Days that start with a ringing phone seldom turn out well.
I fumbled for the nightstand, a dull pain in my ribs when I reached too far reminding me that I’m not twenty-five anymore.
Thirty-one years in uniform, and I’ve been shot twice. The first time, I was back to tossing my baby girl in the air four weeks later. This time, seven months have ticked by and I still wince when I raise my arm too high.
Finding my cell phone, I cracked an eyeball at the clock.
Four forty-eight.
“White,” I grunted, putting the thing somewhere in the vicinity of my ear.
“You’ll be getting a visit from a Sheriff Jim Rutledge this morning, detective. He had a murder out in Augusta County this weekend that’s of particular interest to some important people,” Deputy City Manager Matt Finderman, more commonly known as the Mayor’s favorite lackey, barked without so much as a “sorry for the ungodly hour.”
I sighed, patting an apology on my wife’s shoulder and sliding out of bed. Finderman made everything sound like high-level espionage, usually for no reason.
“Good morning to you, too, Matt,” I said, pulling the bedroom door closed and padding toward the kitchen in bare feet. “Why don’t you go ahead and tell me what this guy wants while I get some coffee?”
“What he wants isn’t nearly as important as who he needs to talk to.”
I flipped the switch on my Mr. Coffee and took a seat on a wooden barstool, the smell coming from the burbling machine chasing enough cobwebs from the corners of my brain for me to get good and annoyed. Who wakes people up before five in the morning to be cryptic?
I waited for him to elaborate. He didn’t.
“And who would that be?” I didn’t even try to keep the irritation out of my tone.
“Grant Parker.” He stopped again, and I drummed my fingers on the countertop. Both my daughters were home from college for the summer, currently at war over a boy. I had enough drama in my life with that nonsense.
Rubbing my temple with my free hand, I felt a massive headache coming my way. “Grant Parker. The sports columnist, Grant Parker?”
“By the end of the day, he’ll be the murder suspect Grant Parker.” Finderman waited a beat, plowing on when I didn’t take his bait. “You will assign the best homicide detective in your department to help Rutledge with anything he needs. You will have Parker hauled in for questioning, and you,” there went the pausing again, “will handle Nichelle Clarke.”
The big vein in my temple throbbed under my fingers.
Yep. Headache dead ahead.
“Who’s the victim?” I’ve met plenty of murderers, and couldn’t think of much that might push Grant Parker over that particular cliff.
“Mitch Burke.”
Well. Much besides that.
It hadn’t even been a week since Parker’s boss called me in an uncharacteristic panic. Because of Burke.
Damn.
Scrubbing my free hand over my face, I wondered just exactly what I was about to get pulled into.
“I expect to find Grant Parker in a jail cell by this time tomorrow, detective.” Finderman snapped. “Help Rutledge get his man. And keep your nosy reporter friend in line.”
I touched the end button without bothering to respond, dropping the phone to the tabletop.
Could Parker be mixed up in Burke’s death?
Tough one. Maybe.
But if City Hall wanted Nichelle out of the way, something was shady. Figuring out what without tipping my hand was the tricky part, since my job as the public information officer meant people recorded just about everything I said.
But for Nichelle, I’d find a way. My fingers brushed across the still-pink scar over my ribs. I’d never trusted a reporter so completely. And last time I checked, Finderman and his cronies hadn’t saved my life last Fall.
I shuffled back to the coffee maker and filled a Richmond Police Officers’ Association mug, checking the clock. Five-oh-four.
Nichelle would be done with her morning news meeting by nine.
That gave me four hours to study up on Mitch Burke and Grant Parker. And why the Mayor might want Parker behind bars.
Thanks so much for having me and Detective White today, Dru Ann! I have some goodies for your readers: TWO commenters will win the Headlines in High Heels e-book of their choice.
Lethal Lifestyles is the sixth book in the Headlines in High Heels mystery series, published by Henery Press, September 2016.
Wedding bells are ringing at the Richmond Telegraph, and maid of honor Nichelle Clarke is determined to give her friends the perfect fairytale beginning to their happily ever after. So when a corpse crashes rehearsal weekend, Nichelle ditches her wedding coordinator shoes for her crime reporter ones, and a little poking around turns up a big problem: the victim and the groom have a history, and it’s not a pretty one.
Evidence against groom Grant Parker piles up, leaving Nichelle wishing a hostile bridesmaid was still her biggest worry as she tries to fend off Richmond’s favorite TV reporter—and her own scheming publisher. At odds with the cops, her beloved editor, and the ticking clock, Nichelle races to uncover the truth and save the day before this perfect wedding turns into a funeral.
# # # # # # # # # # #
About the author
LynDee Walker is the author of the national bestselling Headlines in High Heels mystery series, beginning with the 
Agatha Award-nominated Front Page Fatality (2013).
Before she started writing mysteries, LynDee was an award-winning journalist. Her work has appeared in newspapers and magazines across the U.S.
She adores her family, her readers, and enchiladas. She often works out tricky plot points while walking off the enchiladas. She lives in Richmond, Virginia, where she is either playing with her children, working on her next novel, or admiring beautiful shoes she can’t wear. Connect with LynDee at lyndeewalker.com.
