It’s been a while since I found myself entangled in murder. The last time it happened was before Brian and I got engaged. . .and before my mother, Dallas society maven Cissy Blevins Kendricks, shoved her show-offy sparkler in my face after her beau proposed as well.
It all started at the wedding of a senator’s daughter, to which I’d been dragged kicking and screaming. Cissy’s fiancé, Stephen, happened to flee—I mean, leave—the city for a golf outing at Augusta the weekend of the suddenly bumped-up nuptials (due to a bump in the senator’s virginal—ahem–daughter’s belly). My gossip-prone mother divulged that the bride was at least four months along, though I was sure the senator would do his best, “oh, the grandbaby came early!” impression during his upcoming run for the Oval Office.
I should have resisted Mother’s begging and pleading, staying home with Brian to watch the Stanley Cup play-offs. Not that I loved hockey, but I definitely didn’t love attending hoity-toity events with Cissy, particularly when she insisted I wear the dress she’d brought from Saks, along with a pair of organ-strangling Spanx. By the time the bride and groom exchanged their vows, I would be truly breathless.
I knew from the moment I ran into the wedding planner—the bully from my prep school days, Olivia La Belle, aka, La Belle from Hell—that disaster was just around the corner. And when I caught Olivia reaming out the cake baker, a lovely woman named Millicent Draper who had baked all my birthday cakes from my first to my Sweet Sixteenth—I felt like strangling Olivia myself. So when I stumbled upon Olivia’s lifeless body, I wasn’t sure whether to feel horror or relief. I had wished her dead so many times while I was growing up. But, back then, I’d imagined her being squashed by a meteorite. I had never envisioned seeing her with blood at her throat. . .and a distraught-looking Millie standing over her with bloody knife in hand.
Maybe I didn’t go through with my deb ball when I was eighteen (something my blue blood mother held over my head to this day). Maybe I wasn’t the perfect daughter she’d hoped I’d be, following in her high-heeled footsteps and graduating from SMU, marrying well, and setting up house in Highland Park. But I was like Cissy in one way: I couldn’t seem to stay out of other people’s business.
So when Millie was hauled to the police station as the primary suspect in Olivia’s murder, I knew I had to get involved. Though Brian jumped in to defend her (and he’s one of the best young criminal attorneys in Big D, so she was in good hands), I knew that no one could dig up the dirt on Olivia La Belle’s sordid life as well as I. She had bullied her way through school and, from the way she mistreated folks on her reality TV show, The Wedding Belle, she was still in the bully business.
If I just turned over a few rocks, I figured I’d find a whole CostCo size can of worms. So that’s what I did. And I don’t regret it. Even after Cissy found out and tried to talk me out of it.
“I know what you’re up to,” she said, her pale blue eyes homing in on mine. “You’re not calling Olivia’s assistant for an appointment because you want her to plan your wedding. You want to pump her for information about Olivia and see if she rats out the perp.”
Dear Lord, she did watch Law & Order re-runs.
“Geez, Mother,” I said, squirming, “what if I just changed my mind and figured you were right about having a professional involved in my wedding?”
“Oh, please, do you think I just fell off the turnip truck?” She sniffed. “Listen here, sweet pea,” she went on, her voice deadly serious, “if you’re gonna play undercover agent with Olivia’s assistant in order to find out who killed her, I’m going with you, and that’s that.”
“Oh, you are so wrong,” I said.
“You’re a bad liar. You always were.” She reached for my arms and held me in a death grip. “Why don’t you just accept my help? There’s a lunatic running around out there, and I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“This is America. There are always lunatics running around,” I said, “just turn on the news or read the paper.” Or look in the mirror, I mused, only half-kidding.
Mother frowned. “I’m not jokin’,” she warned. “You’ve been doing this since grade school, and one of these days it could catch up with you.”
Maybe she was right. I did have a thing for Nancy Drew. But I knew I had to try. I wasn’t about to let kind-hearted Millie go to jail for a murder she didn’t commit. So I asked myself—not for the first time—“What Would Nancy Do?”
And that’s exactly what I did.
GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment by 12 a.m. eastern on Wednesday, October 7 for the chance to win a signed copy of Say Yes to the Death. Two lucky commenters will be randomly selected. (US entries only, please.) Good luck everyone!
About the author
Susan McBride is the USA Today bestselling author of Blue Blood and the Debutante Dropout Mysteries. Say Yes to the Death, the sixth installment in the Lefty Award-winning, Anthony Award-nominated series, was released by HarperCollins on September 29. For more on Susan and her books, visit SusanMcBride.com or find her on Facebook.
