This winter, The Dead of Sled Run hit store shelves, continuing the Piper Blackwell Series with a new murder to solve and gracing websites with giveaways, interviews, and excerpts to this latest release--as well as some insight into the author of the novel's work.
Shots Mag hosted the author for a post titled, "Fire Talks" where Jean Rabe explained how she learned some of the things that made The Dead of Sled Run cut so close to the bone of reality.
“I forgot Larry’s last name sometime in the past thirty years, but I never forgot what he taught me about fire. Larry was the top arson investigator for Kentucky ‘back in the day’ when I ran the Western Kentucky News Bureau for Scripps Howard.” Rabe said. “He taught me that sometimes you can look at a building fire while it rages and tell if it was deliberately set. It’s in how the fire burns, how it travels. ‘Fire talks,’ he told me.”
That wisdom spilled out onto the page of The Dead of Sled Run, pieces of humans bleeding into fictional characters, as they’re sometimes wont to do. A fact she elaborated on in an interview on Stephen D. Sullivan’s blog.
“Are there characters in the Piper Blackwell series that have been inspired by people you know in real life?” Posed the question on Stephen’s site.
“Several. There are pieces of me in Piper Blackwell and Oren Rosenberg.” Rabe answered, “Detective Basil Meredith has ingredients from Bill Gilsdorf and Michael A. Black, retired lawmen who I consult for various aspects of an investigation. DA Scales is based on Robert Scales, an awesome DA in real life, who runs fun Pathfinder roleplaying sessions on the side. Zeke the Geek … ah, he is several of my gaming friends rolled into one teenaged body.”
Rabe is no stranger to fiction, though the contemporary mystery genre is relatively new to her–only the better part of a decade or so. Rather, Jean Rabe's roots are deeply twined within the realms of role playing table top games and high fantasy adventures. Rabe worked with Andre Norton, continuing on some of the illustrious author's posthumous works and created the award-winning Love-Haight series with Donald J. Bingle, alongside her own intrepid novels and anthologies. On Faith Hunter’s website, Jean pondered about what's to come: “...maybe I ought to write another urban fantasy. I’ve been toying with the notion of Benjamin Franklin as a wizard. Have to write some more Piper Blackwell first,” Jean finished, assuring her mystery fans that more Piper Blackwell is yet to come.

We here at Psst... wanted to know how she refills the well, especially when it comes to a series. "I usually take a couple of days off and play boardgames and roleplaying games and read a couple of books at the top of my to-be-read pile. Oh, and toss a lot of tennis balls for my cadre of dogs. Then I’m energized to dig into my next book. I have too many plots and outlines bouncing around in my computer… I have to write." 

The first three books of her series remain on sale for $.99 (e-books and select sites only) until January 15th. The rafflecopter for her blog tour giveaway will remain open until January 17th.
Rabe is available for book clubs, signings, and appearances upon request. Find the blog tour schedule here.

​The small town mystery-thriller series from USA Today best-selling author, Jean Rabe, is being turned into audio, brought to life by narrator Catherine Wenglowski.

Set in a small town in Indiana, newly elected sheriff, Piper Blackwell, is tossed into the deep end of the pool when 58 minutes into her first day on the job, she’s faced with a grisly murder, the victim artfully poised amid the ornaments on his lawn. And thus begins the intense first novel of the series, Dead of Winter.

 Dead of Winter, Dead of Night, and Dead of Summer, are all available in audio, where audiobooks are sold. The rest of the series, including Rabe’s latest release, Dead of Jerusalem, has not yet been released in audio. Print and e-copies of the book, however, can still be found where books are sold. The next novel of the series, Dead of Autumn, is set to release in 2022 with Boone Street Press.

The audio series spent this November on blog tour. Find reviews, guest posts, and giveaways here: https://tinyurl.com/2p8pch7s   

All giveaways close by December 22, 2021.

For more information on the Piper Blackwell series and her other words, check out Jean Rabe’s website at https://jeanrabe.com/ and, for more info about Catherine Wenglowski: https://www.wenglowvo.com/

November 15

• Echo's Tales

November 16

• Luna Joya

November 17

• Taming Chaos

November 18

• Distinct authors

November 19

• Books To Curl Up With

November 22

• Stephen D. Sullivan

  

• Archeolibrarian

 

• Karen's Killer Bookshelf

November 23

• Writing Cave Corner

 

• Robin Loves Reading

• The Emotional Rationalist (Steven Paul Leiva)

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November 24

• All Things Dark and Dirty

November 25

• Janet Walden-West

November 26

• Slippery Words

Set in a small town in Indiana, Piper Blackwell is the newly appointed sheriff in this intense mystery thriller series from Faust lifetime achievement winner, Jean Rabe. Narrator Catherine Wenglowski lends her voice to this series of books that will keep you up at night...

DEAD OF WINTER, DEAD OF NIGHT, and now, DEAD OF SUMMER, have been converted into ear candy (or, audiobooks) for your listening enjoyment. 

About the Books:

DEAD OF WINTER
In a deceptively peaceful county, a murderer hides in plain sight.
Fifty-eight minutes into her first day on the job, 23-year-old Sheriff Piper Blackwell is faced with a grisly murder, the victim artfully posed amid decorations on his lawn. Drawing on former military training, Piper must prove herself worthy of the sheriff's badge, and that won't be easy.
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Length: 8 hr 47 min
Language: English
Buy Link: mybook.to/DeadofWinterAudio
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DEAD OF NIGHT
As Sheriff Piper Blackwell rushes to a clandestine meeting with an aging, paranoid veteran who believes spies are trailing his every move, she is caught in a fierce thunderstorm. Pounding rain drums against the bluff, washing away the earth and revealing a grisly secret someone tried to bury a long time ago.
Putting a name to the skeleton on the bluff, and searching for the thief who robbed the old veteran of his life’s earnings, sends Piper delving into the sleepy towns that dot her rural county. Now she’s digging into pasts perhaps best left alone.
Accompanied by Chief Deputy Oren Rosenberg, Piper seeks to expose a truth someone wants to remain forever hidden. The investigation may have started with a thunderstorm, but Piper aims to finish it and find justice. Uncovering fragments of Spencer County’s history could prove more dangerous - and deadlier - than she ever expected.
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Length: 8 hr 32 min
Language: English
Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Night-Piper-Blackwell-Mystery/dp/B08Q9SFKNY/

DEAD OF SUMMER
Shouts of delight turn to screams of terror when a carnival ride goes berserk at the Spencer County Fair. Sheriff Piper Blackwell must contain the chaos and investigate the possible sabotage, even as she tries to solve a local businessman’s horrific murder.
But managing two investigations with at least one killer on the loose pushes the young officer and her tiny staff to their limits. Can Piper catch the murderer, or will the summer’s body count continue to rise?
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Length: 8hr 19 min
Language: English
Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Summer-Piper-Blackwell-Mystery/dp/B094M1NCKF/

Love the Piper Blackwell Series and want to keep up with Jean's latest works? Sign-up for her newsletter: https://jeanrabe.com/sign-up-for-my-newsletter/ and follow her on Amazon: http://author.to/JeanRabe.
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Psst...Promotions and Let's Talk Promotions are currently seeking sign-ups for upcoming blog tours. Think you might  be interested? Check out below: