My focus is bifurcated, I’m about to run Maine’s Bug Light 10K footrace, my first group run since my injury, 24 months ago, and it’s a big deal for me. But I can see the Casco Bay Bridge in the distance, and last night, during a crazy rainstorm, a red Hyundai had spun out, crashed, and exploded into flames. A young woman, in the driver’s seat, had been pulled from the car, it was clear she had been dead before the crash. Curiosity and need for justice for the victim fill me, but since I’m no longer on the police force (now working for my godfather, private investigator Gordy Greer) I’m stuck with a discomfiting “outsider feeling” – getting my news from the media, through hearsay, through rumor and not being in the ‘thick’ of it. Had I made the right decision to leave the Portland Police Department?
Good question. Over the last two years, I’ve learned it comes down to the rules of engagement. Who can go where – and when. Who needs a warrant. Who punches a clock, who needs to adhere to more rules, and report to a higher, rigid authority? Who can follow their gut and focus on possible suspects even if the evidence is pointing in another direction? Does the work of a PI suit me better? Or do I need to be the person who can put on the cuffs and make the arrest?
Abshir, our trusted assistant at G&Z Investigations, asks us to help his Somalian friend, a highschooler and orphan named Yuusuf. Yuusuf had been riding his bike home from his job; he was crossing over the bridge in the storm when the Hyundai exploded. Yuusuf is now being threatened – most likely by the girl’s murderer. Gordy and I agree to do this favor for Abshir – to sign on to protect Yuusuf’s safety…
The ‘outsider’ feeling is shoved aside. I have only 8 Days to make things right for Yuusuf…
8 Days, A Dee Rommel Mystery Book #3
Genre: Private Investigator Mystery
Release: December 2023
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link
Sometimes it’s unclear who deserves a favor…
Despite her life-changing injury, Dee Rommel is as determined and scrappy as ever. Still adjusting to her new life working for her godfather, private investigator Gordy Greer, Dee is ready to try out her hi-tech running blade, returning to the annual 10K competition.
A mysterious car crashes and burns in the middle of Portland, Maine’s Casco Bay Bridge. A young, once-sex-trafficked woman is killed and Dee finds herself protecting orphaned Yuusuf, a high school valedictorian who may be able to point to the murderer.
When a toxic web of crime is revealed, both traditional and extended family dynamics are in play, as well as greed and ambition. Old relationships haunt Dee when nothing or no one is as they seem. She has only 8 days to keep her pursuit of justice in play, fighting for her allies and her own life.
About the author
Jule Selbo spent decades as an award-winning screenwriter in Los Angeles and then moved to Portland Maine to focus on writing novels. Six have been published so far – three historical fiction and three books in the Dee Rommel Mystery Series. The first is 10 Days: A Dee Rommel Mystery (listed on the 2021 top-five list of Kirkus’ best crime/mysteries, nominated for a Clue Award, Maine Literary Award, received a Foreword Review Honorable Mention and a Silver Falchion Award). 9 Days, A Dee Rommel Mystery followed, also receiving a starred Kirkus Review and award nominations. 8 Days is the third book in the series – and 7 Days is in progress. Connect with Jule at her website, juleselbo.com.