Have you ever had one of those days? You know the ones that you open your eyes in the morning and just know that you should have pulled the covers over your head and stayed there for the day? This was one of those days.
My name is Alexandra Anderson. I’m twenty-eight years old, single and live alone in a one bedroomed unit overlooking the river in Westport. Westport is a coastal town that sits in a gorgeous little spot on the east coast of Queensland, Australia. I love it. I love my unit, I love Queensland, and I love Westport!
What I don’t love is reunions. Which is exactly where I’m going tonight. The reunion is at the television station I used to work for – WTN. Now that sounds like fun right? Well, it should be. Except for a couple of little niggly things that threaten to ruin it. Like the fact that my ex-boyfriend and his gorgeous new wife will be there. The second thing that’s threatening to ruin it is the weather. A storm’s brewing, and according to our local weatherman it’s going to be one of the worst storms that Westport has ever had. I’m not really a fan of storms. I’m not scared of them, but during one I’d definitely prefer to be curled up on the couch reading a good book. Not running around attempting to solve a murder mystery. Yes, you read that correctly. The reunion was taking the form of a murder mystery party, and guess who’d been chosen to be a team leader – me. Seriously? I sucked at puzzles, and nobody wanted to be with me when I was trying to read a map.
I sighed and took the twenty-five steps needed to walk from my kitchen to my glass balcony doors and moved to close them. A seriously bad smell had been drifting in on the breeze for the last few days, and I figured an animal must have died in the bush that sat between our unit block and the river. My gypsy-like intuition had been buzzing ever since I first noticed it, but this had happened before. The smell left an unpleasant burn in the back of my throat, but today the weather was hotter than normal, and the smell had kicked up a few notches. Thankfully most of the day the wind had been blowing in the opposite direction, so it hadn’t been a problem. Now though, it was rank.
As I pushed the heavy glass door closed, I looked down into the bush and movement caught my attention. Not too many people walked through that bush, so I took a second to step out onto the balcony and have a closer look at what they were doing. The ground was crawling with police and WTN news cameras. My downstairs neighbor Nadine was talking to our local reporter Matt Wilson. Once she’d finished, I yelled down to her.
“Hey, Nadine! What’s happening?”
She turned to look up at me, her hand shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun. “Oh Alex,” she yelled up to me. “It’s awful.” I felt the hitch in my stomach. “They’ve found the cause of the horrible smell.”
“What was it?” I called, my stomach clenching. Judging by the amount of police crawling through the bush, it couldn’t be anything good. “An animal?” I asked hopefully.
Nadine slowly shook her head and crossed her arms tightly across her chest as if trying to protect herself from something. “No,” she said. “It’s a human.”
Invitation To Murder is published by Gemma Halliday Publishing, May 2016.
When Alexandra Anderson is invited to work place reunion at the televisions station where she formerly worked, she’s excited to catch up with old friends. And the theme of the reunion is a Murder Mystery Party, so that should be fun, right? Wrong! Alexandra’s first horror is coming face-to-face with her ex-boyfriend and his brand new, gorgeous wife. Second, the party happens to coincide with one of the worst storms of the season, knocking out utility lines and cell service. And when her less-than-beloved ex-boss becomes the Murder Party’s fake victim, Alexandra and her “team” are tasked with solving the fake murder before anyone else. The only bright spot? The sexy cameraman on Alex’s team with the sparkling blue eyes and soft, full lips.
But what starts out as a game becomes all too real when Alexandra stumbles upon the actual dead body of her ex’s new wife. Did someone take the game too seriously? Is there a real murder among the party-goers? Can following the clues to a fake murder help Alex solve a real one? Trapped by the storm, with “players” disappearing and time running out, Alex finds herself in the middle of a deadly game of cat and mouse. . . where not everyone will make it out alive!
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About the author
Beth was born in Manchester, England, but after moving backwards and forwards across the world 13 times in 14 years she decided that at the age of 18 that Australia was to be her home. She now lives on the beautiful Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia where every day is a good one. To date, she has three self published titles as well as two novels published by Gemma Halliday Publishing.
Her main wish is to write books you can sit back, relax with, and escape from your everyday life. . .and ones that you walk away from with a smile! When she’s not writing you will usually find her at the beach with a coffee in hand, pursuing her favorite pastime—people watching!
Links: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Giveaway: Leave comment below for your chance to win a print copy of Invitation To Murder. US entries only, please. The giveaway will end June 8, 2016 at 12 AM EST. Good luck everyone!
All comments are welcomed.
I love the setting of this book. I will be putting it on my wish list. Thanks for the giveaway.
Dru I love the storyline and would love to be your lucky winner.
I don’t read many books set in Australia so this one should be good. Thanks!
Hi, Beth — Congratulations on your latest publication. I just returned from a trip to Australia and loved it. At this point, I’ve visited all the Australian states other than the Northern Territories. Very friendly, welcoming people. Loved it. I can see why you would select it as home.
Interesting! Australia and a new-to-me author.
Sounds like a really good book. Just what I would want to read. *wink wink*. I haven’t heard about this author and I think I need to change that.
Sounds like a fun read. Thanks for the chance to win.
I can’t imagine actually finding a dead body, it must be horrible.
Thanks Dru Ann for including Beth Prentice’s book, Invitation to Murder, on your blog. Murder Mystery parties are a great way to provide entertainment for a party but Oh My!!! to think of it becoming too real. Definitely one to check out. robeader53@yahoo.com
I definitely like the sound of this. Thanks so much for the chance to win a print copy of Invitation to Murder. I’m looking forward to reading it.
Sounds like a great read.
An intriguing mystery which I would enjoy. Thanks for this giveaway.
wow, sounds like a good read, would love to win, ty for the chance
I enjoy any books set in Australia and Invitation to Murder sounds like a great read. Thanks for the giveaway!
Love the idea of the Australian setting. I’m looking forward to reading this one. Thanks for the chance to win a copy.
a new-to-me author…very exciting. Thank you for the chance
I love murder games! Luckily I’ve never come across a real murder.
Another new-to-me author to try. Thanks for a chance to win a copy.
Sounds like a very interesting plot line. Murder mystery games acan be fun but I’m thinking that turning to real murder will make this a very interesting read. Thanks for the chance to win.
What a great introduction to a brand new author. I have added Invitation to Murder to my TBR list. Thanks for the chance to win a copy.
I would really enjoy reading “Invitation to Murder”. I haven’t read much with the storyline set in Australia. This is a new author to me and would like to read her work.
I’ve attended Murder Mystery dinners which were fun. Thankfully, a real murder was never a part of any of them.
Invitation To Murder sounds like a fun read. Thank you for the chance to win.
Love figuring out the who murdered whom and why in a book. Hoping to win this, thanks.
Murder Mystery Party – terrible storm – Australia – ex’s new wife is dead = intriguing! I definitely want to read!
Wow,bad storm brewing,and a smelly dead body…would love to find out how it turns out.
I’ve never been to Australia–would love to go there sometime. I’ll start out by reading this
I’d love to win this mystery! Thanks so much for the chance!
Sounds good to me
Sounds like a Awesome read 💟👍 Thank you for a chance to win a Great book 💟👍
Thanks for the intro to a new author/read. Looking forward to it. On my TBR. It has grown so much with all the great reads you have listed. Am so grateful. Really do appreciate your service
Sounds wonderful! Alexandra sounds like a character I will enjoy reading.