Sticks & Stones is the second mystery in a series featuring amateur sleuth Hollis Morgan. Book One, The Fallen Angels Book Club received enthusiastic praise:

“Highly inventive … a wonderful thriller.” —Vic’s Media Room

“This is a remarkable, well-rounded mystery and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys crime fiction.” —Heather Coulter, Books, Books, and More Books

“Sticks and Stones can break my bones ….” Despite what the old children’s rhyme says, words can cause grievous harm. A lesson ex-con Hollis Morgan, a casualty of her deceas*ed ex-husband’s white collar crimes, knows all too well. Now she hopes to clear the name of a friend accused of libel by philanthropist Dorian Fields, a man whose charitable giving looks a lot like money-laundering. Only problem: the evidence has disappeared and her friend Catherine is found de*ad. A sui*cide, they say, although that is quickly disproved. Hollis’ friend was mur*dered.

Catherine was writing an article about Fields for a tabloid. Hollis and attorney Mark Haddan convince the magazine to let them carry on with the libel defense, but they have fewer than 60 days to prove Catherine’s exposé was well-founded. In the meantime Hollis has other distractions, such as awaiting the results of the bar exam. Now that she has received an official pardon, she is free to pursue her dreams of moving up in the world from paralegal to attorney. She is also helping to settle the estate of Margaret Koch, a rich client of the law firm who di*ed leaving no heirs. And then there are the two men vying for her attention—one a police detective, the other a private eye.

Normally Hollis trusts her built-in lie detector, but in this case, too many people are lying for too many reasons. One of them is not only a liar, but a kil*ler.

Says James, “The germ of this story came from an actual libel case. An article that ran in a supermarket tabloid recounted the exploits of a well-known personality who had sued the tabloid and forced it to print a retraction. The story itself was fairly scandalous and I imagined, since the apology didn’t appear until months later, that all types of personal damage had been done in the interim. I wondered how much insurance a tabloid would need to protect itself. And Sticks & Stones was born.”

R. Franklin James and her husband currently live in northern California. You can find her on the Web at rfranklinjames.com.

Sticks & Stones is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.com. After May 1, it will also be for sale in both eBook and 5x8 trade paperback editions on BN.com, the European Amazons, Amazon Japan and select independent bookstores. Bookstores and libraries will be able to order wholesale through Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Partners West, or by contacting info@camelpress.com. Libraries can also order from Follett Library Resources or Midwest Library Service. Other electronic versions will be available on Smashwords, BN.com, or at any of the major online eBook stores.

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