Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for DEATH AT THE DOG SHOW (The Charity Shop Detective Agency Book #3) by Peter Boland on this Books ‘n’ All Promotions Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
***
Book Description
Dog-lovers, please note none of our furry friends die in this book.
It’s the day of the Christchurch Dog Show. The whole town is aquiver with excitement. The ladies of the Charity Shop Detective Agency are hoping to make lots of new furry friends.
After a very dramatic Best Biscuit Catcher competition, Fiona, Sue and Daisy, from the Dogs Need Nice Homes charity shop, come across a shocking scene. The dog show’s vet is performing CPR on a woman. The ladies rush over, but it’s too late.
Back at the shop, the ladies are shocked to learn that the poor woman was murdered. Someone injected Sylvia Steadman with something very nasty indeed. Then our silver sleuths uncover that Sylvia was the owner of ex-Crufts-winner Charlie. She must have had lots of very jealous competitors . . .
There’s barely time for elevenses. The charity shop detectives must roll up their sleeves — they have a killer to catch.
THE CHARITY SHOP DETECTIVES
Level-headed Fiona has found a quiet sanctuary volunteering at the local charity shop, Dogs Need Nice Homes. A charity shop that raises money for dogs in need of nice homes. And she’s found firm friendship with the strong-willed Partial Sue (she’s ever so partial to a cup of tea) and the kindly and surprisingly tech-savvy Daisy. Together, these ladies, with Simon Le Bon, Fiona’s scruffy-haired terrier cross, investigate murders as the Charity Shop Detective Agency.
THE SETTING
The lovely coastal town of Southbourne is, on paper, little more than a small suburb hemmed in by Bournemouth to the west and Christchurch to the north. But it’s home to the prettiest avenues lined with gorgeous Georgian homes which lead to a grass-topped cliff standing guard over a sweeping bay of blond sand, soft as Demerara sugar. Some say it’s also home to the best charity shops in the country. The ladies of the Charity Shop Detective Agency maintain that Dogs Need Nice Homes — though musty and more than a little cramped — is certainly number one. Well, they definitely solve the most crimes at least!
DEATH AT THE DOG SHOW (The Charity Shop Detective Agency Book #3) by Peter Boland is an entertaining cozy mystery once again featuring the three indomitable ladies of the Charity Shop Detective Agency. This cozy mystery can easily be read as a standalone.
Fiona, Partial Sue, and Daisy have a booth at the Christchurch Dog Show for their charity shop, Dogs That Need Nice Homes. The ladies notice a crowd gathering and witness the show’s veterinarian performing CPR on a woman. The ladies discover the dead woman who is attending is the owner of a former Crufts champion. After a visit from their detective friends, the ladies learn the death is a murder by injection and not natural as they first believed.
The ladies put on their detective hats and get to work sorting all the possible suspects and motives.
I liked the previous books in this series, but this is definitely my favorite. I enjoy the quirky individuality of Fiona, Partial Sue and Daisy and the backgrounds that each brings to the investigations. The plot is full of red herrings and twists that lead the ladies to several secondary crimes, but they doggedly (ha-ha) get back on track until they solve the main murder case and have the perpetrators apprehended. I was surprised in the end and satisfied with the conclusion. Being a huge dog lover, the bonus for me in this story is all the added canine characters. Overall, these cozy mysteries have endearing main characters and are intricately plotted amateur sleuth investigations.
I recommend this addition to the series for a delightful cozy mystery read.
***
Author Bio
After studying to be an architect, Pete realised he wasn’t very good at it. He liked designing buildings, he just couldn’t make them stand up — a big handicap in an industry that’s partial to keeping things upright. So he became an advertising copywriter, the highlight of which was creating an ad featuring Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman. He then tried his hand at writing his own stories and quickly realised there’s no magic formula. You just have to put one word in front of the other (and keep doing that for about six months). It also helps if you can resist the lure of surfing and drinking beer in a garden chair.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE RAVENSWOOD MURDERS (Detective Alice Rossi Book #2) by Helen H. Durrant on this Books ‘n’ All Promotions Book Tour.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
***
Book Blurb
Day 1. A young woman’s body is found in a shallow grave in the woods, buried in a white shroud. She’s been dead for a week. Her teeth are smashed in, her lips stitched together. Her hands are missing.
