The Hard Way is the third book in the Laurel and Helen New York Mystery series, which began with Telling Lies and continued with Keeping Secrets.

“Cathi Stoler blends suspense and human drama effortlessly in Keeping Secrets. She explores a very real problem in a dramatic and exciting way that will leave readers gasping for breath and wondering where the plot will take them next.” —Kait Provost, I Love a Mystery

Private Investigator Helen McCorkendale’s childhood friend, Jimmy Scanlan, has just opened January, the most lavish casino and hotel resort on the Vegas Strip. After attending the grand opening, Helen returns to New York and encourages her friend, Laurel Imperiole, Senior Editor at Women Now magazine, to create a get-away contest for readers offering a weekend at the hotel as the grand prize. The winner, Dawn Chapman, a jewelry store employee from Cincinnati, denies entering the contest and initially refuses the trip. Finally persuaded by Laurel to accept, she arrives at the hotel and nearly faints when she passes the hotel’s elite meeting rooms where the International Diamond Dealers Consortium is holding its annual meeting. She insists on returning home immediately.

Suspicious of her behavior, Jimmy visits her suite to encourage her to attend the Saturday afternoon pool party, saying she can leave on his private jet the next day. Later in the afternoon, he finds Chapman’s body by the pool. She’s been mur*dered—an unusual double poi*soning by cyanide and diamond dust.

Dawn Chapman was not who she appeared to be, and therein lies a mystery. But to Helen and Laurel, the main task is to take Jimmy Scanlon off the suspect list and clear his name. Will their luck hold? Or will it be a crap shoot, as they roll the dice and do it ‘the hard way,’ going for doubles when the odds are against them. Losing may mean losing their lives.

Says Stoler, “One recent event that fascinated me concerned brazen robberies by a gang of European jewel thieves. Focusing on the biggest jewelers on the continent, the gang staged a series of dramatic robberies that netted them millions and millions of dollars. I imagined what it would be like to plan a fictitious heist with an incredibly valuable payoff—an almost priceless red diamond. And, what better place to set the story than in Las Veg*as at a new luxury hotel hosting an International diamond convention?”

Cathi Stoler is a native New Yorker who has devoted much of her life to writing. You can find Cathi online at cathistoler.com.

The Hard Way is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.com. After April 15, it will be also for sale in eBook and print editions on BN.com, the European Amazons, and Amazon Japan. Bookstores and libraries can order by contacting info@camelpress.com or through Ingram, Baker & Taylor, or Partners West. Libraries can also order through Follett Library Resources or Midwest Library Service. Other electronic versions can be purchased on Smashwords or at any of the major online ebook stores.

ABOUT Camel Press—Based in Seattle Washington, Camel Press publishes genre fiction: romance, mystery/suspense, and science fiction--the books that grab you and hold you in their grip long into the night.