Here’s the set-up for Ric Wasley’s Shadow of Innocence, just $2.99 on Kindle:

In the turbulent, exciting year of 1968, “Mick” McCarthy and his pretty, petite but tough-as-nails lover, Bridget Connolly, are thrown into a tangled maze of dark secrets, drugs, sex, rock & roll…and murder.

Blair Prentiss Vanderwall, the beautiful, pampered, pseudo-hippie daughter of a wealthy socialite family summering in Newport, Rhode Island, is found dead on a beach and the last person to be seen with her is the cousin of Mick’s army buddy, Smitty.

Backed by the last few bucks from McCarthy & Son Private Investigations, Mick and Bridget fire up Mick’s motorcycle and head to Newport to retrace the last weeks of Blair’s life, from the marble mansions of Newport to the free-flowing, free-love hippie crash pads and smoke-filled bars on Cape Cod, and backstage at the Newport Folk Festival.

As the shadows in Blair’s life begin to take on a terrifying persona, threatening all who seek to shine a light on the mystery, Mick and Bridget must ask the real question―not who would have loved to wring Blair Vanderwall’s pretty little neck…but who wouldn’t.

Newport, Rhode Island, 1968. A headstrong, adventurous, flirty young woman is dead. Her accused killer, Cody Ewing, maintains his innocence. But his case seems hopeless until Cody’s cousin calls up his best friend, private investigator (and Vietnam vet) Mick McCarthy and asks for help.

From the reviewers:

“Colorful and exciting. Wasley is well versed in the 1960s New England music scene (he was a folksinger and rocker), and he is able to make us feel as though we are in that time and place.”—Booklist

“Here’s a recipe for a page-turner: Take a moment of high American drama—the tumultuous year of 1968. Add some cool New England locations—Harvard Square and the Newport Folk festival. Throw in a wisecracking Boston detective. No, wait…make that a whole family of Boston detectives. Let Ric Wasley cook it all up for you. Then sit down and enjoy. You’ll be glad you did.”—William Martin, New York Times bestselling author of Back Bay

“P.I. Michael Prescott McCarthy, half Irish and half Boston Brahmin, and his partner Bridget Connolly go to Newport, RI, to rescue the cousin of his Vietnam army buddy. A killer in the tony resort is murdering people in vicious ways…Wasley uses his knowledge of music and personal experience in the Sixties to bring a certain reality to this tale.”—Library Journal

“If you enjoy mystery, there’s plenty to go around, action too, and if you’re into sixties music the scenes will resonate all the more.”—Art Tirrell, author of The Secret Ever Keeps

Ric Wasley is a writer and lecturer as well as the author of the popular McCarthy Mystery Series set in Boston in 1968

Ric has a 40 year professional career history in advertising, publishing and marketing in Boston, New York and San Francisco.

Of the five books in the McCarthy series the most recent is, The Scrimshaw, the third in the McCarthy Mystery Series, which was released in late 2009. That will be followed by “Black Velvet Band, scheduled for 2013.

In addition to the first two McCarthy Mysteries; Shadow of Innocence and Acid Test, Ric’s most recent book is Midnight Blue, a quirky vampire tale that combines spectral creatures and nightwalkers with sex, drugs and Rock & Roll!

Ric has also authored the semi-autobiographical novella; At my Window with a Broken Wing, and two short stories; Embers and The Night. Plus a brand new story, Long Black Veil, that appears in the anthology, Weirdly Vol. 3, released in 2010. In addition, Tell Tale Publishing will be releasing Echoes down a Dark Well, a new paranormal novel, in 2012.

Just like Mick in his McCarthy Mysteries Series, Ric thrived on music in the sixties and performed as a folksinger and in several rock bands all over New England. He played regularly in the Harvard Sq. folk music clubs in the late 60’s where he met music legends such as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.

Wasley has been involved in both print and broadcast media as well as writing for business and commercial markets for over 30 years and continues to consult for a major media company. In addition to his novels and short stories, he has been published in several literary magazines in L.A. and San Francisco while living in California. Wasley currently divides his time between the Boston Metro-West and his home on Cape Cod where he continues to write, lecture and create worlds where the unexpected thrives.