Kindle Edition Download to your Nook (eBook) Download from Apple iTunes (eBook) Amazon Cynthia E. Hurst Mysteries Category:  Mystery/Suspense Publisher: Plane View Books Type: Fiction Pages: 234 Copyright: Jan. 20, 2024 ISBN-13: 9798876813053 Price: $1.99 (eBook) A small-town mystery set in the 1970s with a feisty (but reluctant) female detective. Jessica Hughes never intended to be a detective. Private investigator Philip Burgess never expected to be shot while on his way to a concert. But with Philip hospitalized, Jessica agrees to step in and investigate a case where a suicide is looking more and more like a murder. What's more, she finds she's actually enjoying her new career, despite the lecherous attention of her temporary boss, an unexpected end to a boating trip and the difficulty of attempting a high speed car chase while driving a 1949 Chevrolet.  Excerpt The hospital smelled, as all hospitals do, of antiseptic and the indefinable scent of illness. A starchy nurse took my pseudonym and led me down a white corridor past doorways of bathrobed patients and determinedly cheerful visitors. Philip was in a room with another man, who was alert enough to ogle me openly as I entered. The nurse drew a curtain around Philip’s bed and I sat down on a chair beside him. His chest was wrapped in white gauze bandage with ominous patches of denser white under it. Tubes and wires were attached to his arms and face and ran to bottles and monitors. There was a deep purple bruise on his temple and his face was very pale. I said softly, “Philip?” He opened his eyes and slowly gave me a lopsided smile. “Hi, Jess,” he said. I was so relieved I smiled back. Then I remembered. Keeping my voice low, I said, “That was pretty presumptuous of you, telling them I was your wife.” “If those slugs had been a couple of inches lower, you would have been my widow.” He sighed. “I’m sorry, but it was the only way I could be sure they’d call you.” “Why did you call me, anyway?” He closed his eyes for a minute. Finally he said, “I had an idea you might want to know. I guess I was wrong.” He glanced up at me wistfully. “Don’t give me that cocker spaniel look,” I warned. Then I relented. “All right, so you had them call me. and I came running to your side, which I suppose proves something. What now? Do I drive the station wagon back to the suburbs and all the little Burgesses?” “Listen, Jess.” Philip shifted slightly, wincing. “Much as I like to hear your soothing voice, this isn’t entirely a social call. I need your help.”

A flash from the past
I quite like this series. It’s definitely retro and the characters- especially Bunny- are a hoot. It’s nice to remind people what it was like before technology was everywhere. Journalists actually reported on stories – rather than massaging egos. And, newsrooms did not have computers to help with rewrites or formatting. I laughed at the idea of Jessica trying to follow people in a 1949 Chevy sedan. Not exactly an inconspicuous vehicle.