THE VACATION OF A LIFETIME – IF IT DOESN’T KILL THEM FIRST! |
| When the entire Alvarez family – including private investigator Lee Alvarez and the rest of the members of the family’s P.I. business, Discretionary Inquiries, Inc. – is offered a once-in-a-lifetime chance to volunteer on an archaeological dig, they’re airborne in hours. It’s billed as “a nice, relaxing family vacation”— all they have to do is identify Cleopatra’s mother! But they’ve barely landed in Cairo when someone tries to run their van off the road. |
| Author Haven hasn’t missed a trick in this modern-day interpretation of the classic mystery-at-a-dig genre.It’s got everything – pyramids, train rides, a Nile cruise, the requisite cobra, exotic history, mysterious messages, and, of course, there’s a haboob! (That’s “sandstorm” to us boobs.)Naturally, Haven adds her own delightfully off-center flourishes: imagine the witty banter of the statuesque P.I. and her hunky ex-SEAL husband dropped into Death on the Nile with a world-class chef, a computer genius, hovering in-laws, two cats, a toddler, and a hat maker. Dame Agatha meets Nick and Nora Charles, if you will. If Nora had a blueberry yogurt stain on her shirt. And a charming camel called KFC standing in for Asta. What is nearly unimaginable is Alvarez matriarch Lila loosening up enough to wear Birkenstocks – in public. Otherwise, the extended Alvarez family is up to their usual hijinks: brother Richard, the computer genius, has the answer before the question is asked; Tugger the cat inadvertently reveals the culprit(s); hunky husband Gurn needs rescuing; Lee goes rogue; and Tío the chef, as always, plies them with delicious food.As spoofy and goofy as the set-up is, the danger is real: two waiters have disappeared from the hotel boat housing the dig crew. The boat is peopled almost entirely by eccentric and suspicious characters who are hiding something – right up to and including Lee’s father-in-law! At the heart of the mystery, as always when ancient treasures are involved, is a solution as old as time: greed, running rampant in every imaginable form in a witty and refreshing tale that would make even the Dame laugh out loud. |
Fans of PI stories, cozy mysteries, and women sleuths will lose their own heads over Lee Alvarez and her adorable (and vexing) family of investigators, including Tugger the cat! Lee’s sharp and funny like her fellow female protagonists Kinsey Millhone (Sue Grafton) and Stephanie Plum (Janet Evanovich), but she cleans up better – say, Nora to her dapper husband’s Nick. And the rest of the large, loving, interfering, and resourceful Alvarez family will delight lovers of Lisa Lutz’s family series, The Spellman Files.
A Wedding to Die For, Book 2 of The Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries is still under development by a major original programming production company (no names) for a series of television movies. However, my advice to anyone trying to do this is to start when you are very young. It’s been five years in the making with still no signs of going forward, backward or dying. But you know what? The thrill is still there. And I’m still in the game! It’s hard to say how these things go, but the fact that someone wants to turn my stories about the Alvarez family into movies for television makes me jump for joy.
Hotshot Shamus, book 4 of the Persephone Cole Vintage Mysteries, won the second place Insipere Award for Best Clean Mystery 2023. Go Percy! Percy Cole is one of the first female detectives in New York City’s history, and a woman very comfortable in a man’s world. It was a joy getting back to this series. Percy’s my kinda gal. Sort of how I’d like to be if I had the nerve.
Lucky me. I get to travel the world in my mind and be all the characters in my books, including the cats! As Confucius once said, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
While I love a funny mystery, I tend to read anything of interest to me, especially if it’s well-written. Most of the time, though, when I read a book, I like it to be on the lighter side of life. If I want to cry, I only have to step on a scale. l tend to write about what I consider to be some of the important things in life: the recently immigrated, one of America’s natural resources, the family unit, relationships, and the seeking of justice. They may be wrapped around a mystery and a laugh, but those subjects will always be there.
Or visit my blog below where I muse upon occasion.
