I wrote the first draft of Dead on Ice back in 2007, years before hoarders became a household word. A friend was telling me about a house that she had moved into that was filled with junk. One closet that she cleaned out was filled from floor to ceiling with those tubes that toilet paper is wrapped around. So, I started thinking, “Gee, what if they found a dead body under all that junk?” That year, I wrote the rough draft for Dead on Ice, even though I had no title for it. But was I unhappy with how it came out.
The problem with the first draft was the original main characters. I had written Dead on Ice as a Joshua Thornton mystery. My first two books, A Small Case of Murder and A Reunion to Die For, featured Joshua Thornton, a single father of five children. In the original draft of Dead on Ice, Joshua handled the investigation solo. It just didn’t flow right.
Without showing it to anyone, I ended up shelving the book and moving on to my next book which was It’s Murder, My Son, the first in the Mac Faraday Mysteries. After Old Loves Die Hard, I had readers asking when I would return to Joshua Thornton. I decided to bring him back in Shades of Murder, which features two murders, two detectives (Joshua and Mac) and one killer.
Realize, this is five years after I had written A Reunion to Die For. I had to think about where Joshua would be in his life now. His children are older. Only one is home. Youngest child Donny is now a teenager. Joshua is more independent. He’s ready for love. In came Cameron Gates, a homicide detective.
The combination proved to be hot and sexy. Joshua is practical. He’s a lawyer. He’s a father. He’s disciplined. Cameron is impulsive. She’s emotional. A detective who goes out the catch the bad guy, she is the law side of law and order, which is Joshua’s side.
It ended up making for a combustible relationship. Suddenly, I had the Lovers in Crime.
Shades of Murder introduced the Lovers in Crime. Once I had the main characters, Dead on Ice came completely together.
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Lauren Carr fell in love with mysteries when her mother read Perry Mason to her at bedtime.
Lauren is also the author of the Mac Faraday Mysteries, which takes place in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland. The first two books in her series, It’s Murder, My Son and Old Loves Die Hard have been getting rave reviews from readers and reviewers. Lauren’s fifth mystery, Shades of Murder has been receiving rave reviews since its release.
Lauren’s sixth book, Dead on Ice, has just been released. Dead on Ice introduces a new series entitled Lovers in Crime, in which Joshua Thornton will join forces with homicide detective Cameron Gates.
The owner of Acorn Book Services, Lauren is also a publishing manager, consultant, editor, cover and layout designer, and marketing agent for independent authors. This spring, two books written by independent authors will be released through the management of Acorn Book Services.
Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She also passes on what she has learned in her years of writing and publishing by conducting workshops and teaching in community education classes.
She lives with her husband, son, and two dogs on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
Visit her websites at www.acornbookservices.com and www.mysterylady.net.
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In this Loves in Crime Mystery, Spunky Pennsylvania State Homicide Detective Cameron Gates is tasked with solving the murder of Cherry 
Pickens, a legendary star of pornographic films, whose body turns up in an abandoned freezer.
Dead on Ice is the first installment of Lauren Carr’s new series (Lovers in Crime) featuring Hancock County Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Thornton and Pennsylvania State Police homicide detective Cameron Gates.
In this Loves in Crime Mystery, Spunky Pennsylvania State Homicide Detective Cameron Gates is tasked with solving the murder of Cherry Pickens, a legendary star of pornographic films, whose body turns up in an abandoned freezer. The case has a personal connection to her lover, Joshua Thornton, because the freezer was located in his cousin’s basement. It doesn’t take long for their investigation to reveal that the risqué star’s roots were buried in their rural Ohio Valley community, something that Cherry had kept off her show business bio. She should have kept her hometown off her road map, too—because when this starlet came running home from the mob, it proved to be a fatal homecoming.
The Story Behind the Book 
Thank you so much for inviting me here today to tell the story behind Dead on Ice, the Lovers in Crime Mysteries. I’ll be sure to stop by again to tell the story behind Real Murder, the second installment of the Lovers in Crime.