Beard-growing hadn’t been Booker’s intention. He hated shaving, and after twenty-odd years of being scraped shiny and stinging, his face demanded a respite. But now his beard itches.

A shrieking blue jay darts through a canopy of oak branches, eliciting an answering shriek in the distance. Morning music. On the eastern horizon, at the lake’s edge, dawn-light shimmers in a pink glow—perfect light for photographing his oddly shaped home. Since taking early retirement and moving to the country, life has been good.

Pine sap prickles his nostrils. He savors the odor. A year ago he’d been breathing exhaust fumes in horn-blowing rush-hour traffic, along with a million other suits scrambling for a higher rung on the success ladder. At the time, Booker’s job seemed important: Hotshot Corporate Investigator Tracking Down Fraud and Embezzlement. He always thought of it like that, a headline in True Detective or some other old-time crime magazine.

He checked the viewfinder: a perfect shot. This was the one Booker had set his alarm clock to catch. He triggered the remote—

Then three disasters struck like firecrackers on a string.

You can read more about Booker in Here Lies A Wicked Man, the first book in the NEW “Booker Krane” mystery series, published by Chart House Press, LLC.

About Here Lies A Wicked Man

When the eager young sheriff of Grammon County softly but insistently drafts Booker Krane as a crime scene photographer, Booker agrees with only minor grumbling. After all, he’s a resident now, and he loves his new life. It took a bullet rapaciously carving up his chest to take im out of Houston and out of fraud investigation. He’d rather not get involved in a murder, but he can belly up to the job. Besides, the body floated under his own pier before his one-eyed dog dragged it ashore and laid it at Booker’s feet.

The first woman to tug at his heart strings since his divorce becomes a major suspect, and Booker ramps up his interest in solving the case. But then his only son, who hasn’t forgiven him for the family break-up four years ago, arrives at his doorstep, and Booker’s life gets complicated. Bradley has finally reached out, and Booker doesn’t want to mess it up. Yet he can’t shirk his responsibility in helping to find the killer. What if the woman rapidly stealing his heart is a murderess?

Meet the author
A visual and literary creative, Chris Rogers began her journey as a graphic designer. Corporate and commercial promotions occupied most of her creative energy during those early years, but Rogers’ adventurous spirit led her into diverse avenues where she designed personalized glassware, ceramic tile, and the launch issue of a national magazine.

With the advent of computerized graphics and an economic downturn, she was faced with a difficult choice: either learn this new electronic design tool or choose a new career. She began looking at what that new career might be – writing and illustrating children’s books? Travel writing and photography? She tried her hand at each, and sold her photo-illustrated articles to regional and national publications, but before she was fully committed in any direction, a fire gutted her studio.

After salvaging a single drawing table from the ruins, she continued creating marketing materials for clients while seeking a new path in the literary world. Many rejections later, her stories began to win awards. A major publisher produced her suspense novels in print, electronic, and audio formats. Lauded by fans and critics, the books were translated into three languages, and the series was optioned for film.

In addition to appearing in Writer’s Digest magazine and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine among others, Rogers’ published works include the Dixie Flannigan, Bounty Hunter suspense series, the Death short story anthologies, Goosing the Write Brain: A Storyteller’s Toolkit, Plot Your Story 3 Easy Ways, Ramp Up Story Tension 3 Easy Ways, Emissary, a cross-genre thriller. Now Here Lies a Wicked Man introduces her new series of cozy mysteries.

For more information, visit www.chrisrogers.com