All comments are welcomed.
Giveaway: Leave a comment below for your chance to win. The giveaway will end September 30, 2016 at 12 AM (midnight) EST. Good luck everyone!
Sounds like another great book in this series. Thanks for today’s feature, Dru Ann. I’m hooked! Thanks for the chance to win a copy LynDee! 🙂
Thank you for stopping in, Barbara! I’m so glad you enjoy Nichelle’s adventures! 🙂
Great post! Thanks for the giveaway. Sounds like a series to add to my TBR List.
Thank you for coming by—I hope you enjoy the books! 🙂
I guess it was just meant to be, as I was leaning on my kitchen counter this morning waiting at 4:55am, for my daughter’s alarm to go off and my coffee to be ready. I am hooked. Am making a list to go shopping, well besides the weddings and showers. To play catch up on this series. Thank you for the giveaway and the review.
I love it, Debra (and wow, that’s an early morning)! Thanks so much for coming by—I hope you have fun catching up with Nichelle and the gang!
I can see I’ve been missing out on these High Heels mysteries. Thanks!
Thank you, Donna! I hope you enjoy them. 🙂
Recently learned of the writer and her series would love to read. But not ebook. Just wanted to say “Thank you for the heads up.”
Thank you so much for stopping in! I so hope you enjoy the books! <3
Great post. I’ve read one book in this series and really liked it. Thank you for this chance.
Hey Peggy—thanks so much! I love writing these posts for Dru, because it gives me a chance to see Nichelle’s world from a different angle. So glad you enjoyed part of her story—I hope you enjoy the rest even more! 🙂
What a way to put a damper on a wedding. Thank goodness no bodies were found during my wedding or reception, although my father did leave my reception and walked up to a diner for coffee while the reception was going on. lol! The information contained within the blog posting sounds right up my interest alley so I’m sure I will be looking into this book.
I love funny wedding stories! Here’s mine: My mother in law changed the place cards I’d spent months figuring out, moving the pastor to a different table for dinner at the reception. Pretty sure my father in law saw the steam coming out of my ears when we got to the table, because he came over and whispered an apology later. But, all’s well that ends well: the pastor ended up sitting with my favorite uncle, who loved his stories about how every church he’d ever worked for had had a fire. And I’m fortunate to have a lovely relationship with my MIL 15 years later. 🙂
What a unique and delightful feature and giveaway. Thanks.
Thank you! Good luck! 🙂
Sounds like a series I would really enjoy. Thanks for a chance to win a copy.
Thank you for stopping in today! I hope you enjoy the books!
Sounds like an interesting story line. Have added this one to my TBR list.
Yay! I hope you love them! 🙂
What an awesome giveaway! Thank you both for the chance to win.
Thank you for stopping in! Good luck!
Thanks for the giveaway! I’m not familiar with this series but it sounds like a different slant on police procedural.
If you’d like to check the series out, the first book is just 99 cents for your e-reader this week. It’s a bit different than most police procedurals, because my main character is a reporter (this snippet was told from the point of view of her favorite detective, a fun exercise for me when I write these posts for Dru), who works very closely with law enforcement. Happy reading!
Henery Press gets great authors.
This sounds like another good read.
We have a fun, talented group in the Hen House for sure. 🙂 I hope you enjoy Nichelle’s new adventure!
Just what I need , a new series. Now I must go back and buy book 1. I always liked the covers but now I need to read them
Haha! I can so relate to that problem. Writers are readers first. 😉 I’m so glad you like Aaron, and I hope you enjoy the books!
Dru Ann, thanks so much for having me and Aaron is to chat today! 🙂 Writing these posts for you is always one of my favorite things about a book launch!
For our friends who haven’t started the series yet and want to: if you’re an e-book person, Henery has the first book in the series, FRONT PAGE FATALITY, on fire sale for 99 cents in all the ebook formats this week, so grab it before the price goes back up. 🙂
This is a great series and I’m looking forward to reading “Lethal Lifestyles”. Really love the cover.
Yay! Thanks so much, I hope you love the new book! <3
I am just loving this series! This is one of a few Henery Press authors I am so glad to have discovered. Keep up the good work and I can’t wait to read the new book! Thanks for sharing with us today! Fingers crossed!
Thank you so much! I am so proud of this book—if y’all enjoy reading it half as much as I enjoyed writing it, it will be well worth your time. 🙂
Looking forward to getting this book as I have read the first three in the series and enjoyed them a lot. Have a little catching up to do first, but would really love to become the recipient of Lethal Lifestyles. Thank you for the opportunity to win it. Cynthia
Okay! I have no idea when I’m going to read all these books I want to win. Nevertheless, I do really want to win this one. Please!
This is such a fun series, my wife and I enjoy it immensely. Thanks so much for the chance to win a copy of Lethal Lifestyles.
I need to binge-read this series!!!!!
Thank you for the giveaway…..
such a fun series. really looking forward to this next installment. Thank you for the chance!!
The series is on my TBR pile. Looking forward to checking the series out.
Thanks for the chance to win a book in the series. And thanks for making the contest international.