She’s the fourth young woman found like this.
With no witnesses, no clues and no leads to follow, the investigation is going nowhere.
That’s when Detective Alice Rossi is called in.
Alice knows this case is a poisoned chalice. Not least because she has a new team to contend with — who don’t like being bossed around by a woman.
Day 2. Sixteen-year-old Maggie Hewson is reported missing. She never came home from school, and her father is beside himself.
THE RAVENSWOOD MURDERS (Detective Alice Rossi Book #2) by Helen H. Durrant is a gripping serial killer mystery/police procedural featuring a mature female detective protagonist. While this is the second book in this series, it can easily be read as a standalone.
DCI Alice Rossi is assigned to take over the investigation of four teenage girls found mutilated and buried in Ravenswood that has stalled. Her superior has chosen her after her success with her last case and is hoping that fresh eyes on the case can catch this serial killer. The most recent grave was found within the week and the dead girl has left a clue embroidered in her homemade shroud.
When a fifth girl goes missing, Rossi is in a fight against time with a team she is not sure she can trust.
I enjoyed this second book’s plot and pace much better than the first and I am glad I continued with the series because I had high hopes for this new protagonist and series. I like that DCI Rossi is a mature female investigator and she needs all her talent and skill with the number of possible suspects in this case. The plot has several subplots interwoven in this story that did not detract from the main investigation, but added to the complex reality of the case and they also did not slow the pace. I always enjoy it when I am guessing right up to the end.
I recommend this thrilling serial killer mystery/police procedural and all this author’s books.
***
Author Bio
Helen is one of the ‘baby boomer’ generation and began writing when she retired from her job at a local college. Born in Edinburgh to an English father and Scottish mother the family settled in a Pennine village between the counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire. It is an environment which has shaped her stories. Writing is a second career and, despite having a bus pass, keeps her busy, and tuned in.
Helen’s children are all grown-up and she has five grandchildren.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for NO STRANGERS HERE (County Kerry Mystery Book #1) by Carlene O’Connor. This is the first book in a new mystery/police procedural series set in Kerry County, Ireland and it is one of my favorites this year.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an about the author section, and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
***
Book Description
On a rocky beach in the southwest of Ireland, the body of Jimmy O’Reilly, sixty-nine years old and dressed in a suit and his dancing shoes, is propped on a boulder, staring sightlessly out to sea. A cryptic message is spelled out next to the body with sixty-nine polished black stones and a discarded vial of deadly veterinarian medication lies nearby. Jimmy was a wealthy racehorse owner, known far and wide as The Dancing Man. In a town like Dingle, everyone knows a little something about everyone else. But dig a bit deeper, and there’s always much more to find. And when Detective Inspector Cormac O’Brien is dispatched out of Killarney to lead the murder inquiry, he’s determined to unearth every last buried secret.
Dimpna Wilde hasn’t been home in years. As picturesque as Dingle may be for tourists in search of their roots and the perfect jumper, to her it means family drama and personal complications. In fairness, Dublin hasn’t worked out quite as she hoped either. Faced with a triple bombshell—her mother rumored to be in a relationship with Jimmy, her father’s dementia is escalating, and her brother is avoiding her calls—Dimpna moves back to clear her family of suspicion.
Despite plenty of other suspects, the guards are crawling over the Wildes. But the horse business can be a brutal one, and as Dimpna becomes more involved with her old acquaintances and haunts, the depth of lingering grudges becomes clear. Theft, extortion, jealousy and greed. As Dimpna takes over the family practice, she’s in a race with the detective inspector to uncover the dark, twisting truth, no matter how close to home it strikes .
NO STRANGERS HERE (County Kerry Mystery Book #1) by Carlene O’Connor is an intricately plotted and captivating murder mystery/police procedural set in County Kerry, Ireland. This is the first book in a new series from a new-to-me author that kept me completely immersed in the story.
Detective Inspector Cormac O’Brien is dispatched from Killarney to head the murder investigation of a prominent and wealthy landowner, Jimmy O’Reilly. In Dingle, everyone knows something about everyone and there are secrets that have been kept for decades. DI O’Brien is determined to unearth all of them to catch a murderer.
