A Darcy Sweet Cozy Mystery Book 17 – Murder Down Under.
Here’s a small sneak peek.
The driveway took them up to the front of a gorgeous three story building. It was a sunflower yellow, in startling contrast to the white of everything else, with dark green trim around its many windows and the front door. It was a secluded spot, hidden among the towering evergreen trees. The Pine Lake Inn looked exactly like it had in the photos Darcy had seen.
The main part of the house was to the left of the front porch. Tall sun windows would let in warmth and light to the common area, where there was supposed to be puzzles and games available, as well as a television and DVD library. The second and third story were a series of smaller windows. Those would be the rooms. The website had said there were fifteen of them, all with a view of the lake that bent around the backside of the Inn along the shore as well.
Jon took her hand in his. “You like it?”
“I can’t imagine a better place to spend some time with my new husband.” She kissed his cheek, then whispered in his ear, “I love you.”
“Now, you two,” Roy chided in a good natured way. “Save that for yer room, right?”
Jon paid the fare while Darcy started getting their luggage out of the open trunk. Roy was at her elbow a few seconds later, taking them away from her. “All part of the service, Miss Darcy. So, you’re a bookstore owner. Entrepreneur, and all that. What’s yer bag then, Jon?”
There was a moment’s hesitation before Jon answered. “I’m the Chief of Police back where we live.”
Roy tripped over something in the walkway, stumbling forward before he could right himself under the weight of all those bags. “Ah. A lawman, are ya? That’s good. That’s a right nice profession, that is. I’ll, uh, I’ll see ya up the stairs and inside the place but then I have to be off. Need to get back to my fares. You know how it is.”
Jon nodded, but didn’t answer. Darcy saw the way the lines around his mouth tightened and his eyes fixed on the stairs of the front porch. They were used to people acting differently around them once they knew what Jon did for a living. Even across an entire ocean, it seemed, he could still make people nervous just by mentioning where he worked.
Imagine if they knew she could talk to ghosts. At least she got to keep that secret to herself. Mostly.
She walked closer to him, bumping her hip into his. “Hey,” she said in a low voice. “You know I still love you.”
His face softened as he put his arm around her shoulder. “Then that’s all I need.”
Together, they walked through the door with its rounded archway, into the Pine Lake Inn.
Which was when the walls came crashing down.
Release date – May 20, 2015.
