By, Trilla Cook
‘Carnage goes Coastal’ – a new book for Kingwood author
– Wigglesworth pens sixth Claire Gulliver series novel –
Kingwood resident Gayle Wigglesworth recently released her sixth novel in the Claire Gulliver Mysteries series, “Carnage Goes Coastal,” which is published by Koenisha Publications.
Wigglesworth created a character, Claire Gulliver, travel enthusiast and bookstore owner, and throughout her six novels about Claire, this character experiences many dangerous mystery-solving adventures.
In her latest novel “Carnage Goes Coastal,” Claire, is about to embark on the “happily ever after” chapter in her life with retired CIA agent, Jack Rallins. Little does she know that the chaos to ensue would involve Jack’s daughter, Karen.
In this excerpt, Karen has been trying to convince herself that no one is trying to kill her (and the baby she is carrying), but what happened next convinced her otherwise.
“When she reached the city she decided to splurge on a taxi. At her corner she handed the driver the fare, wrestled her wheelie bag to the curb, leaned over to pull up the handle and then turned to cross the street to her building.
She froze in her tracks. Where she expected to see her building, she saw a temporary chain link fence, rooted in blocks of cement, enclosing the blackened remains of a destroyed building. The third floor, her floor, wasn’t even there. She sagged against the handle of the wheelie bag, gasping, trying to breathe as her brain struggled to take in what her eyes saw. Her apartment was gone! The building was destroyed.
She didn’t know how long she stood staring at the ruins before turning away to trudge down the street.”
In her desperation, after several suspicious events, Karen calls her father, but when was he, a CIA agent, ever around when she needed him? However, much to her relief, this time when she calls a woman answers and offers Karen hope.”
It’s a mystery why anyone would trade life in the corporate world for mystery writing, but that’s exactly what Gayle Wigglesworth did. After 40 years in the banking industry, Wigglesworth was determined to turn her mystery writing ideas into award-winning masterpieces. She gave up her highly regarded corporate position in banking to follow her dream. She has now solved half a dozen mysteries with Claire.
“A while back it seemed that there were several stories in the papers about pregnant women who were killed by their husbands before the babies were born,” said Wigglesworth. “I just couldn’t imagine why these men decided to get out of their marriage and parenthood in that way. It seemed so unnecessary in this day to solve their problem this way. I wanted to use it as a plot point and at the same time finalize some of the issues I had not resolved from previous adventures, so I activated Jack’s daughter’s role, Karen, in order to explore what could have happened. This plot is a stand-alone story, so a new reader doesn’t have to have read the previous books to enjoy this one. However, readers of the previous adventures will be pleased to have some of the open issues resolved to their satisfaction,” she said.
The first five novels in the Claire Gulliver series include “Tea is for Terror,” “Washington Weirdos,” “Intrigue in Italics,” “Cruisin’ for a Bruisin” and “Malice in Mexico.” She has also published a stand-alone mystery novel about a pottery studio, which is titled “Mud to Ashes,” and a cookbook titled, “Gayle’s Legacy, Recipes, Hints and Stories Culled from a Lifelong Relationship with Food.”
A former art student turned banker, Wigglesworth rose to senior vice president before she took an early retirement to write her mystery books. In addition to writing, she has spent many years in pottery studios perfecting her skill as a potter. She now spends her time writing, traveling, reading and being a grandma. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America.
When she isn’t writing new books or promoting her existing books, she is with her husband and visiting with her grandchildren.
For more information, visit Wigglesworth’s website at www.gaylewigglesworth.com.