#WeWriWa - The Case of the Fabulous Fiancé:

 Welcome to the Weekend Writing Warriors 

Sorry for missing last week. Time management is not my forte. With so much sunshine lately, I feel like I can get more done. 

I'm sharing a snippet from the 2nd Alex O'Hara mystery novel, The Case of the Fabulous Fiancé. Alex is a P.I. in the small Lake Michigan resort town near Grand Rapids. I'm continuing from where we left off the week before last when the stranger announced that she needed a receptionist, and he was it.

Some changes were made to the original.

Snippet: 

“Have you called the telephone company?”

“Of course.” How dumb did he think I was? I didn’t ask. “They said there’s no problem on their end.”

After putting his hands on my shoulders and moving me aside, he knelt on one knee. “Oh, my. What a mess.” He looked up with a sheepish grin. “I didn’t mean your housekeeping—although you should talk to your cleaning service. I meant all the wires.”

 

And a little more:

I didn’t tell him I was the cleaning service. With the new year, I went into belt-tightening mode along with the rest of West Michigan—the adage about thrifty Dutch still holds true, even if I’m not Dutch—while we paid for holiday expenditures. Thank goodness for the windfall from the Feds for capturing an assassin last fall.

“Have you been having other problems with the phones?” The man was still under the desk lying on his back the way I had as he played with the wires connecting the phones and computers.

Along with no landline service, I still had no internet. And no RJ to fix either.

With his knees bent, his pant-legs had hiked up, grazing his long, gray socks. Not the athletic kind, either. Holy cow. Were they silk? Couldn’t be. Who wore silk socks?

“According to RJ, my tech guy, the phones are supposed to interface with my computers. I don’t understand all that. Anyway, please get up. RJ will be here shortly, and he can sort everything out.”

“Nonsense. Why pay for a service call when I’m here?”

“Listen, Mister Cuddy. I—”

“Pete.” He scooted around and wiggled the wire that went into the wall jack. Then he reached up between the desk and the wall and did something I couldn’t see.

“Okay. Pick up the phone and see if there’s a dial tone now.”

I did. “Dial tone.” I felt like an idiot. Never mind the jack was the first thing I’d checked. I’m not totally inept. When he’d reached up, he must have fixed whatever was wrong.

 

Blurb:

She’s at it again. Alex O’Hara just can’t say no to a new investigation. What do a 45-year-old boyfriend, a deadbeat dad, and a teenage runaway have in common? All new cases. With no receptionist, phone and internet problems, and her own boyfriend in the wind, Alex has no idea how she’ll manage. But the question for the past three months is why did Nick disappear. Is this the end of O’Hara & Palzetti? 

Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ B&N ~ Smashwords

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors. Stay safe and have a great week!

  

#WeWriWa - The Case of the Fabulous Fiancé: Johnny on the Spot

 Welcome to the Weekend Writing Warriors 

Thanks to everyone who stopped by last week. I'm sorry I didn't get to everyone. I'm having trouble with time management. On the bright side, the sun has been shining for most of last week. And--drumroll, please--I got my 1st covid vaccine shot.

I'm sharing a snippet from the 2nd Alex O'Hara mystery novel, The Case of the Fabulous Fiancé. Alex is a P.I. in the small Lake Michigan resort town near Grand Rapids. I'm continuing from where we left off last week when the stranger announced he was her new receptionist.

Some changes were made to the original.

Snippet:  

He shrugged off the trench coat and tossed it onto the visitor chair. I almost yelped at the casual way he handled a $2,000-plus overcoat, especially when it slipped to the floor. After picking up the coat, he added his suit jacket to the pile. OMG, was that Armani?

So how does a small-town girl from West Michigan know about expensive men’s clothing? Unlike my knowledge of women’s fashions, I didn’t have a friend in the business. I’d gone online to get a really special Christmas present before discovering I couldn’t afford such an extravagant gift for the man in my life. The former man in my life. Nick Palzetti. How could Pop’s partner Tony raise such a jerk?

