When Brooke’s mother asks her help in canceling the wedding plans, Robyn plays amateur sleuth and gathers clues while also collecting refunds from Brooke’s wedding vendors. With help from her friend Will Vonderlin, Robyn assembles evidence of a possible love triangle, financial indiscretions, and neighborhood feuds and builds a suspect list that includes Brooke’s fiancĂ©, a jealous relative, a longtime rival, and a shady bartender. The clues lead Robyn to the killer and a spectacular July Fourth finale complete with a marching band and a parade of howling dogs.
Amazon ~~ B&N ~~ Amazon Canada ~~ Kobo
Excerpt
Yogi and I arrived at 16 Clover Lane a couple of minutes before 10:30. Brooke’s Ford Focus was parked in the carport.
Brooke didn’t respond
to the first ring of the doorbell. I pressed the button again and waited a few
seconds. The front door was open several inches, so I called to Brooke through
the screen door. When she still didn’t answer, I assumed she was either in the
bathroom or the backyard. I opened the screen door and entered the house, Yogi
at my heels. The door to the powder room was open, and Brooke wasn’t in any of
the first-floor rooms.
“Brooke! It’s Robyn.” I
yelled up the staircase opposite the front door. I listened for a few seconds
then headed into the kitchen. “Let’s go out back.”
The mystery deepened
when I didn’t find Brooke on the patio. More possibilities ran through my mind.
Brooke could be on a stroll around the block or in a neighbor’s house for a
quick visit.
I called Brooke’s cell;
when it went to voice mail, I ended the call without leaving a message. I’d
text her, but before I started the message, a breeze blew open the shed door.
The creaky door closed with a soft thud; then, another puff of wind urged it
open again.
I spotted a can of
paint on the ground outside the shed. “I should’ve known Brooke would fix the
shed.”
Curious about the paint
color Brooke had selected, I crossed the yard and bent over the paint can. I
thought Brooke might have selected sunny yellow to match the house, but she had
purchased a dark green shade. New paintbrushes and a drip pan lay on the grass
next to the can. Did she plan to enlist me to help with the shed’s facelift?
The shed’s door creaked
open and closed a third time. I moved to secure the door shut, but first I
peeked inside and experienced an adrenaline rush like I’d never had. Fighting a
growing sense of panic, I wrapped a length of the leash around my hand and
pulled Yogi away from the supine form on the shed’s floor.
I took a second look at
the still figure, clad in cut-off jeans and a white tank top. “Brooke!”
Brooke’s mouth was open, and her eyes stared at the roof. Her nose was
bloodied, and scratch marks stretched from her shoulders to her wrists. Her
collarbone jutted out at a sickening angle.
I pushed back the door
and told Yogi to lie down, making him a makeshift doorstop. He obeyed and
watched me check Brooke for a pulse and breath.
It was a futile attempt,
I knew, but a necessary one.
I stepped into the doorway and called 9-1-1, my glance fixed on the steel-blade shovel on the ground next to Brooke’s body.
About the Author
Jeanne Quigley is the author of the Veronica Walsh Mysteries and the Robyn Cavanagh mystery series. Unlike her fictional sleuths, she has never been a soap opera star or an accountant (though she was an accounting major for a few minutes in the spring of 1985), but she has worked for an educational publisher and in the music industry. A lifelong New Yorker, Jeanne lives in her native Rockland County.
Facebook ~~ Blog ~~ GoodReads ~~ Amazon
Giveaway
May 30 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog – SPOTLIGHT
May 30 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
May 31 – Maureen's Musings – SPOTLIGHT
May 31 – Christy's Cozy Corners – GUEST POST
June 1 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 2 – Novels Alive – REVIEW
June 3 – StoreyBook Reviews – REVIEW
June 3 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW
June 4 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT
June 4 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT
June 5 – Cozy Up With Kathy - REVIEW
June 5 – Nadaness In Motion – REVIEW
June 6 – Sapphyria's Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 7 – The Mystery Section – SPOTLIGHT
June 7 – Mysteries with Character – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 8 – Girl with Pen – SPOTLIGHT
June 8 – I Read What You Write – GUEST POST
Thank you for welcoming me to your blog!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. Best of luck with your book!
DeleteThis book sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the excerpt.
ReplyDeleteinteresting book
ReplyDeleteSounds good.
ReplyDeleteGreat excerpt, The Double Exposure Murder sounds like an exciting mystery to read, thanks for sharing it with me and have a wonderful day!
ReplyDelete