Hey y’all. Claire Conover here. First of all, I want to thank the legendary Dru Ann Love for inviting me to be part of this. Glad to be here. I’m typing this on my laptop from a courtroom at the Jefferson County Family Court, so I don’t have a lot of time. As some of you may know, I am a social worker in the Child Welfare Division of the Jefferson County Department of Human Services. I’m here today for a shelter care hearing for a really sweet little baby named Madeline O’Dell, who’s called Maddie for short. She is eight months old. DHS got a call from her daycare that nobody came to pick her up last Monday evening, so I took her into custody on Tuesday. This shelter care hearing will determine where, and with whom, she is going to live.

The thing is, the reason no one picked her up Monday is because of the bombing. Yes, another bombing has happened in my beloved city of Birmingham, Alabama. They used to call us Bombingham in years past, because of all the mess during the Civil Rights struggle here. And Eric Robert Rudolph’s mess in 1998 when he bombed the women’s health clinic, of course. Anyway, it’s likely little Maddie’s daddy died when Marcus Freedman’s campaign office was bombed. They think it might be race-related. Marcus is a black professor at UAB, and he’s running for Mayor. He is also a friend of my Dad’s, so I’m really glad they found him afterward and he was okay. Jason O’Dell wasn’t as lucky.

My colleague has started the search for little Maddie’s birth certificate, so I can get her mother’s name and, hopefully, address. We haven’t been able to find it, though. It’s stressful, not knowing who this little kid really is. On top of all the work stress, my boyfriend Grant Summerville and I moved in together last month over Christmas break so I’m having to adjust to that, too. And then there’s LaReesa Jones.

LaReesa and I met last September when I was investigating another case. She is thirteen years old and was missing for over three months. During those three months, her grandmother died. She lived with her most of the time and I was so afraid she was going to go back to her grandmother’s house and find no one there. She showed up at my office in the middle of the night and I took her home with me, for fear she would run away if I put her anywhere else. She’s a handful, and I’m not sure how Grant is handling being an involuntary foster parent.

Kirk Mahoney is driving me crazy, too. He’s a reporter for the Birmingham News. We are friends, but I hate to think what would happen if my bosses found that out. He heard on the police scanner that the bomb victim had a daughter and is pressing me for information about Maddie. I can’t tell him anything. It’s against policy and I would likely lose my job and my career. However, Kirk has proven helpful in the past during some of my investigations. He’d be super annoying if he wasn’t so cute.

They are about to call my case from the docket. Thanks for checking in with me. I hope you’ll check out all my adventures.

Little White Lies, A Claire Conover Mystery Book #3
Genre: Traditional
Release: January 2023
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

Claire Conover is drawn into another mystery when the office of black mayoral candidate Dr. Marcus Freedman is bombed. Marcus is found safe, but his campaign manager Jason O’Dell is found dead in the rubble. Claire’s office gets a call about Jason’s daughter who was left at her daycare, and she becomes Claire’s latest charge. Further investigation reveals that Jason was living under an assumed name, and is really Jason Alsbrook, son of prominent local mine owner James Alsbrook. James holds many records in Alabama, including the most accidents and deaths in his mines. Any number of people would wish harm to he or his family. Claire works to keep little Maddie safe as she faces new challenges in her relationship with computer programmer Grant Summerville. She investigates Jason’s death with the help of her friend and reporter Kirk Mahoney, and they become closer, The addition of a foster child further complicates everything as she must make some decisions about her future with Grant.

About the author
Margaret Fenton writes the Little mystery series featuring child welfare social worker Claire Conover. She spent over ten years as a child and family therapist for her county’s child welfare department before focusing on writing. Her books so far are Little Lamb Lost, Little Girl Gone, and Little White Lies. Her work tends to reflect her interest in social causes and mental health, especially where kids are concerned. Her favorite mystery writers are too numerous to mention, but she tends to gravitate toward amateur sleuth and historical mysteries. She has been a planning coordinator of Murder in the Magic City in Birmingham, Alabama since its inception in February 2003 (mmcmysteryconference.com). Margaret lives in the Birmingham suburb of Hoover with her husband, a retired software developer, three adorable Papillon dogs, and lots and lots of books. Her website is margaretfenton.com and she loves to hear from readers.

All comments are welcomed.