Death at Rock Bottom: A Paranormal Mystery
(Reluctantly Psychic Murder Mystery)
by Kris Bock
About Death at Rock Bottom
Death at Rock Bottom: A Paranormal Mystery
(Reluctantly Psychic Murder Mystery)
Paranormal Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting - New Mexico
Publisher : Tule Publishing
Publication Date : July 30, 2025
ISBN-13 : 978-1966593997
ASIN : B0F2KN4ZSB
She can touch an object and sense the emotions of the people who’ve held it before…
After solving the mystery of her predecessor’s death, geologist Petra Cloch wants to focus on her new job as the rocks and minerals curator at a quirky, small-town New Mexico museum. But her friend and colleague Liberty is suspicious of the “accidental” death of Frank Underwood, a retired petroleum engineer and rockhound who unexpectedly died while hiking. Frank acted odd and secretive in his last weeks—mumbling about an incredible find in the desert and aliens. Was he showing the first signs of dementia, or were more sinister forces at work?
Petra agrees to help excavate the truth, and soon, instead of meeting for book club, she and her friends become amateur investigators. Petra uses her gift and her brains to sort through the contradictory stories and confusing clues as she and her friends dig for answers.
Did Frank’s heirs decide to hasten their inheritance? Or did his rock shop business partner decide to go solo? Petra joins the local geological club to discover whether someone there acquired a taste for murder, because they’ll need rock solid evidence to catch a killer.
Perfect for fans of Paige Shelton’s Alaska Wild Mysteries and Heather Graham’s Krewe of Hunters!
If you love supernatural sleuths, small-town intrigue, and mysteries with a geological twist, Death at Rock Bottom is your next must-read! Grab your copy today!
About Kris Bock
Kris Bock writes mystery, suspense, and romance, often with Southwestern landscapes. In the Accidental Detective humorous mystery series, a witty journalist solves mysteries in Arizona and tackles the challenges of turning fifty. This humorous series starts with Something Shady at Sunshine Haven, which made Barnes & Noble's list of “Handpicked Favorites You'll Love!” Kris’s romantic suspense novels include stories of treasure hunting, archaeology, and intrigue. Readers have called these novels “Smart romance with an Indiana Jones feel.”
Learn more about Kris’s books or sign up for the Kris Bock newsletter and get an Accidental Detective short story and other freebies. Then every two weeks, you’ll get fun content about pets, announcements of new books, sales, and more. As for Kris’s romance stories, the Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series stars the employees and customers at a cat café. Watch as they fall in love with each other and shelter cats. In the Accidental Billionaire Cowboys series, a Texas ranching family wins a fortune in the lottery, which causes as many problems as it solves.INTERVIEW
- When did you
first realize you wanted to be a writer?
Twenty years ago, I started writing for
children, using the name Chris
Eboch. I have
eight middle grade novels (for ages 9 to 12) published under that name. Around 2008, I started writing romantic suspense novels
as Kris Bock. For example, Desert
Gold follows the hunt for a long-lost treasure in
the New Mexico desert. Whispers in the
Dark features archaeology and intrigue among ancient Southwest ruins. Then
I turned to sweet romance and cozy mysteries. The variety keeps me interested!
- How long
does it take you to write a book?
It totally depends on the book. I’ve written work-for-hire
children’s books that were only sixty words, and adult novels that were 80,000
words. Typically a novel takes me a few months, but it depends on what other work
I have during that time.
- What is your
work schedule like when you're writing?
I am a full-time writer, working from home. I usually spend an
hour or two catching up on e-mail and other tasks. Then, ideally, I work on one
of my own projects for a couple of hours, unless I have too many other
deadlines. In the afternoon, I may tackle research, marketing, or paid work
such as nonfiction books, or developmental
editing of other authors’ manuscripts. Sometimes I
give online or in person workshops.
- What would
you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I’ve gotten some of my best ideas while walking. I start moving
and then think about a story problem. I’ll dictate actual scenes in a book,
though I have to clean them up a lot later. Jogging can be inspiring too –
maybe the feeling of running is reminiscent of being chased, which encourages
exciting scenes!
- How do books
get published?
That’s a complicated question. The main paths are traditional
publishing or self-publishing. I’ve done some of each. Neither is automatically
easier or better, and it could take weeks just to understand the processes.
Good resources are The Creative Penn, David Gaughran, and
Kindlepreneur.
- Where do you
get your information or ideas for your books?
Inspiration is everywhere, from both good and bad events in our
lives. For the Accidental Detective mystery
series, I started with a character who is
trying to reinvent her life as she turns 50. She’s dealing with elderly parents
who have health problems, a lack of retirement planning, and a body that
doesn’t recover as quickly as it used to. These challenges provide humor as she
narrates her attempts to solve local mysteries and build a new life. Many of
her experiences were inspired by turning fifty myself.
The Southwest
has been important for my mystery and romantic suspense stories. The new series
is set in smalltown New Mexico, though not the New Mexico small town where I
live. The museum was inspired by the Billy The Kid Museum in Fort Sumner. The
main character studied geology, like my husband did.
For my cat
café sweet romance novels, the idea of a cat café – where people could hang out
with adoptable cats in a café setting – inspired the series. The characters are
the people who work at the café or visit it regularly (plus plenty of cats).
- When did you
write your first book and how old were you?
I wrote my first novel, The Well of Sacrifice, shortly after
finishing grad school, while I was looking for work as a magazine editor. I
loved books such as Julie of the Wolves
and Island of the Blue Dolphins growing
up and wanted to do a similar young adventure story. The novel is set in Mayan
times, inspired by a summer I spent traveling through Mexico and Central
America. Astonishingly, I sold the book! This gave me the mistaken impression
that having a writing career wasn't so hard. (It is.)
