Inklings

2nd Nick + Norton Mystery Started

Nick wants to buy a classic Citroen DS 19, a car he’s loved since he was a kid. What they find at the auction is murder!

I didn’t waste any time. As soon as The Case of The Purloined Picasso was published, I started work on the next book in the series. The next book will be longer and focus on the murder of one of Nick + Norton’s clients.

Working on a murder mystery takes way more work. Coming up with a plot, plot twists, suspects, clues, motives, and all the rest is a real challenge. And it is so fun! The plot right now reads like some kind of soap opera, with love affairs, illegal business dealings, hard feelings all around. You can’t have a murder mystery without this stuff!

Nick wants to buy a classic Citroen DS 19, a car he’s loved since he was a kid. What he and Norton find at the auction, however, is murder! The victim is one of their clients. But what they didn’t know about him may have been the reason for his death. When the victim’s wife asks them to investigate, how can they say no?

The book will revolve around an auto auction, bodybuilding, and the San Francisco art world. Kate Brookside and Alan Simpson, and of course the gruff Inspector Scarpa all feature in the story. Plus, I’ll be introducing other characters who feature in Nick and Norton’s world. I’m still working on plotting and identifying characters. Once that’s done, the writing begins!

 

The Purloined Picasso Is Published!

The Case of The Purloined Picasso is the first book in a planned series featuring Nick and Norton, noted men about town in San Francisco.

I am sooo excited! Today is the day. Today is the day that The Case of The Purloined Picasso is officially published. I am so excited to see Nick and Norton out in the world! All I can do at this point is hope that readers find them and embrace them. There is only so much an author can do after the book is published. (An believe me, I’m doing all that I can.) But at some point, a book is like a child that has grown up. Like a grown child, a book has to find it’s own way in the world. The author can only hope they make friends and are successful.

The second book in the series, it doesn’t even have a working title yet, is already underway. In the next book, Nick and Norton will face murder at an auto auction!

 

XO

Dorothy

A New Cover for the Purloined Picasso

My friends really are wonderful. The consensus was that my first cover wasn’t going to do the book justice. One of my good friends even designed a new cover for me!

I think you’ll agree that the new cover is much more appropriate for a cozy mystery! With this cover, more cozy readers will know what kind of book this is. Yay!

XO

Dorothy

Book Cover Preview

I’ve been so busy trying to finish up my first book! Today, I am pleased to present to you a preview of the book cover for my first book, The Case of The Purloined Picasso. It is kind of an old fashioned title, but it seemed to fit the characters and the nature of the mystery.

This is the cover for my first book. It makes me so happy!

Covers for cozy mysteries tend to be just awful looking, in my opinion. The colors, the cartoons, the frilly fonts – it all just comes across as too childish to me. I wanted to evoke the mystery, talk to the location, and still be light. This cover does all that, I think!

The book was popular with my beta readers. But they made some very good points, and I am currently working on polishing the manuscript to address the readers’ concerns. But I also can’t wait to get the book out so you can read it! The publication date will be May 15th. Write, Dorothy! Write!

XO

Dorothy

Hello world!

My name is Dorothy Ackroyd and I write mysteries. I write what they call “cozy” mysteries, those tales of murder and mayhem that take place in country villages or other close communities with a reoccurring cast of characters. Some of those characters you will come to love, others, you may come to love to hate.

The mysteries take place primarily in San Francisco or up in the Sierra foothills east of San Francisco. I know you may not think of San Francisco as a country village, but like most big cities, San Francisco is made up of neighborhoods that feel and function like small towns. The City is also home to many communities of people who are linked by family, fortune, or fate. These communities also function like small towns within the bigger City of San Francisco.

I look forward to introducing you to Nick and Norton, art gallery owners and occasional sleuths. And I’m sure you will enjoy the stories I have planned for Kate Brookside, my Sierra foothills mother of two, business woman, and amateur detective. These characters are smart, fun, and determined to see that wrongs are righted and justice is done.

XO

Dorothy