Recent offerings from Butler County authors or about sites in the county include another in a series of books for children, two first novels, a novella and a thriller.

'Behind Chocolate Bars'

Kathy (Hegarty) Krevat, who graduated from Mars High School in 1979, writes the Chocolate Covered Mystery series under the pen name Kathy Aarons.

The latest book in her series is “Behind Chocolate Bars,” released by Berkley Prime Crime, part of Penguin Random House.

The third book in her series focuses on the mystery-solving duo of chocolatier Michelle Serrano and bookstore owner Erica Russell who together own Chocolates and Chapters, a combination chocolate shop and bookstore.

With the help of some quirky characters, they solve murder mysteries in the small town of West Riverdale, Md.

The character of Detective Roger Lockett is a tough guy with a heart of gold who's originally from Pittsburgh.

After Krevat graduated from Mars High School and Carnegie Mellon University, she moved to New York City where she pursued a career in marketing and public relations, and met her husband. When they moved to California, she became a stay-at-home mom and volunteer at her daughters' schools and in the local community.

She serves as president of the board of directors for Playwrights Project, advises and teaches for the Middle School Writing Series, and volunteers for the CCA Writers' Conference.

She's also president of Partners in Crime, the San Diego chapter of Sisters in Crime, a national mystery writers' organization.

“Behind Chocolate Bars” costs $7.99 in paperback or digital format.

The two previous books in the series were “Death is Like a Box of Chocolates” and “Truffled to Death.”

'Stranded' 'Saving Serena'

Beverley Scherberger (nee Beverly Dennis), a 1973 graduate of Butler High School, recently released two books: her debut novel, “Stranded: A White-Knuckle Adventure Above and Below the Sea” in both paperback and digital format; and the novella “Saving Serena: An Undersea Tale of Love, Treachery, and Betrayal” in digital format only.

A story of mermaids, “Saving Serena” is designed for those who believe in the power of love and the unlimited capacity of the human mind.

“Stranded” begins with a hair-raising dive in a fierce down-current two hours off the coast of Cozumel, Mexico, that carries the divers through a three-week-long, life-or-death struggle.

“Stranded” costs $11.99 in paperback and $3.99 digitally, and “Saving Serena” costs 99 cents.

The author currently resides in Cotacachi, Ecuador.

'Rank'

Richard Compson Sater's first novel, “Rank,” was recently published by Bold Strokes Books, as a paperback and e-book.

The former Butler resident graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1983 and joined the U.S. Air Force through a Butler recruiter in 1985. He is retired from the Air Force and lives in Seattle.

He began writing “Rank” while deployed to Afghanistan in 2003. It tells the story of the professional and personal relationship that develops between two Air Force officers, a deeply-closeted general and his openly-gay aide, after the repeal of the military's “don't ask, don't tell” policy.

The book costs $19.95 in paperback and $9.99 in digital format.

'Krystal Vision'

A story about a terrorist seizure of classified documents from an underground Butler County facility is related in “Krystal Vision,” a novel by Richard Forrigan.

In the book, Karen Krystal finds herself in a tough spot as the Labyrinth's designer and a former classmate of the terrorist leader whose group takes over the patent archives, known as the Labyrinth. But with her sister among the hostages, Karen has more to worry about than simply clearing her name.

“Krystal Vision” is available at bookstores and online.

Learn more about the book, released by Zharmae Publishing, at richardfcorrigan.com.