Esther Luttrell mystery writer

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EVENTS

WATCH FOR ESTHER LUTTRELL'S NEW CRIME AND SUSPENSE THRILLERS SLATED

FOR SPRING 2025 RELEASE

A former movie queen swears her producer husband's death was an accident, but was it? Katlin Wallace, a friend of the family, is in Hollywood to lend a hand - so how it is that her life is suddenly in jeopardy? A conniving sister of the victim turns out not to even be a relative. A lady professor mourns the death of a philandering ex she still loves - the producer. Katlin gets a punch in the jaw, a crack on the head, and the challenge to expose a killer before the killer can provide an ending more chilling than anything dreamed up by a Hollywood scriptwriter. Murder in the Movies is a thriller that keeps the reader guessing right up to the very last page. LEARN MORE...

MURDER in the MOVIES

a Katlin Wallace Mystery

A good deed turns to terror when a former movie queen

is accused of murder and the rescuer becomes the hunted.

Betty Laird, Amazon Reviewer - "For those who like whodunnits, Murder in the Movies is a must! Luttrell's electric wit and her familiarity with the people who inhabit Hollywood make this novel a delight to read. Writing as Katlin Wallace, Ms. Luttrell grabs the reader's interest in the very first paragraph and doesn't let it go for the entire 300 pages. It's a lively ride!"

"Romance and Suspense! I loved reading this book! I had to wait to finish it when my hubby was home because I was alone and got those ‘somebody’s watching me’ prickles along my spine." - Amazon Review by Marcia Gitchell

Frankey Griffin, Amazon Reviewer - "This book is impossible to ignore, I read it in one day/night and still find myself rereading it over and over. There is so much depth and wisdom to be plumbed, that you will find yourself pondering the many 'hidden', dual meaning/messages for many weeks."

The HAUNTING of LEIGH MAXWELL

Leigh Maxwell refuses to believe strange things happening to her are the result of the obsession of a young, emotionally unstable man at the factory where she works. Her former fiancé, attorney Mark Hollingsworth, urges her to hide away in his isolated lakeside cabin. Assured that her whereabouts are a secret from all but Mark, she follows his advice. The peace of mind she sought, however, turns to terror when a storm and a killer strike at once. LEARN MORE...

Esther begins this first State of the Murder mystery series in Kansas City, Missouri and Topeka, Kansas. Dena Brooke is drawn into finding a killer before the killer can find her even though she is only in the Midwest as her best friend's guest. No one told her, when they ask her to leave her Florida home, that it was - an invitation to a murder. LEARN MORE...

INVITATION to a MURDER

a Missouri State of the Murder mystery

EXCERPT: Jordan lay on the ground in a pool of blood. A topless girl stood over him, crying… Behind her, the street shone eerily with light from a dozen tall blue lanterns...

Joe C., 5-Star Amazon Reviewer - “INVITATION TO A MURDER is one book where you don't see the ending coming at all. A real page turner! ”

Double Jeopardy is also a double treat. Novella number one, Yellow, Green, Blue and Dead, is set in NoTo, a trendy art district in North Topeka, Kansas, known for fine paintings and distinctive antique shops. What it isn’t known for is murder. All of that changes when a university student becomes victim number four and the body is found by a broadcast intern at the radio station where Valle Stonewell is known as the voice of WRYT. In her attempt to interview everyone connected with the case, she stumbles upon facts known only to herself—and to the killer. While the police pursue a murderer that psychologists compare to London’s Jack-the-Ripper, Valle sets a trap for the one they least suspect. If she’s wrong, it could mean the end of her career—and her life! Novella number two, Murder in Magenta, picks up with the same cast of characters - plus a few new colorful ones - and the same setting, two years later. Handsome, young, emerging artist Louis Quinlan is killed in his studio apartment, in the heart of the eighteenth century neighborhood. Police dismiss it as a robbery gone bad until his grieving fiancée, Deb Goodman, is targeted by a madman, and her best friend, Valle Stonewell, is marked for murder as well. For readers who love suspense, Double Jeopardy is jam-packed with it. The only thing wrong with its last page is that it's over.

DOUBLE JEOPARDY - 2 novellas, 1 great book

5 STAR AMAZON RATING

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Murder on Burnett's Mound

a Kansas State of the Murder Mystery

Bay of the Moon

a Katlin Wallace Mystery

Mystery Writer

ESTHER LUTTRELL

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ABOUT ESTHER

Riviting thriller Yellow, Green, Blue and Dead is set in NoTo, a trendy art district in North Topeka, Kansas, known for fine paintings and distinctive antique shops. What it isn’t known for is murder. All of that changes when a university student becomes victim number four and the body is found by a broadcast intern at the radio station where Valle Stonewell is known as the voice of WRYT. In her attempt to interview everyone connected with the case, she stumbles upon facts known only to herself—and to the killer. While the police pursue a murderer that psychologists compare to London’s Jack-the-Ripper, Valle sets a trap for the one they least suspect. If she’s wrong, it could mean the end of her career—and her life! A masterfully woven suspense. (Available ONLY as an e-book) LEARN MORE...

