New Mystery Romance, The Heart of Constantine, With Barbara Monajem

I’m glad to have my friend, the talented Barbara Monajem, here to share more about her new release. She’s giving away an eBook or paperback, so be sure to leave a comment. I love the NA element in this story and the cover. Awesome owl.

Barbara: The Indian Mounds of eastern North America—remnants of early Native American civilizations—were part of the inspiration for my new mystery/romance, Heart of Constantine. This is the third book in my series about the funky little Louisiana town of Bayou Gavotte. I wanted a chance to put some Indian Mounds in one of my stories, because I’ve always enjoyed visiting them—there’s such a spiritual feeling, a sense of ancient civilization about the mounds. Although Constantine Dufray, the rock star hero, is half Navajo and therefore not descended from one of the eastern cultures, he enjoys the atmosphere and isolation of the mounds and the parks that surround them—although not when his enemy drugs Marguerite, the heroine, and leaves her on one of the mounds for Constantine to find.

A few weeks ago, a business trip gave me the opportunity to visit the Cahokia Mounds in Illinois for the second time. It was particularly fun, because they reminded me of parts of the book—such as this sign, forbidding people to climb on the mounds. Both Constantine and Zeb (a teenager who is the third major character) disobey this rule.

It’s quite a climb from the bottom to the top of Monks Mound, the largest at the site. Watching one guy run up and down, up and down the stairs made me think again of Zeb and Constantine, who are both runners. (It was all I could do to walk up and down once!)

Here’s what historians think the mounds and surrounding area used to look like back in the day. There’s a great interpretive center at the Cahokia Mounds, but I didn’t spend much time there, as it was full of school children on field trips.

One of the warnings on this sign (posted above) really tickled me, but I can’t say why for fear of spoilers.

I don’t think anyone can see it well enough for spoilers, Barbara. 🙂

The mounds and the huge park around them are a great site to visit—and incidentally, they’re just across the river from St. Louis. It was a hazy day, but I tried to get a photo of the skyline. Can you see it, very faintly, in the distance?

***Yes. Image posted below. What a fascinating post. Thanks so much!

Blurb for Heart of Constantine:

Native American rock star Constantine Dufray has hit rock bottom. His telepathic abilities have spun out of control, and destructive rumors about him run rampant. Some are true—he caused a violent cop’s suicide, and telepathy destroyed his marriage—but he didn’t poison his wife, and he couldn’t have caused riots at his concerts, killing his fans…or could he have? Now an unknown enemy is trying to frame him for rape and murder. Meanwhile, aura reader Marguerite McHugh finally gets a close encounter with the mysterious star, but it’s nothing like she expected. When Constantine finds her after she’s been drugged at one of his shows, Marguerite’s pulled into his quest for the truth. As danger mounts and murders pile up, Constantine and Marguerite are forced into an ever-more intimate relationship. Only by facing their fears and working together can they unmask the killer before more innocent people die.

***The Heart of Constantine at Amazon

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