Sunday Series - More on Katherine Miller's Adventures - The Midas Murders #MFRWauthor

After the murder at the church, Katherine feels a bit of guilt and happily accepts her friend Lars' invitation to visit him in Santa Fe. He is winding down his business and is recovering from the death of his daughter-in-law. On her arrival, she rents a car and drives to Santa Fe. But Lars isn't there and no one knows where he can be found. She waits with his son and granddaughter for a time and finally goes to bed. The phone rings and she answers. It's Lars. After calling a cab, she goes to the hospital to bring him home. He has no idea what has happened.

Thus begins the development of the romance that will end in book 5. Part of the reason I chose Santa Fe for an escape for Katherine was a visit I made. A week there was wonderful. The scenery and the food were such a fun experience.

For Katherine this is a turning point in her life. At sixty-five, she's ready not to be alone and Lars has been her friend for years. Only his daughter, his youngest child kept them from marrying when both their spouses died. Solving who wanted Lars dead and who wanted him to vanish brings the pair to realize there can be a future for them.

Thursday's Opening Scenes from The Midas Murders by Janet Lane Walters

The Midas Murders




Janet Lane Walters



Chapter 1

El Sueno Dorado



This year the Christmas season held little joy for me. There were a few brief moments of pleasure that vanished all too soon. Seeing a small child’s delight in the twinkling tree lights. Selecting gifts for my family, friends and neighbors. Watching my granddaughter perform the role of Clara in a local production of the Nutcracker. Those times did little to halt my feelings of regret and grief.



On Christmas Eve I sat with my family in a pew in St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church and huddled in my coat. The chill I felt had nothing to do with the voices of the choir raised in joyful celebration, or in the message of hope and peace contained in the sermon and the liturgy. My feelings were caused by things I had and had not done.



Though we sat several rows in front of the place where death had stained the stones of the floor, my awareness of past events nearly drove me to leave. Remembering last month’s Evensong and the death of the choir master brought frost-filled memories and stirred my guilt. For my covetousness had brought him here, and I’d been the one to discover the body.



Your fault. Your fault. Those words had circled in my thoughts for weeks.



As the candles were lit at midnight, I prayed my role in Roger Brandon’s death would fade and I could forgive myself. I also knew my decision to welcome the New Year in Santa Fe, New Mexico with my dear friend, Lars Claybourne, was mete and right. Thoughts of the trip had become my golden dream.



*****



The night before my departure, I carried a half dozen tins of dried mint to the bedroom. These were the last items for the suitcase on the antique sleigh bed. As I paused in the doorway, the urge to laugh was almost impossible to contain, but a stern approach was needed.



“Robespierre, an open suitcase is not a bed.” I glared at the Maine Coon cat who had curled among my neatly folded clothes. “You aren’t being abandoned. Maria and the baby are excited about your visit.”



The look of disdain on his face brought my laughter bubbling forth. I dumped the tea on the bed, scratched his head, then lifted twenty-five pounds of cat from the case. “Be gone.” As he stalked from the room, his tail twitched to signal his displeasure at being banished.



After tucking my stash among my clothes, I closed the case. With a supply of teas for every occasion, I felt prepared to face my flight to an unfamiliar destination. I wheeled the suitcase and carried a hanging bag to the kitchen where they would be on hand for my early morning departure. My son had grumbled about the hour, but he’d promised to get me to the plane on time.



Robespierre now lay on the kitchen floor and stared at the case containing my belated Christmas present for Lars’ granddaughter. I plugged in the electric kettle, this year’s gift from one of my neighbors, selected an assortment of mints and stuffed a tea ball.



Once the tea had steeped, I poured a mug and headed to the living room where I settled on the window seat. The lights from the Tappan Zee Bridge vied with the moonlight dancing on the dark waters of the Hudson River. Stars formed patterns in the sky. I never tire of watching the river and my early morning walks often end at the river’s edge.



The shrill ring of the phone startled me. I grabbed the receiver. “Hello.”



