Peter Abresch Books In Order

Bloody Bonsai

James P. Dandy yes, that would make him Jim Dandy couldn’t believe he’d said yes to going on an Elderhostel down on the New Jersey coast in the cold, ugly, gray days of waning winter. His wife had died a couple of years before, and Jim didn’t really feel up to meeting new people and being thrust into new situations without her. But go he did, grumbling and pessimistically, and only half heartedly interested in learning how to design, cut, sculpt, mold, trim, water and grow bonsai trees. Little did he know that the ‘new people’ he was concerned with would include the lovely, blue eyed artist Dodee Swisher; or the gruff, chain smoking ex army man assigned as his roommate at the motel; or the slick Hispanic motel manager; or the raven haired gymnast who exercised on her balcony every morning; or the liquid eyed East Indian woman; or the couple from Philadelphia who were taking a break from the garbage business…
Well, really; anyone of them could have rammed that bonsai tree into the chest of the obsequesious little motel employee who Dodee and Jim discovered on the second day of the Elderhostel. But the police focus their attention on Dodee and Jim they did have that argument with the boy the night before, hadn’t they? getting Dodee all worked up into a swivet about having to find the real killer before they were jailed for the deed. When another body turns up, again it’s Jim & Dodee who discover it. The situation rapidly heats up and Dodee is kidnapped, presumably to shut her up about what she’s already learned…

Killing Thyme

After their last adventure during an Elderhostel bonsai class, when Dodee was kidnaped and Jim found himself face to face with a killer, James P. Dandy yes, that would make him Jim Dandy and Dodee Swisher expect that their second trip to a Baltimore, Maryland, Elderhostel cooking class cannot possibly have the excitement the first one did. They hope to simply spend the time together, getting to know one another better, learn about how the great chefs of the world came to be great chefs, and maybe add to their own mediocre cooking skills. They’re wrong, of course. Before they even arrive in Baltimore, the chef scheduled to guide the Elderhostel group dies of mushroom poisoning. Then a very rich Elderhosteler is killed in a traffic accident, Jim and Dodee listen intently to the bickering among the chefs about who’s most suited to be the headliner for a new TV show called ‘A Dash of Thyme’ and learn that the show’s creator has gone missing. And then another chef dies right in front of them from anaphylactic shock. Convinced there is a murderer on the loose, the irrepressible Dodee is off and running after clues with a reluctant but stout hearted Jim Dandy at her heels but, since Dodee’s guessing is right on the mark, so is the killer…
‘

Tip-A-Canoe

Like A Corpse Out of Water. Maryland physical therapist James P. Dandy embarks upon his third Elderhostel vacation, eager to reunite with his ladylove Dodee Swisher for some romance and outdoor adventure in South Carolina’s lovely Santee Dam lakes. At first, nobody was calling the accidental drowning of a local man murder, or worrying about ecoterrorism at the discovery of an empty box of dynamite. Then the body of a fellow Elderhosteler is found feeding fish in the swamp, and soon Jim is wading into the muddy waters of murder. False trails lead in ever widening circles as a conspiracy claims yet another victim. But when Jim’s clever reasoning unravels the shocking true motive for murder, it leaves him up the proverbial creek with a killer holding the paddle.

Painted Lady

The Wild Wild West Retired physical therapist James P. Dandy embarks on another Elderhostel adventure with his ladylove, artist Dodee Swisher, this time along the old Santa Fe Trail. But before the trip even gets under way, he sees a Native American woman plunge to her death from a Denver rooftop. Jim suspects that the woman, a shaman believed to possess a priceless Mayan artifact, was pushed. Soon it’s clear somebody thinks Jim knows the whereabouts of the statue a gold and diamond encrusted falcon. It’s a misconception that is becoming dangerous to both Jim and Dodee’s well being. Another grisly murder occurs on the historic trail through the Wild West, and mysteries old and new find Jim caught in a shoot out in Cimarron with a killer determined to make this Dandy’s Last Stand.

