Plausible Deception
Mystery/Detective/LGBT/Quozy
Setting
Primarily Los Angeles/Anaheim CA; Louisville KY; New York NY
Publisher
Butler Books (October 15, 2024)
Paperback
332 pages
ISBN 978-1-964530-02-4
There’s only one Jackson Stradivarius.
Welcome to the arcane world of handcrafted, professional violins. Master luthier Greg Zhu and his husband, Presbyterian minister Dan Randolph, travel to Los Angeles, where Greg’s newest design is competing for recognition from the Violin Society of America.
Only a handful of participants know that the Jackson is at the conference, but the owner offers Greg the rare opportunity to examine it—and Greg is the last person in the room before the violin disappears.
Greg and Dan team up with the authorities to clear Greg’s name, catch the thief, and recover the priceless violin before it is lost to the arts and antiquities black market.
About Dwain Lee
Dwain Lee grew up in Masontown, Pennsylvania, where his first job was working as a coal miner during the summers of his high school years. He graduated from Penn State University, majoring in architecture, and he owned and operated his own architectural firm in Columbus, Ohio for twenty years.
During the thirty years that he lived in Columbus, he raised a family and also served as President and Chairman of the Board of Montana de Luz, an orphanage in Honduras for children living with HIV/AIDS.
Transitioning out of the architectural profession, he obtained a Master of Divinity from Trinity Lutheran Seminary and for many years has served as an ordained Presbyterian minister and pastor. In addition to more typical pastoral duties, a large part of his time in ministry has focused on social justice issues, including LGBTQ+ equality, refugee and immigrant issues, and racial justice.
Dwain has two amazing, wonderful adult daughters, Erica and Andrea. He and his husband, George Yu, an internationally recognized violin maker, currently live in an old double-shotgun house in the eclectic Germantown/Schnitzelburg neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky. In addition to writing, he enjoys spending time with George traveling, gardening, doing never-ending home renovation projects, camping, and yoga.
Author's Website:
www.dwainlee-author.weebly.com
Facebook: Dwain Lee, Author
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561161406771
Purchase link
https://butlerbooks.com/plausible-deception.html
Anaheim
The hands held the violin up, almost reverently. Wood, varnish,
and polish worked together to create a warm, golden-brown glow as
the sunlight coming through the window bathed its surfaces.
“Still no developments in the theft of the famous ‘Jackson
Stradivarius’ violin, which was stolen two days ago from
a convention taking place here in the city.” The televised
report continued: “Local, federal, and even international law
enforcement agencies are engaged in a far-reaching investigation,
with little to show for it yet.” The screen displayed several law
enforcement officials conversing. “At this point, authorities are
baffled as to how the rare violin could have been stolen, or who
could have done it.”
The hands gently caressed the violin’s gracefully undulating
surfaces—spruce, maple, ebony—edges all once crisp and new, now
long since worn smooth and round and bearing the patina from
centuries of use.
“This is really a first for our department,” a police detective said
on the screen. “The closest thing we’ve ever had to this was the theft
of several Olympic gold medals, but nothing like this. That’s why
we’re delighted and very grateful that the FBI has agreed to our
request to assist in this case.”
Liar. You didn’t want the FBI here at all; I heard you say that
myself. No matter. The hands continued to twist and turn the violin,
causing the sunlight to flicker and dance along the flame pattern in
the wood’s grain, creating movement, depth, as it flowed across the
contours and rippled textures of the surfaces, creating brilliance,
shade, shadow. Fascinating. Mesmerizing.
“. . . and yet the owner, a local surgeon, remains hopeful for a
break in the case.” The television now showed an elderly man in a
hat, calm but clearly distraught, being interviewed by police inside
a hotel lobby. I’ve never understood why he wears that hat indoors.
It’s odd.
After setting the violin down on a silk cloth, one of the hands
hovered over its weathered spruce belly, paused for a moment, and
then, haltingly, settled onto the wood. I’ll clean the skin oils off later.
The hand carefully, slowly moved along the surface. The subtleties of
the wood grain, the sensuous, compound curvature of the surface,
punctuated with beautifully carved openings, all transmitted not
just tactile connection, but emotion, life. The instrument could
sing, but it also spoke.
When the tree it was carved from was a sapling, Bernini’s
colonnade reaching from St. Peter’s Basilica was brand new. The
tree was already 20 feet tall when Vivaldi was born; 30 when Bach
was just an infant. When this piece of wood was carved, Louis IV
still ruled France, and there weren’t even 13 English colonies in the
New World yet, let alone a United States.
The violin had managed to survive for more than 300 years.
You’ve been played by some of the finest violinists to ever live, and your
music has touched the souls of everyone from monarchs to mechanics.
Throughout all you’ve experienced, all you’ve seen, all you’ve been,
you aren’t just a witness to history—you are history.
News stories, even ones about the theft of a rare violin, a valuable
cultural artifact of global significance, rarely exceed two and a half
minutes. The newscast had already moved on to a remote from a
local farmer’s market and an update on an incoming cold front.
The hands gently wrapped the silk cloth up and around the
instrument. And now, your history starts a new chapter.
November 14 – Boys' Mom Reads! – REVIEW
November 15 – Jody's Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
November 16 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR GUEST POST
November 17 – Frugal Freelancer – SPOTLIGHT
November 18 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT
November 19 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
November 20 – StoreyBook Reviews- CHARACTER GUEST POST
November 21 – Deal Sharing Aunt – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
November 22 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
November 23 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – AUTHOR GUEST POST
November 24 – Sapphyria's Book Reviews - SPOTLIGHT
November 25 – Never Hollowed By The Stare – SPOTLIGHT
November 26 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
November 27 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Giveaway
One Print Copy of Plausible Deception
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Hi, thanks very much for spotlighting my book and including the Prologue! I hope your readers find it intriguing and will check the book out. I'd be happy to answer any questions your readers might have about the book. Thanks again!
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