Author of the St. Croix Series
St. Croix is paradise, white sand beaches, palms swaying in the cool ocean breeze, and a culture full of diverse beauty.
In the background, the hidden places, the white sand can be stained by innocent blood, the cool breezes can carry the scent of death, and the cultures of hate, lust and greed can rule the day. When bad things happen in paradise, someone has to step up. Welcome to the St. Croix Series the stories of the imperfect souls that step up in paradise.
On the island of St. Croix, retired homicide detective mad Dog Cotton has a reputation for being able to find missing things. It seems Betsy Rourk’s husband, Bob, has vanished, having disappeared following a dive with a friend, But, when Betsy asks Mad Dod to find her husband he turns her down.
When the price Betsy offers is a single golden piece of pirate treasure, however, common sense is abandoned, and Mad Dog says yes. as he begins the search for the missing man. mad Dog has no idea that he’s about to walk into a four-hundred-year-old mystery. What he unearths the ancient ghosts of greed, lust, and insanity down on his head, disrupting his tranquil existence and threatening to destroy everything he loves. Only time will tell whether he’ll find the answers he’ seeking in time to keep himself, and the people he loves safe.
CHILDREN ARE MISSING
Soaking up a little Caribbean sun and recovering from injuries incurred on his last case, private detective Mad Dog Cotton is swept back into the action when his best friend and partner Ray Jones’ 14-year-old god daughter disappears.
AN ISLAND IN CHAOS
What should be a simple lost child case plunges into a bloody nightmare as Mad Dog, his wife retired U.S. Marshal, Cherie Cotton and Ray Jones try to unravel a plot that quickly turns into a blood-soaked game of cat and mouse where the lives of the two young girls hang in the balance.
TRUST NO ONE, AND ALL HELL IS BREAKING LOOSE
No one can tell who the good guys or bad guys are. As Mad Dog plunges into the mystery the world around him explodes into unstoppable action, unforeseeable twists, and a world where murder and mayhem are the rule, and the only justice is vigilante justice.
About the author
Tom has led a life that can be best described as a winding path. As a young man growing up in Wyoming, Tom worked as a ranch hand and a rodeo cowboy. Plagued by injuries, Tom quit riding bulls and bucking horses and sought a less strenuous line of work. He spent 8 years working offshore as a commercial diver. All good things must end, and when the bottom fell out of the oil industry, like so many other young men, Tom was forced to go back to school. In 1988 Tom graduated from law school at the University of Wyoming and opened a solo law office in Casper, Wyoming. During a three-week jury trial in Cheyenne, Tom met a Deputy U.S. Marshal by the name of Charlene and after a great deal of begging, convinced her to marry him. Then came a stint of raising kids and being responsible, with the support of Charlene, Tom survived that ordeal. Only a few months after the last kid left the house, Tom and Charlene were off to a new life in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. In St. Croix Charlene continued to work as a Federal Marshal and Tom worked as the Major Crimes/Homicide Prosecutor for the Island of St. Croix. Tom’s years as a homicide prosecutor taught him the hard-boiled reality of life and murder Caribbean style. During his work as a homicide prosecutor, he worked closely with agents from the FBI and DEA to identify and prosecute some of the most prolific serial killers in St. Croix. In 2013 after six years in St. Croix, Tom and Charlene needed a new mystery so they retired and moved to their 40’ trawler “Itchy Feet” and began cruising the Caribbean for four and a half years. This experience ended abruptly when Charlene woke one morning and informed Tom, “I need a closet.” Tom and Charlene now live in Florida, in a home with a closet. Tom now divides his time between traveling, entertaining Charlene (this is a job in itself), writing his hard-boiled mystery thrillers, and trying to grow old gracefully. If you ask him, he will tell you, “I’ve never had a job I didn’t love.”
A note from Tom
First, welcome to my website! Like Mad Dog, my favorite character, I am kind of old school, this website is my first attempt at building a website, and I hope it helps.
Wow, that big “F” just popped up and I can’t figure out how to get rid of it, so I guess we’ll just pretend I did it on purpose.
I wanted to share some thoughts with my readers about the world we now live in and specifically how that environment is impacting the creative world. I first published the Gold of St. Croix in 2012 with a traditional publisher. That was a nightmare and after some negotiation the publisher agreed to release my creative rights to the Gold of St. Croix. In 2020 I self-published the Gold of St. Croix. At this time, I am the proud owner of the creative rights to both of my books. That’s a good and a bad thing. Good in that I don’t have a publisher sucking a huge percentage of my book sales away from me and controlling all of the creative rights to my books, but bad because the huge marketing complex that comes with an established publishing house is gone. In short, I own everything including the responsibilities of marketing my creative work product.
Don’t feel too sorry for me. I got very lucky because now is the best time in the history of mankind to be a creative soul. Just look at Taylor Swift, that young lady shook of the shackles of big business music producers and went out on her own, owning her own creative work product and succeeding!
With the advent of sites like Amazon my creative work product has a ready market available to billions of readers. With the advent of web site providers like Word Press even a schmuck like me can build a website, and with the use of the modern miracles like social media, creators like me, have the opportunity to build their own audience of followers and succeed.
The creative world is about to realize a new renaissance where creative souls like artists, poets, scientists, inventors, philosophers, musicians and yes fiction writers, can control their own destinies, without being enslaved by the big businesses like publishing houses, art galleries, and music studios.
If you wonder why there are millions of creative writers on this planet but the only new book available is James Patterson’s 50th novel, it’s because big business only wants to bet on sure things. That attitude creates a very milk toast world. Give me an old man on the street playing a banjo with a tin cup full of quarters, give me a kid painting his dreams on a wall, give me Taylor Swift and her courageously going her own way.
One of the small joys of building this web site is I got to stand on this little soap box. I hope you enjoy the St. Croix Series and invite you to share my books with your friends.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the St. Croix Series Available in Digital Format
Yes, both of my books can be purchased on the internet in digital format.
How do I get signed copies?
Want a signed copy? Email me at tcsedarvi.com and I will be glad to send you a signed copy.
Will Tom participate in book club meetings?
Yes, I love the opportunity to sit down with readers and share ideas and talk about the writing and book sales process if you want to feature one of my books at your book club, please contact me by email and I will do anything I can to enrich your club’s experience.
How can I help Tom get his book to more readers?
As an author I live and die by the reviews my readers share on the internet sites where my books are available, if you like the books, please do reviews. Also, in the last few years may bookstores like Barnes and Nobel have started putting in self-published books they have a demand for. if you enjoy the St. Croix Series talk to your local bookstore about putting some copies in or send me the stores information and I will be glad to contact them.
★★★★★
Great storytelling and really kept me interested in the characters. As someone whose been to St. Croix, I can attest to how great the author puts us in this location. Totally recommend everyone read!
!Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2022
Brentan Brown