Read the 1st Chapter of My New Book Here

For a free excerpt of my new mystery, just click on the link below (and happy reading, everyone!) 

Do Not Go Alone

It's Launch Day And 3 Subscribers Get My Book For Free (woohoo)

"There's a bullet in my head and it's really messing with my hairstyle…" 

So begins the second in my Posthumous Mystery series. This time the victim is 20-something party girl Maisie May who really shouldn't be dead. There's a pool party going on and she's missing all the fun.

As Maisie hovers overhead watching her loved ones splash about, she begins to wonder: who hated her just enough to shoot her then return to the pool as if nothing has happened?

Can you help Maisie uncover a killer before the creepy dead people lurking by the tunnel convince her to cross?

This is a fun, light-hearted whodunnit with lots of dark humour and a heart-wrenching twist. It's a stand-alone mystery, the follow-up to my first Amazon best-selling Posthumous Mystery Do Not Go Gentle and is now available (see more links below).

But First—Did YOU Win a Free Copy?

Last newsletter I casually mentioned that I'd love to hear your feedback on the cover and there might even be a prize in it for you. A few of you emailed me back with some lovely thoughts—"awesome", "cute" and "DEathLICIOUS" were my favourite responses—so I'd like to thank the following subscribers with a free e-copy of my new book: Linda M, Jackie T and Vicki & Q. I'll be in touch soon.

In the meantime, here's how ALL my beloved subscribers can get their own copy of the book. Just click on a retailer below:
@Amazon
@iBooks
@nook
@kobo
@smashwords and elsewhere

Thanks, once again, for all your support. I do hope you love it, I hope you find time to review it, and I'd love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to email me back or subscribe to my newsletter for news, views, discounts and prizes: calarmer.com

Happy reading everyone.
xo Christina

New Cover Reveal + Winner of My 'Name That Character' Competition (is it YOU?)

Best-selling author Liane Moriarty recently admitted at the Byron Bay Writer's Festival that she accidentally keeps using the same character names in her books, which include the #1 New York Times best-seller  Big Little Lies, which was recently turned into a HBO series starring Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon. Liane even used her doctor's name in one book, without realising it!

I feel her pain. The more books you write, the harder it is to keep track of character names, let alone concoct fresh ones, especially if your stories are crowded with characters as ours are. Which brings me to my latest competition…

Last newsletter, as a fun gesture (and because I'm a tad desperate for fresh monikers), I gave you all the chance to see your own name used as a character in my next book Do Not Go Alone—see the fabulous new cover, below.

New mystery available for pre-order

As always I was overwhelmed by the response and I am still overwhelmed (you can stop now, peeps, the comp is closed!). I adore your enthusiasm and have snuck a few of the quirkier names away for future use. Hope you don't mind. There were certainly some beauties. For now, though…

The Winner Is…
A big congratulations to LESLIE! You named the character 'Cheyzene' (Bob's hairdresser in Do Not Go Gentle). Well spotted, Leslie, and I'll be in touch with you directly via your email address, just to confirm you're the winner. You opted for your own name to be used in my next book, and so it shall. It's just a small character but it's a pivotal one, so look out for it in Do Not Go Alone, which is now available for pre-order here, and due for release on August 28.

As for everyone else, thank you once again for taking part and don't hesitate to pre-order your copy of the second in my new Posthumous Mystery series, which will be available as a pre-release at Amazon very soon. (And if you haven't tried the first, catch up on it now: Do Not Go Gentle.)

Also, don't hesitate to get in touch and let me know what you think of my new cover. I'd love to hear from you. There might even be a prize in it if you're lucky!

Congratulations, again, to Leslie, and happy reading everyone.
xo Christina

Get a Character Named After You In My New Mystery

Name A Character in My Next Book!

Ever longed for your 15 minutes of fame? How about the chance to see your name in lights? Well, I can't quite promise that, but I am offering all my beloved subscribers a chance to get your name into my latest mystery. Or, if you'd prefer, the name of someone you love (or loathe... vengeance can be sweet, right?)

