Today I'm featuring an excerpt from new cosy crime novel The Thursday Morning Breakfast (and Murder) Club by Liz Stauffer.
Excerpt
“Clare’s
dead!”
When
she spoke the words, her voice was so low it was barely above a whisper. The
sturdy woman with short, curly red hair dropped the handset back into its
cradle and began to pace, the phone still ringing on the other end of the line.
Lillie
Mae Harris stopped at the front window, taking no notice of the white buds that
were just opening on the two Bradford pear trees in her front yard, or the
spring flowers peeping through the freshly hoed soil in the close-by flower
bed. Her thoughts were of Clare.
She had
the best view in Mount Penn from this window. On a winter’s morning she could
see for some thirty miles out over the valley with the big blue sky as the
backdrop. The night view was even more amazing, offering a shower of dancing lights
in the distance competing only with the brightest stars.
It was
now early spring and the vista had already begun to shrink even though the
trees were just beginning to bud. Once the trees were filled out with big green
leaves the view would pull in even more until fall when the colors exploded and
the view once again took one’s breath away. But today the scenery did nothing
to still Lillie Mae’s pounding heart or quell her shaking hands. She couldn’t
stop worrying about Clare. Rushing back to the phone, she scooped it up, and
punched in a familiar number.
“Hello.”
Alice Portman answered in her sweet Southern drawl, after just one ring. Her
Jack Russell terrier, Alfred, barked in the background.
“Clare’s
not answering her phone this morning,” Lillie Mae said. “I’m so worried about
her, Alice. I’m not sure what to do.”
“Settle
down, Lillie Mae,” Alice said, shushing Alfred. “Why are you more concerned
today?”
“You
were at the water meeting last night,” Lillie Mae said. “You saw how Roger was
acting. Yelling and screaming like an idiot. When he’s gotten that riled up in
the past, Clare’s been his punching bag.”
“Well,
yes,” Alice agreed, deliberately slowing the pace of the conversation. “But,
Roger was just being Roger last night, dear. Just showing off. I didn’t see
anything unusual in his behavior. Certainly nothing to make you so worried this
morning.”
“He was
acting worse than usual,” Lillie Mae insisted, still pacing the living room
floor. “And I’m sure he drank himself crazy when the meeting was finally over.
That’s the real reason I’m worried, Alice. You know how he is when he drinks.
What he does to Clare.”
“Roger
playacts, you know, when it suits him, Lillie Mae,” Alice said, her voice still
soft and cool. “He knows he’s going to make a lot of money hooking people up to
the public water in a few short months, but he wants to come across as the good
guy to his neighbors, not the money grubbing fool that he is. He’ll use every
wile that he has to seduce the community. If the project fails, which it won’t
this time, he looks like he’s the man who stopped it. If it passes, he wins big
time.”
“You’re
probably right, Alice,” Lillie Mae said, calming a bit. “I know Roger is
shrewd. If he wasn’t always out there trying to make a deal, he wouldn’t be
Roger, I guess.”
“So,
stop overreacting, Lillie Mae. What’s brought all this on anyway?”
“I’ve
been calling Clare’s house all morning and nobody answers the phone,” Lillie
Mae said. “It’s stupid, I know, but I picture Clare lying on her kitchen floor,
needing my help. Dead, even.”
A sigh
escaped Alice’s lips. “You’re way over dramatizing this morning, Lillie Mae,”
she said. “Roger’s not even home. He drove by me in that stupid yellow Hummer
of his while Alfred and I were out on our early morning walk.”
“That’s
good to hear,” Lillie Mae said. “Stop imagining the worst, Lillie Mae. Clare’s
probably out, too. It’s such a warm spring day. Doesn’t she usually go grocery
shopping on Wednesday mornings?”
“Maybe,”
Lillie Mae conceded. “Or she could be in her garden, I guess.”
“She’ll
call you back when she gets to it,” Alice said, a hint of impatience in her
voice.
“I
doubt if she does.” Lillie Mae’s voice broke. “She rarely calls me anymore.
We’ve been such good friends for so many years and I miss her, Alice. I wish I
knew what I did wrong.”
“Clare’s
changing, Lillie Mae. She’s getting stronger. Give the girl some space.”
“I’ve
noticed a change, too,” Lillie Mae said, “since Billy went off to university.
She does have more confidence, I’ll give you that.”
“Have
you written your article on the water meeting for the Antioch
Gazette, yet?” Alice asked. “I thought it was due today.”
“Not
yet,” Lillie Mae confessed. “I’ve been too worried about Clare.”
“Maybe
being busy will take your mind off things that are not really any of your
business,” Alice said.
“I
guess you’re right,” Lillie Mae said. “Clare’s a big girl and can take care of
herself.”
“I know
that well,” Lillie Mae said, then suddenly turned serious again when her
thoughts returned to Clare. “I’m walking down to Clare’s to check things out
before I start on the article. I need to make certain she’s all right, or I
won’t be able to concentrate on my work. Do you want to come along?”
“No,
you go on, if it’ll make you feel better,” Alice said. “You can fill me in on
the details at dinner this evening.”
 |
| Liz Stauffer |
About the novel
Liz Stauffer’s
debut mystery novel Thursday Morning Breakfast (and Murder) Club, published by
Sartoris Literary Group, was released on June 28, 2013.
Things are not always what they seem in Liz Stauffer’s fast paced book of
murder, mystery, and intrigue. When the "breakfast club" ladies of
idyllic Mount Penn see bruises on Clare Ballard's pretty face, they suspect her
hot-headed husband of abusing her, but the truth is much more complicated. When
violence disrupts this Appalachian village's lazy routine, the ladies, led by
the irascible Lillie Mae Harris, jump feet first into danger as bodies appear,
neighbors disappear, and Clare is arrested for murder. Follow Lillie Mae and
the other "breakfast club" ladies, who, armed with casseroles and
pastries, help the police uncover the deep secrets this town hides beneath its
perfect facade.
The book can be purchased as an ebook and as a paperback on Amazon
A short biography of the author
After some thirty years writing everything
from political encyclopedias to software manuals, I retired from corporate life
to write fiction, travel, and play on the beach. Since that time, I’ve traveled
extensively throughout the United States and the world. I live most of the year
in Hollywood, Florida, with my two doggie best friends, Mattie and Jakey, where
I own and manage a vacation rental business.
Well, that's my interested whetted, thanks for sharing this excerpt.
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to visit, read and comment Tracy! :)
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