Stories 
For original works or excerpts by Brian Abbott.
The Poisoned Martini – Part I
It’s here! Part I of the serialized original eStory written by yours truly exclusively for this website. Rick Gray (introduced here) and others will encounter the poisoned martini in this murder mystery set in Syracuse, New York, in 1987. The police have recently solved the murders at the Syracuse Botanical Gardens. Rick was a suspect in that… Read More ›
Meet Rick Gray
Jonah Richard Gray II is the eldest of Thaddeus Alcott’s grandsons. Better known as Rick, this handsome twenty-two year old is passionate about photography, classic cinema, and martinis. He has thick brown hair and blue-green eyes and has a lean, athletic build. Rick first appears in Murder at the Gardens, the third novel in my Mysteries… Read More ›
Meet Thaddeus Alcott
He is a lion of a man with a shock of white hair and piercing blue eyes. Thaddeus Alcott, 64, is a lawyer and businessman originally from Rutland, Vermont. A partner in the law firm of Alcott, Simms & Wilcox, Thaddeus is thinking of retirement, but he frets about his legacy. A year ago, his… Read More ›
Coming in 2011
Next year, look for an original e-Story written by yours truly exclusively for this website. Inspired by this site’s name, The Poisoned Martini will feature a few of my series characters in an original tale of murder. Will you be able to guess the murderer? Rick Gray is wallowing in self-pity at a local bar… Read More ›
Ancient Syracuse – Prologue
Here’s a first look at the prologue for a fantasy novel I’ve tentatively titled, Ancient Syracuse : *** I’m three and a half years old. We’re standing in the street. My parents are looking at a garden, but I can’t see past the trees. So I look up at the sky. It’s funny looking. It… Read More ›
1987
What’s so special about 1987? I first began writing stories and skits in the fourth grade. I mostly wrote based on the people and places I knew. By the seventh grade, my stories began to take on aspects of continuing characters and mystery elements. I believe Death on Stoneridge, in its first form, was drafted… Read More ›
Syracuse Mysteries – A First Look
Here’s a teaser for the first three novels in my Syracuse Mysteries series. In Death on Stoneridge, a series of burglaries and a suicide have plagued the residents of Stoneridge Drive. Then, late one night, Edith Baxter is reading in bed with her window open. She is starting to drift off when she suddenly hears someone… Read More ›
Death on Stoneridge – Prologue
Here’s a first look at the prologue for my very first novel in The Mysteries of Syracuse series, Death on Stoneridge : *** Her life ebbed, but the ending of her life was the beginning. Who was she? This young wife with dreams of motherhood, of growing old with her husband, lay against the cold porcelain of… Read More ›
Friday Cocktail: the Classic Martini
Enjoy a Friday Cocktail! The Friday Cocktail will be a regular feature of this site, though not necessarily weekly. And it fits in nicely with the theme of this blog. Up first, The Classic Martini. The origins of the martini date back as early as the 1860s, but the drink as we know it today… Read More ›
Welcome to The Poisoned Martini!
The Poisoned Martini is all about mysteries with a mix of fantasy, myth, and gothic horror served up with a cocktail or two. You’ll find the occasional fiction book featured, whether it be contemporary or classic, and especially if it has a Syracuse or Central New York connection. This extends to other media formats like film and… Read More ›
The Poisoned Martini 