- What do you
like to do when you're not writing?
I like to hang out with my husband and
our two ferrets. I enjoy walking with friends and
hiking in the desert or mountains. I also read a lot, at least a couple of
books a week.
- What does
your family think of your writing?
My husband and parents have always been very supportive. My
brother is also a writer – he
who wrote the original screenplay for the movie Sweet Home Alabama (yes,
the movie starring Reese Witherspoon). We wrote a series together, young adult comedies features
“Felony Melanie,” Jake, and their friends a decade before the events of the
movie. It was a lot of fun to work with a writing partner, especially one I’ve
known my whole life.
- What was one
of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?
For the
Reluctant Psychic Mystery series, I had to learn more about how
law enforcement works and crime scene investigation in small towns. For
example, what’s the difference between the police, the Sheriff’s Department,
and Park Law Enforcement Rangers?Who does autopsies? In New Mexico, all
autopsies are done at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in
Albuquerque.
- How many
books have you written? Which is your favorite?
I now have over 125 published books
now, but that includes fiction and nonfiction, for young people and adults. I suppose books are like
children. They’re all my favorite. Well, at least the ones that were my own
ideas rather than ghostwriting or work for hire. I’m especially fond of Kate
from the
Accidental Detective series, probably because she’s a lot like me
and I’ve written seven books about her. But I’m also very fond of Petra fromthe
Reluctant Psychic series, since I’ve been spending the most time with her lately.
- Do you have
any suggestions to help me become a better writer? If so, what are they?
Write a lot and read a lot. Take classes or get critiques from
experienced authors. Don’t rush the process. I've also
published two
books of writing advice,Advanced
Plotting and You Can Write for Children.
- Do you hear
from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?
Generally I hear from readers if I also know them personally, or I
see reviews of my books. One of my favorite comments was for the
Accidental Detective series: “My dog hated your book: I
finished reading Something Shady at Sunshine Haven and my dog hated it.
She’d want me to go outside and throw the ball for her and I’d say to her just
let me read one more chapter but then I’d get to the end of the chapter and say
just one more....she grew very aggravated with me. I couldn’t put it down. Thanks
for the read. Good story and characters.”
- Do you like
to create books for adults?
I like to write for all ages. Writing for adults has the advantage
of more flexibility in terms of content and reading level. The disadvantage is
that the books are generally a lot longer.
- What do you
think makes a good story?
That’s something personal to each reader. I love a happy ending,
for example, but plenty of popular books don’t have them. I tend to use my
emotional energy in my writing, so I want to relax with a book that is a fun
read and leaves me feeling good.
- As a child,
what did you want to do when you grew up?
I wasn’t sure for a long time. I loved to read but didn’t quite
understand that becoming a writer was a possible career path. I’d never met a
writer. I first studied photography, but I quickly
learned I didn’t want to be a professional photographer. I wrote for the school
paper and enjoyed that a lot, so I went back to school for writing and
publishing. Since then, I’ve written a wide variety of fiction and
nonfiction for all ages, but I’ve always been a writer!
- What would
you like my readers to know?
My latest series is the
Reluctant Psychic Mystery series: a quirky loner
who can read the history of any object with her touch gets drawn into mysteries
at the museum of oddities where she works. Readers said about book 1:
“This story is a winner and a great
start to the series. The mystery is captivating, with enough puzzlement to keep
you on your toes, the characters are interesting and engaging, and the
worldbuilding is excellent. A must-read!”
“This is a
brilliant start to a new series from Kris. I love reading mysteries, and this
one has all the elements that draw the reader in from the start. The characters
came to life throughout the book. The storyline was easy to follow, believable,
and intrigue-and-suspense-filled... I was engaged from the start, and didn't
want to put the book down. I highly recommend this book, and I am looking
forward to reading the next in the series.”
“A good
old-fashioned murder mystery with a twist. The supernatural elements make this
book interesting. I empathized with the main character, and she was genuine and
reluctant as the title implies… it was suspenseful and kept you guessing until
the end… Good read.”
Death at Rock Bottom (A Reluctant Psychic Murder Mystery series
book 2) is out now!
Petra Cloch, the rocks and
minerals curator at a quirky, smalltown New Mexico museum, gets drawn into
another mystery after the supposedly accidental death of a retired petroleum
engineer and rockhound who died while hiking. Frank acted odd in his last
weeks, whispering about aliens. Was he showing the first signs of dementia, or
were more sinister forces at work?
Petra’s book club
becomes a crime-fighting club, but Petra must use her psychic gift and her
brains to fight through the clues along with her newfound family.
Learn more or buy the
Reluctant Psychic Mystery series,
in print and e-book at all major retailers or see all of Kris Bock’s mystery and romance novels.
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
July 29 – Jody's Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
July 29 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT
July 30 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT
July 30 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
July 31 - Carla Loves To Read – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
August 1 - Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT
August 2 – Deal Sharing Aunt – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
August 3 – Boys' Mom Reads! – REVIEW
August 4 – Salty Inspirations – AUTHOR GUEST POST
August 4 – Angel's Book Nook – SPOTLIGHT
August 5 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
August 6 – Christy's Cozy Corners – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
August 7 – Sarandipity's – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
August 7 – Sapphyria's Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
August 8 – StoreyBook Reviews – AUTHOR GUEST POST
August 9 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
August 9 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT
August 10 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR GUEST POST
August 11 – Maureen's Musings – SPOTLIGHT
August 11 – Novels Alive - REVIEW
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Have you signed up to be a Tour Host? Click Here to Find Details and Sign Up Today! Want to Book a Tour? Click Here
Thanks for hosting me and having such a fun interview!
ReplyDelete