R.M. Lowery’s novel The Gentle Slope is available now in paperback and on all popular ebook platforms.
Someone murdered sixteen-year-old Grace Sutherland and dumped her body along the riverbank.
The news shocks most in the Midwest town of Stonebridge, but for reporter Jakob Larsen, her death dredges up particularly bad memories. Two years ago, his father was murdered, and police have yet to make an arrest.
Knowing the pain the girl’s family feels, Jakob is determined to find answers for them. Answers his family still doesn’t have. But as Jakob hunts for the truth, he uncovers details that could rip the Sutherland family apart.
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Read R.M. Lowery’s short story “The Road Out,” included in The First Line: Volume 26, Issue 4.
From The Road Out:
The parking lot was empty. Only three letters in the old neon vacancy sign still flickered. At a glance, it seemed the Bestvalu Motor Inn had been abandoned years ago, but as I drove up to the office, I spotted a woman seated at a desk behind a sheet of bulletproof glass.
The motel was a fleabag, that was apparent even in the dark of night, but it looked like the kind of place where I could get a room without creating a paper trail of my stay, so I got out of my truck and approached the woman.
She spoke few words and wore no expression as she confirmed she had a room available.
I smiled and said, “Sounds good. I’ll take it.”
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Read R.M. Lowery’s short story “Luxury Goods” in Black Cat Mystery Magazine #15.
From Luxury Goods:
Reaching for her cell phone, she offered a quick smile to the man at the end of the bar. He’d been staring at her since she walked in. Now he’d moved on from staring to checking her up and down. Nothing about her outfit was provocative, just a dark blue flare dress with a split collar. For a plain button-up dress, it always seemed to gain lots of attention from guys, probably because it had a school-girl look to it, which seemed to ignite a particular fantasy in their minds.
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Read R.M. Lowery’s short story “Wednesday Night at Muffy’s,” included in Workers Write! Tales from the Key of C.
From Wednesdays at Muffy’s:
Wednesdays at Muffy’s are the worst. An all-ages night dedicated to new and recently formed bands—mostly groups of wide-eyed teenagers who’ve been playing instruments for just a few months. It’s sort of like an open mic night, except Terry, the club’s owner, pays the bands a small percentage of the door.
Terry never works on Wednesdays, though, which means I’m stuck doing everything: running sound, monitoring the door, making sure the bartender doesn’t sell to anyone without a wristband. If anything goes wrong, it’s on me, and something always goes wrong because Muffy’s is a shitty place that attracts shitty people.
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R.M. Lowery
R.M. Lowery is the author of the Jakob Larsen Mysteries—The Gentle Slope, We Kill Our Own, and Time Fades Away. His stories have appeared in Black Cat Mystery Magazine, Workers Write, The First Line, and others. Rooted in Illinois and raised in Colorado, Lowery splits his time between Colorado and New Mexico with his beautiful wife and their clowder (of cats).
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“Reading is not just an escape. It is access to a better way of life.”
Karin Slaughter