I'm putting the finishing touches to my 12th mystery, the follow-up to my top-selling Posthumous Mystery, DO NOT GO GENTLE, and I want to write you into it! I'll just use your first name, and I promise the character will NOT reflect you in any way (they could be a baddie after all!) It's just a bit of harmless fun. Interested?

Here's How to Win:

TO BE IN THE RUNNING: Just name one character—any character EXCEPT the main character Lulu—from my first posthumous mystery Do Not Go Gentle (see Amazon link and book sample here).*

EMAIL ME: Just send me an email with the book character's name listed (first name is fine) as well as YOUR name (or the name of the person you want to see written into my next novel), and you will then go into the hat. At the end of the week—just one week, folks!—I will pick a random name out, and then assign that name to one of the characters in my second Posthumous Mystery, which is due out mid-August.*

I will then announce the winner in a later newsletter.* How cool is that? But do be quick! Offer lasts just one week!

Now, for more on the second book…

Book Title Reveal (drum roll please…)

Do Not Go Alone

by C.A. Larmer

'There's a bullet in my head, and it's really messing with my hairstyle…"

Thus begins the second in the Posthumous Mystery series. This time the victim is 27-year-old party girl Maisie who really shouldn't be dead. There's a pool party going on and she's missing all the fun. As she hovers overhead watching her loved ones splash about, Maisie begins to wonder: who hated her just enough to put a bullet in her head then return to the pool as if nothing has happened? Can you help Maisie uncover a killer before the creepy dead people lurking near the tunnel convince her to cross?

Due out: August 2018

Until then, happy reading everyone (and good luck!)

xo Christina

*Terms & Conditions: All entrants agree the author can use the winning entrant's first name only (or the name of their choosing) for one character in her next book. It may be a main character or a bit character, that is entirely up to the author. The book character does not in any way reflect the character of the winning entrant. The closing date for entries is Aug 5, 2018. The winning entrant will be notified in an upcoming newsletter of the author's choice, and will also be notified by reply email. The author's decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into after the winner has been announced. The wnning entrant will receive no payment and all copyright remains with the author. 

Win Up to 30+ eBOOKS and Gain Access to Deals & Steals

• 2 x Grand Prize "Gift Baskets" of ALL eBooks! 

• 30 x Winners of Individual eBooks 

I may rave about my love of cozy mysteries, but I also pen another crime series that's a little less cozy and a lot more cutting edge. The Ghostwriter Mystery Series stars feisty amateur sleuth Roxy Parker, a ghostwriter with a penchant for Merlot, a taste for murder, and an uncanny knack for being in the wrong place at the right time!

And this week, you can jump aboard with her in the 5th—and best-rated—Ghostwriter adventure of them all: Words Can Kill, for just 99c. Or, better yet, sign up with my mates at Authors Cross Promotion to be in the running to score a FREE copy of that ebook, plus 29 others. Yep, that's 30 ebooks, if you're lucky! Just click on the link, below:

AuthorsXP.com/giveaway

The offer lasts as long as the sale: from July 17-23, so don't hesitate. For more on Roxy and her fifth adventure, read on…

WORDS CAN KILL: A Ghostwriter Mystery 

Pack your designer luggage, we're heading to Europe for the fifth, fast-paced adventure in the popular Ghostwriter Mystery Series…

This time we're on a missing person's case, and it ain't no holiday. Hunky photographer Max Farrell has vanished into thin air, last seen in the arms of a blonde floozy at a Swiss mountain resort, and his best mate, Roxy Parker, is trying to play it cool. But when Max's flatmate shows up murdered, followed soon after by the floozy, Roxy realises Max’s life is hanging in the balance, and she is his only hope.

In the latest Ghostwriter Mystery (each one a stand-alone story in itself), Roxy heads to Europe with Max's hilariously self-absorbed sister. Together, they follow a series of clues that take them from the heights of Mt Pilatus in Switzerland to the azure Mediterranean Sea, encountering brash German police, secretive Swiss soldiers, and an Italian Lothario with evil in his heart.

