Welcome to THE NO ALIBI ZONE
MYSTERIES, MURDER, & INVESTIGATING CRIME
LYNN BOHART
Author • Writing Mentor • Mystery Coach
Your trusted guide for writing believable mysteries.
"I write mysteries, talk to the people who know crime scene investigation from the inside out, and help writers create stories that keeps readers guessing."
AUTHOR LYNN BOHART
Ms. Bohart came to writing after thirty-five years as a nonprofit executive, where she raised millions of dollars for multiple causes and now weaves some of those causes into her books. After retiring in 2018, she launched a freelance writing company, Lil Dog Communications, and for a time wrote for nonprofits and individuals all over the world.
With a master's degree in theater, Ms. Bohart brings a strong background in storytelling to her books, and includes the supernatural in much of what she writes because it's fun and it fascinates her. As a dog lover and canine rescue advocate, she has also chosen to weave dogs into all her novels. And, like all dogs, these lovable characters get in the way, get into trouble, and occasionally save the day.
Currently, Ms. Bohart has 11 paranormal mystery novels on Amazon, along with 2 short story ‘horror’ books, and 3 nonfiction books. The first book in her Old Maids of Mercer Island series "Inn Keeping with Murder" remained on Amazon's top 100 ghost story list for over 10 months and maintains a 4.5-star average with over 1500 reviews.
She has also been published in “Woman's World” and "Dead on Demand," an anthology of ghost stories which rose to #13 on the Library Journal Bestsellers List. For a brief time, she wrote a weekly column for Patch.com and a monthly column for the Renton Reporter and taught “Crafting the Story” for 10+ years through Green River College.
Over the past few years, she has been a featured speaker at a number of online writing summits, including the Seattle Film Summit, League of Romance Writers, Fiction Authors Summit, and the Crime Thriller Summit. She now offers mystery coaching to emerging mystery writers who need a little help in crafting a murder that will catch readers by surprise and keep them reading long into the night.
ABOUT THE DOGS IN MY BOOKS
It would be an understatement to say that Ms. Bohart loves dogs. When she began writing, she decided to include a dog as a main character in all her novels. So far, a German Shepherd named Soldier saves the day in 'Grave Doubts,' a Basset hound named Grosvenor finds dead bodies in the Giorgio Salvatori mysteries, and two miniature dachshunds (Mickey & Minnie) cause mayhem in the 'Old Maids of Mercer Island' mysteries. Her dog characters are written true to life. Sometimes frustrating. Sometimes noisy. Sometimes quirky. Sometimes heroic. But always lovable.
Meet Mango and Gracie, (pictured here), the inspiration for Mickey and Minnie in the Old Maids of Mercer Island mysteries and also for the name of my freelance writing company. Though both Mango and Gracie are gone now, Emma Jean and Scarlett "the bad dog" O'Hara have joined her writing team (pictured below).
ABOUT THE SOCIAL ISSUES IN MY BOOKS
After spending 35+ years in the nonprofit world, it's second nature for Lynn to explore social problems within the context of my stories. When she wrote the first book in the Old Maids of Mercer Island mysteries, she used sex exploitation and black market adoption as the crimes someone might kill for. At the back of the book, she included a section on how people could get involved to end this scourge on humanity. When fans reacted positively, she decided to do it again and again, exploring mental health, child abuse, and bullying. In "The Essence of Murder", she comes down hard on the cruelty of dog fighting. The sixth book of the Old Maids series is framed around homelessness.
Ms. Bohart believes wholeheartedly in the strength of the community to come together to make a difference and hopes you will appreciate this aspect of her writing and explore how you might support a cause you believe in.
MEET LYNN'S TEAM
Yes, she has a team. In fact, she couldn't do what she does without her beverage of choice, her dogs, her best friend, and her daughter.
SUPPORT LYNN'S WORK
Your support means everything. If you enjoy Lynn's books, her newsletter, and/or her website content, please consider supporting her work in one or more of the following ways. She would be forever grateful.
1. Join her Street Team: Street Team members help Lynn spread the word about her books by chatting up the books with family and friends and handing out book cards to people who might enjoy a good mystery. If you'd like to join her Street Team, let her know through the contact form.
2. Leave a review: If you’ve read any of Lynn's books, please take a moment and go back and leave an honest review. This helps more than you know.
3. Tell people and other writers about Lynn's website: Lynn's website is now chock full of good content, including the Tiny Guides Library, the “Let’s Talk About Murder” online interviews, blog posts on writing and behind-the-scenes investigation techniques, and more. Help her build my base of followers.
4. Forward a newsletter: Forward her newsletter to a friend or family member and suggest they subscribe.
THAT'S IT! Thanks so much for being one of Lynn's loyal fans.
Copywriting
If you need copy for a newsletter, fundraising letter, speech, or business letter, please reach out to Lynn at: www.Lildogcommunications.com or Lildog67@icloud.com