Call In For Murder: A Neon Desert Novel
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – Nevada
Independently Published
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 19, 2025
Print length ‏ : ‎ 238 pages
Paperback

Synopsis

Call-in radio host Ashley Compton is Las Vegas’s best friend when it comes to giving relationship tips to strangers. But when a repeat caller is found murdered after exposing her woes on the air and accepting the challenge to put up or shut up, Ashley questions if her homespun advice was the catalyst for the murder.

Afraid of losing her job and destroying her reputation, Ashley heads to the seedy side of Las Vegas to snoop around. There she encounters shady dealings: lies, gambling, adultery, and potential criminal activities. When her two-timing and felonious suspects spout glib excuses to justify their behaviors, she digs deeper and is threatened, injured, and gets what she dishes out: advice she doesn’t always like.

Can Ashley’s sleuthing skills catch the killer, or will she end up just another crime statistic? Can she save her career, or will she be put on the Do-Not-Call list?

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Guest Post

Mystery Tropes

Everyone talks about things being overdone in books.

“I’ve read this exact same plot five times in the last year.”

“Why does the girl always fall for the bad boy?”

“If I read about one more return to hometown and not fitting in, I’m going to scream!”

Does this sound familiar? That’s because they are what’s called a trope. All genres have tropes. It’s what gets authors started on a story. Every story has been written; every trope has been used. It’s up to their creativity to use the trope in a unique way, or add a twist to the trope.

I have a work in progress where I flipped a trope on its head. I was watching this story on the Hallmark Channel called Butlers in Love. I immediately went back to the 20s, where one of the most famous mystery tropes was coined – “the butler did it”. I thought, what if… what if the butler didn’t do it because the butler was the amateur sleuth? That would be a twist on the trope, plus an additional twist would have to be that the butler’s “code” keeps him from being indiscreet. So how can he be an amateur sleuth if he has to keep his mouth shut? Stay tuned to see if I get it fully revised.

Here is a list of popular mystery tropes for writers I found on the Writer’s Digest website. I liked this article, because it didn’t go over the classic tropes of things like “enemies to lovers” and other tropes that can be used in any genre. I wanted ones specifically focusing on the mystery. I also include if I would ever use them or not:

• Misjudged death (natural causes that turns into a murder investigation) – I think it works well, but not for me. Probably not.
• Incompetent police – This one is overdone, and I’m not fond of it at all. A big no.
• Early suspect is accused when they are innocent – This is a necessity. Because more often than not, the amateur sleuth accuses the wrong person first. Definite yes.
• Unassuming suspect (least likely to do it per the reader) – From what I read, Agatha Christie was fond of this one, to the point where everyone was guessing right too fast. Not sure if I could work this one, I’m a maybe
• An evil victim – I think this one should only be used once in any series. And the best one? A hated ex. If I remember correctly, Diane Mott Davidson did this in like book six in her series. Maybe?
• Everybody did it – Okay, Murder on the Orient Express. I don’t think anyone else should ever try to fix perfection. Nope!
• Multiple murders in one story – Everyone does this at one point. I want to try this sometime, but I’m not ready yet. So this is a distinct future yes.
• Stuck (stranded) together – Again, look at Agatha Christie and And Then There Were None. This one can be good, or it can go so wrong. I don’t see me doing it, no.
• Person with vital information gets killed – Although I have yet to write a story where two people get killed. It’s definitely not off the table, but a maybe for the future.
• Killer plays with the detective’s head and emotions – Hmm. Not sure how this one would work in a cozy. This sounds more like a thriller. So no.
• A Rookie Detective teams up with a Veteran Detective – Sounds kind of boring to my ears. Plus, sounds like really a police procedural. Probably not.
• Detective is the suspect and/or is the killer – I can’t imagine this. I’d have to find some show or movie where it was done to get it. I would never do this.
• Nosy reporter, neighbor, or fill-in-the-blank. Okay, this is the classic cozy, so it goes without saying it’s a yes
• Criminal consultants hired to help – I like this one, but I don’t see me ever doing it. Negative.
• Detective with substance abuse issues – Too cliche. Nope.
• History returns and/or repeats itself – I’m not too keen on this one. Sounds like a lot of work for my brain.
• Blackmail – This is always a great one. I THINK I have it in a work in progress manuscript? If not, I definitely vote yes for it.
• Amnesia – Kind of boring, too tropee (is that a word) and overdone, unless it’s in a stellar mystery plot. So no.
• Light bulb moment – How else would an amateur sleuth solve a mystery without an ah-ha moment? 100% Yes.
• The big reveal – I love this, but I haven’t gotten it to work yet. But I will keep trying to get a yes
• Twist ending – I read lots of stories with a twist ending, but I haven’t written anything yet that could work with this trope. Let’s put a pin in it.

