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Shelley Costa Mysteries 

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Trust a woman to cut through the nonsense, pursue the guilty, and
carry a gun.

New and Selected Works

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So pleased to announce that "The Knife Sharpener" (AHMM July 2023), has been selected for this prestigious annual anthology. Available through the usual online retailers. Scroll down for more info about the tale. 

Marian's back. . .

. . .only this time, when she returns to Carthage to investigate a missing person case, she finds herself dropped into the high-stakes world of medical malpractice litigation. When the crime becomes murder, Marian's hunt for the killer leads not only to some surprising truths but also to the loss of friends, her own comfort zone -- and very nearly her life. When will the killer stop? And when will Marian? An exciting sequel to No Mistaking Death.
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Available at the usual online retailers

Truth, art, beauty, friendship -- what's worth the risk?

On assignment from the government, Marian Warner heads to a small town in Ohio to investigate the hostilities erupting when an old mission house is nominated for landmark status. Soon the battle goes from nasty letters to a double murder, and Marian discovers this small-town crime strips away the defenses it's taken her years to erect -- and those of someone she loves. 

Available at the usual online retailers

"Shelley Costa delivers a sharp, elegant and thoroughly gripping mystery — beautifully plotted and packed with vivid characters.  No Mistaking Death will grab you from page one."

 

— Daniel Stashower,

Edgar award-winning author

". . .a taut exploration into good, evil, and the inescapable truth . . . that sometimes, they wear the same face.

--Kylie Logan, A Trail of Lies (St. Martin’s Press)

"The Knife Sharpener"

A crime story set during
the Battle of Gettysburg

 
https://alfredhitchcock

mysterymagazine.com/
A new Kindle edition!
A New Kindle Edition!
 
When her best friend, an antiquities curator, is murdered, NYC editor Val Cameron tracks the leader of a secret religious cult bent on stealing holy relics in pursuit of power.

". . .razor sharp and wickedly hilarious. Highly recommended."

--Seattle Book Mama

Available at the Kindle Store

on Amazon

Truth
matters.


It isn't always comfortable.

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About

Themes

“Anything I want to read or write comes down to three words: Good Person Struggling. With institutions that don’t make sense. With relationships that strip the heart bare. With the wickedness we can never quite believe exists. Out of that story of struggle, hope starts small, sometimes stays small, but that’s all we really need.”

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Photo credit Rebecca Bloomfield Photography

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SHELLEY COSTA is represented by

Talbot Fortune Agency
180 E. Prospect Ave. #188
Mamaroneck, NY 10543
Tel. 914-282-0455

Bio

SHELLEY COSTA’s work has been nominated for both the Edgar and Agatha Awards, and has received a Special Mention for The Pushcart Prize. In addition to several mystery novels, she is the author of short stories in The Georgia Review, North American Review, The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Blood on Their Hands, and Odd Partners. With a PhD in English, Shelley was on the Liberal Arts faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Art for nearly twenty years.

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Image: Merlin's Cave, Tintagel, Cornwall

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