A bribery case gone wrong leads a woman into the deep, dank Carolina Lowcountry on a manhunt. Carolina Slade, a by-the-book federal county manager in the coastal Lowcountry of South Carolina, reports an attempted bribe only to find herself a key player in a sting operation run by Senior Special Agent Wayne Largo from the IG Office in Atlanta. However, the IG isn't telling Slade everything about this case or the disappearance-presumed-murder of Slade's boss the year before. When the sting blows up, both cases are put on hold and Wayne is yanked back to Atlanta, leaving Slade to fear not only for her life and job, but for her children's safety. Suddenly, operating by the book is no longer an option. Author C. Hope Clark, an award-winning writer of two mystery series (Carolina Slade and the Edisto Island mysteries), founded FundsforWriters.com, which Writer's Digest has recognized in its annual 101 Best Web Sites for Writers for almost two decades. Hope is married to a 30-year veteran of federal law enforcement, a Senior Special Agent, now a private investigator. They live in South Carolina, on the banks of Lake Murray. Hope is hard at work on the next novel in her Carolina Slade Mystery Series. Visit her at www.chopeclark.com.

"Terrific. Smart, knowing, clever...and completely original. A taut, high-tension page-turner--in a unique and fascinating setting. An absolute winner!" Hank Phillippi Ryan Agatha, Anthony and Macavity winning author In the deep waters off the coast of Beaufort, South Carolina, corpses are turning up faster than dolphins chasing a shrimp boat . . . When federal agricultural investigator Carolina Slade's best friend is suspected of embezzlement and fraud in a sordid case involving drugs and migrant slavery, Slade must question her own long-held loyalties. She's desperate to believe in Savannah Conroy's innocence despite every scrap of evidence pointing to her friend's guilt. After a tomato farmer dies in a shrimp boat explosion, Slade's colleague, Senior Special Agent Wayne Largo, manages to force Slade off the case, citing conflict of interest. Refusing to quit even if it means violating agency orders, Slade fights to save her friend's career. Soon, Slade's the target of escalating threats meant to frighten her off the case. But threats might be the least of Slade's worries. She's also juggling a co-worker's sudden romantic interest, voodoo, and her teenage daughter's determination to solve mysteries like her mother. Slade struggles to keep her life, and the lives of those around her, safe and sane when, once again, digging up dirt on the ag business threatens to put her six feet under.

The best resource available for finding a literary agent! No matter what you're writing--fiction or nonfiction, books for kids or adults--you need a literary agent to secure a book deal. The 2014 Guide to Literary Agents is your essential resource for finding that literary agent--without fear of being scammed--and getting your book published. Along with listing information for more than 1,000 literary agents who represent writers and their work, this new, updated edition of GLA includes: • "New Agent Spotlights"--calling out literary reps actively building lists right now. • "How I Got My Agent" success stories from writers who describe their paths from aspiring author to published success. • Informative articles on query letters, synopsis writing, voice and craft, author platform, nonfiction book proposals, researching agents, and more. • Includes "Ask the Agent" profiles of individual literary agents who are currently seeking writers.

The best resource available for finding a literary agent! No matter what you're writing--fiction or nonfiction, books for adults or children--you need a literary agent if you want to get the best traditional publishing book deal possible. The 2015 Guide to Literary Agents is your essential resource for finding that literary agent and getting your book bought by a top publisher. Along with listing information for more than 1,000 literary agents who represent writers and their books, this new, updated edition of GLA includes: • "10 Reasons Agents Reject Your Manuscript"--helping you learn what not to do during the submission process • "New Agent Spotlights"--profiles of literary reps actively building their client lists right now • 13 debut author success stories: Writers explain their paths to publication, so you can learn from their successes and see what they did right • Informative how-to articles on query letters, synopsis writing, voice and craft, platform and blogging, nonfiction book proposals, and more *Includes access to the webinar "Everything You Need to Know About Getting an Agent" from Chuck Sambuchino, editor of Guide to Literary Agents* In this 90-minute webinar, you'll learn how to compose a query letter, what makes up a compelling pitch, synopsis writing tips, how to research/find agents, and much more.

