A dying convict’s last request thrusts small-town newspaperman Jefferson Morgan into a deadly maelstrom as he explores a fifty-year-old case of child murder — a wound his town still isn’t ready to scrape open. Under the heaviest deadline of his life, and amid threats from unexpected foes, Morgan must struggle with his own conscience to tell a story no matter the consequences, dig deep into the town’s past, and unveil a killer who’s managed to remain hidden in plain sight for almost 50 years.
Now a true crime bestseller, Ron Franscell began his crime-writing career with crime fiction. THE DEADLINE was his first mystery featuring newspaperman Jefferson Morgan, followed by its sequel, THE OBITUARY.
Mystery author Ron Franscell says the idea for The Deadline came to him in a dream
From the book: “Jefferson Morgan inhaled, wondering if particles of death floated on cemetery air. After a night of rain, the graveyard smelled like sweet resurrection. The morning sun drew out the damp, the dark and the ferment, and they mingled as they rose on the warming air. The long-dead floated in the June morning, cleansed by both clay and concealment in Wyoming’s ancient soil. He knew well that death in its various other forms was not so fragrant. He’d smelled most of them. Morgan was sure even the stink of Laddie Granbouche had mellowed.”
From the author: “Readers often ask when my ideas come from. In this case, a dream. Yes, I literally dreamed the basic plot of THE DEADLINE, although I hadn’t imagined it would be a book. I awoke and wrote it down, mostly because the dream made me think that maybe I wasn’t the newspaperman I wanted to be. A few years later, I stumbled upon my notes and the plot of this novel unfolded before me. In that way, it’s a deeper story than the usual genre mystery.”
“Shattered Lives With LadyJustice Donna Gore” Show With Ron Franscell
It was a great show on Shattered Lives with LadyJustice Donna Gore and bestselling author Ron Franscell. They talked about Ron’s WildBluePress books THE DEADLINE and THE OBITUARY, as well as his true crime masterpieces, such as The Darkest Night. Listen to the show here.
Contact Ron directly at: ron@wildbluepress.com
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