Note: These adventures can be read right here on the blog homepage.
Valley Girl: A Lyndy Martinez Story
In this throwback to the 1990s, Lyndy Martinez is navigating the stressful changes of becoming a new mother to Mari Ellis, at the age of 40. After losing her cushy security job, her newfound domestic life is much different than the one she’s accustomed to, causing her anxiety. Things come to boil on a trip to Yosemite National Park where she accompanies Dr. Kyle Ellis, who is consulting for a land development company. While on an early morning stroll Lyndy gets accidentally tangled up in a missing person’s case and a plot to sabotage the entire project, potentially damaging an existing reservoir. In the 2010s, mature Lyndy is visited by a handsome stranger with an intriguing proposition. She learns her deceased boss Rita had set aside nearly a billion dollars, for any proven heir to the Lovelace estate. In order to claim a share of the fortune, all Lyndy has to do is testify under oath that Rita had a secret daughter. The plan seems to have no apparent downside, and Lyndy wrestles with sentiments regarding how poorly Rita treated her. But do any of Rita’s disrespectful actions justify Lyndy being dishonest and swiping the funds? And is it ever okay to lie, even in a victimless crime? Turning down the stranger’s offer to testify means risking his eventual wrath. What would Lyndy do? Hint: if you know The Spitfire, then you probably know the answer.
Bad At Love: A Lyndy Martinez Story
Folks who were on the run for months or years at a stretch used to tell her it was a relief to finally be captured. Because it’s stressful being a fugitive—you lose a lot of sleep. It’s lonely too. Oftentimes Lyndy knew how they felt.
This adventure is so grand it spans two time periods, past and near-present. Having reached her mid-fifties, with an adult daughter, Lyndy E. Martinez still prefers to drive the same 1960s automobile—a fastback Mustang topping 250k on the odometer. But not all went according to plan. The present Lyndy struggles to make ends meet, residing in a small trailer, battling with alcoholism and feeling invisible compared to her past glory. A side gig tending goats is not bringing in enough cash, so she returns to her old job, except this time in a different town and state, Williams AZ, and with a new younger boss, Native American businesswoman Rhonda Thurgood. Her initial assignment has her investigating the falsified death and disappearance of a wealthy casino builder. She hopes for an easy score, but the re-emergence of a familiar name—Rita Lovelace—causes Lyndy to begin reliving old memories: a seventies road trip with the fashion icon, a glamorous stay in Vegas and an archaeology conference. Rita and Lyndy are on a mission to recover a stolen flute, thereby undoing a curse which threatens anyone who ever came in contact with the artifact, including Miss Lovelace herself. In order to make amends with her daughter Maribel, Lyndy knows she must somehow come to terms with her complicated past. And to focus on doing a good job for her new employer, she needs to re-examine her feelings, why her relationship with Rita went sour and yet touches her in so many powerful ways. At last, in worsening trouble with a casino syndicate, she knows the only key to survival is summoning her old way of getting things done, and showing these tough guys how she earned her nickname in the first place.
Jackrabbit Homesteader: A Lyndy Martinez Story
In this episode Lyndy enjoys a relaxing visit to the spa, starts a healthy new lifestyle and gets a promotion at work. Just kidding! It’s a Lyndy Martinez story, so she’s back to bust some heads in the Mojave, freeload tequila, balance her shaky romantic life and outwit her employers. What did you expect?
San Bernardino County in the 1970s; 20,000 square miles of sweeping desert and containing the best preserved stretch of Route-66 remaining in America. Jack Decklin is the young, self-assured chief of security for a prominent national railroad. When his special wedding train is robbed in a remote corner of the Mojave Desert, he sets out to hire the toughest and most cunning PI the region has to offer, to serve as his local guide. He’s surprised to discover the only person fitting the bill is a Latina named Lyndy Martinez, aka The Spitfire, who works for a bail bondsman. In need of extra money, Lyndy agrees to take the job against her boss’s advice. Jack and Lyndy take off in a black and gold Pontiac Trans-Am racing to capture the thieves before the trail goes cold. Despite differing investigative styles, they must learn to get along without killing each other. Along the way they cross paths with a variety of desert wackos, including a vegan farming cult where everyone wears overalls, a portly man who buys and fixes old army tanks, and a 10-year-old doomsday-prepping survivalist with a knack for trick bow and arrow shots. As events unfold Lyndy uncovers a painful secret from the town’s past, one Jack didn’t want her to know. And when all hope seems lost, Lyndy and Jack are forced to combine strengths to escape a deadly booby-trap. You’re gonna want to pull up a lawn chair, dust off your pet rock and grab a cold Tab for this one.
La Fierabrosa: A Lyndy Martinez Story
San Bernardino County in the 1970s; 20,000 square miles of mostly open desert and containing the best preserved stretch of Route-66 remaining in America. Many pass through the scenic East Mojave but almost nobody stays. Enter Lyndy Martinez, aka The Spitfire, a Mexican-American private eye who calls this god forsaken land her home. She’s a seasoned denizen of the desert. She drives a rattletrap Jeep that is constantly breaking down. She’s assertive, proud, and uses self-deprecating humor as a secret weapon. Oh yeah, and her boss can’t stand her. In this adventure Lyndy is tasked to pursue a fugitive who has seemingly vanished into the wilds of the East Mojave. Along the way she crosses paths with a mysterious older woman, always traveling alone. Grab a can of Tab, then ride along as Lyndy faces down outlaw bikers, cattle thieves, treacherous roads and competes for a date with a cowboy she has a serious crush on.
Aiden S Clarke, author 