Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore – Share an Excerpt from a previous books 2021 – #Medical #Thriller – Going Home by Sharon Marchisello

We put a great deal of effort into promoting our new, recent and upcoming books but often our previous releases get sidelined.

In this latest series I am offering authors in the Cafe and Bookstore a chance to promote an earlier book (not your most recent) by sharing an excerpt from the book of 500 words. At the end of the post you can find out how to participate.

Today Sharon Marchisello shares an excerpt from her medical thriller Going Home.

About the book

Michelle DePalma expected to jet into Two Wells, Texas, check on her elderly mother, and hurry back to her orderly life in Atlanta, where she has a happy marriage and satisfying career. Instead, she finds her mother, Lola Hanson, hovered over the bludgeoned body of her caregiver, Brittany Landers.

Since the events of 9/11, one month earlier, Lola’s memory loss has amplified, and the family suspects Alzheimer’s. Now Lola can’t tell anyone what happened to Brittany.

The agency that provides home care for Lola promptly withdraws its services. Michelle is stuck in her home town longer than planned as she cares for a mother with whom she has never been close and tries to prove her innocence. The police officers who investigate the crime are old antagonists from grade school. A secret thought to be long buried–that Michelle bore a son out of wedlock and gave him up for adoption–surfaces when a surprise daughter-in-law and granddaughter show up, distracting Michelle from her quest to solve the murder. And then she stumbles upon a motive which makes Lola look even more guilty.

Going Home was inspired by the author’s mother’s battle with Alzheimer’s and explores the challenge of solving a murder mystery when a potential witness cannot rely on her memory. Written from the perspective of a baby boomer forced to reverse roles with her parents, it crosses into the mainstream genre of women’s fiction and touches increasingly common issues such as elder abuse and end-of-life decisions.

Excerpt from Going Home. (Michelle and her mom stop at the drug store after a frustrating interview at the police station.)

My mother shuffled up and down the brightly lit aisles of the drug store and, like a toddler, grabbed items off the shelf and set them down elsewhere.

“Mom!” I cried as I watched her fumble with a large glass container of bath salts, coming perilously close to dropping it on the shiny tile floor. “Put that back! All we’re getting is cough syrup.”

I located the cough syrup and then we negotiated our way through the minefield to the cash register. The young cashier had a pierced eyebrow threaded with a silver ring; looking at it made my own eyebrow hurt. My mother picked up the bottle just as he scanned it with a flash of laser light. “So expensive! Five dollars!”

“Don’t worry about it, Mom, I’m paying for it.” I slid my credit card through the reader and the cashier put the cough syrup in a white plastic bag.

“I can’t let you pay for it, Michelle,” my mother argued. “You’re buying it for me.”

Her high-pitched voice was loud enough for everyone in the store to hear. “Let me give you some money. Where’s my purse?” She patted her sides. “Where’s my purse? Someone stole my purse!”

“Your purse is in the car.” I took the bag from the cashier and steered my mother outside.

“It’s done, Mom. Let’s go home.”

One of the reviews for Going Home

Gerri A.5.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable read with an unexpected ending  Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2019

I enjoyed reading Sharon Marchisello’s contemporary story of returning to her small hometown of origin in Texas and finding her aging mother in crisis.

Not only is the mother disoriented and confused, the dead body of her caregiver is lying on the floor. Thus opens Marchisello’s murder mystery, with includes lots of real-life emotions, dilemmas, and situations. The main characters have histories that go back to their childhoods, with the inherent difficulties of forgiving, forgetting, and letting go. An unexpected guest at the mother’s front door, with her ten-year-old daughter in tow, generate both interest and concern as the guest finesses herself into the family.

Law enforcement considers various murder suspects among the motley crew of caregivers who had had access to the protagonist’s increasingly vulnerable mother, each with believable motives and many opportunities. The prime suspect becomes the elderly mother herself, who is unable to offer a coherent account of what happened. Tension increases when the identity of the unexpected guest becomes apparent, and the protagonist must reveal a deep secret to her husband. The twists, turns, and unexpected ending will keep mystery lovers turning pages until the end.  

Read the reviews and buy the book: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK
 

Also by Sharon Marchisello

Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon US – and: Amazon UK – follow Sharon: Goodreads – blog: Sharon Blogspot – Twitter: @SLMarchisello

About Sharon Marchisello

Sharon Marchisello is the author of two mysteries published by Sunbury Press, Going Home (2014) and Secrets of the Galapagos (2019). She is an active member of Sisters in Crime.

She contributed short stories to anthologies Shhhh…Murder! (Darkhouse Books, 2018) and Finally Home (Bienvenue Press, 2019). Her personal finance book Live Well, Grow Wealth was originally published as Live Cheaply, Be Happy, Grow Wealthy, an e-book on Smashwords. Sharon has published travel articles, book reviews, and corporate training manuals, and she writes a personal finance blog called Countdown to Financial Fitness.

She grew up in Tyler, Texas, and earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Houston in French and English. She studied for a year in Tours, France, on a Rotary scholarship and then moved to Los Angeles to pursue her Masters in Professional Writing at the University of Southern California.

Retired from a 27-year career with Delta Air Lines, she lives in Peachtree City, Georgia, doing volunteer work for the Fayette Humane Society and the Fayette County Master Gardeners UGA Extension.

Thank you for visiting today and I know that Sharon would love to hear from you.. thanks Sally.

How to participate in this series

In this latest series I am offering authors in the Cafe and Bookstore a chance to promote an earlier book (not your most recent) by sharing an excerpt from the book. Please check the link if it has been some time since you were promoted in the Cafe.

The aim of the series

1. To showcase a previous book and sell some copies.
2. Gain more recent reviews for the book.
3. Promote a selection of other books that are available.
4. Share an excerpt from the first book in a series to encourage readers to buy following books.

I will top and tail in the usual way with your other books and links, bio, photo and social media. I will also select a review that I feel has the best selling pitch for the book.

• This series is open to authors in the Cafe and Bookstore who have more than one book (as this already gets promoted on a regular basis) and have reviews for that book I can select from. Cafe and Bookstore
• I suggest an extract of 500 words or a poem that you feel best reflects the theme of your collection. This is a PG rated blog and there are younger readers so it would be great if you could bear that in mind.
• If you have an illustration or images you can attach to the email for me to include. No need to send the cover as I will have that or will access from Amazon.
• I will check reviews on Amazon sites as well as Goodreads and select one I feel is a great advertisement for the book.
• As an author in the Cafe and Bookstore I will already have all your details, links and covers of other books so need to send anything further.
• Please send your excerpt and any accompanying images to sally.cronin@moyhill.com

N.B..If you participated last year in the two series and would like to check which book you shared, please email and I will let you know.

Look forward to hearing from you.