Hello, My Name Is . . . Forum New Member

Hi. I'm Vinny O'Neil (see, I just fulfilled the first obligation of this group!) and I was lucky enough to get my toe in the publishing door a couple of years ago. I'm not sure how long it's going to stay there, but I am trying hard with my murder mystery series, which is set in the fictitious town of Exile, Florida.

My first book, Murder in Exile, won the "Malice Domestic" award in 2005 and was published in 2006. It introduces main character and amateur sleuth Frank Cole, a bankrupted northerner trying to restart his life in the town of Exile, Florida.

In Murder in Exile, Frank is asked to review an insurance claim for what appears to be a simple hit-and-run fatality. Frank himself thinks it was just an accident at first, but then someone leaves a threatening message on his kitchen table. After that, he realizes that there is much more to this "accident' and that he had better get to the bottom of it before he has an accident of his own.

In Reduced Circumstances, due for release this July, Frank has taken a second job as the night dispatcher for a local taxi service. One of the drivers tells him about giving a ride to a nervous teenaged boy near the site of a police drug bust the night before, and then the driver disappears. Just after that, suspicious people begin dropping by the cabstand asking about the kid, the driver, and the ride they took that night. And once again, Frank Cole has to find the answers without knowing the questions.

You can read the first chapter of both books on my website, www.vincenthoneil.com. I have also posted a very favorable New York Times review of Murder in Exile and an advance Publishers Weekly review of Reduced Circumstances.

I hope you enjoy your time in Exile.

So. With all that out of the way, what do we do here?