For reviews and reader comments, click here.

>>Read the first 10 pages<< Adobe Acrobat

Available from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and your local bookstore. If it's not on the shelves, it can be special ordered.

If you're in the Nashville area, you can find it at Mysteries & More.

I first saw Jared McKean leaning against a wooden fence. His arms were crossed, and he was wearing jeans and a brown leather bomber jacket that I knew had once belonged to his father. He was waiting for me to give up trying to write a novel featuring a feisty female detective I didn't understand, come to my senses, and give him a series of his own. It makes not a whit of difference that this encounter occurred entirely in my mind.

On the surface, Jared and I have little in common. He's a man; I'm a woman. He's tall, rangy, and athletic; I'm built like a potato bug. He's brave; I'm the kind of person who, when I go into a Laundromat, checks to see which dryer I will hide in if a knife-wielding maniac comes through the door. Yet, I understand him better than I've ever understood anyone in my life. He has a journey to take and a story to tell, and I am honored to be the one to tell it.

"You know he's not real," a friend once said.

"I'm a writer," I answered. "Half the people I know aren't real."

A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Listed Pages:

Home is where the heart is, and also where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in, and also where you are right now.

Click on Jared McKean Mysteries, and you'll find a link to the first ten pages of Too Close to Evil, as well as reviews from authors, reviewers, and readers.

About the Author is where you'll find FAQ's and a few personal items, such favorite links unrelated to reading and writing, articles, and interviews. Like dreams? (Zombies? Magic? Polar Bear Kings?) Check out the Dream Journal in the "About the Author" section.

Links for Writers includes links to sites about conferences, marketing, writing techniques, research, books on writing, and other writing-related goodies.

Other Authors is a list, including links, of other authors that might interest you. Some are mystery writers, some are fantasy writers, some work in other genres. Some you will have heard of. Others may be new to you, but if you can't find something here to like, I'll eat...um...a hot fudge sundae.

Calendar of Events is where you can find out where I'll be signing, speaking, or otherwise hobnobbing around.

News is just a place to keep you up-to-date on what's been happening with me, the book, other writers I know, and anything else I think you might find interesting.

The Online Writing Course has a series of lessons on writing in general and on crime writing in particular. There's a strong emphasis on character development; you'll also find sections on plotting, dialogue, revision, and just plain having fun with Storytelling. Parts of it are still under construction, but go ahead and dive in. It's free.