Welcome Yvonne Walus, author of the Christine Chamberlain mystery series. Yvonne is making several blog stops today and giving away a $10 Amazon gift card to a lucky commenter. Leave a comment to be entered into the drawing!
Hi Yvonne! Murder @ Play is the second book in the Christine Chamberlain mystery series. Tell us a little about it:
EVERY MARRIAGE NEEDS A TOUCH OF MYSTERY. OR DOES IT?
In the new free South Africa of 1994, men are still boss, women carry handguns for self-protection, and some mistakes can change your life forever.
When a body is found during their weekend away with friends, Christine Chamberlain must use her brilliant mathematical mind to prove her husband's innocence...
... whether he's innocent or not.
When it comes to your loved ones, is it possible to know too much?
What I personally love about series is getting to hang out with a beloved main character book after book. What makes Christine Chamberlain so special that readers will want to follow her around for a while?
Agreeing to marry a man literally five minutes after you’ve met him sounds like the most romantic as well as the most irresponsible thing you could ever do. Dr. Christine Chamberlain, a sober-headed somber mathematician, is neither romantic nor irresponsible.
Five minutes after meeting a nobody-artist at his painting exhibition, Christine said yes. She never looked back.
Until now.
Even after years of marriage, how well do you really know the person with whom you share bread and bed?
In “Murder @ Play”, Christine is about to find out.
Christine is a loyal person. I think readers love her chiefly for that, not for her brilliant brain or youthful idealism. She may have a doctorate in math, but she’s still the girl next door, the one you’ve always wanted to be friends with, except you were both too shy to make the first move.
What made you pick South Africa as your setting?
I lived in South Africa during my impressionable teenage years and I totally fell in love with the place. There is something about that arid air, sunburned grass and deep blue sky that gets under your skin all the way into your soul. The people of the land are like the land itself: beautiful on the surface, tough underneath.
South Africa’s history is not without its painful mistakes. I’m not ashamed of them: they make the country all the more poignantly fascinating.
You obviously have an affinity for mysteries. Do you see yourself exploring other genres in the future, or does your heart belong to the mysterious?
I love reading and writing murder mysteries, but I enjoy the realms of futuristic fiction as well. Under a pseudonym, I’ve written a number of romances. I always return to the mysteries, though.
What's next for you, Yvonne? Book 3?
Book 3 in the “Murder @” series is completed and should be published in the near future.
Interesting facts:
A Tourist Guide
South Africa in 1994
On a Wing and a Prayer
• When you go to a doctor or dentist, don't take your wallet. The bill will be sent to your home address...
• ... But if you're a woman, the bill will be addressed to your father or your husband. Women don't trouble their pretty little heads with bills.
• If you're a woman, expect to be stopped at the door to an alcohol bar: that place is for men only, and your husband is welcome to go in while you wait for him in the street.
• Even if you are a career woman earning more than your husband does, you will need his signature when opening a credit account in a supermarket or a department store.
• If you're a man, the size of your manhood is directly proportional to the size of your gun.
• Gambling is illegal.
• Sex with a person of another race has only just been made legal. The Group Areas Act, however, is still in force, preventing people of different races from living in the same suburb.
• Your car costs half as much as your mansion.
• This year, you will pay more for a security fence than you pay for your daily house cleaning.
Excerpt from Murder @ Play:
Daniel punched in Christine's number as soon as he got off the aeroplane at Johannesburg International Airport. He was aware of the looks he drew. Admiration from the women, envy from the men. All because of his cellular phone, the latest technological trump in the game of Show Off Your Business Status.
"Hi, Tom," he said into the brick-sized phone.
Damn it! He didn't want to speak to Christine's husband, not today of all days.
"Daniel." It was an acknowledgement, not an invitation. "I'll get Christine for you."
One of his fellow passengers bumped into Daniel's briefcase.
"Hello, Christine. Are we still on for lunch today?"
"You're back? I thought you'd still be in Hong Kong."
"I managed to get an earlier flight." He didn't mention he cut the trip short in order to make it to their regular lunch date. "I tried to call–"
Please don't say you have other plans.
"No problem. Same time, same place?"
Yes!
He refused to have his good mood spoilt by the you're-on-my-time look of the passport control officer.
"Your passport, please? Thank you." The official stamp fell in a sausage-machine gesture. "Welcome home. Next!"
Daniel jammed the passport into his pocket and headed towards the green customs exit. With more nonchalance than needed, he swung his overnight bag past the crowd gathered around the conveyor belt. One of the customs officials stifled a yawn, rubbed his eyes, and signalled for Daniel to stop.
"You've just arrived from…?"
"Hong Kong," Daniel kept his face calm and relaxed. It was easy, because his whole body felt awake, not only because his internal clock showed midday even though it was six A.M. South African time.
"You don't have much luggage." It was a question, even if it didn't sound like one.
"It was a business trip. No time for shopping. But you know, whenever I take a girlfriend along–"
The official laughed and waved him through.
Daniel waited until he was in the parking lot before he exhaled.
His phone rang just as he was loading the suitcase, with the contraband, into his car. Alice's number. He sent it straight into voicemail.
"Hi," he heard the throaty voice. "I hope you've had a wonderful trip." The words sounded artificial somehow, as though she had rehearsed in front of the mirror. "Please call me back when you get this." A pause, then a quick, "It's important."
Important, sure. Important to her. In her world, it was always Alice, Alice, Alice. She was the axel–what she thought, what she felt, what she wanted–and everything else revolved around her needs.
The Porsche yielded to his touch like a loving woman should. A loving woman…. It had been a while. Nobody since Alice, in fact. Why was that? Was he losing his charm? Getting old? Twenty-six already. Even without glancing in the rear-view mirror he knew his face was still that of a naughty boy, with smooth skin and sharp cheekbones. He tensed his abdomen muscles with satisfaction.
So, what is it?
Deep down, though, he knew well enough. He'd had a loving woman, once, long ago, and he had let her walk out on him. Today, though, today he was going to tell her. During their regular lunch date.
You can visit Yvonne at:• website:
http://yewalus.kiwiwebhost.net.nz/• blog:
http://yewalus.blogspot.com/• facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/yvonne.walus• book trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJpbOiFkPkU• buy link:
http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Play-ebook/dp/B003CT30GC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=A3QI763M62X7GQ&s=books&qid=1274234575&sr=1-2• publisher:
http://www.echelonpress.com/
