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Death In Vegas by Christopher Meeks (Now in Audiobook!)
Publisher: White Whisker Books (October, 2019)
Category: Murder Mystery, Crime Thriller, Las Vegas
ISBN: 9781499124551
Tour Date: Mid October-November, 2019
Available in: Audio Book & ebook, 176 Pages
Description Death In Vegas by Christopher Meeks
First published in 2014, In A Death in Vegas, the president of BenBugs, a company that specializes in beneficial bugs for organic gardening, discovers a young woman dead in his Las Vegas hotel suite. She had worked as a sexy lady bug at his convention booth—and he had nothing to do with her death.
While that’s being investigated, the FBI raids his booth on a money-laundering scam that he knows nothing about, either. Soon, the coroner doesn’t have good news. The police and FBI are against him—and his wife cannot be found. He flees to find the answers.
Highly acclaimed, Death In Vegas is being released as an audio book in October, 2019!
Guest Review by Grace Dee of Death in Vegas
I didn’t intend to read this book in a single day, I swear it was an accident! I just sat down thinking I would read the first few chapters and before I knew it, well, let’s just say I was roped in.
I’m a big fan of anything mystery-related. I love whodunits, detective shows, and true crime, all of it. So, when I tell you I’ve never read a mystery novel quite like this before, that should really mean something.
The premise is as follows: Patton Burch is the head of a beneficial bugs company (the kind of bugs that they use to promote healthy and organic growth in gardens) who heads out to a garden show in Las Vegas in order to sell his product to buyers. His wife convinces him to hire a young, beautiful model to dress up in a sexy ladybug costume and stand around at his booth to basically just drawn in men like a moth to a…well, you get the picture.
The model, Chatterley, turns out to actually be pretty interesting (as well as just pretty) and she and Patton hit it off together. She innocently spends the night in his hotel room and the next morning when he wakes up, he finds her dead in his room.
Thus, the “death” in ‘Death in Vegas.’
Of course, Patton is an instant suspect to the police who assume that he was having an affair with Chatterley among all sorts of other untoward and ungentlemanly things. Of course, nothing actually happened between Patton and Chatterley but the police don’t want to believe that. Suffice it to say this is a twisty one that ended up being resolved in a way that I never expected from the beginning.
Wish I could give this more stars but for now I will have to stick with 5!
Trailer Death In Vegas by Christopher Meeks
Praise for Death In Vegas by Christopher Meeks
“Patton is easy to like right from the start. I felt myself feeling sorry for him. In a sense I started routing for him with all of his luck not going his way. I found this mystery to not only be a mystery but a mystery dosed with a bit of comedy and a love story.”-Becky Willis, What You Talking Bout Willis
“DEATH IN VEGAS he reaffirms the fact that Christopher Meeks can take the most quirky combinations of crime and humor and mold them with his magic pen into a novel that simply defies criticism. He has the gift to mold characters with such extensive backstories that after only a few pages as each new character is introduced they become part of the surround-sound family into whose story we have wandered. Meeks is a thorough-going Pro! “-Grady Harp, Amazon Hall of Fame
“A suspenseful story that culminates in a life-or-death situation. Five Stars!” – Jim Chambers, Amazon Top-10 Reviewer
“You can always count on Christopher Meeks for a well written novel; this time Meeks excels at bringing almost a farcical edge to the humor in A Death in Vegas.” – Lori Lutes, She Treads Softly
Interview with Author Christopher Meeks
What initially got you interested in writing?
While college is not for all people, the University of Denver was made for me. I took the required classes, not really sure where I was going, when I had to write an essay for a class on my hobby. Are you kidding me, my X!?!Q hobby! How boring is that? In fact, I was angry.
So I made up a hobby. I said that I loved kicking chunks of hard-packed snow in the winter that built up behind car tires. I went into the various kicks I used to dislodge the chunks, and I explained types of chunks as well as the joys of the hobby. It was all tongue-in-cheek, but I’d show that professor.
At the next class after we turned the essay in, the professor said he had an essay to read. He started reading mine, and everyone in the class started laughing. I figured I just got an F, but at least I was going down in flames.
