L&L Dreamspell, a Texas-based publishing company, offered Dudley resident, Susan Whitfield, a publishing contract last summer after reading  a mystery manuscript she submitted.

Now the publisher is announcing the release of the much-anticipated Hell Swamp on February, 21, 2009.
"There seems to be a high degree of anticipation for this book," Whitfield said. "I hope it lives up to everyone's expectations."

Whitfield's first mystery, Genesis Beach, was set along North Carolina's Crystal Coast. The sequel, Just North of Luck, was set in the mountains of western North Carolina. Whitfield decided to set the third novel, Hell Swamp, along Black River in Pender County where she grew up. "Friends and neighbors from back home are anxiouisly awaiting this book. I hope they take pleasure in the white sand, blueberry fields, and beautiful river while I give them a good scare."