As a reader and writer of mysteries, including historical mysteries, I'm thrilled to welcome author C.H. Sessums today as she shares the background to her latest release, and offers a giveaway to one lucky reader who leaves a comment. Keep reading to find out how to enter.

Howdy! My name is C.H. Sessums and I write a historical, cozy-ish mystery series called The J.D. Pierson Series. And if we were talking face-to-face you probably wouldn’t have to wonder, but I am a very proud Texan. I was born and raised on the Gulf Coast in a town called Port Arthur, but about eleven years ago my husband and I moved to East Texas for his retirement. Back in 2011 I published my first book under the pen name Olivia Hardin. As Olivia I write strictly romance, all genres of romance. 

Now you might be wondering how I ended up in the historical mystery genre. Well, I just so happen to be married to a historian. My husband, Danny, taught in colleges and universities and built some fantastic museums during his career. Oh, and he hired a great student assistant this one time, then decided to marry her. True story. 

But since I’m married to a historian, and I also love history it just made sense that one day I would write a historical novel. And in addition to studying history my husband and I also adore old-time radio like Dragnet, Suspense, Pat Novak for Hire and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar.

So, then I thought: Why not write mystery? It took a while, but one day my mind settled in on a “what if.”

What if a famous investigator has a daughter who has to step into his shoes? How would an amateur female sleuth get by in the early 20^th century? Suddenly, Jenny Dee and her father JD were born.

For setting I decided to put Jenny and her Dad in the great state of Texas. After all, the Lone Star state has enough history to fill a million novels! And for their home base, I chose a place that is especially near and dear to my heart.

It’s now called The People’s Petroleum Building, but in the 1930s it was The People’s National Bank Building. Despite what would be known as The Great Depression, some of East Texas managed to stave off disaster, at least for a while. Black gold in the East Texas oilfields was the reason. 

The Peoples National Bank Building became a center of that oil-rich prosperity. In 1932, local Tyler attorney Samuel A. Lindsey commissioned and assisted in financing the construction of the art déco style building. At the time of its construction, it was one of the tallest skyscrapers west of the Mississippi River. Opening its doors in November 1932, it was fully leased by 1933, despite the hard times.

Since I adore history, I make it a point of including some true tidbit of local history like this in all of my books. 

The first book ends and the second begins with the tragic New London school explosion here in East Texas. Again, thanks to the oil

boom, the little school district of New London, Texas, was one of the wealthiest. In 1932, the school was built at a cost of $1 million or about $18 million today.

One Thursday, students in grades first through fourth had left early. Reports differ, but there were approximately 500 students at the school when an instructor turned on an electric sander, thereby sparking the explosion. Witnesses reported that the walls bulged, and the roof lifted up before falling back down. Help poured into East Texas from all around, and Tyler’s own Mother Francis Hospital opened their doors early to treat the injured children and adults. Of the 500 or so persons in the building, only about 130 walked away without serious injury. Estimates of the dead go as high as 319.

The story of the New London catastrophe was reported all over the world, and one of those reporters was a very young Walter Cronkite. This was one of his first assignments, and he later is quoted as saying, “I did nothing in my studies nor in my life to prepare me for a story of the magnitude of that New London tragedy, nor has any story since that awful day equaled it.”

The cause of the catastrophe was found to be a leak in the connection to the gas pipeline that allowed the fuel to build up throughout the building without notice since it was odorless and colorless. Later, and in part because of this tragedy, an additive was put in natural gas so that leaks could be discovered quicker.

The history in my other books span stories about Texas Rangers, bordello owners and bootleggers and even a little-known “war” between Texas and Oklahoma. But you’ll have to read them all to find out about those.

The fifth J.D. Pierson book has just released and I’m running a 99-cent sale on the first four books! That makes this the perfect time to curl with up a mystery and pick up a little bit of historical trivia too! You can find the entire series here in Kindle Unlimited: https://mybook.to/jdpiersonseries

Release Giveaway: You can also enter to win a fun “Cozy” prize pack that includes a bookmark, earrings and a coaster just by entering here: http://www.chsessums.com/the-snazzy-nobby-keen-dish/   

Connect Online:

Get a FREE book just for signing up for my newsletter: http://tiny.cc/chsessumsnwsltr

Website: http://chsessums.com/

Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/chsessums/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chsessums/

The Sleuthing Soundbox Podcast: https://anchor.fm/sleuth-soundbox-chsessums

The Speakeasy Patreon: http://tiny.cc/speakeasy