Then the professor said everyone’s essays were boring except the one he read. He said don’t write the obvious. I received an A. That essay changed me. I signed up for creative writing classes, and ever since, I aim not to write the obvious.
How did you decide to make the move into being a published author?
Decide? Now that I teach creative writing, I can say that many students want to know after their first assignment how do they get an agent, and how much money can they make? For many, perhaps, the decision to be published comes with the notion they can be famous.
Then again, I was shy and afraid I wasn’t good enough, so I started as a screenwriter in a screenwriting class at the University of Denver. After graduation, I moved to L.A., telling myself I won’t nail my first screenwriting job in two weeks but surely two months. Now add years to it. Once I had a few scripts commissioned, I realized how poorly screenwriters could be treated. You didn’t keep the copyright to your scripts if you sold them, and producers or actors could change scripts at will and whim. It wasn’t for me.
Next, I tried playwriting. I loved it. I loved everything about theatre, the rehearsing where my plays simply got better, thanks to dramaturgs, directors, and actors. My plays improved during rehearsal. However, there’s little money in theatre, especially in Los Angeles. It’s fun as hell, though.
What I really wanted to do was write fiction. I started with short stories and sent a number of stories to literary magazines, constantly getting rejected until I wasn’t. I have a story now in the latest Rosebud magazine, available in Barnes and Nobel stores. (Yes, people still go to brick-and-mortar shops.)
My short stories attracted an agent, who convinced me to write a novel. Now I have published five novels and two collections of short fiction.
What do you want readers to take away from reading your works?
I want readers to feel good, inspired even. I not only want to entertain, but also to get readers thinking about what it means to be alive and loving. People can live fully and in the present moment.
What do you find most rewarding about writing?
I love how writing forces me to think and feel. I write, therefore I am. I enjoy when readers send me a note to say the story meant a lot to them. Writing can be as important as brain surgery.
What do you find most challenging about writing?
Every day is a challenge. Can I write with excellence again? Can I make myself and others laugh, feel sad, reflective, surprised, and so much more?
I’m a skier, too, and in skiing, you have to live in the present moment or you might hurt yourself or die. When you’re on the snow, wind in your face, the sound of your skis under you, and you’re aiming yourself down a mountain and surviving, you’re alive. I feel the wind in my face, too, when I write.
What advice would you give to people want to enter the field?
As mythologist Joseph Campbell said, follow your bliss. If you want to write stories, learn how stories are made – perhaps take classes, get feedback, and just write, polish, and write some more. Believe that you can do this. I was no genius at the start, but I kept writing, taking the road less traveled, less obvious, and enjoying the process. Enjoy the slope.
What ways can readers connect with you?
You can connect to me soul-to-soul by reading my books. If you want to contact me, just go to chrismeeks.com.
About Christopher Meeks:
Award winning author, Christopher Meeks has had stories published in several literary journals, and he has two collections of stories, Months and Seasons and The Middle-Aged Man and the Sea. He also has a new short story collection coming soon.
His novel The Brightest Moon of the Century made the list of three book critics’ Ten Best Books of 2009. His novel Love at Absolute Zero, also made three Best Books lists of 2011, as well as earning a ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Finalist award.
Chris’s two crime novels, Blood Drama and A Death in Vegas have earned much acclaim. He has had three full-length plays mounted, and one, Who Lives? had been nominated for five Ovation Awards, Los Angeles’ top theatre prize. Mr. Meeks teaches English and fiction writing at Santa Monica College, and Children’s Literature at the Art Center College of Design. To read more of his books.
Mr. Meeks teaches English and fiction writing at Santa Monica College, and Children’s Literature at the Art Center College of Design.
Website at: www.chrismeeks.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Christopher-Meeks-212382392140974/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christopher.meeks1
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MeeksChris
Buy Death In Vegas by Christopher Meeks
Amazon-ebook and paperback
Audible-Coming soon
Barnes&Noble
IndieBound
Giveaway Death In Vegas by Christopher Meeks
This giveaway is for the winner’s choice of one print or ebook copy of the book. Print is open to the U.S. only and ebook is available worldwide. There will be 3 winners. This giveaway ends November 1, 2019, midnight pacific time.
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