East Texas author releases next book in crime series
Published 5:20 am Monday, September 22, 2025
M.E. Proctor’s “Catch Me on a Blue Day,” the new installment in the Declan Shaw detective series, is now available in print and eBook. Published by Shotgun Honey Books, like last year’s positively reviewed “Love You Till Tuesday,” the novel takes its main character from Houston to New England for a story that links a 30-year-old cold case with the dramatic events of the Salvadoran civil war in the 1980s.
Carlton Marsh, retired war correspondent, asks Declan to help him with research for his new book. When Declan shows up in Old Mapleton, Connecticut, a surprise awaits. Marsh committed suicide. The local chief of police suspects foul play but there is no evidence. What’s behind Marsh’s death? What did the reporter dig out? The first three chapters of the book and the dedication provide clues: “For Ella and all the innocents slain by soulless men.” Ella’s murder, still unsolved, haunts the town.
Here’s what authors are saying about “Catch Me on a Blue Day”:
“I’ve been reading mystery novels for 60 years. I’ve read noir mysteries and police procedurals and historical mysteries and cozy mysteries and you name it. In all that time, I’ve read few mystery writers as good as M.E. Proctor. In Catch Me on a Blue Day, she combines the strengths of the best of the best mystery writers, writers like Raymond Chandler, Agatha Christie, and Janet Evanovich, to create a mystery novel that will have you saying, where has this terrific mystery writer been all my life?”
—John Guzlowski, author of Suitcase Charlie, a Hank and Marvin mystery
“Catch Me on a Blue Day is a speedboat of a detective yarn, sleek and sexy and fast as hell. You’ll love it.”
—Nick Kolakowski, author of Where the Bones Lie
“A small town murder mystery in New England that somehow twists and turns its way into the bloody politics of Central America. Sexy and funny, with a whole lot of action. A fresh take on the PI genre. Declan Shaw is back, baby!”
—Thomas Trang, author of Dark Neon & Dirt
Catch Me on a Blue Day by M.E. Proctor was published by Shotgun Honey Books on Sept. 16. It is available in paperback (ISBN 13: 978-1-956957-87-7) for $17.99 or on eBook for $6.99.
Proctor is a Shamus and Derringer Award nominee whose work has appeared in various anthologies and magazines: Vautrin, Reckon Review, Mystery Tribune, and Black Cat Weekly among others. She’s the author of the Declan Shaw mystery series (Love You Till Tuesday and Catch Me on a Blue Day), the co-author of the retro-noir novella, Bop City Swing, and the author of the short story collection, Family and Other Ailments.
Born in Brussels, Proctor now lives in Livingston.