Hey, guys! How are you doing? I’m Ashley Payne, Tory Benning’s best friend. It’s a pleasure to meet you!

Tory and I have been friends since childhood, almost thirty years now. We first met in kindergarten in our coastal hometown, Santa Sofia, about twelve miles north of Santa Barbara. We became fast friends in Santa Sofia elementary school. Our friendship continued through middle school and high school. We got even closer when we were both in the same dorm at USC, about a hundred miles south of Santa Sofia in Los Angeles. Later we shared an apartment while I attended law school and Tory was getting her master’s in landscape architecture. We both moved back home to work after grad school, me as a public defender and Tory as a designer for her family’s landscape company and nursery.

After several years of hard work, we both bought houses and ended up living a couple of blocks from each other, not far from the beach. Tory even landscaped my yard for free, but the price I pay is having her critique its upkeep. She never misses an opportunity to remind me that even drought-tolerant plants need regular watering. Who knew?

These days I have my own law firm so, depending on my current caseload, my typical day has me up around seven and in the office by nine. Like Tory, my office is near Santa Sofia’s main drag, the Avenue, a street filled with trendy restaurants, upscale boutiques, and art galleries. Most days I take the scenic route from my house along the Promenade, the other main artery that parallels the Pacific Ocean, and stop at a Starbuck’s for a nonfat latte, unless I’m due in court. Then it’s up a bit earlier, coffee at home, and a quick egg and English muffin to fortify myself. Having my own practice is a lot of fun but also stressful because it took me a few years to build. Lately, it’s been so hectic that I’m considering adding another lawyer so that I can still have time to work on more pro bono cases that I’ve found so rewarding.

Usually, I bring my lunch from home, something like a salad kit or a yogurt and some fruit. Sometimes, depending on my workload, I meet Tory or my on-again/off-again boyfriend, Adrian, for lunch at Sadie’s Seafood on the pier for a luscious lobster roll, or Clementine Café for a delectable, locally sourced salad or sandwich. My conversations with Tory often start with us talking about work, sometimes digressing to local crime news, but eventually we always seem to drift to our favorite topic, philosophical discussions about life, and by life, I mean love life and our relationships or lack thereof.

Most weeknights I either grab takeout for dinner, for either just myself or often Tory and I will hang at one of our places. Sometimes Tory and I meet up for drinks and dinner with Adrian and Jake Logan, a Santa Barbara PI who Tory is seeing, kind of, until recently. . .when her love life went from basic to extra in a flash.

I play a more direct role in Tory’s latest adventure since I end up representing her friend who’s the prime suspect for a murder in a community garden Tory designed and whom she suspects is being framed. Somehow Tory always manages to involve me in her shenanigans but this time it’s much more personal for me since the main suspect is also a client. And the cops, well, that makes my involvement even more tricky this time around because the Santa Sofia police detective leading the investigation is none other than my on-again/off-again boyfriend, Lieutenant Adrian Ramirez.

As always when I’m not busy lawyering and Tory isn’t fielding murders in between her landscape architecture projects, we spend our time juggling our love lives. In our latest mystery, we each find ourselves bringing new meaning to the term love triangle. To find out what I mean and how that plays into the mystery, join us in the latest Tory Benning mystery, Murder In The Community Garden!

Murder in the Community Garden, A Tory Benning Mystery #3
Genre: Cozy
Release: May 2022
Purchase Link

Budding sleuth Tory Benning has to overcome planted evidence and growing suspicions to save an innocent man from being framed . . .

Designing a community garden as part of a new condo project seemed like a no-brainer to landscape architect Tory Benning, since it would bring people together and enhance the environmental profile of the property. But soon members of the garden begin squabbling and even leveling accusations of sabotage against each other in a friendly growing competition. Then one of the gardeners is found murdered at the grand opening, and Tory realizes she’ll have to weed through some damning false evidence to help prove her implicated friend is innocent.

It’s a daunting challenge given that her friend was seen threatening the victim on live TV and all the clues point to him as the culprit, but Tory is certain someone is behind a devious plot to set him up. As she starts looking into the backgrounds of those closest to the victim, secrets begin to emerge about marital infidelity, a sizable inheritance, and estranged children. Fearful now that she might be going up against someone far more cunning than a garden-variety killer, Tory will have to stand her ground to bring the culprit to justice—and be careful not to dig her own grave . . .

About the author
Judith Gonda is a mystery writer and Ph.D. psychologist with a penchant for Pomeranians and puns, so it’s not surprising that psychology, Poms, and puns pop up in her amateur sleuth mysteries. To learn more about her books, please visit her website at judithgonda.com.

All comments are welcomed.