My novella is up on Amazon.com at their Kindle store. It can be pre-ordered, and will be delivered on April 10. In the meantime, I thought you might like a preview of this story, set in 2011 Endurance, but concerning a cold case that goes back to the 1940s. Unlike the Endurance mysteries, this short novel follows Detective TJ Sweeney as she attempts to put this mysterious case to rest. This story fits between the first and second Endurance mysteries, but it can be read on its own. Here’s the first page:
Detective TJ Sweeney’s experience told her that sunny days and dead bodies rarely occur together. This was obviously a dead body day. She swore at an SUV that passed her on the two-lane country highway, hurling drenching sheets of water on the windshield of her squad car. The wipers couldn’t keep up, the heater didn’t work, and TJ could barely see the center line through the deluge. The only good break was the temperature: it hovered near the forty-degree mark, so she wasn’t concerned with ice or freezing rain. This year, weather in November had been unusually cold already, and it was only the first week of the month. The detective clenched her jaw and coughed several times as she reached for a tissue to blow her nose. It wasn’t bad enough she was called out on this wretched day, but she’d caught a cold a week earlier, and the blankets on her bed had felt so snug and cozy before the dispatcher had called to tell her it was time to move the bones.
Another cascade of water smashed against her windshield, causing the detective to squint her eyes. Even though TJ had brought her heavy-hooded jacket to keep out the cold, she was still shivering.
Driving past Lenox Woods, she noted the rain had lessened slightly. Maybe she would catch a break by the time she reached the dog park. Tolliver Park was a relatively new addition to the small town of Endurance, named for Vince Tolliver, a business owner and pet lover who had died six months earlier. Tolliver had wanted a place where pets could run, and the construction crew was digging the foundation of a small shelter for pet owners to use during inclement weather. The construction of the shelter had been delayed because in breaking ground a week ago, she thought with annoyance, they had made an unexpected discovery—what appeared to be human bones. Hence, I am out in this frigid, muddy mess when I could be asleep.
She sneezed.
I hope you’ll join me for another Endurance story, one that goes back to the 1940s, the Big Bands, romance, dancing on the rooftops, and murder in the shadows.
It’s up on Amazon.com here.
Looking forward to reading this!
Thanks, Judy. It is a short read–one or two sittings–and I’ve had fun writing something shorter. Hope you like it.