Now for a little more:

While I silently fumed about old Love ‘em and Leave ‘em Palzetti, Pete loosened his tie, slipped open the top button of his shirt, then carefully rolled up the sleeves. Two turns, very precise.

“Now what seems to be the problem?” he asked. “I’m a whiz at telephone systems.”

“Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean you’re my new receptionist?” I’m not usually so slow on the uptake. I must be tired, or his expensive clothes had engaged my brain. Okay, not all of my brain. Nick Palzetti’s desertion occupied the majority. As it had since Christmas Eve.

“I saw your ad and knew you needed me.” He picked up the telephone receiver and listened for a dial tone. I could have told him there wasn’t one.

“That ad just came out this morning.”

He gave me a slow smile. “Then I’m Johnny-on-the-Spot."

 

Blurb:

She’s at it again. Alex O’Hara just can’t say no to a new investigation. What do a 45-year-old boyfriend, a deadbeat dad, and a teenage runaway have in common? All new cases. With no receptionist, phone and internet problems, and her own boyfriend in the wind, Alex has no idea how she’ll manage. But the question for the past three months is why did Nick disappear. Is this the end of O’Hara & Palzetti? 

Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ B&N ~ Smashwords

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors. Stay safe and have a great week!

#WeWriWa - The Case of the Fabulous Fiancé: Limp Fish?

 Welcome to the Weekend Writing Warriors 

Thanks to everyone who stopped by last week. I hope you all are safe and warm. Our temps have been the lowest since 2016, along with snow and more snow. But our west Michigan towns have the equipment to get rid of snow quickly. My heart goes out to those in Texas who haven't had heat in many days.

I'm sharing a snippet from the 2nd Alex O'Hara mystery novel, The Case of the Fabulous Fiancé. Alex is a P.I. in the small Lake Michigan resort town near Grand Rapids. I'm continuing from where we left off last week when the stranger offered to help Alex up off the floor.

Some changes were made to the original.

Snippet: 

Instead of his hand, I grabbed the seat of the receptionist’s chair and pulled myself up. Why, oh, why had Susan deserted me to go off to Michigan State? Never mind that her mother and I had encouraged her to get a college education. If my former receptionist had been here, I’d never have looked—and sounded—like an absolute idiot. Of course, since the agency wasn’t open on weekends, she wouldn’t have been here anyway. Duh.

I swiped at the dust bunnies clinging to my butt then rubbed my hands down the sides of my oldest pair of jeans. Besides, who expected clients at two o’clock on Sunday? I wish I’d never left the door unlocked for my tech master, RJ.

 The rest of the scene:

“Could we start over?” I tried for a quirky smile. “My mouth left the station without my brain.”

“Would you like me to go out and come in again?” His smile wasn’t the least bit quirky. Neither were his blue eyes. Sexy. Oh, yeah. Real sexy. Slender and fit, he was a couple of inches shorter than my five-ten. Clean-shaven and wearing a really nice—read sexy—cologne.

Quickly, I shoved my hair behind my ears, pushed up the stretched-out sleeves of my Detroit Tigers’ sweatshirt, then held out my hand. “Hi. I’m Alex O’Hara.”

His weak clasp surprised me. Pop would call it a limp-fish shake. Well, shoot. Considering his good looks and expensive taste—I’m not shallow, not a bit—I thought he’d be the one to make me forget Nick the Rat. Not that I dated clients. At least not until they weren’t clients anymore. I gave his soft hand a quick, business-like squeeze.

“And I’m Pete Cuddy. Your new receptionist. You obviously need my help.”

 Blurb:

She’s at it again. Alex O’Hara just can’t say no to a new investigation. What do a 45-year-old boyfriend, a deadbeat dad, and a teenage runaway have in common? All new cases. With no receptionist, phone and internet problems, and her own boyfriend in the wind, Alex has no idea how she’ll manage. But the question for the past three months is why did Nick disappear. Is this the end of O’Hara & Palzetti? 

Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ B&N ~ Smashwords

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors. Stay safe and have a great week!

 

#WeWriWa - The Case of the Fabulous Fiancé: Delish!

