Distilling Lies, coming in May 2023!
“The bootlegging era of the 1920’s forms a well-painted backdrop for the likable characters who uncover hard truths about family and their rural Texas Community.”
-Sandra Kleinsasser, owner, Write Austin
n 1948, Cono Dennis boards a train to Temple, Texas. It is the same place he escaped at age 14, when yet another act of violence by his father finally pushed him over the edge. Now, Cono is no longer that skinny, tow-headed, battered kid. At eighteen years old, he is Master Sergeant at Lackland Army Air Force Base, a boxer, and the physical training instructor responsible for over 10,000 men. An invitation from his father to return to Temple and spar with him is too good to pass up. But once Cono throws his first punch, will he be able to stop?
Madam Fannie Porter runs the best bordello in Texas. Just ask the outlaws she harbored and entertained for the weekend—Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch.
But when the gang rides off, Sadie, her best soiled dove, is left unhinged.
While the Pinkerton Detective Agency remains in hot pursuit of the outlaws, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union plans a town rally against alcohol and prostitution.
Neither is good news for Miss Fannie.
First, she will never give up a client. Second, while pondering the upcoming temperance powwow, she relies on her business savvy. She forbids her girls from attending the meeting and hires a pianist, the talented, yet virtuous, Meta, to keep the customers coming.
When a temperance woman is found murdered, Sadie becomes the key suspect. Now, Miss Fannie and Meta must discover the truth before the WCTU—or the killer—nails the red door, or another coffin, shut.
Carolyn Dennis-Willingham 