Veterinarian Dimpna Wilde has lost everything she built in Dublin through no fault of her own. Even though she has not been home to Dingle in decades, she returns home to decide what she will do with her life now. She is shocked when she returns to find her family are the prime suspects in the O’Reilly murder. Dimpna is determined to clear her family members, but her return is digging up secrets from her own past and the terrible secrets that made her leave Dingle. Besides dealing with old friends and enemies, she has a very astute DI uncovering dark secrets right along with her.
This is a fantastic murder mystery story with realistic characters, a twisted plot with not only a murder, but also decades of secrets filled with lies, theft, extortion, greed and sexual assault all set in the scenic and beautiful coastal tourist town of Dingle in Ireland. Ms. O’Connor brought it all to life for me while I was also trying to uncover the clues to a murderer. The plot weaves effortlessly between the present and Dimpna’s revelations throughout the story of her past and her present with plenty of plot twists and red herrings that continually had me guessing. I am anxiously looking forward to the next book in this series to see how all the characters land and go forward since the resolution of this murder case.
I highly recommend this exceptional murder mystery/police procedural set in Ireland and I am very glad it is going to be a series!
***
About the Author
USA Today bestselling author Carlene O’Connor comes from a long line of Irish storytellers. Her great-grandmother emigrated from Ireland to America and the stories have been flowing ever since. Of all the places across the pond she’s wandered, she fell most in love with a walled town in County Limerick and was inspired to create the town of Kilbane, County Cork. She writes the bestselling IRISH VILLAGE MYSTERIES, the HOME TO IRELAND series, and the new COUNTY KERRY MYSTERIES. Her books have been translated into numerous languages, and optioned for television
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for DEATH IN DUTCH HARBOR by D. MacNeill Parker on this Authors Marketing Experts Blog Tour.
Below you will find an author Q&A, a book synopsis, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a Rafflecopter giveaway. Good luck on the giveaway and enjoy!
***
Author Q&A
How did you research your book?
Research was not required. Write what you know, right? As a longtime participant in the Alaska fishing industry, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to use my experience as the backdrop to this book. What could be more intriguing than creating a world where commercial fishing and murder meet? However, I knew nothing about police dogs and so made an inquiry with the Seattle Police K9 Unit. They invited me to their training site. I was so appreciative, I named the dog in the book after the K9 Unit shepherd, CoCo.
Which was the hardest character to write?
The arch villain. It was difficult for me to navigate how to leave clues without giving away the identity of the culprit. The protagonist was a bit of a struggle, a learning experience really. Because the book is written in third person, I wrote many revisions trying out ways to best express what was inside her head.
Which was the easiest?
The police chief was the easiest character to write. I have no idea why.
Where do you get inspiration for your stories?
Aside from my own experience at sea as a fisherman that included surviving a boat that sank off the coast of Kodiak, I’ve heard many sea stories, most far more interesting than my own. There’s something about living on the edge of civilization where your life is at the mercy of Mother Nature and your survival may depend on the skill of your crew mates that is made for drama.
There are many crime mystery books out there. What makes yours different?
As a former fisherman married to a fishing boat captain, and with a career as a journalist, fisheries specialist for the State of Alaska and a seafood company executive, I’ve got the credentials to pull off authenticity. And along the way, the reader will learn a lot about Alaska and commercial fishing.
In one sentence, what was the road to publishing like?
Because I am a debut author, it was like stumbling around in a hailstorm, knocking on the doors of strangers in hopes of finding shelter.
What authors inspired you to write?
There were many authors that inspired me to write like Kurt Vonnegut, John Irving, Craig Johnson, Michael Connelly, John Grisham, Martin Cruz Smith, Raymond Chandler, Agatha Christie and Dashell Hammett but the book that lit a writing fire under me as a teenager was John Barth’s book, The Sot-Weed Factor. It’s a wild ride of historical fiction that showed me there was no limit to using your imagination when crafting a yarn.
What is something you had to cut from your book that you wish you could have kept?
There was a scene between Dr. Mo and her pal, Patsy, in a restaurant that was painful to cut. Patsy, one of my favorite characters, used salt and pepper shakers, hot sauce and catsup bottles and a fork to make a point about the doc’s messed-up personal life. It was near the end of the book where the pace had escalated. The scene slowed things down and, gulp, had to go. I hope to find a place for it in the second book!