 Welcome to the Weekend Writing Warriors 

Thanks to everyone who stopped by last week. 

I'm sharing a snippet from the 2nd Alex O'Hara mystery novel, The Case of the Fabulous Fiancé. Alex is a P.I. in the small Lake Michigan resort town near Grand Rapids. I skipped ahead to chapter 3.

Some changes were made to the original.

Snippet:

 

The outside door opened, letting in a blast of Michigan winter air. The cold draft shot down my back as I lay on the floor under the receptionist’s desk. What a way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

“That better be you, RJ,” I hollered. “And you’d better fix this piece of shit telephone system before I tear out every damn wire.”

When RJ didn’t give me a song-and-dance about why it had taken him so long to respond to my SOS, I squinted between the edge of the modesty panel and the floor. Oh, no. Dark gray trousers with a knife-sharp crease grazed the fashionably-correct spot on a pair of highly-polished gray Italian loafers. Definitely not RJ’s scruffy athletic shoes topped by the ragged hem of his worn blue jeans.

 

Now for the rest of the scene:

I had two choices. Door Number One—stay under the desk and pretend no one was home. Door Number Two—scramble out and greet the potential client.

Scratch Door Number One. I’d already spoken. He knew I was there.

As I scrambled, I hit my head on the underside of the desk. “Hell’s bells.”

“My dear girl, whatever are you doing in that awful place?” The owner of the expensive loafers had walked around the desk and was peering down at me. “May I give you a hand?”

How about duct tape for my mouth? My mother must be turning over in her grave. And Pop would be appalled that I’d given a client a bad first impression of the agency he and Tony Palzetti had started after high school. Correction, after high school for Pop, college for Tony.

As I scooted out from among the tangled wires, I also cleaned the floor with my backside. The underside of the kneehole drawer caught the scrunchie anchoring my ponytail and pulled it off—the scrunchie, not my ponytail. Through another tangle, this time my hair, I looked up at the owner of the sexy voice.

Delish, as my Dottie would say. “Money, money, money,” as ABBA sang. Under his black, unbelted Burberry, he wore monochromatic better than Alex Trebek. Dark gray suit, a darker gray shirt, and a gray-on-gray striped tie. His blond hair with its precision cut enhanced his appearance. No barber for this guy. Had to be an expensive stylist. The businesswoman in me took notice. So did my lady parts.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Nicolas Palzetti. There are other fish in the sea than you.

 

Blurb:

She’s at it again. Alex O’Hara just can’t say no to a new investigation. What do a 45-year-old boyfriend, a deadbeat dad, and a teenage runaway have in common? All new cases. With no receptionist, phone and internet problems, and her own boyfriend in the wind, Alex has no idea how she’ll manage. But the question for the past three months is why did Nick disappear. Is this the end of O’Hara & Palzetti? 

Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ B&N ~ Smashwords

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors. Stay safe and have a great week!

#WeWriWa - The Case of the Fabulous Fiancé: I Don't Have Time

 Welcome to the Weekend Writing Warriors 

Thanks to everyone who stopped by last week. I apologize for not getting to everyone. Many of you know my Hubs has had health problems. Last Monday, he fell and fractured his neck. Being in a brace has made him need more of my attention. I'll try to do better this week.

I'm sharing a snippet from the 2nd Alex O'Hara mystery novel, The Case of the Fabulous Fiancé. Alex is a P.I. in the small Lake Michigan resort town near Grand Rapids. This continues from last week, which ended with, "I need to be sure this man truly loves me—me, not my money.” 

Some changes were made to the original.

Snippet:

Although nobody would ever mistake me for an heiress, I understood her caution.

“I am almost forty years old,” she said. “I want to have children before I’m too old.”

Again, I understood. I’d just passed a landmark birthday—the big Three-Oh. Rather than worry about kids, though, I devoted myself to my business. After a rocky start, I was on a pretty even keel. Plenty of work, not enough time.

But I had plenty of time before having kids.