"A phenomenal read from beginning to end." - Sharon Sala, bestselling author, about Edisto Jinx Murder came in with the tide . . . Edisto Island is a paradise where people escape from the mainstream world. Yet for newly sworn-in Edisto Police Chief Callie Jean Morgan, the trouble has just begun . . . When a rookie officer drowns in a freak crash in the marsh, Callie's instincts tell her it wasn't an accident. As suspects and clues mount, Callie's outlandish mother complicates the investigation, and Callie's long-time friendship with Officer Mike Seabrook takes a turn toward something new--but is shadowed by the unsolved mystery of his wife's death. Everyone's past rises to the surface, entangling with death that cuts to the bone. The roar of the surf made Callie's steps soundless, her thoughts louder. Two and a half weeks on the job, and she'd lost an officer. Edisto hadn't sacrificed an officer in its entire history, and the first female chief had to be the one to break the record. She sniffled. Salty breezes began to clear her sinuses, but nothing could assuage the guilt clinging to her like the muggy air Sarah lived. Francis died. And somebody had to be disappointed at that freakish turn of events, because she suspected it was meant to be the other way around. Crime was for people who lived across the big bridge on the mainland. But whether the natives liked it or not, the brake lines were cut on Edisto. She didn't want to go down that path, but one of them might be a frustrated, unfulfilled killer. C. Hope Clark is the award-winning author of the Carolina Slade Mysteries and now the Edisto Island Mysteries. During her career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, she met and married a federal agent--now a private investigator. She plots murder mysteries at their lakeside home in South Carolina when not visiting Edisto Beach. Visit Hope at chopeclark.com.

Planning a reunion is going to get someone killed. . . Edisto Beach Police Chief Callie Morgan has no desire to relive her senior year and the nightmare of a murder and a suicide that shook her high school to its core. But when the reunion committee convenes on Edisto Beach for a planning retreat, she has no choice. Every person on the committee could be a suspect in the unsolved murder, and one classmate, now a bestselling author, threatens to weave them into a tell-all true crime novel. Until she disappears the first night of the committee retreat. Callie must sort fact from fiction in a race against the clock to find a cold case murderer who may have just killed again.

When the discovery of a body on a vacant lot puts an end to Police Chief Callie Morgan's surprise birthday party, Christmas week loses some of its charm. Not only does she know the dead man, he's a relation . . . of sorts. Soon she's juggling a murder investigation and a rash of burglaries that may have been committed by the mythical Edisto Santa--a holiday secret Santa, who may have taken a page from Robin Hood's book and begun robbing from the tourist rich and giving to the local poor. Since the suspects for both crimes are Edisto residents, no matter how delicately Callie treads, this holiday season will pit Callie against her beloved Edisto and leave her feeling like the Grinch, Scrooge, and Old Man Potter rolled into one. But she has no choice. Murder trumps Santa. This year Callie is making a list and checking it twice. Praise for C. Hope Clark: "A sparkling Edisto Island setting, a flawed heroine, a riveting mystery."--Karen White, New York Times bestselling author. Hope Clark's books have been honored as winners of the Epic Award, Silver Falcion Award, the Daphne du Maurier Award. "Murder, corruption, and page-turning intrigue . . . characters that bring a vivid literary element . . . and create a strong emotional response to their tangled lives."--Susan Cushman, author of Cherry Bomb and editor of Southern Writers on Writing. About the Author: C. HOPE CLARK has a fascination with the mystery genre and is author of the Carolina Slade Mystery Series as well as the Edisto Island Mysteries, both set in her home state of South Carolina. In her previous federal life, she performed administrative investigations and married the agent she met on a bribery investigation. She enjoys nothing more than editing her books on the back porch with him, overlooking the lake, with bourbons in hand. She can be found either on the banks of Lake Murray or Edisto Beach with one or two dachshunds in her lap. Hope is also editor of the award-winning FundsforWriters.com.