“Kate.”



“Lars, is something wrong?” Why was he calling when he’d see me tomorrow? Had something happened to make it necessary for me to postpone my visit?



“Jitters. Afraid you’ve changed your mind. You’ve never come before. And...there is something...” His voice drifted into silence.



Something was bothering him, but extracting a story long distance is hard. Face to face is better. “My bags are packed and the tickets are in my purse.”



“Good. I’m looking forward to having you here.” He paused. “What are you doing with the cat?”



“He’ll be staying with Maria and the baby.” I chuckled. “At this moment he’s peeved. He tried to use my suitcase as a bed and I chased him.”



Lars laughed. “Guess he wants to come along. You could bring him.”



“Are you out of your mind? You want me to bring the creature who hates cars and being confined. He’ll be fine at the Prescott’s house. I’m looking forward to freedom from his tyranny.”



“He does tend to act like a dictator. Kate, we’ll have a grand time while you’re here. I’ve so many things planned for us to do.”



I set down the mug. “That’s not why you called. What is bothering you?”



His deep sigh rumbled in my ear. “The problem is...I’m not sure what’s going on.”



“So tell me what you can. Are Don and Megan all right?”



“They’re fine.”



“And...” I hesitated to ask if his daughter had staged a scene when she learned I’d accepted his invitation. “Is there a problem because I’m coming?”



“No.”



“Something else?”



“I’m not sure there is a problem.” He paused. “It’s just...vague...and...You know I plan to retire. I’ve been avoiding all the paperwork necessary for months. Last week I looked at some of the companies I’ve seeded. Something odd is going on.”



For years Lars has looked for new and sometimes unique businesses and provided funds for expansion and promotion. Most of these ventures have been successful and repayment of the loans with interest has made him a wealthy man.



“Someone’s stealing.” The words just popped out.



“Maybe, but I hope not. Except just before Ramona’s accident, she hinted she’d discovered a number of discrepancies. We found nothing in her records or her computer. I figured whatever she’d learned had been destroyed when her car burned.”



Eight months ago Lars’ daughter-in-law had died in a tragic accident. A chill crawled along my spine. “Do be careful.”



His laughter boomed. “You’re telling me to be careful. This warning comes from a woman who set herself up to be robbed, who had tea with a murderer, and who single-handedly trapped a killer.”



“I wasn’t in any danger.”



“If you say so...What time does your flight arrive? I’ll meet you at the airport.”



“No need. I’ve rented a car.”



“Why? I’ll be on hand to provide taxi service.”



The image of a glowering Lars stomping after me while I flitted from shop to shop made me chuckle. “How wonderful. Are you volunteering to go shopping with me? I plan to spend at least a day in the shops. Probably more.”



He groaned. “You win. See you tomorrow. You’ll need to announce yourself at the gate so I can buzz you in. Oh, bring an assortment of your mints.”



“Already packed.”



“And warm clothes.”



“Yes, Lars. Let me go so I can head to bed.”



“Do you remember the name of the estate?”



Why was he so reluctant to let me go? Tomorrow I planned to ask him a lot of questions and discover the answers. “How could I forget? Good night, Lars. See you tomorrow.”



After I hung up, I stared at the night sky. Something troubled him and I’d learned nothing from our conversation. Was I headed into another messy situation?



Stop it! Just because my nerves were frayed didn’t mean trouble lurked in Santa Fe.



Robespierre leaped to the window seat and rubbed his head against my hand. His rumbling purr soothed my nerves. An uneventful visit was my goal. There’d been enough mayhem in my life.

Thursday - A Step From The Usual by Janet Lane Walters

Since what I'm reading these days I can't talk about for a long time today is going to be abour my own news during the past week or so. There are two events in my writing life that need a little bit of plug.

Received the release date for A Surprising Seduction and that's to be September 7th. This is the fifth story in the Seduction series and there is just one more to go. This story pits Lauren Grant against Tony Carlin in the game of love. Here's a bit of the opening salvo of the story.