What’s your next project?
I’m currently writing the second book of the series. So if you like the characters that inhabit DEATH IN DUTCH HARBOR, you can revisit them.
***
Book Synopsis
When two murders strain the police force of a remote Alaskan fishing port, veterinarian Maureen McMurtry is tapped by Dutch Harbor’s police chief for forensic assistance. The doctor’s got a past she’d rather not discuss, a gun in her closet, and a retired police dog that hasn’t lost her chops. All come in handy as she deciphers the cause and time of death of a local drug addict washed ashore with dead sea lions and an environmentalist found in a crab pot hauled from the sea in the net of a fishing vessel.
When her romantic relationship with a boat captain is swamped by mounting evidence that he’s the prime suspect in one of the murders, McMurtry struggles with her own doubts to prove his innocence. But can she? McMurtry’s pals, a manager of the Bering Sea crab fishery and another who tends Alaska’s most dangerous bar assist in unraveling the sinister truth.
DEATH IN DUTCH HARBOR by D. MacNeill Parker is a captivating murder mystery featuring a female veterinarian in a remote Alaskan fishing port who gets pulled into a dangerous murder investigation by the local chief of police. I was surprised when I learned this is written by a debut author because it has everything I look for in a complex crime mystery and what I would expect from much more seasoned favorite authors.
Dr. Maureen “Mo” McMurtry loves the remote Alaskan town of Dutch Harbor where she and her retired police dog, Coco live, but she is looking for more in both her personal and professional lives now that her contract has ended. When a local frug addict and two endangered sea lions are found washed ashore dead on the beach, the chief of police asks for Mo’s help with basic forensics before the bodies are sent to the State Police in Anchorage. Then a second body is found in a crab pot caught in a fishing net and brought back to port.
The investigation involves Mo in the world of Alaskan fisherman and oil companies vs. environmentalists, illegal drugs, money, and lies. Mo may be the next corpse to wash up on shore if she and her friends cannot figure out who is willing to kill to hide their secrets.
I could not put this book down! Dr. Mo is the type of realistic protagonist I love to meet in a new book. She loves a harsh environment, I would hate, but she loves it and through her eyes you see the beauty of the environment and the strength of her friends and other inhabitants. They are all independent and hard-working on land and on the sea. You can feel through the author’s vivid descriptions of landscapes and the perils of commercial fishing her love of Alaska. The mystery plot is perfectly paced with twists that kept Mo on her toes and kept me guessing.
I highly recommend this murder mystery from this debut author! I am very happy that this will be a series and I will be able to visit Dr. Mo and her friends in Dutch Harbor again.
***
Excerpt
Eric took the blanket he’d laid on the ice bench and draped it over the guy’s shoulders; just a kid, really. He folded the kid’s hands so they lay on his lap and packed ice at his sides so he would remain secure for the rough ride back to port. Reaching into the chest pocket of his own jacket, he removed a pack of cigarettes. His hand shook as he lit two.
“We smoke the same brand,” he said, bending to wedge one in Guy’s gray lips. He smoked the other cigarette, all the while talking to the kid as if his spirit lingered nearby. “What a bummer,” he said, “dying so young.” He told the kid he would be missed by someone and promised to get him home. Hearing his voice crack, Eric turned away as if he didn’t want Guy to see him that way. Then he closed the freezer door.
Guy sat in the bait locker, the cigarette still hanging from his lips. The freezing temperature caused the saltwater on his eyelashes and beard to crystallize. He looked as if he were climbing Mt. Everest instead of sitting propped-up, dead in a fishing boat bait locker headed to Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
***
Author Bio
D. MacNeill Parkerand her family are long time participants in the Alaska fishing industry. In addition to fishing for halibut, salmon, crab, and cod, she’s been a journalist, a fisheries specialist for the State of Alaska, and a seafood company executive. She’s travelled to most ports in Alaska, trekked mountains in the Chugach range, rafted the Chulitna River, worked in hunting camps, and survived a boat that went down off the coast of Kodiak. Parker’s been to Dutch Harbor many times experiencing her share of white knuckler airplane landings and beer at the Elbow Room, famed as Alaska’s most dangerous bar. While the characters in this book leapt from her imagination, they thrive in this authentic setting. She loves Alaska, the sea, a good yarn and her amazing family.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for MURDER UNDER THE MISTLETOE (Maybridge Murder Mysteries Book #2) by Liz Fielding on this Books ‘n’ All Promotions Book Tour.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
***
Book Blurb
Abby Finch heads to the old church hall armed with mistletoe and holly ready to help decorate in time for the festive season. But she arrives in time to witness a horrifying sight. Edward Marsh reaches to test the antique star at the top of the tree. There’s a fizz and the lights go out.
