Beverly Hills Book Awards winner for Best Fiction Religion, The Actress doesn't fail to entertain. “A unique, exceptionally well written, and inherently fascinating read from cover to cover.” -- James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief, Midwest Book Review, July 2017. “This book captures Thompson’s mastery of mystery. His ability to bring his characters to life is truly an art–you forget they aren’t real. The manner of twists he weaves through the story gives depth to the plot and has you guessing throughout the story “who did it”. You don’t want the story to end because you don’t want to say goodbye to the characters.” --Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief, Southern Writer’s Magazine. “I read The Actress this afternoon. It kept me in suspense until the very end! The part where Martha is playing an extra in the movie was brilliantly done. Michael's books are easy to read and so true to the South. I can't wait for the next book in this series!” -- The Movie Extra If you want to laugh, be entertained, solve a murder mystery, and learn something about God you’ve probably never considered, read this book. Early 1960s. The most famous actress in America, Talllulah Ivey, is in the Mississippi Delta to film a controversial movie. A prominent local citizen is shot and killed outside her bedroom window. A note is found clenched in the dead man's hand. The note holds the key to Ivey's guilt or innocence. Was it self-defense? Murder? Or something else? Martha investigates the who, what, and why in this twisty, suspenseful murder mystery. This story could be told only by me—Martha McRae. I’m the publisher and sole writer for the Bethel County Gazette. I also run a boarding house in Solo, Mississippi. We're just a dot on a map in the center of the Delta. Land so level and wide you could see the sun rise in the east and set in the west. Cotton and cornfields stretched as far as our eyes could see. We’d always been a speck of a town--too small for any stop signs, much less a stoplight. Somehow, Solo seemed to maintain a constant 310 souls. Births replacing deaths. Deaths. We had more than our fair share three years ago when Satan paid us a visit. You can read about those murders in The Rector. Here we are again, though, in the land of rich stories and good dirt. Only this time, there’s a celebrity in our midst. The Solo series reads like Agatha Christie and C.S. Lewis collaborated on a series of murder mysteries that include theology and an allegory. Think of Aslan in Lewis's The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Aslan represents Jesus. Biblical characters in the Solo series are Jesus, Martha, Mary Magdalene, John the Baptist, the Apostle Paul, and Satan. "A unique, exceptionally well written, and inherently fascinating read from cover to cover." James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief, Midwest Book Review, July 2017 -- Midwest Book Review. "What sets The Actress apart from most murder mysteries is a wry sense of ironic humor that permeates events seen through the eyes of the narrator--Martha McRae, boarding house owner and publisher of a small-town newspaper." Diane Donovan, Donovan Literary Services. From the Editor-in-Chief, Southern Writer's Magazine: "This book captures Thompson s mastery of mystery. His ability to bring his characters to life is truly an art you forget they aren t real. You find yourself involved in their lives as if you were there. The manner of twist he weaves through the story gives depth to the plot and has you guessing throughout the story... why did she do it ? You don t want the story to end because you don t want to say goodbye to the characters. With his weaving in of the allegory, it's sort of if Agatha Christie and C.S. Lewis collaborated on a novel." Michael was born in his mother’s own bed on a farm in Yazoo County, Mississippi. He grew up in a town of 310 souls. He knows a thing or two about strong Christian women, alcoholic men, and Jesus. He’s a member of Kairos (prison ministry), been to Cuba twice on door-to-door evangelism mission trips, been a Sunday School teacher, and a member of Independent Presbyterian Church for 35 years. He and his wife of 45 years live in Memphis, TN, have three sons and four grandchildren. The little ones call him “Big Mike.” After earning his undergrad degree from Ole Miss and then a master’s in mass communication from the University of South Carolina, Michael started a one-man ad agency in Memphis. It grew to 87 employees in two cities, winning numerous national and international creative awards. Michael sold his firm in 2011 and turned his attention to full-time Christian fiction writing. He combines murder mysteries with theology.