Category: Mystery/Suspense Publisher: Up At Midnight
ISBN-10: 0990958930
Type: Fiction
Pages: 462
Copyright: Oct. 2015
ISBN-13: 9780990958932
Who killed Savannah's ex-brother-in-law?
Matthew Carlisle is back. Toby Jackson is out of prison. Both blame Savannah for their past troubles and both vowed revenge. Taking care of her infant is challenging enough even on maternity leave but someone keeps harassing Savannah and she's not sure who it is. Once she discovers Toby is free, she presumes he's the culprit. Matthew turns up in Augusta but in a whole different way than he imagined. He's dead. And his body is found at Prince Orchards. The police bring in Georgia and R.J. for questioning and also target Savannah considering her history with Matthew. When one of the three is arrested, the others join together to prove their innocence – a task made virtually impossible when the murder weapon is found in the accused's car. Who killed Matthew – his ex-wife, her father, or Matthew's nemesis Savannah? Or were the police too hasty with the handcuffs?
Excerpt
Cleaning the house was one thing. It required a vacuum, dusting cloth and a few other items that wiped away dirt, filth and germs. Cleaning out photos and sorting through them, on the other hand, entailed more than Savannah bargained for. It involved going back in time, recalling good or bad memories, reliving situations she either wished she could forget or wished she could relive.
At the current time, she wished for a match. Any open flame sufficed, anything to reduce the picture to ashes. For such a handsome guy Toby Jackson had been a mean son of a bitch. The picture, taken at Georgia’s birthday party, showed Toby with his girlfriend – a newly minted rookie cop – both presenting mile wide smiles as his muscular arms enfolded her snug against his chest. The young woman in the picture sure looked happy for an idiot, Savannah reflected. Little did she know that in a few short weeks after that photo, she’d be sporting bruises on her kidneys from his ridiculous accusation of her sleeping with another guy – ironically another cop. Yes, she thought now, what a fool I was. Resisting the urge to crumple the photo, she sat it atop the trash pile.
The next photo showed her with Adam Rafferty, an academy classmate and the very cop Toby accused her of sleeping with. This picture she’d keep. Taken at a police charity function, the couple both dressed casual in t-shirts, jeans and sneakers for the event. By that time, she and Adam promoted their friendship to bona fide dating. Savannah felt safe and happy with Adam. During their days at the academy, when her energy flagged and the days ran long, she indulged in a daydream or two about Adam. After all, he wasn’t exactly a dog in the looks department. Oh no. He had classic good looks, with a mixture of James Garner and Tony Curtis in their younger years. The guy belonged on a romance novel and with his brawny physique with the gun belt strapped across those lean, strong hips, he epitomized female fantasy to a tee.
Unlike Toby, her mother would have loved Adam. Kind, good manners and soft spoken. She and Mr. Rafferty made a handsome couple, according to Georgia who took an instant shine to him. That sentiment hadn’t lasted when Adam broke off the relationship, devastating Savannah. Cupid aimed his arrow at a waitress who worked at their favorite café and got lucky with a twofer that time. His arrow ricocheted off the waitress and imbedded itself in Adam. Mr. Rafferty soon dumped Savannah to begin dating the waitress that looked ludicrously cute in the skimpy little skirt and apron. Painful as it was to lose him, Savannah wished them both well. Through the grapevine, she heard he’d married his waitress and had a kid or two. Glancing back to the photo, she found herself wondering what happened to her good friend. They lost touch after his marriage and hadn’t crossed paths since.
She placed the picture in the keep pile. She’d dedicated the morning to cleaning out drawers and closets. Maternity leave afforded valuable time for Lily’s care and in the meantime gave Mama the opportunity to clean the house and purge the past. Plus, the long overdue task of sorting photos was cathartic. Tossing old painful memories, keeping the good ones. She planned to organize them in albums for the future when Lily could appreciate the visual family history. For now though, their baby’s biggest concerns remained simple. Food, sleep, clean diapers and lots of love. She slept soundly in her crib for thirty minutes so far, a blessing Savannah thanked God for since the baby kept her awake an extra hour the previous night.
The phone rang for the third time that morning. The last two had been hang-up calls. It rang a total of twenty-one times with hang-ups in less than thirty-six hours. All when Ennis was at work. The annoyance of such interruptions stoked her anger. Not only were they unnecessary but keeping Lily asleep proved harder than herding cats, as Ennis might say.
She picked up the phone with a succinct, “Hello.” Silence ensued. She repeated the greeting. This time she heard a little cough that the man tried to disguise by covering the receiver.
She lowered her voice to avoid waking Lily, “Either say something or stop calling.” Resisting the urge to slam the phone in the cradle, she dropped it into place, waiting for it to ring back. Her brain flipped through a mental Rolodex of people who might love driving her nuts. Toby Jackson rated in the top ten but he was safely behind bars for molesting his daughter. Then there was Cole Jordan who really loved to irritate her but he was busy trying not to drop the soap in his own prison showers to bother her. And her number one fan, Jeffrey Holland, also sat in prison for torturing and killing nearly two dozen women in two states. He’d had his turn with her and Georgia but they’d proven too strong and clever for him. Holland might have been the best suspect for the weird calls but Savannah knew him. Mr. Jeffrey did not play phone tag games. He came straight for whatever he wanted and that was her. Until he was released, she had no realistic fear of him. That’s when her mind drew a blank. Sure she put away criminals of all sorts, some threatened her with violence but that went with being a cop.
Picking up the phone, she dialed her colleague Christine Clark. Past the hellos, she stated her request, “Would you check the incoming calls to our home phone? I’ve been getting hang-ups for two days now. And I mean a lot of them.”
In this Silver Sisters Mystery it's trouble at sea when Goldie and Godiva's eighty year old mother and uncle are invied on a relaxing cruise. Magic turns to mayhem for these former vaudeville magicians when a star magician is murdered on board.
This cozy murder mystery takes place aboard luxury liner, Queen Elizabeth II, as wealthy couple celebrate their silver wedding anniversary with family and friends.