Abby hears the sickening thud of a body hitting the ground. When the lights turn back on Edward is dead.
It soon becomes clear it was no accident.
The real victim should have been Gregory Tatton, a dapper silver fox, popular with the ladies of the seniors’ lunch club. And a known blackmailer . . .
Abby is desperate to know the truth, but putting herself in danger isn’t on her Christmas list. Who’s been naughty? Who’s been nice? Who’s hiding the fact they’re a murderer?
MEET THE DETECTIVE
Brilliant gardener and the busy mum of three, Abby Finch’s dreams of winning gold at Chelsea Flower Show were put on hold by an unplanned pregnancy and marriage. But she wouldn’t have it any other way. These days she’s kept on her toes looking after her beloved family, running her own business and dealing with her imminent divorce. In an effort to keep things cordial, she’s allowed her ex to bully her into restoring the garden of his family home. Thankfully she’s surrounded herself with a great group of friends to lean on.
THE SETTING
Pretty Maybridge is a charming village set in the sheep-dotted Cotswolds hills, with a long history stretching back to Tudor times. It’s the type of place where everyone knows each other, but there’s a wonderful bookshop on the corner of the bridge, a popular riverside café and a bustling market at Christmastime. And with Bristol nearby and a big supermarket round the corner.
MURDER UNDER THE MISTLETOE (Maybridge Murder Mysteries Book #2) by Liz Fielding is an entertaining trip back to the small English town of Maybridge for another murder mystery set at Christmas and once again featuring Abby Finch and all her friends. This second book in the series can be read as a standalone, but it is as wonderful as the first and I suggest reading both to get the introductions, interactions, and backgrounds of the main characters right from the start.
Abby Finch is asked to drop off some mistletoe and holly to decorate the church hall for the season. Abby is in time to reconnect with an old high school teacher before he climbs a ladder to place the star on the top of the tree, and with a pop, the lights go out. When the breaker is switched back on, Abby’s old teacher is dead on the floor.
Immediately after giving a statement to the police, Abby is confronted by another senior, Gregory Tatton. She feels threatened by him even though all the senior ladies seem to love him. Abby begins asking questions with the help of some close friends and discovers Tatton was blackmailing some members of the senior’s club as well as prospecting for a third wealthy wife. The electrocution was meant for him, but he does not get away. One of the ladies who cleans for him finds him dead in his home.
Abby is once again questioned by the police when they discover Tatton was killed with ricin from the seeds of the castor oil plants which she has in her garden . She is determined to find the real killer before she is implicated. The killer may have other plans though to eliminate Abby and any of her discoveries.
Even though this is only the second book in the series, I already feel at home in Maybridge and I love all the main characters. Abby is a wonderful protagonist and I love that she is so realistic as a businesswoman, single mother, and possibly on the verge of a new relationship with an old friend. The characters are fully drawn and believable and the descriptions of plants and gardens are vivid. The mystery itself has plenty of red herrings and plot twists that kept me guessing because even when I felt I knew the solution, I was wrong.
I highly recommend this cozy holiday murder mystery, the entire series, and this author.
***
Author Bio
Award winning author Liz Fielding was born with itchy feet. She was working in Zambia before her twenty-first birthday and, gathering her own special hero and a couple of children on the way, has lived in Botswana, Kenya and the Middle East, all of which have provided rich inspiration for her writing.
She has written more than seventy books, several of which have won awards, and sold over 15 million copies. In 2019 she was honored with the Romantic Novelists’ Association Outstanding Career Award. She lives in West Sussex.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for GIRL AMONG CROWS by Brendon Vayo on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my mini book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a Kingsumo giveaway! Good luck on the giveaway and enjoy!
***
Book Description
Beware the Brotherhood of the Raven
When two boys vanish from her hometown, Daphne Gauge notices uncanny parallels to her brother’s disappearance 30 years earlier. Symbols of an ancient Norse god. Rumors of a promise to reward the town’s faithful with wealth and power, for a price. She warns her husband that another sacrifice is imminent, but just like last time, no one believes her.
This leaves her with a desperate choice: investigate with limited resources, or give in to the FBI’s request for an interview. For years, they’ve wanted a member of the Gauge family to go on record about the tragedy back in 1988. If she agrees to a deposition now, Daphne must confess her family’s dark secrets. But she also might have one last chance to unmask the killer from back then . . . and now.
Genre: Horror, Suspense Published by: CamCat Books Publication Date: November 2023 Number of Pages: 416 ISBN: 9780744306552 (ISBN10: 0744306558)
***
My Mini Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
GIRL AMONG CROWS by Brendon Vayo is an interestingly unique and atmospheric horror story with elements of suspense and mystery with Norse mythology influence.
This is a difficult book to review because I am afraid of giving away any important plot points. You have to give this book a chance to get going because at first a lot of information is given that did not make sense to me, but it is relevant later, and it will come together and move more quickly as the story progresses. The mystery unravels in two timelines, Daphne’s past and present, with the disappearance of young boys in both timelines and the Brotherhood of Crows playing an important part in both. Daphne is so complex because she wants to solve the disappearances, but at the same time she would be betraying those closest to her. One word that I did look up that helped in my understanding early on in the story was “blot” which is Old Norse for an exchange in which they did a blood sacrifice to the gods in order to get something in return.
I am very glad I gave this book a try because it did turn out to be an engrossing read. If you are into dark horror with suspense and mystery this is definitely the book for you.
***
Excerpt
My husband Karl shakes hands with other doctors, a carousel of orthopedic surgeons in cummerbunds. I read his lips over the brass band: How’s the champagne, Ed? Since he grayed, Karl wears a light beard that, for the convention, he trimmed to nothing.
The ballroom they rented has long windows that run along Boston’s waterfront. Sapphire table settings burn in their reflections.
The food looks delicious. Rainbows of heirloom carrots. Vermont white cheddar in the macaroni. Some compliment the main course, baked cod drizzled with olive oil. My eyes are on the chocolate cherries. Unless Karl is right, and they’re soaked in brandy.
At some dramatic point in the evening, balloons will drop from nets. A banner sags, prematurely revealing its last line.
CELEBRATING THIRTY YEARS!
Thirty years. How nice, though I try not to think that far back.
I miss something, another joke.
Everyone’s covering merlot-soaked teeth, and I wonder if they’re laughing at me. Is it my dress? I didn’t know if I should wear white like the other wives.
I redirect the conversation from my choice of a navy-blue one-shoulder, which I now see leaves me exposed, and ask so many questions about the latest in joint repair that I get lightheaded.
The chandelier spins. Double zeroes hit the roulette table. A break watching the ocean, then I’m back, resuming my duties as a spouse, suppressing a yawn for an older man my husband desperately wants to impress. A board member who could recommend Karl as the next director of clinical apps.
I’m thinking about moving up, our careers. I’m not thinking dark thoughts like people are laughing or staring at me. Not even when someone taps me on the shoulder.
“Are you Daphne?” asks a young man. A member of the wait staff. No one should know me here; I’m an ornament. Yet something’s familiar about the young man’s blue eyes. Heat trickles down my neck as I try to name the sensation in my stomach.
“And you are?” I say.
“Gerard,” he says. The glasses on his platter sway with caffeinated amber. “Gerard Gedney. You remember?”
I gag on my ginger ale.
“My gosh, I do,” I say. “Gerard. Wow.”
Thirty years ago, when this convention was still in its planning stages, Gerard Gedney was the little boy who had to stay in his room for almost his entire childhood. Beginning of every school year, each class made Get Well Soon cards and mailed them to his house.
We moved before I knew what happened to Gerard, but with everything else, I never thought of him until now. All the growing up he must’ve done, despite the odds, and now at least he got out, got away.
