News Release

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Declan Shaw Crime Series Debut Love You Till Tuesday Hits Bookstores

LIVINGSTON, TX, Aug. 13, 2024   M.E. Proctor’s Love You Till Tuesday, a novel about a street-smart, but attractively broken P.I., Declan Shaw, a neo noir sleuth straight out of Houston, is available in print and eBook today. Published by Shotgun Honey Books, the highly acclaimed and anticipated debut novel in the new Declan Shaw series sets the character in motion with an edge-of-the-seat, page-turning thriller. Readers begin with the brutal murder of April Easton, an aspiring musical talent whose death seems both unlikely and random while pointing all fingers directly at Declan. From there, the tale travels through the sands of Florida beaches to the mean streets of Houston with more dark alleys than a covid-era bowling center.

We know how April died, but by whose hand, and why? The mystery drives readers along at break-neck speed for the ride of their lives.

What people are saying about Love You Till Tuesday:

“This detective-thriller is hands down the best I’ve read this year!”

—Steve Thomas, for Best Thriller Books

“In a crime fiction universe overcrowded with cookie-cutter detectives, M.E. Proctor’s Love You Till Tuesday shows how to breathe originality into an investigation of the seamy underside. You won’t easily forget P.I. Declan Shaw’s witty, often dark pursuit of a killer.”
—Nick Kolakowski, author of Boise Longpig Hunting Club and Payback is Forever

“Make way for Declan Shaw, sharp as the edge of a knife, tough as a bucket of nails, emotionally damaged and irrepressibly charming, searching for truth in the mean streets of the modern American South—the neo-noir hero we need in these trying times!”
—Douglas Lumsden, author of A Troll Walks into a Bar and A Nymph Returns to the Sea

M.E. Proctor is a Derringer Award nominee whose work has appeared in various anthologies and magazines: Vautrin, Reckon Review, Mystery Tribune, Black Cat Weekly, Thriller Magazine, and Shotgun Honey among others. Her shorth story collection, Family and Other Ailments – Crime Stories Close to Home (Wordwooze Publishing) was published in 2023.

Love You Till Tuesday is the first novel in her Declan Shaw P.I. series. Declan is based in Houston, where M.E. Proctor lived for twenty years. The second book in the series, Catch Me on a Blue Day, is slated for publication in 2025. Born in Brussels, Proctor now lives in Livingston, Texas.

Love You Till Tuesday by M.E. Proctor

Published by Shotgun Honey Books, August 2024

Available in Paperback – Bookshop.org, Amazon, Barnes & Noble

292 pages - ISBN 13:978-1-956957-73-0 - $17.00

Available in eBook - Kindle - $6.99

Contact the author:

M.E. Proctor - meproctorwrites@gmail.com

713-553-7248

www.shawmystery.com

Contact the publisher:

Ron Earl Phillips - pr@shotgunhoney.com

About the Book

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Love You Till Tuesday by M.E. Proctor

Published by Shotgun Honey Books, August 13, 2024

Available in Paperback – Bookshop.org, Amazon, Barnes & Noble

292 pages

ISBN 13:978-1-956957-73-0

$17.00

Available in eBook - Kindle

$6.99

Mystery, Crime, Noir, Detective

A brief synopsis:

The death of April Easton makes no sense. She was a jazz singer working the clubs. Maybe the recording contract she just signed would have been her breakthrough. It certainly wasn’t a motive for murder. Steve Robledo, Houston PD, is on the scene. He’s known for working fast and closing cases. This one has all the markings of a head scratcher. And when witnesses and security cameras confirm Declan Shaw, a local P.I. with police connections, spent the night with the woman, it just makes everything more complicated.

Not that Declan has anything to do with the murder. He likes music and he liked April. He certainly didn’t kill her.

A collaboration, uneasy at first, is in the works. Declan can’t get April out of his head. Her memory is fading and he wants to hang on to it. What better way than to find more about her? Steve is running out of time, a few more days and he’ll have to turn his attention to other cases. They strike a mutually beneficial alliance.

For the powerful men behind April’s death, that alliance means trouble. Declan is stubborn and resourceful. He worries them a lot more than the police. There’s no telling what he could dig up. The stakes are high: a trial with the death penalty in play, cartel ties, money. Ultimately, it’s always about money.

Declan has to be stopped, incapacitated. He’s put under surveillance, a trap is set to ensnare him, a campaign is launched to discredit him—The P.I. and the Dead Jazz Singer. It’s a mistake. Declan will bite back.

Many will get hurt.

About the Author

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M.E. Proctor is the author of four dystopian science fiction novels, The Savage Crown Series, and a short story collection, Family and Other Ailments – Crime Stories Close to Home (2023, Wordwooze Publishing). She’s a Derringer nominee. Her fiction has appeared in various anthologies and magazines: Vautrin, Reckon Review, Mystery Tribune, Black Cat Weekly, Thriller Magazine, and Shotgun Honey among others. Even if she leans more toward crime fiction, she still enjoys an occasional foray into horror, fantasy, or science fiction.

