Masterfully crafted by Betty Waltermire, ‘Innocent Blood’ jerks readers on a series of twists and turns through the most normal of New Mexico towns, as a truck driver is murdered and a group of fearless women step in to try and solve the case. Townspeople start dropping like flies until there’s four homicides to investigate in a town that usually sees no more action than bad weather. The setting is real, the characters are bold and Waltermire uses her narrative to embrace the powerful female spirit often lost to modern literature.
Estancia, NM -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/25/2014 -- Most people have never heard of Estancia, one of dozens of small towns dotted around the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area. However, this sleepy hideaway is about to hit the world’s stage as the setting for a punch-packing new murder mystery novel.
‘Innocent Blood’ proves that nowhere in immune to the odd bludgeon.
Synopsis:
This story is about strong female characters that laugh, live, love and die together as a family. This story shows that strong minded and determined women can do anything and will do anything within legal limits to bring their suspect to justice. They are not rich, nor do they live in a mansion. They are everyday working women, the only thing different is they strap on a badge and gun for their day at work.
The story is set in a couple of small towns east of Albuquerque, New Mexico. A long haul over the road truck driver is murdered in a small town travel center truck stop and the deputy of the Torrance County Sheriff's Department finds the body. Once the investigator is on scene they determine that the driver was indeed murdered and the contents of his trailer proves to be an interesting combination.
A modern day story of drugs, lies and greed that form an alliance that somehow takes a turn for the worse and numerous people pay dearly with their lives. There is no turning back. What starts out as a truck driver murdered turns into four murders quickly and that number is more than in the past forty years or more. Crime especially murder rarely exists in the county or the small towns.
Of course with people talking the story tends to get bigger, more of this or that, and the deputy who found him either tripped over him or almost ran over him and neither was the case. The story grows wilder with each telling.
“Almost every entity and location in this novel is real, except the people,” explains Waltermire. “The towns, the Sheriff's Department, Estancia Police Department, New Mexico State Police, S.W.A.T., Estancia Fire Department are all places I have been frequenting for decades. I thought it would be interesting to take somewhere like Estancia, which is mainly just known to its residents, and turn it into a playground for murder.”
Continuing, “But this novel is also very much about the people; particularly our band of heroic women who will stop at nothing to make sure that the area’s bad guys get their just deserts. They are heroines in their own right; they comply with the authorities but are not afraid to step over the lines of the law if it gets the job done.”
Waltermire hopes to use her work to raise the profile of women in literature.
“Literature needs more positive portrayals of women, so this is my contribution. The rise of certain new genres portrays most female characters as helpless bystanders. I want to prove that strong-willed women still exist – just head to Estancia and you’ll see what I’m talking about!” she adds.
‘Innocent Blood’, from Xlibris, is due for imminent release. Upon launch it will be available in hardcover, paperback and eBook formats.
About Waltermire
The author lives in New Mexico.