Silicon Valley Mysteries by Marc Jedel Book Tour and Giveaway :)
Chutes
and Ladder
A
Silicon Valley Mystery Book 2
by
Marc Jedel
Genre:
Cozy Mystery
When
a camping trip uncovers a murder, this amateur sleuth is stuck
putting out the fire …
Marty
Golden enjoys time with his nieces, but he wanted to spend the
weekend with his new girlfriend — not chaperone a Girl Scout
camping trip. Once he stumbles upon the corpse of a friend in the
woods, the outdoors adventure becomes an open-air disaster. When the
police label it an accidental death, the meticulous Marty vows to
investigate the murder. After all, it’s poor manners to let your
friend’s death go unsolved.
On
the hunt for clues the cops ignored, Marty uncovers a disturbing
connection to himself. And as he digs deeper, a misbehaving pup, a
kooky cousin, and a maniacal ninja put his survival skills to the
test.
Will
Marty unravel the mystery before the killer, or his imagination, gets
to him?
Chutes
and Ladder is
the side-splitting second novel in the Silicon Valley cozy mystery
series. If you like quirky sleuths, wacky side characters, and
laugh-out-loud moments, you’ll love this offbeat whodunit.
Buy Chutes
and Ladder to
decode a great mystery today!
Marty Golden, protagonist
in the Silicon Valley Mystery
series, is known for his outstanding attention to detail, but
sometimes his powers of self-delusion overwhelm even him. Get the
first chapter free for any of my novels by signing up for my mailing
list at www.marcjedel.com.
Chutes and Ladder
is a fun, light story about a good guy, who wants a nice, quiet life
and to spend more time with his new girlfriend. When he stumbles
across his friend’s dead body, his life begins to spin out of
control as a misbehaving pup, a kooky cousin, and a maniacal ninja
put his survival skills to the test. After
a few minutes, I felt someone staring at me but noticed no one nearby
looking at me. I’ve never understood how you could feel a stare.
Was that some remnant of powers from long-ago human evolution that
had faded? What other superpowers had we lost? Were we ever able to
fly? I got excited about this possibility and almost mentioned it to
Meghan until I felt the stare again.
Wary,
I glanced to the side. A person painted all in gold was staring at me
while he stood like a statue outside a store named Southern
Treasures. I stared back, careful not to blink. Performers like him
entertain the crowds by freezing long enough for a new fool to walk
by before scaring them with a sudden movement. I was not going to be
that fool. Not today, at least. I couldn’t hold it any longer. I blinked. This guy was good. He
hadn’t moved or blinked in over a minute, unless he timed his blink
for right when I did. “Why
are you staring at that mannequin?” Meghan leaned over me to get a
better look. Startled,
I double-checked that she was looking at the same thing. “Are you
sure that’s a mannequin? It looks like a real person painted in
gold.” Meghan
scoffed. “It’s missing ears.”
Uncle
and Ants
A
Silicon Valley Mystery Book 1
Mysterious
attacks. Mischievous nieces. Can
a clueless uncle catch a tech-savvy killer … and be home before
bedtime?
When
a freak accident hospitalizes Marty
Golden’s sister and condemns him to
babysitter duty, he thinks it’s just another case of hardwired bad
luck in Silicon Valley.
Until a suspicious murder suggests the mishap was no mere
coincidence. Something must be done.
Too
bad this quirky, fashion-backward
uncle isn’t exactly hero material.
Convinced
his sister is in mortal danger, this
amateur sleuth follows clues to an
oddball array of suspects. Armed with nothing but an eye for detail
and powers of self-delusion, Marty
tangles with gangsters, a cantankerous school secretary, and a
perplexing woman he can’t help but fall for. Glitches in his
investigation seem like a piece of cake compared to dinner-prep and
bedtime stories with his two precocious, pre-teen nieces.
Can
Marty catch the culprit, save his sister, and get his life back in
order before he gets unplugged?
Uncle
and Ants is the first novel in
a refreshingly modern mystery series set in Silicon Valley. If you
like clever humor, sassy side characters, and average Joes facing
extraordinary circumstances, then you’ll love this twisty mystery.
