Randall Wisehart

The frigid weather across most of the country is causing many of us to cozy up with a book. Perhaps reading my latest book Murder on Greyhound Beach will warm you up. In this book, Rachel and Will are able to embark on a delayed honeymoon on the Gulf Coast, but when Rachel meets a friend, they find themselves in the middle of a beach mystery. A beach mystery doesn’t have to be read in a beach chair on the beach. You can also read it huddled under a blanket or next to a blazing fireplace.

Murder on Greyhound Beach evokes sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of the Gulf Coast. If you’ve ever been to Gulf Shores or Fort Morgan, Alabama, you’ll recognize some of the places, although in my book, some of the restaurants have been transplanted to locations that work for my mystery.

In this book, I imagined what it might be like if Rachel visited a friend who moved to the Gulf Coast. The problem is the boyfriend disappears, so Rachel looks for him. He doesn’t stay missing for long, but when he reappears, it’s with a lawyer and a dead body nearby.

If you’d rather read something more in line with the holiday season, you might want to try A Greyhound Christmas Mystery. It’s available as a ebook or you can order a hard copy directly from me. The paperback version has color pictures of all our Greyhounds and their stories.

In the meantime, I’m working on the next Rachel Chance mystery, A Slow Race to Justice. This time Rachel gets involved with a cold case and finds herself looking for a young woman who has been missing for two years. More to come about this new mystery.

I have just finished my third mystery, Greyhound Blues. I’ll be receiving the print galley soon and it should go on sale in just a few weeks. I have thoroughly enjoyed researching the history of the Starr Piano factories and the Gennett recording studio both of which were once located in the gorge in Richmond, Indiana. All my Rachel Chance mysteries include some local history and Greyhounds. For Greyhound Blues, I wondered what might happen if a local musician returns to town, determined to help establish a jazz museum on the location of an old recording studio. What if there was some jealousy mixed in? What if there were some shady activities and some greed involved? Then, what if some suspicion hits close to home? Rachel would have to get involved, wouldn’t she?

The biggest surprise for me was how the life of Jelly Roll Morton became more a part of the book after I did my research. What a fascinating character! He was instrumental (no pun intended) in the evolution of jazz in the United States.

It was fun creating characters that might (or might not) be suspects in the murder. A musician, a business partner, a spouse, an eccentric neighbor, a wealthy philanthropist, and more. This book includes some family drama, some jealousy and some greed – all active ingredients in this third Rachel Chance and Will Keller mystery.

Naturally, there will be more scenes with retired racing Greyhounds. Now that Rachel and Will are married, they have two Greyhounds. When I was writing the end of the book, I was thinking about how the Greyhounds might be involved in the capture of the killer. I think you’ll like how I worked the Greyhounds into the scene where the killer is captured.

I’m happy to announce that a book I wrote with friend and colleague Debbie Rickey is now on sale. The Habit of Passionate Teaching: Reflections on Teaching for Learning has been in the works for years. We interviewed and met with a number of teachers who shared what kept them in the teaching profession. We also shared anecdotes from our own teaching and leading experiences. We found some common threads and ended up writing about practices of passionate teachers that lead to the habit of passionate teaching.

I am scheduling book talks focused on Families of Two Fires, starting with a book signing on Saturday April 27 in Indianapolis at the Indiana Historical Society. This is my third historical fiction novel for middle grades students, but I hope readers of all ages will enjoy reading about early Indiana history.

If you’re wondering if I’m going to continue writing about Rachel Chance and her Greyhounds, the answer is yes. I’m currently working with an editor on a book that may or may not be titled A Jazzy Greyhound Mystery. I’m including some jazz history from Indiana in the early twentieth century. Have you heard of Jelly Roll Morton? If not, check out my third mystery which should be ready summer of 2024.

Families of Two Fires: Forging America’s Frontier 1776-1832 my latest historical fiction novel is now available for purchase through the Indiana Historical Society bookstore or Amazon. I found out so much I didn’t know about early Indiana history while researching and writing this book. I was especially fascinated by learning more about that period of history through the perspective of Shawnee, Delaware, and other Indigenous peoples. I pasted a link below from the Indiana Historical Society Press. You can follow it to give you a few of the highlights.

IHS Press Releases Young Adult Historical Fiction Book Targeting Middle School Social Studies Classes

A Greyt Deception is book two in the Rachel Chance and Will Keller mystery series. This time Rachel tries to solve a mystery involving a murdered college professor. When a former love interest sets his sights on Will Keller as a prime suspect, Rachel knows she has to find the real killer – even as danger threatens her and her beloved Greyhound Abby.