Love You Till Tuesday (2024, Shotgun Honey Books) is the first novel in her Declan Shaw PI series. Declan is based in Houston, where M.E. Proctor lived for twenty years.

Proctor was as a freelance journalist for a music magazine, and worked as an advertising account executive, before becoming a corporate communications advisor. She prefers writing fiction. Born in Brussels, she now lives in Livingston, Texas, with her husband James Lee Proctor, also a writer.

Contact Information

M.E. Proctor
meproctorwrites@gmail.com
713 553 7248
www.shawmystery.com

Facebook: martine.proctor

Twitter: @MEProctor3

Instagram: proctormartine

Threads: @proctormartine

What people are saying

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“Beautifully written and crafted, Love You Till Tuesday weaves a story akin to a complex jazz rhythm. At the center, a compelling P.I. named Declan Shaw supplies the beat. Proctor’s work sings with authenticity and grit.”
—Craig Terlson, author of the Luke Fischer series.

“M.E. Proctor is going to be the next BIG name in crime fiction. Her writing is intelligent, exciting, cool and slick as hell.”
—Punk Noir Magazine

“Strong narrative pulled me in, precision dialogue kept me tuned, and characters that surged from the page held me to the end.”
—David Cranmer, editor of BEAT to a PULP

“In a crime fiction universe overcrowded with cookie-cutter detectives, M.E. Proctor’s Love You Till Tuesday shows how to breathe originality into an investigation of the seamy underside. You won’t easily forget P.I. Declan Shaw’s witty, often dark pursuit of a killer.”
—Nick Kolakowski, author of Boise Longpig Hunting Club

“M.E. Proctor writes crime fiction that sits aside the masters of the craft whilst also standing alone in its pure originality and innovation to an often hackneyed genre. Elegant, flowing prose that tugs at your heartstrings whilst ramping up your heart beat.”
—Stephen J. Golds, author of a Say Goodbye When I’m Gone

“Make way for Declan Shaw, sharp as the edge of a knife, tough as a bucket of nails, emotionally damaged and irrepressibly charming, searching for truth in the mean streets of the modern American South—the neo-noir hero we need in these trying times!”
—Douglas Lumsden, author of A Troll Walks into a Bar

“For the numerous fans of M.E. Proctor’s short fiction, this debut novel is sure to be a revelatory delight. A sleek entry into the pantheon of detective fiction, Love You Till Tuesday keeps you guessing and holding your breath until the very end. You won’t look at other P.I. novels (or hammers for that matter) the same way again.”
—Mike McHone, crime fiction writer

Reviews:

This detective-thriller is hands down the best I’ve read this year! (Best Thriller Books)

You’re not only involved in the case, you’re hooked as the plot rolls forward with the drive of music played directly on the beat. (Amazon)

Proctor has written lean-and-mean stories that leave a lasting mark, and this one is no exception. (Amazon)

Smart, sexy, funny. Stands tall with anything else I've read in the genre. (Amazon)

A brand new P.I. with some old school cool. (Amazon)

Blogs and Essays
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The Roll Top Desk - Substack Newsletter - A post every other Thursday

Do Some Damage - The Heady Romance of Detective Fiction

An excerpt:

“Classical detectives in the hardboiled mold are detached observers and ironic commentators of human weaknesses. They’re quick with a fist, a gun, and a witty retort. Their modern counterparts are more flawed, less secure in their actions. In some cases they’re so troubled they barely function, or so morally compromised they become impossible to separate from their quarries. Declan is somewhere in between, smart and slightly damaged.”

Drus’ Book Musings – A Day in My Life: Declan Shaw
An excerpt:

“Before that fateful Wednesday, I’d only taken one slug. The day started well. I dug out a promising lead in the April Easton murder case. I’d gotten involved in the investigation because I knew April, however briefly. Steve Robledo, who was fast becoming my best friend at Houston PD, had agreed to let me poke around. Steve has more cases than he can handle. There were benefits in bringing me in.”

George Cramer’s Blog – What makes my detective different
An excerpt:

“In classic detective fiction, the main character is a detached observer. His personality is veiled. Do you follow that model?
Declan is secretive, but I let things slip. Even if I don’t get into his back story in detail, there are hints. Like the reason why he never carries a gun. Or what happened during his teenage years in New Orleans, the things he takes great care to keep hidden. He has trouble with lasting romantic relationships, and there are reasons for that. If he’s so intent on digging into other people’s lives, it might be because he’s not prepared to explore his own. Characters that are solid slabs of certainty are not very interesting for the writer or the reader. The book has a complex plot and a complex character. I believe that’s the way it should be.”

A snippet from the book …

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“April came face to face with evil. It’s a word I don’t use often because it’s too easy. It’s a convenient box to stick things in we don’t understand. Things we don’t want to look at because they burn the soul and the only way we can erase them is by burning something on top of them, like ranch brands camouflaged by cattle rustlers. Burn after burn, until the mark is blurry and there’s no more pain because all the nerve endings are shot.”