Bright morning sun glinted on the stained glass windows of the gray stone church. Lauren Grant left the memorial garden where the ashes of her sister and brother-in-law had been interred inside the stone wall near her parents’ site. She rubbed her arms to chase the chill of the autumn day.


Conversations flowed around her. She drew a deep breath to force back the tears ready to fall. Not yet. She had to leave. More words of sympathy might release the flood.

As she dashed past the stairs leading to the sanctuary, she saw him standing with the pastor, two of Jim’s colleagues and a teacher friend of Carrie’s.

Tony Carlin. Tall, broad-shouldered, dark hair. She felt sure his piercing blue eyes compelled witnesses to tell the truth when he questioned them on the stand. Jim’s brother and the man she had to share custody of their ten month old nephew troubled her. She wasn’t sure why, except sharing wasn’t part of his nature.

Then I received the contract for the fifth Katherine Miller mystery. Wish I had another fifth hanging around. For those who have followed Katherine's career as the woman who bodies find, this story has a bit of a twist. Katherine is marrying Lars an event that has been delayed for many years. The Midas Murders goes into the reasons why very clearly. Katherine leaped into action in Murder and Mint Tea when she found the body of her tenant on the front lawn. The action moved to the church where she had been the organist for years. The body this time was the new charismatic organist. Her next discovery took place in Santa Fe where she went to spend New Year's Eve with Lars, a far distance from her Hudson River village. Katherine then went undercover as a nurse in The Hudson House Murders to find the killer of a friend and uncover a convoluted scheme. With the Wedding plans set The Micro-manager Murder sees Katherine leaving her wedding reception when a friend is accused of murdering her partner.

That's the news from my Hudson River village and now it's back to work.

The Midas Murders - How the story emerged

As usual, one autographed copy of The Midas Murders will be given away. The winner will be announced on Monday especially it they leave me a way to reach them.

A number of years ago I went to Santa Fe, New Mexico with my husband and fell in love with the town. I spent hours wandering around the area near the motel. The conference was geared to learning and to visiting places of interest since all the lectures were in the morning and the afternoons left us free to explore. I gathered material from every source I could find and made a few purchases of odd and interesting things. I always thought I'd like to put the town in a book, but at the time nothing came to mind. I was working on other stories so all the material I'd collected remained in a folder.

Time came for another Katherine Miller mystery and I looked over the first two books and discovered her friend Lars lived part-time in Santa Fe. I'd sent him there before I made my visit. Had one of those aha moments and then began to think of how I could send Katherine ot Santa Fe. Lars came to the rescue by inviting her for New Year's Eve. She was feeling guilty bout the murders at St. Stephen's and wanted to get away. She accepted his invitation and took along a Maine Coon kitten for Lars' only granddaughter, a child who had lost her mother in an automobile accident not long before. To my surprise Katherine arrived in Santa Fe to find Lars missing. When he emerges the mystery began.

So how was Santa Fe woven into the mystery. Kars took her on a sight seeing expedition to visit some of the places I'd enjoyed and to stay at the hotel wher my husband and I stayed. As the mystery thickened Katherine must face Lars' only daughter who is possessive of her father. I was able to put in many of the places I'd seen and loved, houses I'd visited and several I'd made up. I was also able to move the relationship between Katherine and Lars toward a future marriage. Writing about Katherine is always fun and never knowing what murders she might encounter is always fun.

One thing I learned here is when visiting a new setting to gather material because you will never know when a story falls into that location.

Six Sentence Sunday The Midas Murders

Here are the first six sentences from my latest release.

This year the Christmas season held little joy for me. There were a few brief moments of pleasure that vanished all too soon. Seeing a small child’s delight in the twinkling tree lights. Selecting gifts for my family, friends and neighbors. Watching my granddaughter perform the role of Clara in a local production of the Nutcracker. Those times did little to halt my feelings of regret and grief.