BEST LINES ASHORE OR AFLOAT . . .

The Lavender Butterfly Murders (New American Library, a division of Penguin Group U.S.A. Inc, 2004)

In Sharon Duncan's fourth Scotia MacKinnon Mystery novel, a sojourn on a remote Pacific Northwest island becomes a race against time and a deadly assassin.

Scotia's latest caper is set once again in the splendid San Juan Islands. Frustrated by the disintegration of her love life and the return of an ex-husband, this street-savvy P.I. opts for a yoga retreat on neighboring Santa Maria Island. But her hopes of seven days of tranquility, Italian cuisine, and therapeutic massage are dashed when she becomes embroiled in a fierce struggle between the spa's innkeeper and her rustic neighbors, a series of "accidents," and what looks like murder.

Trapped in an ugly storm, amid a bevy of suspects that include a Venezuelan oil tycoon, a Santa Barbara talk show host, and a Los Angeles social worker with a penchant for exotic tattoos, Scotia invokes her earthly ingenuity -- and some divine justice -- to face down a cunning killer on a vacation from hell.

Click here to read an excerpt from The Lavender Butterfly Murders in .pdf format. (To download Acrobat Reader, click icon at bottom of page.)

Other Books by Sharon Duncan

The Dead Wives Society (New American Library, a division of Penguin Group U.S.A. Inc, 2003)

Scotia knows she doesn't like Chantal Rousseau. Maybe it's her perfect body or her exotic face. Or the way Scotia's boyfriend Nick ­ and every other man, for that matter, can't keep their eyes off of her. But that doesn't mean Scotia won't help her. After all, Chantal was done wrong by her ex-husband, Forbes Cameron, who stole all of her assets ­ including her son's college fund, and dissappeared. Chantal just wants her money back.
. . . Until she discovers that the handsome devil has a history of scamming wealthy women. And when Cameron's ex-wives start turning up dead, Scotia races the clock to stop this serial groom before her client ends up in the morgue.

Read an excerpt from: The Dead Wives Society in Acrobat.pdf format.
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A DEEP BLUE FAREWELL (New American Library, a division of Penguin Group U.S.A. Inc., 2002)

In the second novel in the Scotia MacKinnon mystery series, the Friday Harbor P.I. returns to take on a new client who sends her in desperate pursuit of his sister Tina's killer... before the killer strikes again... and yet again. The caper ranges from a fisherman's bar on Alaska's Kodiak Island, to an abandoned sailboat in the Strait of Georgia, to a drug-growing enterprise in the hinterlands of British Columbia. Scotia's inquiries on her client's behalf - aided and abetted by a return performance of the Spring Street Regulars - uncover a chain of secrets, lies and omissions.

Read an excerpt from: A Deep Blue Farewell in Acrobat.pdf format. (To download Acrobat Reader, click icon at bottom of page.)

DEATH ON A CASUAL FRIDAY (New American Library, a division of Penguin Group U.S.A. Inc., 2001), the debut novel in the Scotia MacKinnnon series, was greeted with critical acclaim and the coveted No. 7 ranking in the Independent Mystery Publisher's best-sellers list. (read synopsis)

A stylish, sexy, single-handed sailor who lives on her 38-foot sloop, DragonSpray, Scotia MacKinnon is the newest private investigator in the small town of Friday Harbor. With a maritime attorney for a lover, an ex-cop's nose for trouble, and her own special knack for wading in to find the source, life is as good as it gets for Scotia MacKinnon. But there's that destiny thing. This time her name's Elyse Montenegro, a paranoid beauty fleeing from a stalker she claims tracked her all the way from San Francisco Bay Area. It would have been a case strictly for the local sherrif . . . except that no sooner has Scotia turned her back, then Elyse's best friend turns up dead . . . which leads Scotia on a search into Elyse's past and her late husband's unsolved murder. Scotia raises questions as dark and troubling as clouds gathering over the mainland . . . and some of the questions land her and her client directly into the hands of a serial killer.

The Scotia MacKinnon mystery series is available at your local bookstore, or through on-line booksellers.

Check back here at the Scotia MacKinnon Mystery Novel Website frequently for further developments.

To email the author: friday@rockisland.com

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