“Ma’am, if you’d called for an appointment, I could have saved you a trip. I do not have time to devote to your case.”

 

 Now for the rest of the scene:

A crestfallen Maura Finley stared at me, her mouth slightly open. I guess nobody had ever turned her down. While hers might be interesting, I had a bad feeling about this case. A client might want the lowdown on a prospective mate—as I’d discovered before—but they often resented the bearer of bad news. Of course, the client could be grateful if the news was good, like my friend Ellen.

“I will double your usual retainer.”

“It isn’t a matter of money—” Although money never hurt. “—I’m in the middle of a large case that is taking up all of my time.”

“How soon will you finish?” No longer disappointed, she looked calculating.

God save me from rich people who think everyone should drop what they’re doing to attend to them.

“Three weeks, minimum.”

“Good. I will be out of the country for the next four weeks. You may finish your present case then check into Clyde Wilson.”

Well, shit. I mean, shoot. I was trying to break my bad habit of swearing. I had misgivings about this woman. Demanding, she was going to be difficult to work with. She exuded the power that came from old money. Power that expected everyone to do her bidding.

But then I’d had difficult clients before and managed them, I reminded myself. I could probably wrap up the fraud investigation in a couple of weeks. I’d given myself a cushion when I’d told her three.

Were the reservations I had enough to turn her down? No.

I drew the pad closer to me. “Tell me about this man. Clyde Wilson?”

That better not be a smug look on her face.

 

Blurb:

She’s at it again. Alex O’Hara just can’t say no to a new investigation. What do a 45-year-old boyfriend, a deadbeat dad, and a teenage runaway have in common? All new cases. With no receptionist, phone and internet problems, and her own boyfriend in the wind, Alex has no idea how she’ll manage. But the question for the past three months is why did Nick disappear. Is this the end of O’Hara & Palzetti? 

Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ B&N ~ Smashwords

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors. Stay safe and have a great week!

#WeWriWa - The Case of the Fabulous Fiancé: Vet Your Fiancé?

 Welcome to the Weekend Writing Warriors 

I'm sharing a snippet from the 2nd Alex O'Hara mystery novel, The Case of the Fabulous Fiancé. Alex is a P.I. in the small Lake Michigan resort town near Grand Rapids. This continues from last week. Some changes were made to the original.

Snippet:   

A flush of embarrassment flashed across her fine features. “Oh.” She recovered quickly but didn’t rise. “Maura Finley.”

Without further ado, I retreated behind my desk to Pop’s only splurge, a high-back, leather office chair. On days when I worked late, I appreciated the comfort. The Pops—mine and Nick’s—were the original O’Hara and Palzetti. Before they retired to Arizona, they’d sold the business to me, the only offspring who wanted it.

Before leaving work at night, I always left a pad of paper and a pen on top of my desk, just in case someone came early. First time it had been necessary. I picked up the pen before looking at Maura Finley. Even though I was in the middle of a major case and had another one waiting, I never turned down a prospective client. At least, not right away. I’d hear her out and then decide.

 For the rest of the scene:  

“What can I do for you?”

Her expression completely changed. The high-powered exec disappeared. In its place, caution and . . . vulnerability. “Ellen VanderVeen said I could trust you.”

I smiled. Ellen and I had been friends since college. The girl who had more fashion sense in her baby finger than I did in my entire body.

“Yes, I know Ellen.”

“She said you helped her investigate her fiancé.” When I nodded, she hesitated and appeared to rethink what she was doing in a private investigator’s office. Just as fast, she came to a conclusion. “I’d like you to do the same.”

“You want me to vet your fiancé?”

“He’s not my fiancé. Yet.”

When she didn’t explain any further, I asked, “Why? Do you suspect something?”

“No. Oh, goodness, no.” She pursed her lips before continuing. “My father left me a prosperous financial firm plus a sizeable inheritance. I am not saying that to brag but to explain my concerns. In my younger days, I was, uhm, taken advantage of. I need to be sure this man truly loves me—me, not my money.”