“I beat the leukemia,” he says.
“I’m so glad for you, Gerard.”
If that’s the appropriate response. The awkwardness that defined my childhood creeps over me. Of all the people to bump into, it has to be David Gedney’s brother. David, the Boy Never Found.
My eyes jump from Gerard to the other wait staff. They wear pleated dress pants. Gerard’s in a T-shirt, bowtie, and black jeans.
“I don’t really work here, Daphne,” says Gerard, sliding the platter onto a table. “I’ve been looking for you for a while.”
The centerpiece topples. Glass shatters. An old woman holds her throat.
“Gerard,” I say, my knees weak, “I understand you’re upset about David. Can we please not do this here?”
Gerard wouldn’t be the first to unload on what awful people we were. But to hear family gossip aired tonight, in front of my husband and his colleagues? I can’t even imagine what Karl would think.
“I’m not here about my brother,” says Gerard. “I’m here about yours.” His words twist.
“Paul,” I say.
“What about him?” “I’m so sorry,” says a waiter, bumping me. Another kneels to pick up green chunks of the vase. When I find Gerard again, he’s at the service exit, waiting for me to follow.
Before I do, I take one last look at the distinguished men and a few women. The shoulder claps. The dancing. Karl wants to be in that clique—I mean, I want that too. For him, I want it.
But I realize something else. They’re having a good time in a way I never could, even if I were able to let go of the memory of my brother, Paul.
The catering service has two vans in the alleyway. It’s a tunnel that feeds into the Boston skyline, the Prudential Center its shining peak.
Gerard beckons me to duck behind a stinky dumpster. Rain drizzles on cardboard boxes.
I never knew Gerard as a man. Maybe he has a knife or wants to strangle me, and all this news about my brother was bait to lure me out here. I’m vulnerable in high heels. But Gerard doesn’t pull a weapon.
He pulls out a postcard, its edges dusty with a white powder I can’t identify. The image is of three black crows inscribed on a glowing full moon.
“I found it in Dad’s things,” says Gerard. “Please take it. Look, David is gone. We’ve got to live with the messes our parents made. Mine sacrificed a lot for my treatment, but had they moved to Boston, I probably would’ve beat the cancer in months instead of years.”
“And this is about Paul?” I say.
“When the chemo was at its worst,” says Gerard, “I dreamed about a boy, my older self, telling me I would survive.”
I take my eyes off Gerard long enough to read the back of the postcard:
$ from Crusher. Keep yourself pure, Brother. For the sake of our children, the Door must remain open.
Crusher. Brother. Door. No salutation or signature, no return address. Other than Crusher, no names of any kind. The words run together with Gerard’s take on how treatment changed his perspective.
Something presses my stomach again. Dread. Soon as I saw this young man, I knew he was an omen of something. And when is an omen good?
“Your dad had this,” I say. “Did he say why? Or who sent it?”
An angry look crosses Gerard’s face. “My dad’s dead,” he says. “So’s Brother Dominic. Liver cancer stage 4B on Christmas Day. What’d they do to deserve that, huh?”
“They both died on Christmas? Gerard, I’m so sorry.” First David, now his dad and Dominic? He stiffens when I reach for him, and, of course, I’m the last person he wants to comfort him. “I know how hard it is. I lost my mom, as you know, and my dad ten years ago.”
The day Dad died, I thought I’d never get off the floor. I cried so hard I threw up, right in the kitchen. Karl was there, my future husband, visiting on the weekend from his residency. I didn’t even think we were serious, but there he was, talking me through it, the words lost now, but not the comfort of his voice.
I looked in his eyes, daring to hope that with this man I wouldn’t pass on to my children what Mom passed down to me.
“Mom’s half-there most days,” says Gerard. “But one thing.”
The rear entrance bangs open, spewing orange light. Two men dump oily garbage, chatting in Spanish.
“Check the postmark, Daphne,” says Gerard at the end of the alleyway. He was right beside me. Now it’s a black bird sidestepping on the dumpster, its talons clacking, wanting me to feed it. I flinch and catch Gerard shrugging under the icy rain before he disappears.
The postmark is from Los Angeles, sent October last year. Six months ago, George Gedney received this postcard. Two months later, he’s dead, and so is another son.
