Wednesday, May 4, 2016

The Perfect Summer Mystery

By Robin Weaver


Looking for a great summer read? Look no further than DEAR KILLER. I recommended this book last year, and I will probably recommend it again next year--it's that good. :) Author. Linda Lovely does an awesome job of surprising the reader--you never know what will happen next--and the writing is excellent.


To keep busy, Marley works security for a Sea Island resort in the South Carolina Lowcountry. The feisty widow’s yawner of a job turns into a deadly battle of wits after she finds an islander drowned and bobbing naked amid a potpourri of veggies in a Jacuzzi. Each death pairs with a grizzly pun.


Marley is a great and spunky heroine who will have you rooting for her from page one and Ms. Lovely's subtle descriptions of Deer Island will have you planning your own beach retreat.


DEAR KILLER is the first in a series of Marley Clark adventures that combine heart-pounding suspense with generous sides of romance and humor.  The sequel, NO WAKE ZONE, is just as good and both are also available as audio books.

Here's an excerpt:



The wrought-iron gates stood open—again. The college kids assigned to lock up were zero for three this week. I sighed, switched on my flashlight, and walked toward the swimming pools. One more chink in the resort’s security armor for vandals to exploit.

I noticed a smudge of light on the horizon and a twinge of unease crept over me. Hilton Head Island snaked into the ocean about twenty miles south, as a pelican flies, and its neon glitz cast a yellow pall over the velvet blackness. Normally our resort has too many competing halogens to detect a neighbor’s light pollution.
Three lights in the Dolphin Club were out. It was too dark. Goose bumps raced up my arms. Something was hinky. Frozen in a cabana archway, I listened for any sound, some hint an intruder lurked in the shadows. Only gurgling water and a chorus of tree frogs broke the silence.

Sweeping my beam over the three-pool terrain, I strained to catch any movement. All was still. A second pass spotlighted an anomaly: clothing piled on a chair beside the Jacuzzi.
I walked closer, then paused as a shadowy blot rippled the surface of the water. It took a second to grasp someone floated face down. I sprinted. My feet made crunching noises as my shoes pulverized glass from the broken lamps.

No, no, no. Please don’t let him be dead.

3 comments:

Linda Lovely said...

Thanks, Robin! I'm hoping to complete the third book in this series by year end. Marley is one of my favorite heroines. She's old enough to know better (in her fifties) but young enough at heart to say "who cares?"

Judith Ashley said...

Great excerpt! Thanks for reminding us about Linda's Marley Clark series.

Diana McCollum said...

Good blog post, Linda! I enjoyed the excerpt.