It is a perfect mystery filled with magic, false leads, danger and a climax that are both astonishing and compelling.

Death will pay the debt was first released to bookstores in February of 1999 -- this November 1999 reprint, published by Voices from the Drum, is in Richmond, Virginia area.    Edward has designated Death will pay the debt as the first of a series of books about the adventures of psychic detective, Monifa Roberson.  The second novel in the series is nearly completed, but a date for its release has not been set.

Death will pay the debt is Edward's second novel.  Her first novel, the proclamation, was written in 1992.  The Richmond resident says her second novel, just like her first novel, is inspired by actual events, as they both encompass a segment of Edward's life -- in 1981, she was confined to the Virginia Correctional Center for Women (VCCW), after being convicted on worthless check charges.  Edwards says poor choices, which led to her incarceration, nearly destroyed her emotionally and devastated her family -- particularly her young son..

Edwards' inspiration for Death will pay the debt came after she learned of the death of a woman incarcerated at the VCCW.  "Since 1994, I'd been working on a mystery novel already centered around a Virginia prison for women,"  Edwards says.    "And, in 1997, when I read about a young woman named Audrey Berryman, who is alleged to have hanged herself while in solitary confinement at the VCCW, I reexamined my thoughts about my past, and ruminated over how I could use my creativity to encourage more dialogue and understanding on the life-situations which can occur before, during and after a women offends.  To that end, I decided to rework my novel into what is now, Death will pay the debt and dedicate the book to Audrey Berryman's survivors.   Ultimately, Death will pay the debt -- a potpourri of some of life's darkest situations, mixed in with a healthy dose of metaphysics, and some potent voodoo and magic -- evolved into a simple, yet intricate, narrative of women incarcerated and women existing by choice, or by chance, on the edge."

"I couldn't put it down.  So powerfully written, one can't help but get the sense that these things must have actually happened."  A. Jackson, Community Newsletter

" I'm a psychic, and I definitely felt an intimacy with some of the psychical scenes Edwards presented in her novel." Brenda Bradshaw, the Christian Psychic

"A suspense-thriller that tells of intrigue and sorcery." The Petersburg Progress-Index.

For more information about Death will pay the debt, to request book signing or arrange speaking engagements for Ms. Edwards, please call Voices from the Drum, (804) 674-0514; to request book orders, please call (804) 323-6441.

UPCOMING AUTHOR SIGNING/PRESENTATIONS:

June 17th, 2000    Books-a-Million, Woodbridge, Virginia

July 8th, 2000    One Force Books, Richmond, Virginia

Death will pay the debt: Retail price: $18.95

Bookstores 40% discount off retail price

To Order Book: Send check or money order to:

Gloria Edwards, P.O. Box 27504, Richmond, VA 23261-7504.

E-mail the author: vftdgte@aol.com

You may order book online at: Lara online bookstore

 In 1981, at the age of twenty-six, I was convicted of worthless check charge s and sentenced to the Virginia Correctional Center of Women (VCCW) to serve out my sentence.   After I was paroled, it took ten years -- and a clinical diagnosis of multiple sclerosis -- before I could finally begin repairing my life spiritually.   Then, in 1994, after reading about the suicide of a young woman at the VCCW, memories of that dark time in my life came rushing in on me.  So, hoping to encourage useful dialogue on the life-situations which can occur when a women offends, I decided to write about women incarcerates, and Book I of the Psychic Detective:  Death Will Pay The Debt was born.   Gloria Taylor Edwards

The Story

Monifa Roberson goes to prison, undercover, hoping to seek out, and defuse, a malevolent hexer who has placed a death curse on her family.  Armed will only her faith and her inconstant psychic abilities, Monifa -- initially the hunter -- is horrified when she realizes she has made herself easy prey for the sadistic, murderous sorcerer she had hoped to confront.  Caught in a situation almost too overwhelming to comprehend, Monifa must still cope with the many bizarre murders occurring around her, as well as the knowledge that she could be next....