Valle Stonewell, part-time radio personality and full-time aspiring mystery writer, gets more than a lesson in crime detection when a university student is murdered and Valle suspects the killer is someone that everyone least suspects.

YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE and DEAD

a Village of Artists Mystery

EXCERPT: Instinctively, she stepped back, bumping into the desk. Their eyes met and held. She was almost certain she saw regret in his expression, but she knew better than think she could win him by appealing to his emotions.

I wish you painted,” he said. “I hate to waste a murder.”

Someone in North Topeka’s trendy gallery-and-antiques district is getting very good at the art of murder. Handsome, young, emerging artist Louis Quinlan is killed in his studio apartment, in the heart of the 18th century neighborhood. Police dismiss it as a robbery gone bad, until his grieving fiancée, Deb Goodman, is targeted by a madman, and her best friend, Valle Stonewell—a fellow disc jockey at NoTo’s radio station WRYT—is marked for murder as well. For readers who love suspense, Murder in Magenta will keep you guessing to the very last page. An epic thriller, the story picks up on the cast of Yellow, Green, Blue and Dead one year later. (Available ONLY as an e-book) LEARN MORE...

MURDER in MAGENTA

a Village of Artists Mystery

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Wind slammed and whistled around him, bent the trees, sent their lighter branches swaying to the left then to the right, like a flagman’s warning: Don’t go there! Don’t go there!

Sometimes the person to be feared the most is the one you think you know the best.

Who shares your morning cup of coffee?

When Chris returned to the home his soon-to-be ex-wife it appeared he had the best of intentions. He only came to mow the five acre lawn. Didn't he? What started as the perfect relationship, ended as a chilling revelation. How could she have missed the warning signals? How could love so perfect turn so deadly?

EXCERPT: “Opening my eyes was one of the most difficult things I’d ever done. My lids weighed a ton each. I struggled to focus. That’s when I realized I was face-down, staring at the floor. I wasn’t afraid or even concerned. I was puzzled.

I lay motionless in that position, hardly breathing, trying to understand what was happening.

As my vision cleared, I saw the tips of black shoes only inches from my fingers.”

A STRANGER in the HOUSE

one of two short stories in ebook Promises and Deception

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A TABLE OF TALENT in TOPEKA!

l to r: MARK BOUTON, retired FBI agent, remembered for his role in bringing down the Oklahoma Bomber, is creator of the Cosmos action-adventure series. Multi-gifted author DENNIS SMIRL leans heavily toward the writing of sci-fi thrillers. However, it is his brilliant short story, Small Murders, that Esther Luttrell selected for the title of her first suspenseful anthology. Award-winning Scottish novelist, IAN HALL, contributes the title story for Esther's second anthology with his fascinating ice station based crime short, Case of the Howling Husky.

Ian Hall has never been more chilling, or more thrilling, than his masterful writing of an ice station based Case of the Howling Husky. Mike Graves weaves plots-with-a-twist in The Leaves Never Lie and his short, short story Nighty Night. Emerging author, Marcus Jay, introduces hard-hitting Braxton Carter in action-packed The Weapon & the Wound. Vicki Julian brings readers a relationship tale of Double Deception, while acclaimed sci-fi writer Dennis Smirl conquers a new genre for himself with Murder at the Liberty Ballroom. Mystery lovers will delight in these thrilling stories spun by 6 first-rate suspense writers.

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CASE of the HOWLING HUSKY

a Saratoga Classic anthology of mysteries

Edited by Esther Luttrell

SMALL MURDER

a Saratoga Classic anthology of mysteries

An ebook anthology of short stories you will wish were full novels

In this Saratoga Classic ebook anthology, mystery writer Esther Luttrell presents a treasury of chilling, suspenseful, and downright delightful, tales of fiction.

Award-winning Scottish novelist Ian Hall takes you to his old stomping grounds to deal in a dash of espionage. The master of sci-fi fantasy, Dennis Smirl, takes a turn at spinning two spine-tingling short stories, each chockful of mystery and delicious intrigue. C.R. Kennedy is one of two women writers in this Saratoga Classic presentation. Her flair for mystery hints of her rightful place alongside Agatha Christie and Daphne du Maurier. Marsha Henry Goff’s unique take on marriage and murder is laced with chilling irony.

"Editor Esther Luttrell, herself a prolific mystery writer, has assembled, and published, five of the best crime and suspense short stories on the market today."