Books published by Noir Cafe Press, LLC

WRUNG OUT DS Tom Guthrie investigates the death of a young man. During the investigation, Guthrie goes too far when interviewing a suspect and instantly regrets his actions. But it's too late to save his career-the last straw. He's forced to take early retirement, rather than being officially kicked out of the force. The action takes place in Dundee. MURDER IN THE SMA' GLEN Having left the police, Tom Guthrie is on a weekend break in the Sma' Glen. A powerful storm hits, and everything is shut down. Guthrie's peaceful weekend is shattered when an injured man stumbles into the small hotel and dies. Guthrie finds himself being interviewed instead of doing the interviewing. But he's not content with sitting back.

When the body of Bobby Gant, head of research and development for a local outdoor clothing manufacturer, is found tied to the rocks below the high tide line at the foot of the cliffs of Arbroath, a stretched Police Scotland find themselves with no-one to head the investigation.Tom Guthrie found retirement from the police difficult to deal with, so he started a private investigation company and ended up consulting to his former employer.His assignment to the Gant murder case is not well received by some of those he used to work with. Guthrie's liaison - Alisdair McEwan, a fresh-faced and sometimes over-enthusiastic officer, desperately wants to impress, but the pair run into a web of lies, and less than helpful colleagues of the murdered man. In the midst of his frustration with the lack of progress in the murder investigation, a fire in an empty warehouse kills a homeless man. This is dumped in Guthrie's lap - and he's not too pleased. The second investigation threatens to derail the murder case.Guthrie now has to juggle two deaths, a young partner, an antagonistic boss, and an unexpected relationship. Tools of the Trade is the first full-length outing for Tom Guthrie. Set in the atmospheric surroundings of Angus in the east of Scotland, the weather, the buildings, and the people all play their part to help - and hinder - Guthrie in his task of solving a murder. 

Thank you for being a writer, an author. The world is made all the more joyful, entertaining, and exciting with your creations in it.As an author, I love creating, but I also enjoy the creative process - how an author writes. As I wrote my first three stories, I quickly came to understand my working process.People say there are two types of writers - pantsers and plotters. That seemed very black and white to me. On the one hand, you have those who sit at the keyboard and write the story as if they're watching a movie play out in their mind's eye. On the other, some authors like to plot out every last move of their characters. And never the twain shall meet. I think the reality for many, however, lies somewhere in between.And that's where THE WRITER SYSTEM began.WRITER stands for World, Rival, Idol, Twists, End, and Resolve.Each one of these elements will help you craft the big picture of your next novel. From this basic Outline, you'll create ever-more detailed Synopsis by questioning each point within it. From the final Synopsis, a 4-Act Structure is developed, hitting all of the beat points required of a good story.Other elements included in this planner are scene and character sketches, plot and character arcs, notes on scene construction, a writing timeline tool (or the dreaded deadline!).There is plenty of space for your notes in each section and several pages at the end of this notebook for your moments of inspiration on the fly.I hope you enjoy using this tool in your writing, and I'd love to hear if you have any feedback or suggestions on how to make this an even more useful resource.