Murder by the Books E-Book

J.J. Brass

• Herausgeber: Rainbow Crush
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Welcome to Serenity Bay, where books hold secrets, and mysteries lurk behind every page.

When Lucy Larkin and her uncle Frank stumble upon an unfinished manuscript hidden in a dresser at the Annual Antiques Street Fair, they uncover more than just forgotten words.

As the mystery unfolds, Lucy and Uncle Frank embark on a quest to unravel the truth. Can they convince Detective Johnson that a crime has been committed, or will they find themselves met with skepticism?

Now, with time running out, Lucy and her uncle must race against the clock to piece together clues hidden within the unfinished book. With curiosity, wit, and a touch of amateur sleuthing, can they unmask the killer and bring justice to Serenity Bay?

"Murder by the Books" is a page-turning journey into the heart of a small town where books can be deadly. Join Lucy and Uncle Frank in this charming cozy mystery. 

Leseprobe

Murder by the Books

Serenity Bay Mysteries, Volume 2

J.J. Brass

Published by Rainbow Crush, 2023.

Murder by the Books

© 2023 by J.J. Brass

All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.

Cover design © 2023

First Edition 2023

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Murder by the Books

Chapter 1 | Serenity Blooms

Chapter 2 | Mysterious Pages

Chapter 3 | Complicated Shadows

Chapter 4 | Juicy Gossip

Chapter 5 | Lies! All Lies!

Chapter 6 | Frank Conversations

Chapter 7 | If Word Gets Out

Chapter 8 | You Can Trust Me

Chapter 9 | A Thrilling Tale

Chapter 10 | One for the Books

Chapter 11 | All Things Considered

Chapter 12 | We Need Each Other

Chapter 13 | POISON!

Chapter 14 | Questions and Answers

Chapter 15 | Will the Real L.L. Silver Please Stand Up?

Chapter 16 | Fluttering Feelings

Chapter 17 | Startling Connections

Chapter 18 | A Cup of Murder

Chapter 19 | Searching for the Truth

Chapter 20 | Catch the Culprit

Chapter 21 | Friends and Family

More Serenity Bay Mysteries

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About the Author

Murder by the Books

Serenity Bay Mysteries

Book Two

By J.J. Brass

Chapter 1

Serenity Blooms

Lucy Larkin looked around the flower shop with a mix of excitement and apprehension.  Sure, she'd hoped for a relaxing summer in the quaint town of Serenity Bay, but when Irene and Jovedi, the owners of Serenity Blooms, asked her and Uncle Frank to take over while they went on vacation, how could Lucy possibly say no?

Anyway, Irene and Jovedi would only be away for a week.

How much could possibly happen in one week?

With Irene and Jovedi's departure, Lucy knew she had big shoes to fill. She glanced at Uncle Frank, who was busy rearranging a colorful bouquet. His white hair stood on end as he fluffed the petals, his gentle smile making him look more like a mischievous wizard than a florist.

"Are you sure we can handle this, Uncle Frank?" Lucy asked, her voice tinged with uncertainty.  “Not only have we got the shop floor to handle during peak tourist season, but this weekend alone, we need to do flowers for three weddings, two funerals, a birthday dinner, and a bridal shower.”

“Bachelorette party,” her uncle corrected her.

“Right.  That.”  Lucy heaved an anxiety-ridden sigh.  “It just seems like too much work for two people.  I don't know how you and Uncle Rico ever managed it, God rest his glorious soul.”

Glossing over the mention of his late husband, Uncle Frank said, "We can handle anything, my dear Lucy. We're a dynamic duo, a force to be reckoned with. Besides, what could go wrong?"

“I don't know.  Everything?”

Uncle Frank chuckled, his eyes twinkling.  “There's no need to lose sleep over a week as a small-town florist, my dear girl.  I've got experience, you've got pizzaz.  Together, we can take on the world—or at least a few flowers.”

With a deep breath, Lucy made the conscious decision to put her worries aside. After all, how hard could it be to run a flower shop?  She had her uncle to guide her, and he'd done this job for years.  He'd keep her on track.

Or maybe not.

When Lucy glanced out the shop's front window, her eyes sparkled with intrigue.  “Uncle Frank, what's going on outside?  Looks like they're setting up roadblocks or something.”

