About the Book

Book: Lacey’s Star: A Lady Pilot-in-Command Novel

Author: Kay DiBianca

Genre: Christian Mystery and Romance

Release Date: October 23, 2023

Private pilot Cassie Deakin lands in the middle of an unwanted adventure when she discovers her beloved Uncle Charlie has been attacked and seriously injured by thieves.

But Cassie has a problem. She doesn’t know who she can trust. Still, she’s determined to solve the mystery behind the assault on her uncle, so she reluctantly agrees to team up with Deputy Frank White, a man she definitely does not trust, to find the culprits.

But as Cassie and Frank peel back the layers of one mystery, they uncover a deeper and more sinister crime: the murder of an eight-year-old girl decades earlier. Armed with only a single, cryptic clue to the death of young Lacey Alderson, Cassie makes a crucial discovery that lands her in the crosshairs of a murderer.

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About the Author

Kay DiBianca is a former software developer and IT manager who retired to a life of mystery. She loves to create webs of intrigue for her characters to untangle as they search for the truth while dealing with the ongoing challenges of faith and family.

In addition to her latest book, Lacey’s Star, Kay has three published novels in The Watch Mystery Series: The Watch on the Fencepost, Dead Man’s Watch, and Time After Tyme. Her published short stories include Lady Pilot-in-Command, The Clutter Busters, and The Money Tree.

Kay is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, Sisters in Crime, and the Collierville Christian Writers Group. She is an instrument-rated pilot and a regular contributor to the Kill Zone Blog. An avid runner, she can often be found at a nearby track, on the treadmill, or at a large park near her home

Kay and her husband, Frank, live, run, and write in Memphis, Tennessee.

Enjoy an Excerpt!

I do not like handsome men. Not that I have much experience with them, but in my opinion, they’re self-absorbed and untrustworthy. Like the one sitting in the passenger seat of my Cessna 172 while I did the run-up prior to takeoff. Frank White.

Frank and I have shared only two experiences in the short time we’ve known each other. In the first one, I saved his life. In the second, he invited me to dinner and stood me up.

Now I’m not generally a person to hold a grudge, but being stood up is on my short list of unforgivable sins. So, when the company I worked for informed me I had to fly Frank to a meeting at my uncle’s farm a couple of hundred miles away, I turned my face into stone and took the assignment.

If Frank noticed my icy silence as I did the pre-flight check, he didn’t let on. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the little smirk on his face while he scrolled on his phone, his dark hair hanging down on his forehead. He needed a haircut.

The Newton Airport tower called down. “Cessna Three One Four Bravo Charlie, you’re cleared for takeoff on runway three-six.” After a brief pause, he added, “Have a nice flight, Cassie.”

Frank adjusted his headset when he heard the call from the tower and winked at me. I gave him a look I reserve only for the lowest forms of human life and focused my attention back on the flight panel.

“Roger that,” I said and repeated the instructions back to the air traffic controller. Then I added power and maneuvered Scout onto the end of the runway. Scout is the name I use for the little blue and white Cessna that was my father’s pride and joy. He taught me how to fly when I was a young girl, and he left the plane to me when he died.

My frustration evaporated as my aircraft responded to full power and accelerated down the runway. When we reached sixty knots, I gently pulled back the yoke, the nose lifted, and in one breathless moment, we were free from the earth.

This was a feeling I could never get enough of—the thrill of release as I watched the ground drop away. We climbed over the end of the runway, and meadows of goldenrod waved goodbye as we soared into blue heaven.

Author Interview

What drew you to your chosen genre? 

I have always loved mystery novels. My background is in math and computer science, and I enjoy the process of solving problems, so the mystery genre was a natural one for me to work in.

I believe mysteries are among the hardest books to write because the author has to create a cryptic problem and then find a serpentine way to solve it that will keep readers interested all the way to the finish line.

What was the most challenging part of bringing this story to life? 

I got stuck about halfway through writing it. I had the basics in place: the conflict between the two main characters, an inciting incident that put them in motion, and the introduction of an old, derelict Vietnam war veteran who believed his little sister had been murdered 40 years before the story began.

But I was having trouble connecting the pieces to make a coherent story. However, on an 8-hour road trip with my husband, I told him about the issues I was having with the book, and we worked through the plot until we found a creative solution. By the time we got home, all the pieces had fallen into place. (It’s great to have a husband who is also a published author!)

What was the most rewarding?

The most rewarding part of the process was seeing the story come together around the characters who don’t give up even when it appears all is lost.

What do you hope readers will take away from the book?

In addition to enjoying the story itself, I hope readers will appreciate the idea that it’s important to get to the truth, even when it’s a difficult road. One of the epigrams at the beginning of the book is from the Biblical Book of John. “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Where can readers follow along to see what’s coming next? 