The Mystery of the Ming Connection, Expanded Edition

A diverse trio of Boomer sleuths – strong, vibrant, gutsy women – solve international crimes and defeat ruthless villains.  Set against rich tapestries of culture and history, our “sheroes” – Sandra Troux, Bobbi Power and Lizbet Sheridan – drive the action in contemporary page turners.  Fans of Nancy Drew, Agatha Christie and Prime Suspect’s Jane Tennison will love SANDRA TROUX MYSTERIES.

A series of mysterious museum thefts of precious Ming Dynasty artifacts leads Sandra Troux and her lifelong BFFs Bobbi Power and Lizbet Sheridan from New York City to Seoul, Beijing and finally China’s ancient capital city Xian. They track and confront the darker side of life, an international crime ring of art thieves and human traffickers, and the resurgence of a diabolical plot by Taiping Rebellion and Nazi descendants to take over China and the world.

Lifelong friends Sandra Troux, Bobbie Power and Lizbet Sheridan jet off on their dream trip to Asia.  A series of Ming art thefts and sex-traffic kidnappings change everything.  They plunge into power struggles with an unscrupulous and dangerous neo-Nazi / Taiping Rebellion ring, ambitious for wealth and world power.

The combined skill, insight and prowess of investigative anthropologist Sandy, tech wiz Bobbi and intuitive Lizbet challenge the clandestine plot of a mysterious and deranged mastermind whose agents threaten and attack the friends.

In the neon-lit streets of Seoul, through a blinding blizzard in the heart of Beijing and into a hidden labyrinth of tunnels outside Xian, they face dire peril with sheroic power, unlocking shocking secrets along the way.  This mystery of connections, both hidden and revealed, takes the trio through a dark criminal underworld to emerge triumphant, savvy sleuths.

Includes Book Extras on the Ming Dynasty, Taiping Rebellion, Peace Coins, Book Club Topics, Recipes, preview of book 2 Masquerade on the Net, and more.

Crystal Sharpe, a pseudonym inspired by the Carolyn Keene “author” of the Nancy Drew Series, is the pen name of co-authors Virginia Cornue, Ph.D. and Linda Lombri, M.S.  Both China adoptive single Moms from Montclair, New Jersey, they met for the first time in Shanghai on a 2006 heritage tour of China with their daughters, now in college.  Lovers of world cultures, history and mysteries, they’ve embarked on encore careers like their sleuthing Boomer “sheroes.”  Virginia is a cultural anthropologist, women’s activist, and part time professor of sociology at Bloomfield College in New Jersey.  Linda is a marketing communications specialist, freelance writer/editor and home economist who created her communications and copywriting firm, Lombri Writes!, after many years spent in the corporate arena.  Visit our website.  {www.sandratrouxmysteries.com)