Holly S. Roberts 7 things My Readers should Know About Me

11 January 2023

ONE: I love arachnids. My mother gave me a venomous scorpion she found by a military tank at Eglin Airforce Base when I was ten. I named her Suzanna and handled her with long tweezers.We had a special bond though she might not have realized it. For my twenty-first birthday, my husband bought me a Mexican Red-Leg tarantula. Her name was Tabatha and she slept in aterrarium by my bed. She was a centerpiece on the main table at Horror Con in Phoenix, Arizonain the 1990s. She enjoyed sitting on my shoulder to veg.

Holly S Roberts

TWO: I spoil my dogs rotten. It brings me comfort. My Rottweiler, Dizzy, has extreme anxiety issues and she is the baby of the family no matter how old she is. After the death of our Chihuahua who Dizzy thought was her mother, Dizzy went into mental distress that we didn’t think she would recover from. Months later with no signs of healing, I rescued another dog fromthe shelter to act as her comfort animal. If Ava is out of sight for even a few minutes Dizzy begins howling. The two are inseparable. From their monthly supply of bones and chew toys on subscription order to their vitamins and special food, I fear I’ve created loveable monsters that noone else could put up with handle.

THREE: Cats are the black eye of my animal fascination. They think they’re better than everyone so we knock heads. One of my felines was a demon in disguise. She would pee in my tissue box (I was allergic to her dander) and when I removed a tissue, in the middle of a sneeze, I would place it on my nose and inhale cat urine. I cleaned her litter box frequently so don’t blame her devilish behavior on me.

FOUR: I have a fascination with houses where people died violently. I stayed alone, overnight in an actual home where two people were brutally murdered. Okay, truth, the only survivor’s dog stayed with me. The canine had recently been spayed and the owner had to go out of town. I read a suspense thriller most of the night and checked the locks every hour. I’ll never forget the second floor creaking above my head. It’s where the murders took place. I chickened out and slept downstairs on the couch with the dog. We were both okay with it.

FIVE: I keep the volume on my television set to even numbers. DO NOT set it to eleven or thirteen or some horrid point like that. I don’t need to see the level on the screen, I can hear the unevenness in my ears. Come to my home and test me.

SIX: I learned to cook after years of hating the kitchen. Becoming a clean eater: organic and no grains, changed my perception of what I could accomplish with chef-like skills. I make bread along with butter and cheese. Cooking relaxes me and finding new recipes that taste wonderful,is my second favorite hobby. The first is gardening, the third is rock hunting. I’m really a boring person at heart.

SEVEN: I’m fascinated by religious cult history and love writing about the topic. While working as a sex crimes and homicide detective near a prominent US cult, Fundamentalist Latter-day Saints, I dealt with women who had escaped their imprisoned prophet, Warren Jeffs’ ideology which increased my interest. I’ve spent years studying the reasons behind cult behavior and the ramifications to children. In the case of the FLDS, these consequences also encompassed adult women. As with most cults, murder to keep their secrets is a way of life and the brainwashed worshipers follow blindly and commit heinous acts to stay in favor. My research has uncovered two common factors: Money and sexual control. I look forward to sharing the Detective Eve Bennet series with others who share this interest or simply enjoy a good nail-biting thriller.

Preview - Only Girl Alive:

As day breaks over the Tanner family home, the house is deadly silent and the door is firmly closed. Upstairs, the whole family lie cold and lifeless in their beds. All with the same look of fear in their unblinking eyes…

Detective Eve Bennet takes a steadying breath as she enters the main bedroom of the Tanners’ modest home in the tight-knit town of Hilldale, Utah. Mrs Tanner’s high-collared nightgown and her long plaited blonde hair are soaked in blood. Next to her, Mr Tanner’s hands are clasped together in a final prayer.

Filled with dread, Eve forces herself towards the children’s rooms. But instead of two children, she only finds one. Where is the youngest daughter, Hannah? And why are there long scratches across the walls?

Eve tracks Hannah down to her uncle’s house nearby. But he won’t let her step foot in the house. Eve knows what it’s like to be held captive by a family member, and fears for Hannah’s safety. What is he terrified Hannah might reveal?

Back at the Tanner home, Eve makes a shocking discovery in the dust covered attic. Mr Tanner was hiding a dark secret from the rest of the community—the kind of secret someone would kill for.

Realizing another family could be in danger, Eve runs from the house and stumbles into the path of the one man she spent years trying to forget— and he won’t let her get away this time.

Can Eve escape the evil that has haunted her whole life? And will she catch the killer before another innocent family is murdered?

This is one that will 'draw' you in and you won't want to put down, the suspence will grip you - Femalefirst

Author Bio

Holly Roberts began writing to alleviate stress in her day job, that of a homicide and sex crimes detective. Romance was her go to genre because she required a happy ending. She also touched on cozy mysteries and added six books to her forty book romance repertoire. Now that she’s retired and her mind at peace, she decided to delve into crime thrillers using her background and thirst for research to write the Eve Bennet series.

Holly has two movie/television options under her belt for her amazing life story. Part of the reason is Holly became a police officer at age 45 and led two high profile cases, one involving a serial killer. Now she enjoys the excitement of writing about crime while sitting at home with her two dogs, laptop, and a cup of hot tea close by.