KAREN’S KILLER BOOK BENCH: Welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench, where readers can discover talented new authors and take a peek inside their wonderful books. This is not an age-filtered site, so all book peeks are PG-13 or better. Come back and visit often. Happy reading!
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MURDER IN REGAL REEF
A Lottie Stark Mystery Book 5
BY ANITA RODGERS
BLURB
A year ago, Chief Lottie Stark was abducted by a serial killer she was pursuing. She escaped before he could make her his next victim and now is behind bars. But she doesn’t feel safe. She spends sleepless nights prowling her house. Unable to get the sour smell of the killer’s breath and the feel of his grubby hands around her neck, out of her head.
A recent rumor that the FBI is offering him a new deal makes Lottie feel she can’t trust anyone. Not her husband Jack, who swears there’s no deal happening. Not her therapist who’s trying to get her through the waking nightmare. Not even her father, Ben, who’s acting weirder than usual. But especially not herself.
She’s seen the killer’s accomplice in the woods. (Or did she?) And suddenly, personal belongings taken during her captivity are reappearing in startling ways. If somebody’s trying to drive her crazy, it’s working.
Every day, it gets harder for Lottie to do her job while her men are side-eyeing her and whispering behind her back.
Adding to her inner turmoil, a friend has been murdered. Pushed to her mental and emotional limit, Lottie is terrified she no longer has what it takes to solve the crime. Or any crime. All she knows is that if she doesn’t get a grip soon, there won’t be anything left to lose. Not her career, not her marriage, and definitely not her sanity.
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MURDER IN REGAL REEF
A Lottie Stark Mystery Book 5
BY ANITA RODGERS
Excerpt
Chapter 1
Standing on the toilet, I gripped the sides of the stall and tried to get closer to the air vent. The soles of my boots were slick and more than once I flushed the toilet when I lost my footing.
Leon Rivas, the Mayor of Regal Reef, and my boss, was in a hush-hush meeting with the Clybourne Development guy and I wanted to know what they were up to. Their voices were muffled and I went up on my tippy-toes for better reception.
“Do I want to know what you’re doing up there?” Jeri Mendoza, our local newspaper editor, gawked at me from the open stall door. Her intrusion startled me and my foot slipped onto the flush handle again. “Damn it, Mendoza,” I hissed.
Arms crossed over her chest, she smirked. “What’s got you so jumpy?” Muffled voices wafted out of the air vent and she inched closer. “Oh, I get it.” She cocked an ear. “Who is that?”
Worried she’d climb up there with me, I hopped off the commode and shooed her out of the stall. “Never you mind. Your washroom out of order?” I washed my hands at the sink and looked at her reflection in the mirror. “What do you want?”
Mendoza’s mahogany eyes lingered on the vent for a second then shifted to me. At close to six feet tall and pretty enough to be on TV, she was hard to ignore. But lord knows I tried. “You’re holding out on me. Again.”
For some reason, Mendoza thinks my main motivation in life is keeping a good story from her. I pushed through the door to the second-floor lobby and flicked a look at Leon’s office as I headed down the stairs. “About what?”
Mendoza traipsed after me, her stilettos clicking against the tile floor. “What’s Leon got going?”
“Nothing that would make the headlines.” I crossed the lobby and exited through main door with her right behind me. “Unless you think upping our tourist appeal is hot news.”
“Tourist appeal?” Her stilettos snicked on the sidewalk as she kept pace with me around the building to the parking lot. “Are we getting a water park or something?”
“What we’re getting is anybody’s guess.” I reached my old Toyota pickup truck and frowned at the oxidized paint job. “Some development outfit has been courting him for a while now.”
Her eyes glinted in the late afternoon sun. “You mean, Clybourne?”
That got my attention. “You know something about them?”
She arched a perfect eyebrow. “Word is they’ve bought a few properties already.” She rolled her eyes. “The sellers all signed NDAs but nobody can keep a secret in this town.”