Buy Uncle
and Ants to login to a fresh,
funny mystery today!
**Only
.99 cents!!**
I realized I hadn’t updated my own, college-aged kids, Amanda and Eli, on their Aunt Laney’s status in the hospital.
GROUP TEXT TO AMANDA, ELI MARTY: Girls at my place. Laney will be fine soon. Ice cream truck driver ok but truck totaled
AMANDA: Glad she’ll be ok
ELI: Yea. Good that both will be ok. Truck got what it deserved.
AMANDA: You used to like ice cream trucks :) Best prank ever! #EPIC
ELI: Childhood trauma
AMANDA: Never saw you run so fast
ELI: Thought truck had finally stopped at our stop sign and I could catch it
MARTY: She really got you
ELI: Who knew I had such an evil sibling
AMANDA: *insert evil laugh here*
Amanda had burned Eli with an impressive prank in middle school. Every day that summer, the ice cream truck raced past the house after lunch with the loud, iconic music creating an almost Doppler-like effect as the truck roared past. Ten years old at the time, Eli desired nothing more than to have the experience of buying an ice cream cone from the truck all by himself. He’d rush out the door, cash in hand, whenever he heard the truck, but never managed to flag the guy down. The driver must have used his truck to practice for Nascar. One July weekend afternoon, Amanda found the ice cream truck music online, then set her speaker in the hallway outside the bathroom door while Eli showered. She hit play just as the shower turned off. He raced out the front door with his towel barely hanging on, only to discover no truck in sight and his sister’s riotous laughter thundering from the doorway. She’d pulled a world-class prank on him. Eli got over it, but not the disappointment of his futile endeavors to score an over-priced, freezer-burned Drumstick. Although his mother and I would never have let him, Eli would have succeeded if he’d stood in the middle of the street waiting as the truck raced toward him. The truck’s automatic emergency braking system would have stopped it without hitting him … Like Laney’s car should have stopped on its own without hitting the truck. How could Laney have broadsided a truck? Today’s cars all have automatic braking with advanced radar systems, not like the early versions when I grew up. And, for that matter, didn’t delivery drones also have autonomous controls to steer them away from collisions? Laney’s accident was starting not to feel very accidental. I scrambled to locate Sergeant Jackson’s card and call him. It went straight to voicemail. I left him a rambling message asking him to check out what went wrong with the drone’s collision prevention system. I also suggested the ice cream truck driver could be a possible suspect, although this only made sense if Laney was part of a bizarre conspiracy/thriller movie. In the real world, ice cream trucks didn’t target people or have problems driving. Unless they were on a Rocky Road. Heh heh.
Marc
Jedel writes humorous murder mysteries. In his high-tech marketing
roles, he's also written fiction. These are just called emails, ads,
and marketing collateral.
In
his family, Marc was born first — a fact his sister never lets him
forget, no matter what milestone age she hits. For most of Marc’s
life, he’s been inventing stories. Some, especially when he was
young, involved his sister as the villain. As his sister’s brother
for her entire life, he feels highly qualified to tell tales of the
evolving, quirky sibling relationship in the Silicon Valley Mystery
series.
Family
and friends would tell you that the protagonist in his stories, Marty
Golden, isn't much of a stretch of the imagination for Marc, but he
proudly resembles that remark.
Like
Marty, Marc lives in San Jose, the heart of Silicon Valley, where he
writes within earshot of the doppler effect of the local ice cream
truck. Unlike Marty, Marc has a wonderful wife and a neurotic but
sweet, small dog, who much prefers the walks resulting from writer’s
block than his writing.
Visit
his website, marcjedel.com, for free chapters of upcoming novels,
news and more.
Character Post from Megan Tran, niece
of protagonist Marty Golden, in Chutes and Ladder.
Recently I caught up with Megan, the
young niece of Marty Golden. Although Marty is the protagonist in my
new humorous, cozy mystery book, Chutes and Ladder: A Silicon
Valley Mystery, I thought Megan’s perspective might be
interesting.
Marc (author): Hi, Megan. Thanks for
talking to me.
Megan: [looking at phone] Yup.
Marc (author): What do you want to
be when you grow up?