What does that mean? How does it fit in with Paul?
Though he’s gone, I keep calling for Gerard, my voice strangled. Someone has me by the elbow, my husband. Even in lifts, Karl’s three inches shorter than me.
“Daphne, what is it? What’s wrong?”
“Colquitt. I need Sheriff Colquitt or . . .” Voices argue in my head, and I nod at the hail swirling past yellow streetlamps. “Thirty years ago, Bixbee was a young man. He might still be alive.”
“Daphne, did that man hurt you? Hey.”
Karl demands that someone call the police, but I shake him.
“It’s fine, Karl,” I say, dialing Berkshire County Sheriff ’s Office. “Gerard’s a boy I knew from my hometown.”
Karl’s calling someone too. “Some coincidence,” he says.
Though it wasn’t. Here I am trying not to think about the past, and it comes back to slap me in the face as though I summoned it. Paul. The little brother I vowed to protect.
The phone finally picks up. “Berkshire Sheriff’s Office.”
“Hello,” I say, “could I leave a message for Harold Bixbee to call me back as soon as possible? He is or was a deputy in your department.”
“Uh, ma’am, I don’t have anyone in our personnel records who matches that name. But if it’s an emergency, I’d be glad—” I hang up. Damn. I should’ve known at nine p.m., all I’d get is a desk sergeant. I’d spend half the night catching him up to speed.
“Daphne.” My husband lowers his phone, looking at me as though I’ve lost my mind. “I asked Ed to pull the hotel’s security feed. You’re the only one on tape.”
“What? No.”
“It shows that you walked out that door alone,” says Karl, gesturing, “and I come out a few minutes later.”
The Door must remain open.
Dread hardens, then the postcard’s corner jabs my thumb. I’m about to show Karl my proof when I realize that now there are only two crows in the moon.
“How’d he do that?” I keep flipping it, expecting the third one to return, before I sense my husband waiting. Distantly, I hear wings flap, but it could be the rain. “Gerard wanted me to have his dad’s postcard.”
“So this boy Gerard comes all the way from Springfield to hand you a postcard,” Karl says. “And he can magically avoid cameras?”
“I’m not from Springfield,” I say, shaking off a chill. Magically avoid cameras. And Gerard can turn pictures of crows into real ones too. How?
“You seem very agitated,” says Karl. “Want me to call Dr. Russell? Unless . . .” Karl’s listening, just not to me. “Ed says the camera angles aren’t the best here. There’s a few blind spots.”
“I said I’m not from Springfield, Karl. Any more than you’re from Boston.”
My husband nods, still wary. “Boston is more recognizable than Quincy. But how does your hometown account for why Gerard isn’t on the security footage?”
I lick my lips, my hand hovering over Karl’s phone.
When we first met, I wanted to keep things upbeat. Me? I’m a daddy’s girl, though (chuckling) certainly not to a fault. In the interest of a second date, I might’ve understated some things.
“Here,” I say, “it’s more like I’m from the Hilltowns. It’s a remote area.” My lips tremble, trying to force out the name of my hometown. “I was born and raised in New Minton, Karl.”
Somewhere between Cabbage Patch Kids and stickers hidden in a cereal box, the ones Paul demanded every time we opened a new Crøønchy Stars, is recognition. I can tell by the strange flicker on Karl’s face.
“The New Minton Boys,” he says. “All those missing kids, the ones never found.” Karl is stunned. “Daphne, you’re from there? Did you know those boys? God, you would’ve been a kid yourself.”
“I was eleven,” I say. And I was a kid, a selfish kid. I came from a large family. Brandy was seventeen, Courtney fifteen, Ellie nine, and Paul seven.
The day before my brother disappeared, I wasn’t thinking that this night was the last time we’d all be together. I wasn’t thinking about the pain Mom and Dad would go through, especially after the town gossip began.
No. I thought my biggest problems in the world were mean schoolboys. So I ruined dinner.
“Daphne?” Now Karl looks mad. “That’s a big secret not to tell your husband.”
If only he knew.
***
Author Bio
Brendon Vayo was born in Okinawa, Japan, and now lives in Austin, TX. He has a wonderful wife and three children. The kids keep him awake at night, so he hopes his books do the same to you.