“Like where have they bought up places? And where exactly did you get this information?” Suddenly, Mendoza wasn’t feeling so braggy and zipped her lips. “Now who’s holding out?” I asked.
She eyed Leon’s balcony on the second floor as though she might throw up a rope and climb up there. “Just take a spin around town. If you know what to look for it’s right under your nose.”
She didn’t care to elaborate and I didn’t care to keep wasting my time. “Whatever you say, Mendoza.”
Miffed, she turned on her heel. “Fine, Chief. But don’t say I didn’t tell you.”
I went after her. “Wait a minute. What drove you over here slinging accusations at me in the first place?” I cop-squinted her. “Why did you come over here at all?”
She pursed her lips. “Forget it.”
She tried to skirt around me but I was too fast for her. “Oh, now you’re gonna play hard to get? Come on, Mendoza, you started this, now finish it.”
Acting like she was doing me a favor, she said, “I heard a rumor—”
I rolled my eyes. “You want to hear this or not?” I raised my hands in supplication. She huffed and said, “I was told—confidentially—that Labb was getting a new deal.” My body twitched and her eagle-eye stare said she’d noticed. “True or false?”
“Bullshit.” Not trusting myself to say anything further, I spun back toward my truck.
She hesitated for a second then walked away—the click of her stilettos fading as she went.
About Author Anita Rodgers…
Anita Rodgers writes character-driven mysteries and thrillers that are fast-paced and also provide a few laughs. Her books are available on Amazon and KOBO.
She has always been an odd duck and good at making things up—so becoming a writer was a no brainer. She lives in Southern California with her dog, Lily, and silly cat, Bitzy. She loves to cook, putter in the garden, read, and bargain hunt. And nothing makes her happier than finding a great mystery that will keep her up until all hours of the night reading.
Stay up to date on what’s happening with her current mystery books, upcoming projects, bonus material, and new releases by signing up for her newsletter: http://eepurl.com/bwQYef
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Links to Anita’s websites, blogs, books, #ad etc.:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DQXHLF7L
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/en/ebook/murder-in-regal-reef
Happy Reading!
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Special Giveaway: Anita will gift an ebook copy of MURDER IN REGAL REEF to one lucky reader who comments on her Karen’s Killer Book Bench blog. Good Luck!
Happy Reading!
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Thanks, Anita, for sharing your book with us!
Don’t miss the chance to read this book!
looks intriguing
thank you.
Book looks and sounds like an interesting and intriguing really really looking forward to reading in Print format
Hi Crystal,
Thanks for you comments. The paperback will be out within the next couple of weeks. Sorry for the delay.
Good morning, Anita, and welcome back to Karen’s Killer Book Bench. I loved this excerpt and the story blurb. The book sounds like an exciting read. Cannot wait to read this book. Thanks for sharing it with us today!
Thanks, so much, Karen. It’s good to be back. I’m very excited about the book and Lottie’s continuing journey of growth as a human being. In particular her struggle to work through her personal trauma. I think women struggle with trauma much more than we think because we are more likely to nurture others than ourselves.
Sounds intriguing. Thanks for sharing.
thank you!
Standing on a toilet… and for nothing…
Little is more than likely correct… Collusion some where …
Thanks, Anita and thanks, Karen
you’re welcome.
Good morning, your book sounds like a very good and very intriguing book! Thank you so much for sharing about it. I will have to look for it in paperback as I am not tech savvy and dont read ebooks, but Thank you. Have a great rest of the week.
Hi Alicia,
Thank you. The paperback will be out within the next couple of weeks. Sorry for the delay.
Have a great day.
Thank you for being here and sharing your book with us. The blurb is interesting. It sounds like something that I would definitely have in my library or on my TBR pile.
Hi Jaylee,
I’m sure my book would be delighted to be on your TBR list.
Cheers!
This sounds exciting!
Thank you!