* * * Wordbeams Publishing Releases Mystery set in Battered Women's Shelter * * *

New e-mystery set in battered women's shelter. Christine Duncan's Safe Beginnings, released in September 2001 by Wordbeams Http://www.Wordbeams.com

Contact: Susan Bodendorfer at books@wordbeams.com Http://www.Wordbeams.com
or Christine Duncan CHDuncan100@hotmail.com Http://www.ChristineDuncan.com

Release: Immediate Time Sensitive to September release

   Denver is the setting for Christine Duncan's novel, Safe Beginnings. The novel is a mystery with a heroine who is a battered woman's counselor.
   "I wanted to do a novel about battered women." said Duncan. "I didn't want to preach, but I wanted to make the point that we as a society have not yet solved the problem of domestic violence. I also wanted to create a mystery heroine who was a real woman, coping with problems that many of us cope with every day."
   Safe Beginnings begins with a fire that breaks out in the battered women's shelter, forcing counselor Kaye Berreano to race to evacuate her residents. But it's too late for one. The new
resident, Mary Ellen, is dead.
         Farrell, the blue eyed, police arson investigator, believes Kaye knows who set the fire. He makes it clear that he suspects Roger, Kaye's soon to be ex, who had been at the safe house earlier, arguing with Kaye. Farrell's other theory is that Mary Ellen set the fire herself in a suicidal moment.
     Kaye knows three things. She's no murderer, and jerk though he is, neither is Roger. And she'd bet her career as a counselor that Mary Ellen wasn't suicidal. With her hours cut due to the fire, Kaye is determined to find the real culprit.
     Could it be the roommate who fought with Mary Ellen on the night of the fire? How about Amanda who beat her husband George and is remanded to the battered women's shelter by a quirky court order? Then there is the fanatical minister who unwillingly brought Mary Ellen to the safe house. Could this be murder in the name of Jesus? Come along with Kaye, as she sets out to find the arsonist.
Wordbeams Publishing is releasing Safe Beginnings in both PDF and HTML electronic formats.
It will be available as either a download or a diskette at the Wordbeams website. (Http://www.Wordbeams.com/safe.html)
For more information, obtain a copy of the book for review or to arrange an interview, contact Christine Duncan at (303) 456-2652