Thanks,
Heather
A Mystery Writer’s Musings
-
I Hold Charles Dickens Completely Responsible
Decided to share this again. First published 2 holiday seasons ago. Since I was a child, I would watch countless adaptations of A Christmas Carol on TV and in the movies. I’ve seen variations of the character of Scrooge played by the likes of Alec Guinness, Susan Lucci, Jim Carrey, Vanessa Williams, and Scrooge McDuck. I even read…
-
Thornton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth
I recently saw a production of Wilder’s Skin of Our Teeth, given by Mountain View High School students. It was amazing. First of all, I had forgotten just what a fine play Thornton Wilder had written. As a teen, I had been involved in two productions of it, myself. One in high school and the…
-
Michelle K. Pickett Has a New Novel Coming Out
Michelle is an award winning author and is very excited about her new book, Unspeakable, as is everyone else. And the cover is sensational! Just see for yourself. The muted colors are exquisite and there’s something about the eyes. They look right at you, promising much…maybe. And what lurks behind the face of this innocent…
-
Heather and Her New BFF, Bookbub
Getting your name out there as a novelist is a lot of work. The good news about being independent is you get to do what you want. You have the power. The bad news is you need to do the promoting, marketing, strategizing yourself. If you don’t, your book(s) could sink down in the oblivion…
-
Blog Hop – Writers On Writing
I was asked by the gifted writer, Tracy Guzeman, author of The Gravity of Birds, to join a blog hop devoted to how writers go through the process of writing. Before I get into any specifics about me, I would like to state my belief that no matter what the genre, we writers do our…
-
I Won the Silver IPPY Award. Thank You, Mom.
Forgive my bragging, but this sort of thing, winning a prestigious medal for a novel, doesn’t happen every day. But more to the point, my mother recently passed away, February 22nd, to be exact. I loved her very much, and it was hard, even though she was 94. I wrote Death of a Clown, a mystery…
-
I Hold Charles Dickens Completely Responsible
Decided to share this again. First published last holiday season. Since I was a child, I would watch countless adaptations of A Christmas Carol on TV and in the movies. I’ve seen variations of the character of Scrooge played by the likes of Alec Guinness, Susan Lucci, Jim Carrey, Vanessa Williams, and Scrooge McDuck. I even read the…
-
Welcoming Penny Estelle and The Unwanted Christmas Guest
I remember Penny Estelle’s work with great joy. She writes wonderfully upbeat, charming stories. It is a pleasure to welcome her back to This and That. Penny, please tell us a little about your newest release, a short story, which is just in time for Christmas! I can’t tell you how excited I am that…
-
It Pays To Push
I’ve never met one fellow writer who enjoyed the marketing process as much as writing. Maybe they’re out there, but I haven’t met them. Most of us do it on one level or another. Some are pretty good at it. Some fight the process at every turn, saying they are a writer, not a sales…
-
Welcome Suzanne de Montigny, author of The Shadow of the Unicorn
Today, I’m interviewing Suzanne de Montigny, author of The Shadow of the Unicorn: The Legacy, the first of a trilogy. Her novel is the pick of the week at Amazon and a top seller at Muse It Up Publishing. Leave a comment here and you might win a free eBook of The Shadow of the…
-
A Designer of Words
A friend of mine, Mary Wollesen, designs quilts. I mean, these are not your typical quilts made to throw over a bed, although she has some lovely ones doing just that. The below quilt Mary named ‘Rainy Days and Sundays’ looks perfectly at home on someone’s bed. However, most of Mary’s creations are one-of-a-kind treasures, made to hang on walls or drape over…
-
Welcome John B. Rosenman, Author of Kingdom of the Jax
The mysterious yet wonderful John B. Rosenman joins us and we are delighted! I call him ‘mysterious’ because he says there is a deep and abiding mystery in his newest novel, Kingdom of the Jax. I have no doubt he speaks the truth. Neither will you when you read the blurb of his book and the short excerpt…