Shalanna Collins (Denise Weeks)

One of my favorite books is MURDER BY THE MARFA LIGHTS by Denise Weeks aka Shalanna Collins. Quoting from my review:

“Once in a while I stumble upon a book so good I wonder where the author has been all my life. Such a book is MURDER BY THE MARFA LIGHTS, an amateur sleuth mystery that's funny and fascinating, with a sense of place that's almost overwhelming.

“The setting: Marfa, a quirky little town in West Texas with a couple of claims to fame. The movie "Giant" was filmed in Marfa, and Marfa is bedeviled and bedazzled by unexplained ghost lights that have tantalized locals and tourists since Civil War Days.

“I wouldn't call this a classic mystery novel, but I found it enormously entertaining. It's a colorful (if fictional) account of life in Marfa. The author takes us through a chili cookout, a close encounter with the ghost lights, and a tornado. We meet a snake handler, a character who collects poisonous spiders, an Apache lawyer who listens to Navajo prayers on his car radio, and a musician who keeps a pet wolf and smuggles illegal aliens.

“The book's three main men are a thief, a slimeball and an embezzler. They are also good-looking computer whizzes and con artists. Ariadne, the protagonist, is attracted to all of them.”

No grass grows under Shalanna’s feet. Just reading about all the things she does makes me realize what a slug I am.

Now Shalanna – or Denise – has a new book out there in the wilds of the book world. The title is NICE WORK. The main character, Jacquidon Carroll, is diagnosed with diabetes and laid off from her job in the same week. Worse yet, she becomes a suspect in the murder of her ex-boss. Clues lead to the Internet and Jacquidon is sure that someone recruited through the Internet is the killer. Jacquidon and her sister Chantal follow clues right into local sex clubs and the murderer decides to put an end to their snooping.

Shalanna’s blog

http://shalanna.livejournal.com/

and the Website

http://home.roadrunner.com/~Shalanna/