Megan: I keep changing my mind.
Before, I wanted to be a race car driver. They can drive their cars
as fast as they want and don’t get tickets on the highway like my
mom. Last month, I thought I wanted to be a nurse because they help
people get better and they can tell visitors what to do. I’m good
at telling people what to do.
Marc (author): So, have you changed
your mind?
Megan: Yes. [looking up]. Now I
want to be a doctor. I saw this woman doctor help some boy on an
airplane. That was really cool. And, she got to stand up and walk
around even though the flight attendant told me I had to sit down.
Doctors get to be in charge. That’s more me.
Marc (author): I understand your
Uncle Marty had a crazy week. Have you talked to him?
Megan: Why does everyone want to
know about him? He went on a Girl Scout camping trip, found some dead
guy, and then rushed around all week trying to figure out what
happened. Big deal! Everything is always super crazy for me. Try
being a little sister around here, why don’t you? Last week was
Halloween and Uncle Marty kept messing up our plans. This Saturday is
my birthday party. I can’t decide if I want it to be a Herbie the
Love Bug party like ‘Sunshine’, my mom’s old car, or
Frankenstein Monsters. My mom’s getting angry that I can’t
decide. What do you think?
Marc (author): Oh yeah. Marty
mentioned that to me. Happy Birthday. So, how old will you be?
Megan: Did he tell you to ask me
that? He doesn’t remember how old I am and he’s always asking me.
Ooo, it makes me mad. Uncles should remember how old their nieces
are, shouldn’t they?
Marc (author): Yes they should. But
your Uncle Marty isn’t all bad, right? Didn’t he get you this new
puppy, Buddy?
Megan: [squeals and hugs Buddy]
Yes! That was so amazing. I love Buddy. He’s our new Labrador
puppy, but he already weighs like sixty pounds. I told Uncle Marty
Buddy would be my best friend. [Hugs Buddy]. But, my mom doesn’t
always like him. Buddy can be a troublemaker.
Marc (author): What’s he done this
time?
Megan: Well, nothing today. That
I know of. So far. But last week, he escaped out of his dog crate,
jumped on the stove and turned on the gas. The firefighters had to
come to the house. Three fire trucks! Buddy was unconscious on the
floor. Mom says we’re lucky there wasn’t an explosion. And our
neighbor won’t walk near our house now. It’s super funny. She
parks her car down the street and she’s sniffing the air when she
rushes out of her house.
Marc (author): Have you read my
new book, Chutes and Ladder? It’s about your uncle
and you’re even in it.
Megan: [looks up from her phone]
What?
Marc (author): My books. Have you
read them?
Megan: Nah, I like to watch
YouTube videos. Your covers are cool, though. Maybe I’ll read them
later. Is it about me? You know it would be funny if it’s about me.
Marc (author): Yes, it sure would be
funny. But they’re more about Uncle Marty and how he solves the
mysteries while juggling his work, his family, his girlfriend, and
not getting killed.
Megan:
Ok, never mind then. Hey, Buddy, come back here. [Runs off after
dog.]
Marc
(author):
Well, I guess that’s all we’ll get from Megan today.
My
books, Chutes
and Ladder
and Uncle
and Ants,
are humorous murder mysteries. Silicon Valley is not your typical
cozy mystery locale and Marty Golden doesn’t fit the normal profile
of a mystery protagonist. Despite finding himself thrust into
challenging situations, Marty isn’t exactly hero material. He has a
wonderful combination of wit, irreverent humor and sarcasm mixed in
with nerdy insecurities, absent-mindedness, and fumbling but
effective amateur sleuthing skills. With an active inner voice and
not a lot of advanced planning, he throws himself into solving
problems. Sometimes, he even succeeds.
Chutes
and Ladder,
book 2 in the
Silicon Valley Mystery series,
can be read standalone. It and Uncle
and Ants
are free to Kindle Unlimited readers. Serf
and Turf,
book 3 in the series, will be released in mid-October 2019 so this is
a perfect time to catch up. Buy them on Amazon at:
amazon.com/gp/product/B07PHNT7XM.
For more about my books or me, please visit www.marcjedel.com.
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the tour HERE
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