depicted in his writing with responsibilities ranging from coach and yearbook advisor to principal and superintendent. His new ghost story/mystery is Blood on the Chesapeake. As the title suggests, the novel is set on the famous Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay, home to endless shorelines, incredible sunsets and some of the best sailing in the world. Blood is first in a new series of paranormal mysteries, The Haunted Shores Mysteries.Overbeck applied the Page 69 Test to Blood on the Chesapeake and reported the following:
From page 69:Follow Randy Overbeck on Twitter, friend him on Facebook, and check out his webpage.He stared out again and spied the two white and gold sails billowing in the breeze.When readers see the reviews or blurbs on my new novel, they will often find “creepy” (“an absorbing and genuinely creepy debut tale”—Zoe Sharp, British thriller writer) or “mystery” (“a spooky, atmospheric mystery”—James Benn, historical mystery writer) or “ghost” (“a good deal of old-fashioned ghost whispering”—William Kent Krueger, Edgar Award winner). What prospective readers will find less often is romance. Blood on the Chesapeake is an eerie ghost story and murder mystery, but it is also a tale of love and romance.
“Thank God,” he said and exhaled a long breath, his loud release of air sounding like the swish of the water.
The craft grew larger, moving silently across the water. Its front triangular sail, white with a broad gold stripe around the edge, ballooned with the wind, propelling the boat at a surprising clip. As the sailboat glided across the water, a lithe figure, clad in a white top and shorts with blazing red tresses flying behind her, stepped to the bow. She waved, and he felt his whole body respond. He watched as she lowered the sails and used the engine to ease the boat in.
“Ahoy, there,” Erin called out, “can you catch our lines?”
Darrell Henshaw had his heart broken. On the eve of his wedding to his voluptuous fiancé, Carmen, a fellow teacher at their high school in Michigan, he learns that she has been fooling around with his boss, the head coach, right there in their shared office. So Darrell decides he needs to get as far away from her as possible.
His desperate search lands him in Oxford, Maryland, a quaint, charming town on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. With a job teaching American History and coaching football and basketball—even if both teams are terrible—he thinks he’s found the perfect new start. That is, until he discovers the town holds an ugly secret, a ghost haunts his office and the bodies start dropping.
One thing he is sure of is that, after Carmen, he’s sworn off women. He’s had enough heartache for a while. Then he meets Erin and she melts his resolve.
In a few seconds, [Sara] reappeared at the family room door with a stunning, tall, twenty-something redhead. Her hair was tied in ponytail and pulled back from a near perfect oval face. She had graceful features, a long, slim neck and sprinkling of reddish-brown freckles that, rather than distract from her beauty, accentuated it. And two of the most gorgeous green eyes he’d ever seen.From that first encounter, he was hooked and, lucky for him, Erin felt the same way. Page 69 recounts the start of their second date, a romantic cruise on the bay, with Erin at the wheel. This page sets the tone for the love that Darrell finds in Erin, a strong, beautiful and tender woman and a partner who ends up saving both his heart and his life.
Writers Read: Randy Overbeck.
My Book, The Movie: Blood on the Chesapeake.
--Marshal Zeringue
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