Well, it looks like I’m in the 47% yes/maybe and 53% no. Interesting. I didn’t think that would be the outcome when I first looked at the list. So I’m a bit more malleable than I thought I was.

Can you think of any other mystery tropes that you really like or seriously hate? Let me know, and maybe I can bump up my yes list.

Excerpt

“Who’s our next caller, Cheryl?” I asked once the commercials ended.

“We have Heather, right here in Las Vegas. She’s worried about her husband cheating on her.” Cheryl’s tone was snippy.

I pointed at Cheryl, sending a telepathic warning her about the attitude, and the fact that she’d just put through someone with the same name as a woman who’d called two days ago with the same question. I leaned toward the microphone. “Thanks for calling again, Heather. Still on the fence, huh?”

“Miss LARE, I can’t get my husband to stop cheating,” Heather cried. “He apologizes when he gets caught, but then does it again. And again. He doesn’t mean to do it. He loves me. I know he does. I want to stay married.”

“You’ve said that before.”

“He’s a wonderful man, and he gives me his undivided attention when he’s home. But that’s the problem. He’s never home. My husband is either with some other girl or out at the casinos, losing our money. He needs to stop, but I can’t figure out how to make him.”

Heather sniffled, and I remembered when I’d been a lot like her. Engaged to the man I loved, with a terrific job and partying with the city’s top people. Until I went to my favorite Chinese place one night when Frank was working late.

As I’d stood at the maitre d’ station, I’d looked at all the happy couples enjoying an intimate dinner. My eyes stopped at one cozy couple. The guy’s navy-blue Armani suit had a minor cut in the back of the lapel, which most people wouldn’t notice. I did, because I’d caused the cut.

I snapped back to reality when Cheryl knocked on the plexiglass.

“Heather,” I said. “Girlfriend. Let’s get real. If someone cheats one time, some partners can forgive and forget. But if he keeps cheating, it’ll never stop. You can’t make your husband change. You have to decide if you can live with always wondering when it will happen again. Can you do that?” I’d lay money she couldn’t walk away, or else she wouldn’t keep calling.

“I’m not sure,” she whispered.

“You need to make sure,” I insisted. “Stand up for yourself and make a decision. Put on your big girl panties. I wouldn’t stay with someone who can’t keep it in his pants. Let’s be smart. Aren’t you afraid of disease?”

“That’d never happen to me,” Heather insisted. “We’re always careful.”

“Oh puh-leeze.” Now was the time for tough love and a reality check. “I’m gonna tell you what your best friend would say. Grow some balls. You keep asking for advice, but then you do nothing. Confront him and demand to understand why he’s cheating. Most affairs aren’t about the sex. Give him an ultimatum. Tonight.”

“Okay, but…” A click came through the headphones, and the phone call ended.

About the Author

Tammy Barker is a serious, by-the-book Washington DC government accountant by day and a wildly imaginative fiction writer by night. She writes contemporary traditional amateur sleuth mystery novels and historical pulp fiction short stories. Her other loves include reading anything, restoring or refurbishing vintage items, small home repairs, cooking and baking, classical piano, and wishing she lived during the 1940s and 1950s.

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