Publishers Site
🔗 http://www.secondwindpublishing.com/Staccato.html
Deborah is a three-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize. Her award-winning short stories appear in numerous literary and mystery print publications, as well as mystery and literary anthologies. Her debut thriller Staccato, presented by the small independent press Second Wind Publishing, was released September 15, 2009. Part Cherokee Indian, she spent her summers in North Carolina where the series is set.
Professional affiliations include: Mystery Writers of America (SoCal), Sisters in Crime, Desert Sleuths (SinC, AZ). She is also moderator for the Scottsdale Writers Critique Group.
<p><span style="color:rgb(15,17,17);font-family:'Amazon Ember', Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;">First, he led his own uprising. Then he captured a forsaken king. Henry had no intention of taking the crown for himself; it was given to him by popular acclaim. Alas, it didn't take long to realize that that having the kingship was much less rewarding than striving for it. Only three months after his coronation, Henry IV had to face a rebellion led by Richard's disgruntled favorites. Repressive measures led to more discontent. His own supporters turned against him, demanding more than he could give. The haughty Percies precipitated the Battle of Shrewsbury which nearly cost him the throne—and his life.</span><br style="color:rgb(15,17,17);font-family:'Amazon Ember', Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;" /><span style="color:rgb(15,17,17);font-family:'Amazon Ember', Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;">To make matters worse, even after Richard II's funeral, the deposed monarch was rumored to be in Scotland, planning his return. The king just wouldn't stay down and malcontents wanted him back.</span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:#000000;font-size:10pt;">"Staccato" is staccato: sharp, crisp, almost percussive--like gun shots, like a cane tapping on the floor or striking a shoulder, like light reflected off a black Porsche Targa, like the piercing cold of a Great Smoky Mountains night. <br /><br />Two years into his career as a world-class concert pianist, young Nicholas Kalman finds his absent father's journal. It's written as a warning to Nicholas, or perhaps a confession. "Beware of this man you call, Uncle," it says. <br /><br />The uncle is Alexander, the tyrannical, club-footed, cane tapping maestro and mentor. He's crafted the talented Nicholas into a dazzling musician who crushes the competition in every venue. He drinks. He expects perfection. He lashes out when angry. <br /><br />Alexander demands unquestioning obedience from Nicholas, the cloyingly submissive second-string pupil Timothy, the imposing butler Sampte, his niece Elaine, sheriff's deputy Steven Hawk, and everyone else who dares enter his ten thousand square foot mansion in the Great Smoky Mountains. <br /><br />Deborah J. Ledford's thriller tears through mountains and music with a steady rhythm in perfect time with the maestro Alexander's music room metronome. Nicholas finds a his lover's body in his Porsche. Timothy perfects his Prokofiev to steal the limelight. Sampte does what he's ordered to do. The metronome ticks and the cane taps as the bodies pile up, as Nicholas searches for a killer and runs for his life, as Hawk investigates a grim case, as Alexander orchestrates notes and lives, as readers turn "Staccato's" pages, quickly, crisply, sharply throughout Ledford's Toccata-like virtuoso performance.—Malcolm Campbell-Knight of Words Reviews</span></p> <p></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:#000000;font-size:10pt;"></span></p><br /><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:#000000;font-size:10pt;">What a debut novel! The style is unlike anything available in mysteries today. The story of a handsome pianist who learns his idyllic life is far from it. A definite page-turner with fascinating characters that draw you in and despicable villains you want to get their comeuppance! Mansions, fast cars, mysterious foreigners, mistaken identity... all the elements that make Staccato a pitch-perfect mystery! – 5 star Amazon review –C.A. Osman</span></p>