MuseItUp Publishing Special--Mysteries 20% Thru May 5, 2011!

I was just checking in at the MuseItUp Publishing's Readers Group and noticed that thru May 5, 2011 they are running a 20% off special on their mysteries. How cool is that!

I've read Grounds for Murder by John Russo and Resurrection Garden by Frank Scully. Next I'll be reading Murder is a Family Business by Heather Haven. This is the first book in her Alvarez Family Murder Mystery series. The second book, A Wedding to Die For, just came out. It's also on sale for 20% off!

 In case you missed it, Heather Haven is going on a virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book! in May to promote Murder is a Family Business. You'll find her tour schedule at http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2011/03/25/murder-is-a-family-business-virtual-book-tour-may-2011/ Follow along starting on May 2nd to learn more about this talented author and her books.

To learn more about MuseItUp Publishing, please visit them online at http://museituppublishing.com/!

Historical Fiction Feature: Resurrection Garden by Frank Scully

1904 was a time of remarkable change. The train and telegraph were making communication and travel so much quicker and easier. Goods could be shipped over long distance cheaply. Newspapers even in small towns brought information from around the world and provided a sense of community. Letters could cross the country in a week instead of months. The telephone was a new invention and being used in cities. Electricity, cars and streetcars were transforming cities.

And yet, on the frontier prairie where farmers came to homestead and stake their claim to the American Dream, life was still harsh and often raw. Jake Turner had seen much of the settling of the west. He’d been to the big city and seen electric lights and indoor plumbing. He charged up San Juan Hill and been an Arizona Ranger and a railroad detective. He was a wanderer with a reputation he would like to bury, and a Deputy Sheriff in North Dakota where he stumbles over the body of a murdered man.

The reasons behind the murder are buried deep in the past, and the people involved have secrets to keep. Secrets they are willing to kill again to protect. Jake’s best friend, Isaac, is entangled in those secrets somehow. Jake is falling in love with Isaac’s sister Alice. An orphaned boy, Andy, has become attached to Jake. All are at risk if Jake makes a mistake.
Jake believes in Justice, but before he had only his own life on the line. When Andy is kidnapped and almost killed, Jake knows the killers will do anything to stop him. In order to protect Alice and Andy, he must break their hearts and leave them and North Dakota behind.

Jake knows he’ll be back. So do the killers. Trap and counter trap are laid. Jake knows there will be graves. He just doesn’t know who will be in them.

Read an excerpt!

We walked down to the meadow below the house. Shadows were spreading as the sun dropped behind the trees to the west. Evening sounds from the surrounding forest were like a symphony of life. And love.


She reached out to take my hand as we strolled along quietly, content to be together. And alone. She led. We walked toward a small clearing under a large oak tree out of sight of the house.

Suddenly, she stopped and turned to me. She reached up with her free hand, put her hand behind my neck, and pulled me into a kiss unlike any I’ve ever had before. I was lost in the universe, feeling an emotion so intense I could not contain it. When our lips parted, I held her in my arms tightly.

“Jake,” she whispered. “Come with me.” She took my hand again and led me on.

I took a step and blood sprayed out of my leg just before it buckled, and I was knocked to the ground. Another shot whizzed by my head. Alice still stood and stared at me in wonder and surprise. I jumped up as best as I could, knocked her down, and lay between her and the shooter. But it was quiet. I had no weapon with me.

“Quick,” I ordered her. “Crawl to the bush and get back to the house. Have Bart bring me my rifle.”

She nodded and left immediately. I straightened out my leg. I felt the bone. It wasn’t broken. A clean through shot in the meat of the thigh below the crotch. Bleeding but not pumping. I took my belt and tied it around my leg over the holes and rolled into the dense shadows of the brush.

Bart hissed at me a few moments later and handed me my rifle. He had his along too.

“How many?” he asked.

“Just one. Same persistent bastard who’s trying to kill me I imagine. Long gone by now.”

“Wait here,” he said. “I’ll check around.”

A few minutes later, he was back and helped me hobble to the house where Ruth and Alice waited anxiously. Ruth told Alice to get hot water and me to drop my pants.

We both did as we were told. Ruth inspected the wound and began cleaning it out with very hot water and alcohol. It stung like blazes, but the bleeding was almost stopped by the time she had it bound and bandaged.

“Was any further up, and you wouldn’t be any good to this young lady,” Ruth teased. “Bart, bring us all a glass of the whiskey you hide in the barn. We all need some.”

My head buzzed from the large glass of whiskey by the time Ruth and Bart left us alone on the porch. I still insisted I would sleep in the barn for the night.

Alice sat beside me on the bench and laid her head on my shoulder. I was about to say something, but she put her finger to my lips.

“Shhh,” she said softly, her eyes swimming in tears as more streaked down her cheeks. “Don’t explain. Don’t apologize. I’m just happy you’re alive. Just be here with me for a few minutes, and let my heart feel yours.”

We sat that way for a long time. I forgot about my leg. It was my heart that concerned me.

I should be happy and making plans and commitments. Instead I felt a great fear. There was much pain coming.

PURCHASE RESURRECTION GARDEN AT MUSEITUPPUBLISHING.COM, AMAZON, OR BARNESANDNOBLE.COM!

Read the reviews! 

"As most good mysteries do, this one begins with a dead body. The big difference is this tale is set in 1904 and starts in North Central North Dakota, making it an historical western mystery. Before I tell much more, I have to say I loved everything about this story. Deputy Jake Turner is a reluctant hero, a single man who knows something is missing in his life despite his faithful horse, dog and cat."

