Murder in Maspalomas - meet the characters

Murder in Maspalomas is a crime fiction novel which starts in Dublin where Matt, an ordinary contract accountant finds himself contacted by the Sullivans, a notorious drug gang who are chasing a debt.

The gang are led by Anto, a thirty something who came from a broken family, he broke it. His enforcer, Ciaran is his second in command and a right nasty piece of work who carries a piece wherever he goes. Rocky, in his early twenties wants to be Ciaran and wants to get tooled up. He carries some menace, is unpredictable and is watching and waiting his moment to slip into Ciaran's shoes. Frisby is the teenage runner for the gang. He carries drugs, messages and weapons without question. He's street wise but has a lot to learn about life. This trip will test his mettle and prove his worth to the gang.

Matt is married to Louise and together they ordinarily live in West Dublin in an apartment block on the fourth floor and life is the normal type of living, days at work and bills to pay. Once the drugs gang trace his whereabouts and seek a sum of money Matt hasn't got things get hot in Dublin and force Matt into skipping the country. Trouble is, Louise is totally unaware of the gang and the debt. Matt will get round to telling her but just not now. She believes she's just going on a holiday brought about by her incessant moaning about Irish winters. How wrong could she be?

Other characters enter the fray throughout the book and Fran, Anto's girl and Rodriquez's an old pal of Matt's play pivotal roles in the story as it develops. You'll just have to read the book to find out who does what to whom and who lives and who dies.

Maspalomas Hotel sun loungers in February

Murder in Maspalomas- July Sale

It’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the Southern Hemisphere. This can mean only one thing: It’s time for the 9th annual Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale!

The sale kicked off last Saturday July 1 and runs through to an end of day July 31. I’ve agreed to include “Murder in Maspalomas“ in the sale so for one month only it’s available at $2.99 at Smashwords website and can be purchased in numerous formats ( epub, mobi(Kindle), Irf, Online Reader and pdb.

You can “Look Inside” the book and read up to 15% of the content.

Good reviews received. Its a perfect light Summer holiday read!

Murder in Maspalomas feedback

You'll see from my early reader reviews (they have their own page on this site) that the book is getting a positive reception. I've also had feedback from readers who haven't completed a formal review posting but felt strongly enough to email me with their kind words. 

Make up your own mind up by visiting any of the Amazon, Kindle and Smaswords websites and having a "look inside".
read Chapter 8 which is provided here on this site to give you a flavour of the writing. It's where Anto, the drugs gang leader, gets a lucky break whilst in a lift and in conversation with an old lady. 

Do take advantage of the coupon offer for July and get reading this murder story for a mere $2.99 using the coupon. To avail of this special offer please enter the coupon code RE39R prior to completing the checkout. Click here to purchase

Murder in Maspalomas is released

Hot off the press!!

For a Kindle copy click here

This story of an ordinary guy that gets dragged into the world of crime and menace shows just how easy it is to slip into that parallel world which co-exists with our own and which we are normally completely oblivious to.

Ahead of schedule, this new crime murder mystery novel "Murder in Maspalomas" is now available to buy at the following sites (click on sites) and in the following formats:

Kindle have it

Amazon.com have it in paperback

Amazon.co.uk have it too! in paperback

Smashwords have it and the formats available are epub, mobi (Kindle),  pdf,  lrf,  pdb, txt , Online Reader , original document

All that's missing is an audio book and that's in the pipeline as we speak!

Remember that in Kindle and Smashwords you can "look inside" the book and read the first few chapters. I will be publishing extracts on this site over the coming days and weeks to give you a flavour of the writing.

Review Comments so far:

Murder in Maspalomas crime novel - how it came to be written

The book  virtually wrote itself. The holiday in Maspalomas last year was memorable in that the sunshine was high in the sky in January on the Canary Island of Gran Canaria while back in Europe rain, snow and storms were the order of the day.  The island and in particular Maspalomas gets 300 days of sunshine annually and it was sun every day of our stay.