“For the Annual Antiques Street Fair, I should imagine,” her uncle replied in an off-handed manner. 

“Annual Antiques Street Fair?” Lucy squealed.  “That sounds amazing!  You mean they shut down the road for it and everything?”

“They close down the western portion of Main Street, yes,” Uncle Frank said.  “Our part of the street, down here, will remain open for the duration.”

“And different vendors from the antiques stores in town will be selling their wares?  Along the street?”

“Anyone can participate—not only the owners of antiques stores,” her uncle told her, but his main interest was the floral display he'd just begun working on.  Lucy had trouble tearing his attention away from the array of flowers laid out on his work surface at the back of the shop.

The colorful stalls beckoned her, promising a trove of quirky trinkets and forgotten treasures.  She glanced over her shoulder, focusing her gaze on her dear uncle as he gently decided to place a lily next to a rose.

Serenity Blooms wasn't scheduled to open for at least another half hour.  Her uncle would get on fine without her.  He knew what he was doing, after all.

Grabbing her bag, her sunglasses, and a wide-brimmed hat, Lucy hollered, "I'll be back soon, Uncle Frank. I'm going to check out the antiques!"

Uncle Frank raised an eyebrow. A playful smirk crossed his face as the bells above the door jangled over Lucy's head. "Don't get too carried away, my dear. Remember, we have a flower shop to run."

With a wave and a mischievous grin, Lucy made her way to the bustling street fair. Why had her uncle not mentioned that the antiques sale would be happening this weekend? Maybe he knew it would likely tear her attention away from her duties at the flower shop.

He'd be right about that!

The streets were alive with vendors hawking vintage wares, their voices blending with the cheerful melodies of street musicians. Lucy wandered through the rows of eclectic items, scanning the displays with keen interest.

And then she saw it. Tucked away at the corner of a booth, covered in dust and slightly worn around the edges, was an old dresser. Its intricate carvings and faded paint spoke of a bygone era.

Lucy's heart skipped a beat as a thought struck her: it would be perfect as a window display for the flower shop!

A surge of excitement shot through Lucy's veins as she looked around for the vendor. Though it was early in the day, there were already lots of people—tourists and townsfolk alike—perusing the wares in this and every other booth.  Lucy had trouble figuring out who was selling this stuff until she spotted cash changing hands.  A gleeful customer was in the midst of purchasing a milk glass vase.

“Excuse me?” Lucy spoke up, hoping to grab the attention of a man in jeans and an untucked white shirt.  “Are you the one selling these items?  Only, I was wondering—”

When the young man turned, Lucy's brain sputtered and went kaput.  With his dark brown hair and that cute bulb of a nose, he looked just like one of the sergeants from Midsomer Murders. Jones. Was that the character's name? Lucy couldn't remember. The show had been on for decades, and they'd gone through a number of cast changes over the years. 

“Hi,” the cute vendor said, sending her a smile that made her heart go thumpa-thump.  “Were you interested in something?”

Lucy tried to speak, but her tongue felt too big for her mouth.

“Excuse me!” another prospective customer called out.  “Is this real silver, or is it merely plate?”

The vendor shot Lucy an apologetic look before swiveling around to greet the old woman who'd called out to him.  “That one's plate, but Gran had some beautiful silver.  I couldn't bear to part with the lot of it, but maybe for the right price, who knows?”

“Keeping the good stuff for yourself, eh?” the woman grumbled.

Lookalike-Jones gave an uncomfortable chuckle before telling the customer, “I don't know about good or bad.  I'm keeping what's sentimental to me, what reminds me of visiting my Gran here in town when I was a kid.”

“Sentiment, bah!” the woman said as she dug through the box of silver.  “No, I don't want none of this stuff.  You can keep it, young man.”

As Miss Congeniality walked away, the man in the white shirt turned once again in Lucy's direction, widening his eyes as he mouthed the word, “Wow.”

Lucy gave a little chuckle.  Now that the cute guy had put her at ease, she managed to say, “These were your grandmother's belongings?”

“Yeah,” he said with a bittersweet nod.  “Gran died earlier this year.”

“Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.”

“Thanks.  I appreciate it.  But she was in her eighties and she'd lived a full life, so...”

“We all gotta go sometime,” Lucy said, to fill the dead air.

Her conversational partner's eyes widened once again, but then he offered a weak laugh.  “The house was sitting empty for months.  No one seemed keen on sorting through her belongings.  Finally, I figured: hey, there are worse places to spend the summer than Serenity Bay.  Why not pitch in and see if I can't get the old family homestead in order?”

“Must be an emotional process,” Lucy reasoned.

“It is.  It is.”  He nodded, kept nodding.  “Yeah, I spent a lot of summers here in town when I was young.”

“Me too,” Lucy cut in.  “With my uncles, Frank and Rico.  They used to own the flower shop.”  She pointed to the storefront on Main Street, where Uncle Frank was probably cursing her name at this very moment.  “In fact, I was hoping to buy this beautiful chest of drawers for the shop's new owners.  I think it would make a gorgeous window display.”

“Definitely,” he agreed.  “It definitely would.  You have excellent taste.”

“Not to mention a marketing degree,” she told him, just to show off a little.  “A piece like this one would draw a lot of eyes to the shop window, and hopefully get more customers through the door.”

He was asking much less than Lucy expected, and definitely less than the dresser was worth. Even in its well-worn state, it definitely qualified as boho chic. They settled on a price, but he was only accepting cash, and who carries that much cash, these days?  So she paid him what she had in her purse and they agreed that she could pay him the rest when he delivered it to the flower shop at the end of the day.

Hopefully Serenity Blooms would have a prosperous day, and Uncle Frank wouldn't mind if she paid the balance out of the till.

Wouldn't mind, or wouldn't notice. 

Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.

Chapter 2

Mysterious Pages

Back at Serenity Blooms, Lucy and Uncle Frank stood in front of the shop window, which was now empty but for the old dresser. They surveyed their handiwork, contemplating the potential it held.

“If we stagger the drawers, we could feature succulents at every level, and maybe cascade some ivy down the side.  That, or we could cut holes in the drawer bases and stick bouquets in there.”

Uncle Frank hooked his thumbs around the straps of his green apron. "Well, Lucy, I must say, you have an eye for beauty and a flair for the unexpected."

Lucy blushed, her cheeks turning red as roses. "Oh, it's nothing, really. I just thought it would add a touch of charm to the shop."

Uncle Frank patted her on the back. "Nonsense, my dear. You have a talent for making things come alive.”

“I just hope Irene and Jovedi like the look, when they get back from their vacation.”

“I'm certain they will,” Uncle Frank assured her. “Now, why don't you put together the cash deposit from the day's takings while I finish up with tomorrow's funeral flowers?"

Lucy scrunched her nose. “That's a downer.”

“Not at all,” he replied, opening the shop door so they could enter inside.  “Floral arrangements are a celebration of life: a long life lived, a shared life yet to come, an anniversary of years on this earth, but always a celebration.  Flowers bring joy.  That's why I devoted my career to their arrangement.”

After locking the door behind her, Lucy followed her uncle to the back of the shop.  “If you love flower arranging so much, why did you sell the business and retire?”

Her uncle pursed his lips and looked away, his mood turning from sweet to sour in an instant.  “Why are you asking me these questions, daft girl? You're nothing but a Nosey Parker, butting in where you don't belong.  And didn't I ask you to tally up the day's earnings?”

Lucy was standing right next to the cash desk, but working in close proximity to her moody uncle held very little appeal at the moment.

“I'll get to that,” she assured him.  “But first I want to wipe down the dresser I bought.”

Uncle Frank grumbled something that sounded like disapproval as Lucy made her way to the broom closet for cleaning supplies.  She tried to put her uncle's agitation out of her mind as she wiped a thick layer of dust off the top of the dresser.

Despite her uncle's foul mood, Lucy couldn't shake the feeling of excitement bubbling inside her. The old dresser seemed to hold a secret, a story waiting to be uncovered. She gently opened the top drawer, half expecting to find a hidden treasure or a forgotten love letter.

But there was nothing inside that top drawer.  Nothing at all.

Same with the middle drawer.  Absolutely empty.