Imagined Life

​A Hollywood filmmaker is blown to bits aboard his sailboat. Three weeks later, a controversial South Dakota judge is dispatched by a poison thorn. Another three weeks, and a popular televangelist is assassinated in Washington, D.C. Each had a list of enemies to rival the Manhattan telephone directory. Three clues are left behind: an overheard telephone call, a poison thorn, and a single bullet. All three cases end up in cold storage; then, nine years later, they land on FBI Special Agent Maggie Sachet’s desk. In a flash, the bizarre cold cases heat to a single, sizzling life-and-death danger point.

​Dearly Departed opens with an opening—exhumation of the body of a glamorous Russian-born film star, a double agent working for FBI Special Agent Maggie Sachet and Russian intelligence chief Vasili Selishanko. The exhumation launches a mesmerizing international spy story, with intelligence and counterintelligence plots, secrets and tantalizing revelations, and trickery from Hollywood to Arkhangelsk. A web of intrigue circles around an atmospheric scientist who apparently committed suicide by hurricane, an elderly Chinese widow with all the answers, and a dead body in Maggie’s bedroom. The ultimate burning question: Are the lives of millions in danger?  

Eight-year-old twins of the newly appointed ambassador to Ireland have been boldly kidnapped from their posh private school in the middle of the day. Unknowing accomplices are the school principal and a security guard, neither of whom suspected the well-dressed, well-spoken man who arrived with a faux note from the children’s ‘mother. The twins, it said, would be taken to their parents at a White House function. No ransom demands follow the bizarre snatch. Maggie plays a critical role in a search for the children that reaches halfway around the world. In the end, secrets long concealed are revealed and lives are upended.

Wounded in a D.C. battle with foreign agents, Maggie is recuperating on the beautiful West Indian island of Montserrat. Life on this piece of paradise is friendly, relaxed, and safe. Crime rate is zero. Private ownership of guns is prohibited. Nobody gets mugged while walking beautiful beaches or hiking mountain trails. And then! A mysterious visitor is brutally murdered in gorgeous Watermelon Cottage. The crime becomes personal when the possibility arises that the killer might have mistaken the victim for Maggie. A magnificent setting and a page-turner story.

Maggie Sachet mysteries have earned wildly favorable praise. While she is hugely pleased by this hyper-favorable reaction, one unusual accolade from an unlikely source thrilled her.   

Retired, highly respected former Special Agent of the FBI, R. Jean Gray, reluctantly agreed to review Maggie’s adventures, cautioning, “I rarely read fiction, and when I do it has to be written by a man and be about a man.” Based on a long-standing friendship with the author, he ultimately surrendered. (He kept Maggie from making embarrassing mistakes, such as calling an agent’s ID a shield instead of a badge.) What follows is his response after reading the first Maggie manuscript.

“I loved the writing style. I almost always read history, but in fiction I like spy stories and international intrigue. That pushes me to male authors. But then comes Maggie Sachet! Mitchell  has taken a complicated series of unrelated events and imaginative inquiries and morphed them into a page-turner. She takes a little-known unit at FBI HQ and makes it the launch pad for her intriguing tale about three cold-case murders. And what a cast of characters! With enthusiasm, I’ve promised to read the next book in the Maggie series.” A unique observation from R. Jean: “The author must be a gourmet chef in her spare time, as the aroma of fine wines and savory dishes permeates the pages of Maggie’s story.”

From reluctance to enthusiasm. 

Fine reviews, R Jean’s encouragement, and amazing widespread support have led the author to respond to suggestions that the four Maggie mysteries be offered as a set. And here it is, Maggie fans:

Murder Comes in Threes

Dearly Departed

The Vandenberg Kidnapping

Murder at Watermelon Cottage

all four reserved ahead (and boxed) for the price of three: $

The set can be ordered prior to release for the discounted total and paid for at the time of delivery.