I felt uplifted just being on the island in our winter season and set about keeping a daily diary recording what we saw and did. I then created a fantasy world of crime and mayhem that layered on top of my real island experiences. My imagination ran riot as I superimposed on the island the arrival of a drugs gang from inner city Dublin and their relentless search for their prey.  I can assure you that I saw not a single act of criminality during our stay. Not so much a piece of paper being dropped on the street.

The islands occupants keep the place spotless, sandy beaches, cafes and towns and the tropical flowers and plants are colourful and planted throughout the towns and villages. The hotels and self catering apartments and bungalow complexes where some of my books main events occur, are in reality, very clean and well managed. The value for money shines through too.

The prices are very reasonable, of course, depending on where you go. Bring a spare suitcase. The alcohol is served in Spanish measures and is tax free so extremely cheap for Irish and other Europeans. On top of all that they have Lidl and Aldi supermarket branches so what is cheap anyway is cheaper still in those shops. I'm not saying you  buy on price alone but a litre of wine was less than .90 cents in the Lidl! I'll definitely be returning to Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands next winter.

Amazon have now created a link to my book so click here to preview the finished article which is officially launched next Friday 30th June 2017.

Pool in Maspalomas bungalow complex

Murder in Maspalomas, Gran Canaria - 7 days to book launch

This crime novel starts in Dublin but swiftly moves to the sun drenched island of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands,autonomous community of Spain located on the Atlantic Ocean, 100 kilometres (62 miles) west of Morocco. 

In fact most of the books action occurs in Maspalomas where the drugs gang have 3 days in which to find their quarry and recover the money. 

Tension mounts as the hours and days tick by and no one is found. Will they find Matt and will he cough up the cash or will he end up being the "murder in Maspalomas"? The clock is ticking......

7 Days to the book launch on Friday 30th June 2017.......

Maspalomas ancient lighthouse

Flowers growing wild in the town 

Bungalow Complex 

Maspalomas Dunes that roll up to the beach

7 Days to the book launch on Friday 30th June 2017.......

Mark Rice interviewed

What books are on your summer reading list this year?
 Mark Rice John Connolly's "A song of Shadows" is one that I'm currently reading. A bit dark but I'll stick with it.
How do you deal with writer’s block?

Mark Rice Writer's block is an issue for all writers and in my case I only write when I have something to write about. I'd rather not put pen to paper if I have no decent story to tell. If I encounter writers block during a story I'll go for a run and I can guarantee you I'll return with ideas. I then grab a piece of paper and scribble them down before I forget them!

What’s the best thing about being a writer?
 Mark Rice It's early days to my writing career but so far the best thing about writing is the ability to capture life's incidences, big or small, that I see as interesting and to record it for ever in a short story or novel. Then to have readers respond with praise is a bonus I always enjoy and am grateful for.

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?
 Mark Rice Becoming a writer is a precarious career choice so start with writing as a hobby and only take the leap full time when you have another source of income or savings. To start with I'd recommend you set up a free Blog site and post regularly. Then when you want to self publish use Create Space.com which will take you, for free, from a word doc manuscript to a published book, bar coded, ISBN no. and distributed in all formats on Amazon and Kindle. Don't forget that Amazon is only 50% of the world's book sales so publish on Smashwords too as it distributes to the rest of the world. Of course promote your book on Goodreads.com!

What are you currently working on?
 Mark Rice My first novel "Murder on Maspalomas" is out on 30th June 2017 so I am finalising the marketing of this book. I have another murder story to tell and I will get my teeth back into that one in the coming days. I'll let you guys know when it's due for release.

How do you get inspired to write?
Mark Rice Life inspires me, unknowingly. I watch the world go by and just notice things that others see but dismiss. I write it so I don't lose it forever.

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?
Mark Rice I was sitting at the airport and waiting for my wife to return with a coffee and I began to write what was going on around me. The diary I kept of our holiday in Maspalomas in the Canary Islands formed the basis of my book "Murder in Maspalomas" with my vivid imagination adding the murderous happenings and creating the characters involved.

Thanks for reading this piece and I hope you will feel inspired to write a blog, a story,  a book or a poem as I truly believe we each are unique and have many stories to tell. Tell yours today.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Murder in Maspalomas

New fiction crime murder mystery book due out on 30th June 2017 on Amazon and Smashwords and in all formats.