New Release — Murder on Black Mountain (A Black Mountain Mystery Series) by Ruben D. Gonzales

Forced to return to her Appalachian mountain home to bury her big brother, Police Chief Early Shaw, Emma Shaw finds the circumstances of his death a mystery that no one wants to talk about. For centuries, the Shaw family has run the small town with an iron fist—and Emma learns fast it doesn’t pay to ask too many questions—even though she is one of their own.  The facts don’t add up, and Emma will get her answers, one way or the other—even though her questions have stirred up a hornet’s nest.

There’s one thing the Shaw family doesn’t know: Emma possesses a mystical ability to read the energy auras that surround most people, and she can tell a lot about a person by the qualities of those auras. If they’re lying, she knows.  Will that gift be enough to help her solve the case of Early’s murder?

As the list of suspects grows—along with her frustration—Emma grapples with untangling her mysterious past from the dangerous present. Under the shadow of Black Mountain, Emma confronts the town’s ruling family and the secrets they keep. Can she manage to stay alive long enough to learn who killed her brother? One thing she knows for sure—Early’s death was no accident. She’s determined to prove it was MURDER ON BLACK MOUNTAIN.

EXCERPT

Growing up in Black Mountain, you could count the things for kids to do on one hand. The boys played football on the mill team and the girls got to play softball. Some boys played on the high school team, while girls could play volleyball—although being on the short side, Coach told me to stick with softball. A few of the boys from the high school team got to play in college.

Mama worried she birthed a boy. The opportunities for a boy in Black Mountain didn’t amount to much unless you counted working third shift at the mill as a career move. Year before Early went to Black Mountain High, a boy named Todd McCoy went on to college because of football. A big old boy that played center on the team, and slow as a snail, but he earned a football scholarship.

Football took on a whole new meaning for Mama after hearing that. She figured it could be Early’s ticket out of there. She thought I’d marry young, since I’m smart, pretty, and all. She thought I’d marry someone well-off, so didn’t worry about me.