Richard Houston

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Dogs, Mysteries, and More!

Richard Houston Box Set

I’m always happy to promote regional authors, and even happier when there are dogs involved! Richard Houston is an Amazon Top 100 author living in the Ozarks (the Missouri Ozarks, that is) and writing mystery fiction set in the Ozarks and in Colorado.  Best selling author Dianne Harman says A View to Die For is “simply one of the best books I’ve read in a long time.”

This box set is on pre-order special for just $4.99 right now,with an automatic download on December 6th. (The price goes up to just $6.99 on the 6th.)  And–just in case you prefer buying one book at a time–each of the titles below are hyperlinks which will take you straight to the Amazon sales page. Happy reading!

 

A View to Die For

A View to Die ForJake Martin is not your ordinary sleuth. He’s an ordinary guy with an extraordinary dog. He’s trying to make the best of a divorce and mid-life crisis when he gets a call at two o’clock Sunday morning from his mother. His sister has been arrested for the murder of her fourth husband, and his father is near death. Thus begins an adventure that takes Jake and his golden retriever from their Colorado retreat to a backwater town in the Missouri Ozarks where they search for cold-blooded killers, a cache of gold coins buried by Jesse James, and the love of a beautiful nurse.

 

 

A Book to Die For

Book to Die ForThis time the story takes place in the foothills of Denver. Jake is accused of manslaughter and he has to prove the accident was really murder. Along the way he encounters a poaching ring and falls in love with a beautiful game warden.

Amazon reviewer M. Brown has this to say: “A great read [with] mystery, action and humor. The characters were well developed and realistic, having both positive and negative traits. And Fred steals the show, he is an awesome dog. The mystery continues throughout the entire book and is not easily solved. There are twists and turns that keep you guessing.”

 

A Treasure to Die For

Treasure to Die ForThere is a treasure high in the Colorado Rockies waiting for someone to find it. Jake Martin couldn’t care less. Since the death of his wife, all Jake wants is to be left alone in his mountain cabin where he and his dog, Fred, can get on with life.

But when it becomes known that the location of the treasure is encrypted in a message left by a 19th century miner, people begin to die, and Jake’s good friend and neighbor becomes the number one suspect. Can the amateur sleuths decode the message and stop the murderer, or have Jake and Fred finally met their match?

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I’ll be back next week with still more dog-themed mysteries. Before that, I’m heading out to my local independent bookstore Nightbird Books to celebrate Local Author Day and visit with readers and writers from 10:30 a.m. through 1 p.m. on Saturday, December 5th. If you’re in the area, I hope you’ll drop by and say hello!

 

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Dogs are Bestsellers!

“Mystery, action, and humor … a great storyteller.”

Richard Houston, the bestselling author who visited with us last month, is making headlines again. His first two books in the “To Die For” mystery series are #1 and #2 bestsellers in the “cozy animal mystery” category on Amazon. The series features an amateur sleuth and his canine sidekick, a gorgeous Golden Retriever named Fred.  Congratulations, Richard; we’re excited for you!

Bestselling author Richard Houston does it again!

Bestselling author Richard Houston does it again!

In case you missed the May 5th post about Richard and his beloved dog Fred (who inspired the series), you can find it again here. (Or, if you’re feeling adventurous and have some time) you can browse backward through the posts on this page until you find Richard’s post. Plenty of great books–and dogs–to see along the way!

The first in the series is A View to Die For, and the second is A Book to Die For.  And now, Richard, the BIG question: how soon can we read book #3 in this great series?  I’m looking forward to more of Fred’s adventures with Jake!

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Let’s Get to Know Richard Houston

Dogs, treasure, and murder–this week’s featured author brings it all together in his Amazon bestselling series!

Richard Houston, Author

Richard Houston, Author

From carpenter to software engineer to writer, Richard Houston’s career path has been an intriguing journey. Along the way he honed his creative writing skills by taking every class he could, learning the art and craft of poetry, short fiction, and now novels. In each of his works you’ll find a dog included as a major character (which makes him an ideal guest for my blog!). Richard now lives and writes at his lake home in Missouri where he and his wife are raising their granddaughter and two dachshunds.

Here’s Richard, telling us about his series:

 Like most English students (my college minor), I’ve always wanted to write a book. It only took me thirty years.  I started my first novel shortly after we moved to the Lake from Colorado. I had been working on several novels using Colorado as the background but never got beyond the first chapter. Then shortly after moving to Missouri I discovered a cave on our property. This was about the same time that the History Channel was airing an episode of Jesse James and the Golden Circle and how they had hid some of their loot in Kansas. Well, I thought, why not Missouri too. These guys were from Missouri — could they have hid money on the Osage? The result is A View to Die For, an Amazon Bestselling Mystery and #1 Cozy Mystery after its release.

Readers have said they find my writing humorous, descriptive, and most of all they love the way my characters are developed. My latest novel has them laughing one minute and crying the next. (Yes, several readers have said it brought them to tears.) My books are listed as cozy mysteries, so there’s no explicit sex or violence. You might find a character or two using some mild four-letter words. I’d recommend the series to readers thirteen and older. You’ll see characters continued in the series, and you can also enjoy each one as a stand-alone novel.

 

The “To Die For” Series

Great mysteries with an unlikely hero & his canine sidekick

A View to Die For coverA View to Die For Outsourced software engineer, Jacob Martin, is trying to make the best of a divorce and mid-life crisis when he gets a call at two o’clock Sunday morning from his mother. His sister, Megan, has been arrested for murder, and his father is near death.

Thus begins an adventure that takes Jake and his golden retriever from their Colorado retreat to a backwater town in the Missouri Ozarks where he gets on the wrong side of a sheriff deputy after hiring a crafty lawyer who gets Megan released on a technicality over a suicide note. Then, just as Jake is ready to go back home, she drops a bombshell with a story straight from a Louis L’Amour novel about a treasure hidden by Jesse James.

A Book to Die For features Jake Martin and his golden retriever, Fred, from Houston’s best seller, A View to Die For. Jake is not your ordinary sleuth. He’s an ordinary guy with an extraordinary dog. This time the story takes place in the foothills of Denver.

A Book To Die For cover

Jake is accused of manslaughter and he has to prove the accident was really murder. Along the way he encounters a poaching ring and falls in love with a beautiful game warden. The characters are memorable and the plot is multilayered. It keeps the reader guessing who dun-it until the very end. Read Chapter 1 here.

SPECIAL OFFER:

Get A Book to Die For at a special, limited-time promotional price of just 99 cents through May 8th.  And on May 18th, you can get A View to Die For (the book that started the series) FREE via a BookBub promotion.

In Loving Memory Fred (2000-2013)

In Loving Memory of Fred (2000-2013)