Breaking News Mysteries
What are the Breaking News Mysteries About?
The Breaking News Mysteries are set in the fictional town of Prospect, California, about an hour west of Reno and ten minutes from Donner Lake. Olivia Mercier is an investigative reporter for the Prospect Gazette and currently estranged from her husband, Dom Bertucci, Captain of Homicide for the Prospect Police Department. She’s feisty, snarky, and subscribes to Calamity Jane’s mantra “if you want to be a legend, go out and be one.”
Although the Breaking News Mysteries are set in a small town and feature an amateur sleuth, they are not cozies. Yes, the sleuth is an ordinary person, without a badge, but the stories will usually be too dark for the cozy shelf.
Breaking News: Local Heiress Dead, the first in this series, won the inaugural Toby Award for Best Mystery by a Canadian indie author. It also won the Sunshine Coast Writers & Editors Society’s Best Book award in the Sunshine Coast Voices category.
If you have a jackhammer and don’t care about preserving evidence, you can remove a body from a concrete cylinder in about an hour.
If you’re a CSI type or Michelangelo, it will take two and one-half days.
After the body is identified, as Olivia Mercier discovers, it takes an instant for your life to plummet from a Hallmark movie on downers to an Agatha Christie film scripted by Tarantino.
In Breaking News: Local Heiress Dead Olivia races the clock to find a killer before the police come knocking. Her investigation uncovers long-buried secrets that put Olivia at the top of the killer’s hit list.
“Drama, crime, and secrets—Charlotte Morganti’s “Breaking News: Local Heiress Dead” has it all, and readers will be wrapped up in Olivia’s quest to clear her name. The tough-as-nails journalist takes sleuthing to another level, making her a root-worthy protagonist.” Reader Views.
Breaking News: Local Heiress Dead is available in paperback and digital versions, at these retailers.
The digital version is available in the Store.
Watch the Trailer
Trailer Transcript
In a small town called Prospect, in the Sierra Nevadas, near Donner Lake, lives Olivia Mercier, investigative reporter. A no-frills woman who loves blue jeans and T-shirts.
Six weeks ago, Olivia had a husband, Dom Bertucci, the love of her life. Captain of Homicide in the local police department.
Six weeks ago, Olivia had a best friend she treasured. Shauna Wylie. Shauna has a penchant for stilletos and chandelier earrings. She’s screaming rich. A bit of a vamp.
Then, as Olivia says, things all went to rat shit.
Shauna led Dom down a path he knew he shouldn’t travel. Olivia kicked them both out of her life.
Dom wants to woo her back, so he tips her to breaking news. Olivia uses those tips to stay ahead in the news game.
One of his tips leads her to Donner Lake where she witnesses the retrieval of a concrete-filled barrel.
There’s a woman’s body in that barrel, with stilletos on her feet. Shauna’s stilettos.
Did I mention Olivia will inherit $17.5 million from Shauna?
The investigating officer thinks Olivia is looking kinda guilty. Self-preservation kicks in and Olivia launches her own investigation. And discovers long-buried secrets.
Secrets that dump her into a lake full of trouble.