Download your 99c copy at:

• Amazon

• Apple iBooks

• B&N nook

• kobo

• Smashwords & elsewhere: 

Win 70+ Beach Reads (No Need For Sunblock, You Won't Be Looking Up!)

This summer relax on the beach with more than just a good book, relax with 70 of them safely stashed in your ereader. Sound like your kind of thing? Read on...

I've teamed up with 69 fellow authors to bring you a whopping ebook giveaway that covers a HUGE range of genres, including my first posthumous mystery DO NOT GO GENTLE (the second comes out in August—stay tuned on that).

By entering, you'll also gain access to the AXP BOOK FAIR where you'll find more books from a range of genres on sale or free. Woof!

(2) Grand Prize "Gift Baskets" of ALL eBooks!

(100+) Winners of Summer Snoops Cozy Mystery Boxed Set!
70+ Winners of Individual eBooks (randomly choosen)

Just log into AuthorsXP or click here (and good luck!)

xo Christina

Survey Results + E-book Winner + Discount Mystery Sale

So, last newsletter I posed the proverbial question: are you a 'glass-half-full' kind of person or, like me, is your glass not even half-empty, it's well on the way to running dry?

As a crime writer, it seems only natural that I look at the dark side of life, but as a human I know I do this to shine a torch in the shadows and restore order to the world (or at least, that's the excuse I'm sticking to!)

How about you?

Well, thanks to your overwhelming input, now I know! What an intriguing bunch you are. I received hundreds of responses from right around the world and so many of you had such thoughtful insight into why you love crime books and what your outlook is like. And — here's the bit that surprised me — so many of you (about 60%) admitted to being empty glassers, like me. And you're fiercely unapologetic about it!

I also got some interesting reasons why you love and devour crime novels, including this from an Irish reader who told me the Irish are naturally both light and dark: "I read crime because I want to know why we are dark and why crime happens."

Another reader said she believes us half-empty types are there to "give some color, dimension, and depth to our glass is half full pollyanna people!"

One half-full respondent told me she reads crime for "the thrill of the chase" and another because she likes the "happily ever after" that comes with the final denouement.

Many of you read both 'cozy' and "hard core blood and guts mysteries", as one reader described it, while another said she can't read anything too dark or she's up all night (and by the sound of it, she's in good company). 

And I particularly liked this comment from a 'glass is three-quarters full person': "I read crime because I enjoy a puzzle, I enjoy the intrigue and it's good to see the bad guy get caught. I do enjoy humour in my reading so some levity is appreciated."

I hearily agree, which is why I always add a few laughs to every mystery I write. 

Now For the Winner! (Drum roll please…)

This is the fun part (and the hard part for me, because there were lots of names to pop in the hat this time!) This fortnight's winning respondent is: Renee*! If you're the winnng Renee, I'll be in touch via email shortly.

As for the rest of you? A giant THANK YOU for taking the time to share your thoughts, however dark or light. I do read each email that comes in, and I value each and every comment. They inform me as a person and they most definitely inform my writing!

Thanks again, everyone, for taking part and happy (dark or light) reading.

xo Christina

* Full name has been reserved for privacy reasons

Discount E-Book Deal (99c Now!)

This week I'm putting my latest e-book, Do Not Go Gentle, on sale for just 99c, starting from today. It'll be discounted at all good e-stores for two weeks, or just click on the links, below.

DO NOT GO GENTLE is a fun, fast-paced DIY mystery that implores the reader to help solve the crime before the victim is dragged, kicking and screaming, to the light. (She has a dreadful, sinking feeling her beloved 13-year-old son is the culprit and wants to know for sure before she heads off to eternity thinking she spawned a killer!)

This lightly written yet deeply moving whodunnit/coming of age story will be on sale for just two weeks, with the follow-up—Do Not Go Alone— on the stands in August.

COST: 99c  FROM: June 16—June 30

LINKS: @Amazon

@iBooks

@kobo

@nook

@smashwords etc