Great post. I have added this author to my list of want to read. Thanks for the chance to win.
Say Yes to the Death sounds like a book I will enjoy reading! Thank you for the chance to win.
myrifraf(at)gmail(dot)com
I would love to read this book. Thanks for a chance to win.
I have not read this series yet, thanks for the chance, it looks great 🙂
Sounds like a winner. i would love to win a copy. Thanks for the chance.
Say Yes to the Death sounds like a great read … adding to my TBR list!! Thank you for this chance!
This sounds like a great series. Love snarky mother/daughter relationships! Hope I win!
Sounds really great, would love to win/read it
Oh how I have missed Andy! Susan, I have reread the series several times and always wondered, “What next?” I am thrilled there is another book and hope there will be many more! I can’t wait to read this one! 🙂 Thanks Dru for featuring Susan and her newest book today and the opportunity to win a copy. 🙂
Aw, thanks, Barbara!! I hope you Enjoy Say Yes to the Death. It was so much fun to write after all this time. 🙂
This sounds like a fun book thank you for the chance to win it
This is a have to have book . I love the series so far and laughrd through Dru’s introduction.
You know I love hearing that, Nancy! Thanks!
I’m am so glad that this series is back!!!! 🙂
Thanks, Alicia! That makes me feel so good!
This is a series I must get back to.
I’ve enjoyed her books in the past and I know I would like this one too. Thanks for a chance to win a copy.
Sounds like a great read.
What a great series. I would love to win this book. Thanks for this opportunity Dru.
I’m so glad Andy and Cissy are back. I love the Debut Dropout series and have missed it! Thanks for the chance to win a copy!
Thanks, Christi! I’m glad Andy and Cissy are back, too. They are quite the pair!
Wonderful series. Thanks for this great giveaway.
I really want to read this books, sounds great. Thanks for the giveaway.
This does sound like a good red.
“What would Nancy Drew do?’ Indeed.
I’m so excited to find there is a new book out in this enjoyable series. Thanks for the chance to win a signed copy of Say Yes to the Death. I’m keeping my fingers crossed!
Crossing fingers for you, Linda! Thanks for the kind words!
This sounds like a very interesting book and an enjoyable series. Dru gave it a very good review so I am intrigued now and very much want to read. Thanks for the chance to win. Looking forward to reading.
I love Susan’s books and can’t wait for this one. Thanks for the chance.
Thank you, Mary Jane! And good luck!
Love the play on words for the title. I’ve been reading this series and can’t wait for the next installment. thanks.
I have enjoyed your previous books – clever and entertaining. I’m looking forward to reading this new one.
Would love to win this!! Thanks for the chance!
This is such a good series. I’m looking forward to this latest book. Thanks for the update!
Looks like great cozy mystery.
xzjh04@ Gmail.com
This sounds like a good read. I love cozy mysteries. Thanks for the giveaway opportunity.
Looks interesting.
I really enjoy this series. Happy to see a new one. It has been awhile. Thanks
It has been awhile, indeed! Hope you enjoy Say Yes, Kari!
This is a new-to-me series and it sounds great. I love the line, “What would Nancy do?”
I just realized that this series is by the author of To Helen Back, etc. I loved that series! So, I know the writing is good.
I’m thrilled you’re enjoying the Helen books, Nancy! I’m working on a fourth one now (due out next June!).
How terrific to see a new Andy Kendrick’s book by the marvelous Susan McBride. Looking forward to reading it!
Aw, Paula, you’re the sweetest! Hugs!
I would love to win this book, I have read all the others ones and loved them. My Birthday is Oct 8th so this would be a great Birthday Surprise.
My birthday’s just eight days after yours, Tammie! Happy b-day a little early!
I have enjoyed this series immensely! It would be very nice to win a copy of DEATH. Thanks.
Thanks for inviting me to visit again, Dru Ann! It’s always a pleasure!
I now have this image of a Costco sized can of worms in my head! Thanks for the chance to win!
New-to-me series…how have I missed this one??!?!
Thank you for the giveaway…
i would love to win a signed copy of your book
wbkg
New series. New author. Looks mighty interesting. Thanks for this chance to learn more
It sounds like an interesting read.
This sounds like a fun series
I have absolutely no qualities of a debutante—so it should be easy for me to relate to one that drops out. Thanks for the contest.
suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com
Thanks Susan for commenting and interacting with my readers.
Contest is closed.