Mystery in Harare: Priscilla's Journey into Southern Africa

by M J Simms-Maddox

Overview

Mystery in Harare is the second installment in the Priscilla trilogy-turned-series.

The bride pauses for an instant before walking down the aisle to marry a man she likes but does not love, and in that hesitant moment, a shot rings out, and then another. The groom falls. Blood stains the sanctuary.

Priscilla J. "PJ" Austin, a magnetic, up-and-coming baby boomer, catches a glimpse of the shooter before everything blacks out for the bride...

Set in the mid1980s, Mystery in Harare Priscilla's Journey into Southern Africa is a stylish, fast-paced, character-driven thriller that unravels the secrets behind this carnage at a Midwestern American Black church.

Priscilla's fortitude is sorely tried as she awakens, sometime later, sedated and confused, on the outskirts of Harare, Zimbabwe, to face the adventure of her life. She is "stashed" away, more than once, down deep into the savannas and wilds of southern Africa--Zimbabwe and early post-apartheid-ruled South Africa--where she falls prey to vicious South African terrorists.

Along the way, there is mayhem, murder, mistaken identities, and a barbed reunion with a swarthy, intrepid, special operative, who may be her one true love.

Priscilla has little choice but to learn how to fend for herself in places and ways she never imagined. For sure, she never envisioned herself in early post-apartheid Zimbabwe and South Africa on the run from assassins.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780578195193
Publisher:	M. J. Simms-Maddox, Inc.
Publication date:	06/12/2018
Series:	Priscilla Trilogy , #2
Pages:	458
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.93(d)

About the Author

Indie author M. J. Simms-Maddox, Ph.D., created 'The Priscilla Series, ' a unique novel series chronicling the coming of age and adventures of a modern-day, fiercely independent, self-assured Black American young woman. Her genres are mysteries and terrorism thrillers.The South Carolina native grew up in the Snowbelt of western New York. Her academic credentials include a Doctor of Philosophy degree in political science from Ohio State University. She has served as a legislative aide in the Ohio Senate, operated a PR firm, and taught political science for many years. Given her background, most plots in the novel series deal with political issues.The author is self-taught; she did not study creative writing in college. She began writing fiction in the late 1990s behind a recurring dream about a disturbing conversation with her father. Since the dream troubled her, she told a friend about it. Her friend recommended that she write it down; she has been writing ever since. As she penned her first novel, she did not even know she had written one, an editor told her. Then, she thought she was finished after publishing her first book, Priscilla Engaging in the Game of Politics. However, the next thing she knew, she was writing a trilogy. Mystery in Harare is the second book in what became a lengthier series. So, more is coming.After publishing four novels-one of which won 1st Place in the 2019 CIBAs for Mystery & Mayhem-and speaking at professional development sessions to empower women, colleagues encouraged her to share her advice about her writing and publishing experiences, hence A Handbook for Emerging and Seasoned Authors: An Insider's Step-by-Step Approach to Becoming a Successful Indie Book Author and Publisher. It won 1st Place in the 2022 CIBAs for Instruction & Insight How-To-Manuals.Simms-Maddox enjoys traveling and interacting with other writers and book fans. She has participated in the Bokmässan, the Harlem Book Fair, book clubs, and other venues. Like Edgar Allan Poe, she mostly believes, "To be appreciated, you must be read."

Table of Contents

Contents

1. Everything Went Black for the Bride

2. Stranger Things Have Happened

3. The Missing Videotapes

4. The Closest To Her Most Fervent Prayer

5. A Crash Course in South African Politics

6. Talk about Raised Antennas!

7. The Mandela Premiere & the South African Divestiture Bill

8. The Executive Committee of the SANM & the Patrol Guard

9. A Mission of Retribution

10. Unwanted

11. The CF Caravan

12. The Anglican Cathedral Boarding School

13. Three Engraved Wooden Statues

14. Megan’s Gone Missing

15. The Privilege of Acceptance

16. The Evil Doer

17. Raid at the Hueston Woods Lodge

18. Deemed Acts of International Terrorism

19. Headmaster-Priest-Double Agent

20. Our Own Kind

21. Raid at the Anglican Cathedral

22. Sights and Sounds, and Foul Odors

23. The Immense & Vibrant Central Command Center

24. The Man Called Damien

25. The Winds of Change

26. Battle at the Mwenezi River

27. The Soweto Blues

28. The Rustenburg Platinum Mine

29. The Little Runt

30. Now, She’s the Real Priscilla

About the Author

Editorial Reviews

A 2019 CLUE Book Award finalist for thriller/suspense in the Chanticleer International Book Awards

"M. J. Simms-Maddox is an excellent writer. There is a Maqoma in (her)." THEMBA NGABA, Amava Heritage Publishing, Ltd.

"After having had the privilege and opportunity to read the manuscript before it was published, I have no doubt that this book-which is part of a trilogy-has broken new ground.

"Professor M.J. Simms-Maddox is a courageous and talented author. She deserves to be congratulated for this sterling piece of work. ... Mystery in Harare is a thriller that demonstrates the wit and skill in which Professor Simms-Maddox carefully crafts, reflecting Priscilla's leading role in what could be described as mission impossible since the issue of Apartheid South Africa has always been sensitive." VIRGINIA PHIRI of Zimbabwe Women Writers.

"Mystery in Harare, as well as her first book, Priscilla Engaging in the Game of Politics, both indicate that it is time to come forth with stories that have not yet been told and that it is time to introduce new heroines, too. Consider, for example, the scene inside the platinum mine when the PAC sympathizer holds his grip on the neck of the bad guy and stares into Priscilla's eyes as if telling her that it is left to her to tell the story about his peoples' predicament to the rest of the world." MICHAEL D. CONNOR, actor, director, writer, and professor of theater, Livingstone College.

"Politics and faith are prevalent throughout the novel, diversity, lots of symbolism ... and all of the senses are used. I was particularly impressed with the relationships between the different people in Priscilla's life, such as her support network, and how that reflects on the larger scheme of things over the past thirty years and how all of that reflects life today. Very descriptive, such as the scene at the governor's mansion when Priscilla wears an outfit that is not typical of what the other women wear. That shows her sense of self-worth and her humility." KAREN K. ALEXANDER, KKA Architects and Mayor, City of Salisbury.

"The novel reflects how the political decisions we make here in America impact the lives of people in other places in the world, such as the enactment of the South African divestiture bill." OBAFEMI BALOGUN, Professor of Business Administration, Livingstone College.

"Simms-Maddox writes so well. I'm right there. She brings the animals and the people alive and makes the reader feel a strong presence in each scene. Her writing enlightens readers. Priscilla's strength grows with each encounter; so, too, does that of the other women in the story. I particularly like her use of the Book of Judges." HELEN TURNER, Director of the Reading Center, Livingstone College.

From the Publisher