Just A Stale Mate (Just (e)State Mysteries)

Just A Stale Mate (Just (e)State Mysteries)

"Thoroughly enjoyed this clever mystery... the characters are charming, diverse, and well-developed, and the story keeps you turning those pages!" -Sherry Hobbs, author of MAC and Bird of Passage -A traditional whodunnit mystery- When P.J. Whistler leaves her Appalachian village of Victoria, New Brunswick in the summer of 1969 to visit her godson's family in south-western Ontario, she isn't prepared for her keen observational skills to be in demand for solving a murder. But when her godson, homicide consultant Inspector Philip Steele, and his mother Lary, who is now running their family farm, the "JUST (e)STATE", as one of the first therapeutic riding schools in North America, ask P.J. to help with the investigation of a young man who fell to his death from a railway trestle, she is happy to oblige. The many suspects, from as far as Yorkshire, who are staying at the rural retreat outside Sandytown all seem to have a motive. Or, at least a secret. And what of the constant Dickens references behind which they all hide? Will Phil and P.J., along with Detective Trevor Ames (closeting a secret of his own), be able to 'unearth' the killer? Or, is what's buried on the retreat's property destined to remain there forever? All author royalties from the sales of this book (in any format) from Dec. 2024 to Dec. 2025, will go to the Canadian Cancer Society in memory of two people who asked to be characters in the novel. 2023 Maxy Awards Runner-Up - Mystery & Crime Fiction 2023 CIBA Mystery & Mayhem Book Award Semi-Finalist " Just a Stale Mate is a polished and sharply written novel that showcases Johnson's skill in crafting a compelling murder mystery." -Literary Titan (5 star review) "Secrets reaching back a quarter of a century merge with a criminal enterprise set in the present day of 1969..." -Karen K. Brees, author of the WWII MI6 Agent Katrin Nissen series "...a rich mix of humour, action and mystery." -Leigh Turner, author of thrillers Blood Summit and Palladium "Thoroughly enjoyed this clever mystery... the characters are charming, diverse, and well-developed, and the story keeps you turning those pages!" -Sherry Hobbs, author of MAC and Bird of Passage "Set in a traditional 'country house' that is meant to rehabilitate, not exterminate, the intrigue and deception here make it a real whodunnit with many hidden literary clues." -Remy C. Garner, author and former social worker J. Ivanel Johnson is the pen name for an author/playwright living with disability who now resides on a remote farm in the Appalachians of New Brunswick. She strives always to write about marginalized and culturally-diverse characters, many based on people from the First Nations, inner city or mountain communities where she has previously lived and taught across the UK, USA and Canada (including in SW Ontario on a rural property such as the one described in this novel.)Her historical Canadian musical Rough Notes, also set in both New Brunswick and Ontario, was just workshopped professionally thanks to a national grant, and the first book of the JUST (e)STATE mysteries (actually taking place after Just A STALE MATE, in 1971) came out in September of 2022 by Black Rose Writing.