 Blurb:

She’s at it again. Alex O’Hara just can’t say no to a new investigation. What do a 45-year-old boyfriend, a deadbeat dad, and a teenage runaway have in common? All new cases. With no receptionist, phone and internet problems, and her own boyfriend in the wind, Alex has no idea how she’ll manage. But the question for the past three months is why did Nick disappear. Is this the end of O’Hara & Palzetti? 

Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ B&N ~ Smashwords

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors. Stay safe and have a great week!

#WeWriWa - The Case of the Fabulous Fiancé: Where is your boss?

 Welcome to the Weekend Writing Warriors 

I'm sharing a snippet from the 2nd Alex O'Hara mystery novel, The Case of the Fabulous Fiancé. Alex is a P.I. in the small Lake Michigan resort town near Grand Rapids. This continues from last week. Some changes were made to the original.

Snippet:   

 

After I unlocked my office, I heard her on her cell phone, “I will be late this morning, Isaac. Postpone my ten o’clock. I know, I know, tell them . . .”

I didn’t need to hear the rest of her instructions to her personal assistant to get the point that she was not only busy but important. After closing the door to my office, I did a fast repair. The small mirror in my desk revealed that a tornado had done its damage to my hair. I tried to tame it then wrapped a scrunchie around the mass.

She’d have to take me as I was.

 

 And a little more:

When I opened my door, she was still on her phone. As soon as she looked up, she held up one finger in the traditional “one minute” gesture. Normally, I’d give a client privacy. But after her pointed remarks about my being “late,” I stood in my open door and waited.

Finally, she disconnected and came toward me. As she passed me into my office, I realized how small she was. Dainty, even. If I hadn’t heard her giving orders on the phone, I would’ve thought fragile. Nobody would call me dainty or fragile. I stood five-ten in my stocking feet, and I’m what they call “big-boned.” Back in the old country, I’d be good for digging potatoes or throwing hay around for the animals.

In keeping with her elegant clothes, she wore her dark brown hair in a classic twist. Her jewelry, revealed after she sat and shrugged off her coat, was tasteful and expensive—like the watch. Wide gold necklace, gold with diamonds studs in her ears. No wedding or engagement rings, but a discreet gold and sapphire ring graced her right hand.

She stared pointedly at the big desk. “Where is your boss?”

“Let’s start over.” I held out my hand. “Alex O’Hara, and you are?”

 

Blurb:

She’s at it again. Alex O’Hara just can’t say no to a new investigation. What do a 45-year-old boyfriend, a deadbeat dad, and a teenage runaway have in common? All new cases. With no receptionist, phone and internet problems, and her own boyfriend in the wind, Alex has no idea how she’ll manage. But the question for the past three months is why did Nick disappear. Is this the end of O’Hara & Palzetti? 

Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ B&N ~ Smashwords

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors. Stay safe and have a great week!

#WeWriWa - The Case of The Fabulous Fiancé: Play nice, Alex

Welcome to the Weekend Writing Warriors 

I'm sharing a snippet from the 2nd Alex O'Hara mystery novel, The Case of the Fabulous Fiancé. Alex is a P.I. in the small Lake Michigan resort town near Grand Rapids.

Blurb:

She’s at it again. Alex O’Hara just can’t say no to a new investigation. What do a 45-year-old boyfriend, a deadbeat dad, and a teenage runaway have in common? All new cases. With no receptionist, phone and internet problems, and her own boyfriend in the wind, Alex has no idea how she’ll manage. But the question for the past three months is why did Nick disappear. Is this the end of O’Hara & Palzetti? 

Snippet:   

Normally after a run, I’d go in the back door of my business, O’Hara & Palzetti, Confidential Investigations since 1965, according to the sign on my building, not that I’ve been around since 1965. As I unlocked the front door, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. A petite woman stepped out of a black Mercedes.

“It is about time you showed up,” she called out.

Say what?

“I certainly hope your boss is prompter than you. Where is she? I have been knocking on the door since eight thirty-three.”

 

 Now the rest of the scene:

That was precise. Not eight thirty. Eight thirty-three. I silently groaned. A client. And she thought I was the receptionist.

