Scarlet At Crystal River by Randy Overbeck

All Darrell Henshaw wanted was to enjoy his honeymoon with his beautiful wife, Erin, in the charming town of Crystal River on the sunny Gulf Coast of Florida. Only a pair of ghosts decide to intrude on their celebration. And not just any ghosts, the spirits of two young Latino children. Unwilling at first to derail the honeymoon for yet another ghost hunt, Darrell finally concedes when a painting of the kids comes alive, weeping and pleading for his help.

When he and Erin track down the artist, they discover the children’s family were migrant workers the next county over. But when they travel there, their questions about the kids gets their car shot up and Erin hospitalized. Torn between fear and rage, Darrell must decide how far he will go to get justice for two young children he never even knew.

Excerpt

Darrell started, “Like I said back there, it’s complicated. We—”

Erin’s side window exploded. The fractured glass shot slivers across the front seat. The sound of an explosion followed a beat behind. Erin screamed. Something stung Darrell’s right arm. He grabbed a cut on his skin and then looked across the seat. Damn. Erin’s arm was bleeding, bad.

He couldn’t breathe. “Erin?” He stared at her for a second and then jerked his gaze back to the road and straightened the car.

Something hit the rear window. Luis yelped. The glass shattered and a second later, another crack followed. Luis fell forward. Was he hit? Darrell’s gaze jumped from the road to Erin to the back seat. Luis had fallen to the floor. Darrell couldn’t see him.

“Luis?” Erin called.

No answer.

Dragging his eyes from the road, Darrell shot another glance at Erin. Her entire arm was now turning red, the edge of her short sleeve wicking up the scarlet. The fingers of her left hand gripped tight around her right arm, the knuckles turning white. The blood still seeped through.

~~ Trailer ~~

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Guest Post

FAVORITE CHARACTER

 My new release, SCARLET AT CRYSTAL RIVER, like the first two in the Haunted Shores Mysteries, is “a cold case murder mystery wrapped in a ghost story served with a side of romance, all set in a beautiful resort location.”

Special thanks to the early reviewer who coined this perfect summation.) Also, like the first two entries, the murder (or in this case murders) are entangled with a larger social issue, this time the abuse of migrant workers and the whole debate on immigration. I thought it was important, then, to have a central character who was in fact a migrant and who could speak from an immigrant perspective. 

I created Luis Alvarez, a twenty-something recent immigrant who helps my protagonist navigate the world of immigrant laborers. But since this character was far out of my personal experience, I needed to be careful to be sure my portrayal was accurate, neither patronizing nor derogatory. It was a major challenge. Needless to say, I had a good deal of assistance in everything from translation to dialect to culture. In the end, I’m satisfied and early reviews have spoken quite well of this character portrayal. I’m now waiting to see how my readers respond—to the story and Luis’ place in it.

One thing that is particularly special about Overbeck’s books is that they unabashedly tackle social issues within their plots. “Scarlet at Crystal River” forces readers to confront…the dangers of racism and xenophobia. ★★★★★—ReaderViews

“This is another masterpiece from Randy Overbeck. His excellent writing style has left me speechless for one more time. He writes in a way that makes you feel what the characters feel and you have no choice but to partake in the journey with them.” ★★★★★—Ioanna’s Reviews, Greece

About the Author

Dr. Randy Overbeck is an award-winning educator, author and speaker. As an educator, he served children for more than three decades in a range of roles captured in his novels, from teacher and coach to principal and superintendent. His thriller, Leave No Child Behind (2012) and his recent mysteries, the Amazon No. 1 Best Seller, Blood on the Chesapeake and Crimson at Cape May have earned five star reviews and garnered national awards including “Thriller of the Year--ReadersFavorite.com, “Gold Award”—Literary Titan, “Mystery of the Year”—ReadersView.com and “Crowned Heart of Excellence”—InD’Tale Magazine. As a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Dr. Overbeck is an active member of the literary community, contributing to a writers’ critique group, serving as a mentor to emerging writers and participating in writing conferences such as Sleuthfest, Killer Nashville and the Midwest Writers Workshop. When he’s not writing or researching his next exciting novel or sharing his presentation “Things Still Go Bump in the Night,” he’s spending time with his incredible family of wife, three children (and their spouses) and seven wonderful grandchildren.

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