Music City

Reading From The Claret Murders

As I noted earlier, COVID-19 has shut down the opportunity to meet in person with book clubs and fans of the Mark Rollins adventure series. I have always enjoy doing readings at those events. Since I cannot do it in person, I’ll occasional do so by way of the internet. Today I am reading excerpts from Chapter 28, Mano a Mano, in my book, The Claret Murders.

Author reading from his book The Claret Murders

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook editions are available on Amazon, Google Play, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and other online bookstores. Audio editions are available on Amazon, iTunes and directly from Audible.com. Be sure to check out the latest Tom Collins Novel, Beyond Visual Range on Amazon.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

End to Amazon's Exclusive Rights & Other Updates

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Until two weeks ago, Amazon had the exclusive right to market the eBook edition of my latest Mark Rollins mystery, Diversion. That exclusive period ended January 21, 2018. The eBook edition is now available for Barnes & Noble’s Nook, and the ePub edition is available from most eBook retailers and online book services including Smashwords. Within days it should become available, like my other five books, in Apple’s iBooks.

Speaking of iBooks, if you are among the many people who use The Language of Excellence as a management guide, download the book on your iPhone for an easy to use and always available reference tool.

Work is also underway for an audio edition of Diversion. I had the opportunity on January 28th, to listen to some of the completed chapters. I was impressed with the clarity and professionalism of the reader’s voice. If you prefer to listen to your books as your drive, you’ll be happy to know that within a few weeks Diversion with join The Claret Murders on Audible. Depending on demand, I may add the other three Mark Rollins mysters to Audible. 

On January 23th, I spoke at the breakfast meeting of the Exchange Club in Brentwood. The topic was my book, Diversion. Of course, that also included discussing the opioid crisis. Diversion is a fictional story, but that doesn’t mean that the opioid problem isn’t real. I was recently interviewed for the website Serious Reading. One of the interview questions was “How realistic are your books?” – and this was my answer. "I particularly like the disclaimer that my lawyers came up with. It has been on the copyright page of every one of my novels.

This is a work of fiction. While some of the names, character, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and some are real, the events depicted herein are entirely fictitious and should not be considered real or factual.

That is a completely accurate description of my mysteries. They deal with real places, real events, and conditions to tell a fictional story. The Claret Murders uses the real-life Nashville flood as its canvas. Diversion uses the opioid crisis as the backdrop for its story.” 

Diversion is now available in eBook, paperback and hard cover editions soon to be follow by an audio version. ForewordClarion Reviews recently gave the book three stars and wrote,

This dramatic thriller reveals many dark truths about the opioid crisis. Fueled by a murder mystery and a missing girl, Tom Collins's page-turning thriller Diversion explores the opioid crisis and illegal drugs through myriad plotlines.... The book's many antagonists add intrigue and excitement. Lena and Carlos, two drug-dealing crime lords in Florida's pill mill enterprise, are crooked and manipulative, and their scheming creates constant uncertainty as to what will happen next. Tom Lewis and Rocco, two other corrupt adversaries, are sleazy and dishonest, and their role in the story results in astonishing developments." ForewordClarion Reviews

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For Amazon go to www.amazon.com/Tom-Collins. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. eBook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBook’s Store and Smashwords.com. For the new adventure novel on Amazon go to Diversion: a Mark Rollins Adventure.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

The Claret Murders

Most of my posts of late have promoted my new book Diversion, but I don’t want to overlook the other four books in the Mark Rollins adventure series.  My favorite is The Claret Murders.  It is about Nashville—with a devastating flood, a beautiful lawyer, a deadly secret, and wine to kill for.

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As the story begins, an old man finished a glass of wine--his favorite claret--goes to bed and dies. Now more than fifty years later, a stunningly beautiful Nashville attorney, Ann Sims, prepares to auction off his estate--a derelict old mansion with its forgotten secret. Sims is living with a secret of her own, a secret that could cost her the fortune she is to inherit and end her career. Afraid, for good reason, of the possessive and greedy men in her life, she turns to Mark Rollins for protection.

People are dead--possibly murdered. Rollins must deal with these events during a blinding three-day rainstorm that sends the Cumberland River over its banks and turns Nashville's streams and creeks into raging floodwaters.

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For Amazon go to www.amazon.com/Tom-Collins. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. eBook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBook’s Store and Smashwords.com. For the new adventure novel on Amazon go to Diversion: A Mark Rollins Adventure.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

Stocking Stuffers



For free shipping plus
 a 30% savings go to www.tomcollinsauthor.com and enter coupon code C214 when ordering signed copies of books by Tom Collins.


"The Language of Excellence just may be the only guide book to personal and business excellence you will ever need to read. A must-read for achievers."—Robert Hicks, New York Times 

Regarding his mysteries "Collins has a knack for painting a picture in the minds eye of the reader, using the history of Nashville and consistency of the characters leaving you wanting more."

Interview For Williamson County Arts


Reporter Michael Ackley covers the City of Franklin for Homepage Media Group. Michael interviewed me several weeks ago, and that interview was published in the November 23th edition of the Arts sections of the Franklin Home Page. For the complete interview go to http://franklinhomepage.com/section/willco-arts.

One of the questions Michael asked me was "How much of what you write in your mystery novels is taken from your own life?"

The main character is Mark Rollins. There is only a one letter difference between Rollins and Collins. The difference between my avenging hero and myself is much greater than that one letter. However, there are similarities. We both know about technology and guns.  We both know about law firms, running a business, and leadership.  I like great wines and the best restaurants. So does Rollins. We both live in the Music City area.  Actually, we reside in  Williamson County, Tennessee which is close to Brentwood and Franklin and  part of the greater Nashville Tennessee area—Music City USA.

By giving the my main character my skill set and placing him in the same place on this earth, it is much easier for me to visualize and write about his reaction to the fictional events I create for him. As an author you have to start somewhere, and by starting with the things I know, I was able to get up and running as an author faster. When you don't start writing for publication until age sixty-six getting there faster is pretty important.


In the interview, Michael mentioned that I recently made the first novel in the Mark Rollins adventure mysteries available as a free download.  If you would like a free download of Mark Rollins New Career go to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/470351.


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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBookstore and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.