Since I had no appointments that morning, I hadn’t been watching the time. Currently without a receptionist, I’d hoped for no walk-ins until I’d changed into professional attire. In my navy vest with orange fluorescent stripes I looked like an advertisement for Hope College. I’d even smushed my hair into an orange watch cap and wore orange mittens. While it beat getting hit by a car that didn’t see me, I felt more conspicuous than normal. Especially next to the fashion plate approaching.

Her black wool coat cost more than my entire clothes budget for the year. Same with her black leather gloves. And those boots? Ay-yi-yi. Who wore fine Italian leather in the winter? I may be a small-town girl, but I can recognize fine apparel thanks to my friend Ellen who owned a high-end boutique in Grand Rapids where the female movers and shakers hung out.

Biting back a retort about assumptions, I held the door open for her. “Please come in.”

After she entered, I quickly shut off the alarm system.

“What time do you open?” She pointedly looked at her watch—OMG was that a $16,000 Omega Constellation? “I have been waiting for twenty-nine minutes.”

Oh, my. She was going to be one of those. I could almost hear The Pops saying, “Play nice, Alex.”

“Please make yourself comfortable.” I indicated the two chairs in an alcove where visitors couldn’t be seen from the street. As a matter of privacy, I didn’t open the blinds covering the street-side windows. “I’ll just be a moment.”

“Call your boss. I’m in a hurry.”

Then you should have made an appointment. Of course, I didn’t say that out loud Wanted to, though.

I raised my eyebrow. I can do haughty when necessary. I’d learned from people like her.

Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ B&N ~ Smashwords

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors. Stay safe and have a great week!

#WeWriWa - The Case of the Fabulous Fiancé: Good Riddance to Nick

 Welcome to the Weekend Writing Warriors 

I'm sharing a snippet from the 2nd Alex O'Hara mystery novel, The Case of the Fabulous Fiancé. Alex is a P.I. in the small Lake Michigan resort town. She's not as financially desperate as she was in the first novel, thanks to the Feds who rewarded her for capturing an assassin.

Blurb:

She’s at it again. Alex O’Hara just can’t say no to a new investigation. What do a 45-year-old boyfriend, a deadbeat dad, and a teenage runaway have in common? All new cases. With no receptionist, phone and internet problems, and her own boyfriend in the wind, Alex has no idea how she’ll manage. But the question for the past three months is why did Nick disappear. Is this the end of O’Hara & Palzetti? 

Snippet:  

Dottie shut up for as long as it took to jog across the drawbridge over the Red Oak River that led out to Lake Michigan. As we headed down to the windswept beach, we angled between the orange snowfences.

“Let’s get back to Nick,” she said.

“No. He’s gone, and good riddance to him.”

As we passed Bonnie Bernacki’s Bed and Breakfast, she blew a raspberry.

“What was that for?”

Blabbermouth Bonnie—the bane of our existence since middle school—hadn’t done anything lately . . . that I knew of.

“She stopped me at Meijer’s and asked me about you and Nick. Right there in the produce aisle, and she made sure her voice carried.”

 

And the rest of the scene:

I groaned. So far, only three people knew for sure he’d left—Dottie, her husband Jim, since she couldn’t keep anything from him, and Dan Hoesen, Far Haven’s police chief. I’d managed to put off the nosy parkers who didn’t need to know the details of my love life. My former love life.

“Are you going antiquing tomorrow?” I asked.

Dottie loved to hit the antique shops on Saturdays. Me, I’d rather sleep in. Maybe if I got her talking about her weekend plans, she’d stop the questions about Nick.

“Of course, wanna come?”

“I have to work.”

At the Point, where the summer cottages began, we turned around. I was thankful she’d gotten off the subject of Nick the Rat.

“He loves you, Lexie.”

“I told you not to talk about him. That subject is verboten.”

“C’mon, Lex. I know he loves you. I saw it in his face when he—”

“That’s it. You’re on your own.”

Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ B&N ~ Smashwords

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors. Stay safe and have a great week!