I began to walk towards them, needing to get air in my lungs. With no warning, the familiar world had taken on a new dimension. The threat of a pandemic was real—and Vanessa was the cause. And I, Emma Metcalf Streat, was a possible spreader of death and disease.

The plot moves between Venice, England, Ireland ...

...and the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston.

OVERKILL published by Thomas Dunne/St. Martin’s Minotaur

    In this fast-moving sequel to Without Warning (St. Martin’s Press 2007) former opera diva Emma Streat has moved to Boston and is rebuilding her shattered life i.e. murder of CEO husband and bombed out house on the Connecticut River. Now her first priority is to make a new home for two sons in college.

    Out of the blue, she receives an SOS from Venice. She must come at once to intervene in a disastrous affair between her opera singer niece, Vanessa, and a notorious playboy who races cars. After Emma finds Vanessa’s accompanist hanging in a hotel suite, an apparent suicide, Emma is able to put Vanessa's affair on hold. But the night Emma and Vanessa return to Boston, Vanessa is struck down by what appears to be the first case of Avian flu in the US.

     Suddenly Emma is forced to cope with the unfamiliar and complex medical world. As the case takes on an international impact, Emma has to rev up her talent for making unlikely connections. Once again she finds herself working with a charismatic British lord who consults for a Secret Service and was her one-time lover. Will this unusual relationship survive Emma’s new interest in a brilliant doctor?

     After the third bizarre murder, the case takes on new urgency. As the plot moves between Boston, Venice, England, and Ireland, Emma sets out to uncover a lethal global network that sells stolen viruses. In a dramatic  ending, she faces a painful and horrifying death—will she survive to unravel the threat of another global tragedy?

From a September 2009  Publisher’s Weekly review of Overkill:  “….all will cheer the courageous and stylish Emma, who typically dons a Hermes scarf when slipping into sleuthing mode.”

The Richmond Times-Dispatch on Without Warning:  “West tells her story with style, with wit…and with panache worthy of Ian Fleming.”

The Oklahoman on Without Warning: “This gripping story is outstanding in every aspect of intriguing mystery—a plot, suspense, characterization, and thrilling finale—a very good one.”

A woman. A murder. A mission. In Eugenia L. West's new mystery Without Warning, they come together to tell the riveting tale of Emma Streat, a dynamic ex-opera singer who has spent the past twenty years in Connecticut as wife and mother of two sons. But when Emma's mega-successful CEO husband dies in an unlikely hit and run accident, she starts her own hunt for his killer. She is plunged into the high stakes world of illegal weapons, global threats-and murders. She meets an intriguing British peer who works undercover to smoke out spies. But tracking down criminals is hazardous work and Emma pays a heartbreaking price.

published by Thomas Dunne/St. Martin’s Minotaur

In Without Warning, follow Emma as she opens the door to a future love interest and uses her new found talent to solve crimes. Be involved as she copes with devastating losses, ending in an explosive climax. Be with her as she digs deep for the courage to survive and to pick up the pieces of her life. 

"...a fast-paced page turner...strong characters...interesting backgrounds with international flair. An engaging read." -- Dominick Dunne, author of People Like Us

“….this snappy, fast-paced work will keep you reading late into the night. A delight!”-- Rebecca Pepper Sinkler, former editor of The New York Times Book Review.

“Beautifully written, Without Warning kept me up all night. The characters are strong, and the details can only come from a life well lived and keenly observed. Without Warning is a wonderful, satisfying novel that shouldn’t be missed.”-- Craig Nova, author of The Good Son.

“….West creates a brand new heroine who is at once believable and immensely entertaining. Her clear and personable style leaves you wanting more—a real page turner.” –Myriam Cyr, author of Letters of a Portuguese Nun.

Hello and thanks for coming to this site. I attended Sarah Lawrence College and worked briefly for Harper’s Bazaar and the American Red Cross. Then came marriage in 1944 to a dashing fighter pilot, followed by four children and volunteer work. But a compulsion to write is hard to put on the back burner. I did a stint as a free lance reporter for local papers in New Jersey, then made the leap to writing novels.  Doubleday and Ballantine published a historical/suspense titled The Ancestors Cry Out. Next, because I’m a dedicated  mystery fan, I decided to self-publish a first attempt in that genre as a Christmas present to family and friends. The response was heartwarming—so I entered a contest for first mysteries, sponsored by St. Martin’s Press.  A judge sent it to doyenne senior editor Ruth Cavin, who offered me a contract. For a wannabe published writer, it doesn’t get much better than that. Without Warning came out in 2007 and Overkill in December 2009. The third Emma Streat mystery is evolving.  I’ve come to love Emma, and I want readers to care about her as she digs deep to survive; we are all, I think, reaching for ways to live our daily lives with strength and courage. This becomes even more of a challenge when one reaches the mid-eighties in age. It’s a blessing to have four great children, four grandchildren, and a large extended family. It’s also good to wake up in the morning with a mission: In this chaotic world, there’s a real need for escape stories that catapult us out of ourselves. My goal is to create total immersion into interesting people and settings---and  one of those interesting people is a murderous villain.