A Free Novella

Murder on the East China Sea

A thrilling mystery full of sexual betrayal, loyalty and redemption.

When you get a friend in trouble… You’re responsible to get him out.

Whatever the cost!

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Mystery Author

Mark Wm Smith

An overeducated, blue-collar cowboy, I grew up on along the banks of the Yellowstone River in Eastern Montana. Raised by a long haul trucker and a bartending waitress, I learned the hard ways of the modern frontier, scraping life from the unforgiving high chaparral.

On occasion, I lived down the street from the last whorehouse in the West, spit dust from the end of a trail drive and stood beside the hardened lawmen facing down anarchist rebels. My stories are composites of people I have known, exaggerated by the thrills of a good tale.

By Mark Wm Smith

Murder of the Prodigal Father

The First Connor Pierce Murder Mystery

Connor Pierce came home to bury his estranged father. When the the details of Dixon Pierce’s perverted last hours add up to murder, Connor reaches out to the high school cohorts he abandoned, one a local deputy, the other an ex-lover. Together, they set out to solve a mystery no one cares about. Intrigue, passion and indifference threaten to ruin his investigation, and one of them might get him killed.

Can Connor survive his father’s philandering legacy?

Coming Soon!

Available Aug 1, 2023

Murder in the Glass Castle

A Connor Pierce Murder Mystery

After a major setback trying to get his dead father’s foreign car dealership back on track and prevent bankruptcy, frustrated and resentful car salesman Connor Pierce must leave a key sales opportunity in limbo to help his sister.

In the wild Montana mountains near the Canadian border, the suspected kidnapper is murdered and his sister is accused. Connor must face off with the local lawmen, human trafficking mobsters and a mysterious killer to free his sister of a crime he can’t believe she’d commit.

Other Books

Murder on the East China Sea

Air Force crew chief Connor Pierce wants to help his lonely assistant get comfortable around women. But when the stripper he lets loose on his romantically challenged friend is brutally murdered. . .

Murder on the Edge of the Orient

Connor Pierce is days away from his last day on the island of Okinawa, known to American soldiers as “the Rock.” Cornered for one final investigation, things turn bad.

Breaking Melancholy’s Mourning

Varius natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes. Varius natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes.

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Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.

– Will Rogers

My Writing Blog

Follow Along

The Last Winter of 2000

The Last Winter of 2000

Beginnings are impossible.  I’ve been starting the author game for 20-plus years. It rarely appears as work in progress. Fits and starts. That’s my record. Fits lead to starts/restarts lead to fits, ad nauseam. Time to stop beginning and advance.  Accept my invitation...

MGC Chapter Twenty-Five

MGC Chapter Twenty-Five

“You are the Lifesaver candy I always believed in.” Renée had her arms wrapped around Tony’s neck, eyes shimmering with relief and delight, openly displaying her gratitude. She nearly glowed—a rare sight in my recollections—untouched by the gray cell walls left empty...

MGC Chapter Twenty-Four

MGC Chapter Twenty-Four

Before we made it halfway back to the police station, the jovial and infectious Officer Ollie Gerulis pulled me over for the second time in two days.  I watched in the rearview mirror as the emergency lights from the cruiser splashed cheerful colors all over the...

MGC Chapter Twenty-Three

MGC Chapter Twenty-Three

We drove to meet with Lorna and Vicky overflowing with conjecture about strange Deputy Spiesz and his dimwitted devotion to simplicity.  “I’ve known a couple cops like him,” Tony said, his words laced with a hint of admiration. “Good to have for backup. Not great...