Marlene M. Bell has never met a sheep she didn’t like. As a personal touch, her fans often find these wooly creatures visiting her international romantic suspense, thriller, and cozy mystery books as characters or subject matter.
Marlene’s multi-award-winning Annalisse series boasts numerous Best Mystery honors for all installments including the newest IP Best Regional Australia/New Zealand, and Global Gold Award for the fourth cozy mystery from down under.
Her children’s picture book, Mia and Nattie: One Great Team! written for the younger crowd, is based on true events from the Bell’s Texas sheep ranch. Suitable reading for ages 3 – 7 years and beyond, a Mom’s Choice Gold Award winner, and Eric Hoffer Award Grand Prize Short List winner.
Website & Social Media:
Website ➜ https://www.marlenembell.com
Twitter ➜ https://twitter.com/ewephoric
Facebook ➜ https://www.facebook.com/marlenembell
Goodreads ➜ https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17642396.Marlene_M_Bell
10 Things You Might Not Know About Marlene M. Bell
- A resident of California since birth, I moved to East Texas with my husband and 120 head of horned Dorset sheep and young lambs in April of 2012. We escaped an oppressive environment for ourselves and the livestock. And kept more of our income!
- Before starting my writing journey in 2010, I was not an avid reader, nor a creator in words. Back then, my hobbies included visual arts such as painting in oils and rug hooking.
- My first work of fiction took eight drafts and eight years to produce because I was not a reader. Currently, I have time to read around 40 books each year while in the process of writing novels. Reading in a wide range of genres has improved my storytelling abilities tenfold.
- I am reclusive and prefer to spend time at home in nature’s quiet surroundings. Our wooded ranch calms and opens the mind.
- I do not have children and tend to stay away from writing novels with babies and small children because I wouldn’t do them justice. Writing from personal experiences is my comfort zone. The exception is my children’s book, Mia and Nattie: One Great Team, written in 2020 for young kids ages 3 and up. A well-received story based on a bottle lamb we raised in the home. All entirely true—not a work of fiction.
- My novels include as many sensory details and strong visuals as possible to offer the most heightened and honest experiences to readers.
- I haven’t traveled to most of the places I write about. My books require extensive research done mostly from the coffee table books that I purchase.
- I’m a natural artist and began to draw and paint at the age of 8. My books are an extension of my artwork.
- A lot of my personality is portrayed in the Annalisse series main character. Because of life experiences, I have a tendency to write to older audiences with themes from my years growing up in the San Joaquin Valley. I was born in 1957.
- I collect antiquities like many of my protagonists. Our home is filled with antiques of all kinds which include furniture, a large sheep collection, and old, original paintings. If I can’t get my hands on originals, I purchase framed vintage prints depicting landscapes with sheep.
Title: A Hush at Midnight
Author: Marlene M. Bell
Publication Date: October 1, 2024
Pages: 368
Genre: Mystery
Marlene M. Bell brings distant friends together in the rural South only to have one of them become the victim of a brutal crime of passion.
Once celebrated for her show-stopping pastries and irresistible desserts, former celebrity chef Laura Harris is now making headlines for a far darker reason.
Laura has been accused of murder.
How could this petite chef have brutally smothered the beloved small-town matriarch, World War II ferry pilot veteran, Hattie Stenburg? Hattie wasn’t just a pillar of the community; she was Laura’s confidant and mentor. The shocking twist? Hattie had made recent changes to her will, bypassing next-of kin and leaving her entire fortune and historic estate to Laura.
As Laura scrambles to clear her name, she uncovers sinister secrets lurking beneath the town’s idyllic surface. The real murderer is always one step ahead, leaving taunting clues and threatening Laura to leave Texas—or face deadly consequences. With time not a luxury, Laura must untangle the web of deceit before the killer makes her the next victim.
A Hush at Midnight is available at Amazon.
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