Name Games

…
. James P. Dandy and Dodee Swisher are reunited again on a hiking and whitewater rafting Elderhostelr in North Carolina. Jim’s not too crazy about either the hiking in the woods or the whitewater rafting, but Dodee is really up for it, and he is really up for Dodee in their continuing love affair…
.. Plus there’s an added bonus…
.. Considering Dodee’s proclivity for turning up bodies and getting in into hassles with the coppers, he welcomes the idea as a respite from past troubles…
.. After all, how many killers lurk about in the woods for passersby to bump off? And who ever heard of a drive by shooting from a rubber raft?…
. But think again, Jim Dandy, and tighten your personal floatation device, for you’re in for a wild ride…
.. Elderhostelsr are learning adventures for those mellowing into fine wine. Like to learn more, or read a few chapters, go to: http://www. elderhostelmysteries. com

If They Ask For A Hand, Only Give Them A Finger

When Chance Dugan found himself locked out of a public garage, with his car inside, and his wallet in the car, he accepted the invitation of a lovely policewomen, Natti Moon, to spend the night in her Georgetown apartment. What’s not to like? Except it wasn’t Natti Moon’s apartment. And she wasn’t a cop. And when he was forced to hide under a bed to keep from getting shot, he found he had a corpse for a companion. Just great. When he finally got back to the garage the next day, the body under the bed had become the body in the trunk of his car. And the police were on their way. To save himself, he tracks down the lovely Natti Moon, really an agent with a super secret agency. Except she wasn’t. And now they were both on the lam from competing government agencies who were out to do them in. And when in the confusion, one of the agencies asks him to give them a hand, he only offers them a finger.

The Faltese Malcom

‘The Faltese Malcom?’ The fat man laughed. ‘I hardly think so, Mr. Spaid. Another one of Miss O’Shaughnessy’s little fictions I fear. What we are looking for is the Maltese Falcon.’ But that was in San Francisco of 1927. In everyday Washington, the Falcon they were trying to hang around Josh’s neck was a guided missile stolen from the Patuxent Naval Base. And what mattered in the end, was, indeed, The Faltese Malcom.

Deadly Morsels

The table is set for murder…
ANOTHER’S CURSE Takis & Judy Iakovou Could things get any worse for the Oracle Cafe owners, Nick and Julia Lambros, when rats appear in the Dumpster and moonshine turns up in the lettuce crates? Unfortunately, yes when the health inspector who shuts them down is found dead! RED OR GREEN? Steven F. Havill When Bill Gastner, newly retired sheriff of Posadas County, New Mexico, finds his oldest friend dead of an apparent heart attack, he takes it with a grain of salt. George died after eating the famous Burrito Grande from the Don Juan de O ate restaurant, and it takes the well seasoned Gastner to find out who done it. CAKE JOB Jane Rubino Reporter Cat Austen is covering a lush bridal expo in Atlantic City and helping her future sister in law pick out a wedding cake. Cat soon finds herself in the middle of a mafia shakedown involving pastry chef Patty Cake, a hired killer and the discovery that the way to a hit man’s heart is through his stomach…
SHEEP IN WOLF’S CLOTHING Peter Abresch Jim Dandy and Dodee Swisher head for North Carolina’s scenic shores for a weekend Elderhostel on culinary magic. They stumble across the body of a local priest and follow a trail of murder most fishy only to end up in dangerously deep waters…

Easy Reading Writing

The problem with books on writing is that they are often difficult to read. Does that sound right? Shouldn’t good writing be easy to read? And if we are trying to teach Easy Reading Writing, shouldn’t our books on writing be easy reading?

Here’s the challenge.

Slap an eye on any page of Easy Reading Writing, or browse the book. If you have trouble reading anything, hey, place it back on the shelf. It means I don t know what I m talking about.

Easy Reading Writing is full of examples, humorous and irrelevant, yet explain the fine points of building believable plots, characters that breathe, and effective sentences, paragraphs, chapters that pass through the reader’s eye as smoothly as a film strip pas*ses through a movie projector.

Our job is not to tell a story, but to use the words that will trigger the memory and life experiences of our readers, so they will build our world inside their heads.

Our writing must never be just good enough. Either it’s the best we can make it or it’s not. There is no backdoor to effective writing.

Better to read light Easy Reading Writing than to curse the darkness of rejections.