Hope Clark's books have been honored as winners of the Epic Award, Silver Falchion Award, the Daphne du Maurier Award, and the Imadjinn Award for mystery "Never short of rich characters and timely twists, this new series will keep the pages turning." —Julie Cantrell, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Perennials "Murder, corruption, and page-turning intrigue… characters that bring a vivid literary element… and create a strong emotional response to their tangled lives." —Susan Cushman, author of Cherry Bomb and editor of Southern Writers on Writing Quinn Sterling's father was murdered, and the Craven County sheriff—her uncle—botched the investigation. Now too many troubling questions remain for Quinn to walk away. Instead, she leaves her career at the FBI to take on her inheritance—a 3,000-acre pecan dynasty in the South Carolina Lowcountry. As the only heir she assumes the reins of the family business—while keeping an eye on her father's cold case, and her toe in the old game as a private investigator. With her two childhood friends, one now a caretaker of Sterling Banks, and the other a deputy sheriff, she managed to hold everything together until a blind client and a mentor from her early days pull her into a case that will jeopardize her friends, her farm, and her legacy, not to mention her life when her past meets her present. Author Bio: C. HOPE CLARK has a fascination with the mystery genre and is author of the Carolina Slade Mystery Series, the Edisto Island Mysteries, and now the Craven County Mysteries, all of which are set in the Lowcountry and her home state of South Carolina. In her previous federal life, she performed administrative investigations and married the agent she met on a bribery investigation. She enjoys nothing more than editing her books on the back porch with him, overlooking the lake, with bourbons in hand. She can be found either on the banks of Lake Murray or Edisto Beach with one or two dachshunds in her lap. Hope is also editor of the award-winning FundsforWriters.com.

A big city detective. A lowcountry murder. Peace, safety, a place to grieve and heal. After her husband is murdered by the Russian mob, Boston detective Callie Jean Morgan comes home to her family's cottage in South Carolina. There, she can keep their teenage son, Jeb, away from further threats. But the day they arrive in Edisto Beach, Callie finds her childhood mentor and elderly neighbor murdered. Taunted by the killer, who repeatedly violates her home and threatens others in the community, Callie finds her new sanctuary has become her old nightmare. Despite warnings from the town's handsome police chief, Callie plunges back into detective work, pursuing a sinister stranger who may have ties to her past. He's turning a quiet paradise into a paranoid patch of sand where nobody's safe. She'll do whatever it takes to stop him.

Fire steals her breath and took her husband years ago, but Edisto Beach Police Chief Callie Morgan will have to face the flames again when an arsonist stalks the beach. One fire could be carelessness, but three? Trouble is, the all-too-easy suspect may be an intellectually disabled young man who idolizes her in particular and law enforcement in general. With the town unsettled by the fires and a string of breaking-and-entering crimes, they're screaming for closure. They want someone's head on a spike, and Callie must fight against time and popular opinion to unearth the real arsonist, who is clearly willing to kill. Her island is angry, scared, and looking to her for answers. If she doesn't find them, Callie will be forced to pay a price. Praise for the Author: "Ms. Clark delivers a riveting ride, with her irrepressible characters set squarely in the driver's seat." —Dish Magazine on Echoes of Edisto "Page-turning…[and] edge-of-your-seat action… Prepare to be absorbed by Clark's crisp writing and compelling storytelling. This is one you don't want to miss! " —Carolyn Haines, USA Today bestselling author on Dying on Edisto Hope Clark's books have been honored as winners of the Epic Award, Silver Falcion Award, the Daphne du Maurier Award "Entertaining and compelling start of a new series. "—Anna Maria Giacomasso, NetGalley Reviewer on Murdered in Craven Author Bio: C. HOPE CLARK has a fascination with the mystery genre and is author of the Carolina Slade Mystery Series as well as the Edisto Island Mysteries, both set in her home state of South Carolina. In her previous federal life, she performed administrative investigations and married the agent she met on a bribery investigation. She enjoys nothing more than editing her books on the back porch with him, overlooking the lake, with bourbons in hand. She can be found either on the banks of Lake Murray or Edisto Beach with one or two dachshunds in her lap. Hope is also editor of the award-winning FundsforWriters.com.