Hi, my name is Melanie Bass. I usually like to start my day with a run along the quiet roads neighboring my house. I was lucky enough to find a cottage across from a salt marsh and nearby to my favorite beach here on the Connecticut Shoreline. My little terrier mix Bruno is my companion on these runs and he seems to love them as much as I do.

I’m an RN and am working now for Coretrack Homecare and do follow up home visits on patients referred to our agency- usually after a hospital stay. I love my job. I like getting to see all kinds of patients, and being a part of their recovery. I even enjoy working with the shall I say, less co operative patients. In fact, I particularly like working with the onery ones. I know that in most cases they’re afraid. Afraid of how their injury or their illness is going to affect their life, how things might change. They’re afraid of losing the life they had. Okay, sometimes you have to deal with people who’re just miserable by nature, but most times it’s the disruption of their life that is causing their bad behavior.

I can understand their fear of change in their lives. I was thrown for a loop when I had to deal with the divorce from my dermatologist ex-husband, Artie Krapaneck. However, I soon realized that even though my life wasn’t going the way I’d expected, I could build a new life. And I discovered that I enjoyed a lot about the change in course my life had taken. For instance, one thing I realized was I kind of liked living alone – with Bruno of course. The only difficulty was that I had to share custody of Bruno with Artie. Even though he was really more my dog than Artie’s, I agreed to the arrangement in order to not disrupt Bruno’s life more than necessary. I did worry, though, about him having to be around Tori, Artie’s current wife. Tori didn’t like dogs, or any animal. That’s all I’ll say about that.

So, I thought I had everything under control. A profession I loved, a peaceful place to live, and my buddy Bruno – most of the time anyway. Then there was another huge disruption in my life. It all started with me finding Artie dead when I went to pick up Bruno. Before I knew it, my own life as well as Bruno’s was in danger. Now it’s time to take control of my life again!

Ex’d Out, A Melanie Bass Mystery #1
Genre: Cozy
Release: October 2022
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After their divorce, Visiting Nurse Melanie Bass must keep in contact with Dr. Artie Krapaneck, her philandering ex-husband as they share custody of her beloved dog, Bruno. When she arrives at a Connecticut highway rest stop to retrieve the dog for “her week” she discovers the body of her ex-husband along with that of an unknown woman. It seems that now Artie will finally be out of her life forever. He isn’t. He left a “legacy” that now puts Melanie’s own life in danger – as well as Bruno’s.

Meet the author
Christine Falcone’s short stories have appeared in publications such as Imagine, Lancrom Review, and Deadfall: Crime Stories by New England writers. After working for nearly forty years as an RN in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Christine is delighted that retirement coincides with the publication of her first full length mystery. Ex’d Out will released in October 2022. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America.

She lives on the Connecticut Shoreline with her family and a dog who is not nearly as well behaved as Bruno, the beloved canine in her novel.

All comments are welcomed.