I added more interesting facts about Greyhounds in book two. Have you ever seen a Greyhound do a Zoomie? Abby demonstrates in A Greyt Deception. Since Greyhound racing is shutting down in most states in the United States, this time I had Rachel’s neighbor Charley talk about Lurchers. I think you’ll find the information about Lurchers interesting.

I also included another tie to local history in this book. This time, I included facts about the Underground Railroad. I mention Levi and Catharine Coffin, but I also make it clear that most fugitives from slavery ran away on their own or were helped by people who looked like them.

Here is a link to the trailer on my author page with my publisher BookLocker. You can also read the first three chapters of A Greyt Deception on that page. If you buy through BookLocker you get 20% off but they do charge for shipping.

I’m already working on book three in the Rachel Chance series and looking for a new local history connection to include.

I’m excited to announce I have copies of my first mystery, A Geyt Greyhound Rescue, available to sell in the Richmond, Indiana area. I am offering a discounted price of $15 for a limited time. You can also order directly from my publisher (link below) or from Amazon. It will be available in Kindle format but not yet. Feel free to contact me personally for a signed copy.

The setting of my mystery is Glen Falls, Indiana, but if you know the Richmond, Indiana area, a few things will be familiar. A county historical museum located in a former Quaker meetinghouse? Yep. A gorge that divides a town into two parts? Of course. But Glen Falls is a product of my imagination so I also include things you won’t see in Richmond.

Ever wondered about the history of The Whitewater Valley in Indiana? I include in this mystery a plot line that involves George Holman and Richard Rue who built cabins north of Richmond in the early 1800’s.

Interested in Greyhounds? Rachel Chance doesn’t just solve mysteries. She has also adopted a retired racing Greyhound, so I include in this mystery many facts and anecdotes about Greyhounds.

I will do an event in Richmond in the near future, but in the meantime, you may contact me if you’d like to buy a print copy of my mystery.

If you read my book, I would greatly appreciate it if you’d post a short review on Amazon and/or Goodreads.

Have you seen the trailer my publisher created for A Greyt Greyhound Rescue? If not, check out the link below to my page on the publisher’s site.

https://booklocker.com/12792

I’m happy to announce that my first mystery, A Greyt Greyhound Rescue, is now available. I am having copies shipped to me that can be sold locally. They should be here by mid-April. If you’d like to order a copy, you can use the link to my author page at the publisher. There is also an excerpt on my Booklocker author page if you’d like to check it out. Make sure you view the trailer and use the discount code at the end. The discount is good for a few weeks. The link to my Booklocker author page is here:

https://booklocker.com/12792

You can also order a copy through Amazon. See link below. It’s not on Kindle yet, but the publisher has an ebook version for pdf.

I’m working on creating an author page on Amazon and most of my future updates will be posted there.

I have a title for the book I was tentatively calling Hoosier Beginnings. The publisher (The Indiana Historical Society) wanted a title that would appeal to readers outside of Indiana, especially since the action takes place in what is now Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, and Virginia as well as Indiana.

It’s an interesting fact that when an author works with a traditional publisher, the publisher not the author creates the title for the book. I gave my publisher about several possibilities and they had a team look at my input and come up with some other choices. Authors that work with a hybrid publisher, such as what I am doing when I write my mysteries, choose their own titles. It’

Back to my historical fiction novel, I’m hoping a title not only grabs a potential reader’s attention but also hints at some themes in the book. Clearly fire and family are very important in this new book.

We started with this list of possible titles:

 From Fire to Freedom: Tales from Early Indiana 

Forged by Fire: Stories of Early Indiana 

Forging New Paths: Tales of Danger and Hope from Early Indiana History 

Forging New Pathways: 

Live Another Day: Tales from Early Hoosier History 

Paths to Danger, Paths to Freedom 

Forged by Fire and Danger: Tales from Early Indiana 

From Fire to Family: Tales of Danger and Hope from Early Indiana History 

From that list the publisher gave me four choices:

Forged by Two Fires: Finding Family on America’s Frontier, 1776–1832

Forged by Fire: Finding Family on America’s Frontier, 1776–1832

Forged by Two Fires: Fighting for Family on America’s Frontier, 1776–1832

Forged by Two Fires: The Bitter Struggle for America’s Frontier, 1776–1832

Then after ruling out all options because of other books with the same or similar titles, we agreed on a title of:

Families of Two Fires: Forging America’s Frontier, 1776–1832

I will receive a galley of the book next week and check it for final revisions and edits then send it back to The Indiana Historical Society for formatting in preparation for printing. It should be available within a few weeks. I finished writing this book in 2017, but some delays and then Covid really backed it up. It’s very gratifying to finally be at this point in the process. As soon as I know the final publication date, I’ll post it here and on Facebook.