--Marilyn's Musings Review - READ FULL REVIEW

"I found myself enthralled with this tale. The mystery was well developed and had a very satisfying resolution...Mr. Scully's writing style was spare and perfectly suited the tale and time in which it was set. The characters were well developed and I enjoyed getting to know them."

--Broken Teepee Reviews...READ FULL REVIEW

Frank Scully was born at the end of World War II and grew up in a small town in North Dakota. He remembers a time when radio provided the entertainment and then along came TV with very few channels. While in college getting a Bachelor’s degree in History and a Juris Doctor in Law, TV graduated to color and the first Star Trek series, the Beetles landed on the Ed Sullivan Show, Kennedy was assassinated, and Armstrong walked on the moon. He served in the U.S. Army as a Judge Advocate General Corps officer in the U.S., Vietnam and Thailand before getting his MBA and embarking on a business career. Currently he is a Contracts Manager for a major aerospace and defense manufacturer.


Frank has always been a voracious reader with a preference for mysteries and suspense novels. After many years of saying he would get around to writing a book someday, his wife decided that it was time for him to put up or shut up. Since that day, he has diligently worked at his writing until finally the first book, Resurrection Garden, has been published and others are under contract and due out shortly.

Visit Frank online at http://frankjscully.com/. Follow Frank on Facebook.

Author Spotlight: Frank Scully and Resurrection Garden

Jake Turner, a scarred veteran of the charge up San Juan Hill, has been a lone drifter through much of the settling of the west. Opportunity was growing out of the newly turned sod of the North Dakota prairie in 1904 when he stopped to take a part time job as a Deputy Sheriff, expecting to move on again when the dark parts of his past catch up to him.

An investigation into a murder of a man hated by everyone has threads that lead to his best friend, Isaac. Jake is ambushed and almost killed, but is nursed back to health by Isaac. While Jake follows the clues into a labyrinth of hatred, sordid crimes and missing money he becomes attached to an eight year old orphaned boy named Andy and falls in love with Isaac’s sister, Alice. After being alone for so long with no hope or care for what tomorrow might bring, Jake finds it difficult to accept these new emotional attachments.

Jake believes in Justice, but before he had only his own life on the line. When Andy is kidnapped and almost killed, Jake knows the killers will do anything to stop him. In order to protect Alice and Andy, he must break their hearts and leave them and North Dakota behind.

Jake knows he’ll be back. So do the killers. Trap and counter trap are laid. Jake knows there will be graves. He just doesn’t know who will be in them.

Read an Excerpt!


The sheriff joined me in my contemplation of the body. It wasn’t pretty. Thor had never been handsome and the ravages of being frozen under the snow for the winter and having birds and other animals picking away at the skin as the snow thawed and exposed the body made what was left of him downright disgusting.

One thing was evident though. He hadn’t died easy. Freezing to death is relatively painless. Wander out in the cold, get lost, fall asleep and don’t wake up. That wasn’t what happened to Thor.

“What do you think? Shotgun, maybe?” the sheriff opined.
“At least,” I answered. The hole in his chest was big enough to put a fist through. “But why? He musta been dead already when he was shot.”

“Yeah, first someone beat him to a bloody pulp, then gutted him and slashed his throat. And then shot him. Ain’t that what you said, Doc.”

“Looks that way to me,” Doc answered. “Can’t tell you much more until he thaws out all the way.”

“Somebody wanted him deader than dead,” the sheriff shook his head.

“Takes some hate to do all that,” Doc commented. “Got any suspects?”

Doc and the sheriff both turned to face me.

I let out a deep sigh. “I suppose you want me to find out what happened to him."



Read the Reviews!

“I love mysteries and usually am not a fan of the western genre, but I enjoyed the Resurrection Garden. There was just the right combination of the Old West meets mystery with a wee bit of romance thrown in. Mr. Scully’s written word allows one to feel the dust as the characters are riding away, feel the hardness of the wood beds, see the tumbleweeds roll around us. I felt as if I was right in all of the action as I was reading Resurrection Garden, whether I was recouping with Jake, or investigating. Mr. Scully’s secondary characters are fun. He provides strong visuals as well as he stimulates other senses, for example: You can even smell Andy from the months without a bath.


Resurrection Garden is both a charming western and mystery. Thumbs up!”

–Cynthia Lea Clark, Psy.D.

“…people from rural areas that have lived when life was harsh or been told stories of that time will especially enjoy this book.”

–Amazon reviewer

“I would definetely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good murder mystery.”

–Amazon reviewer

PURCHASE YOUR COPY TODAY FROM MUSEITUP PUBLISHING! ALSO AVAILABLE IN A KINDLE EDITION!

Frank Scully was born and raised in a small town in North Dakota and received a Bachelor’s degree in History with Phi Beta Kappa Honors and a Juris Doctor degree in Law from the University of North Dakota. He then served more than five years as a Judge Advocate General Corps Officer in the U. S. Army in the U. S., Vietnam, and Thailand. After that he attended the prestigious Thunderbird School and received a Masters in Business Administration with honors. In his professional career he has worked as an executive with large aerospace and defense manufacturers and also owned his own small business.


Depending on the vagaries of the universe he has been well off at times and broke, but never broken, at other times. Blessed with an understanding wife who gave him twin sons, he has remained through it all a dreamer whose passion is writing stories that will entertain readers.

Resurrection Garden, a mystery novel, is the first of five books Frank has under contract with MuseitUp Publishing.
You can visit Frank’s website at http://www.frankjscully.com/.