Occupation: The Hit Mom

“Ma! Scotchie ate my bacon!”

“Butterscotch Thor Adair!” I snapped.

The giant dog immediately jumped away from Daniel’s plate with a guilty look. He’s part golden retriever, part some kind of sheepdog, part Godzilla – and all sloppy ball of love.

I grabbed more bacon for Daniel, and the Fakin’ Bacon bag for Scotchie. Sure, bribery is bad in politics, but it’s essential in parenthood.

Especially if you’re running the homefront on a busy day.

Busy? Oh, yeah. The Library Book Fair starts tomorrow, so I’m spending the school day sorting and setting up with my librarian pals Corinna and Moira.

Volunteering is good. Volunteering with friends is better.

“Hey, can you take this to the Post Office after dropoff?” My husband Michael kissed me as he handed over a package. “I ordered the wrong running shorts…unless I want to look like Magnum P.I.”

“No one wants to see that much fishbelly skin and red hair,” I said, managing a laugh instead of smacking him. One more thing to do.

“Thanks, hon!” Michael called as he leashed up Scotchie, heading for a run before getting down to his Important Work. He’s the lawyer you call when you’re really in trouble in New Haven County, Connecticut…and not really a clueless jerk. He just plays one when he’s busy.

Like I’m not busy.

I sighed. Reminded myself that most of the time his cluelessness is a major asset.

See, I’m not really a simple suburban mom. I just play one.

I really am Grace MacInnes Adair, former prosecutor and current stay-at-home mom, part-time editor, and frequent library volunteer. I’m also a hired killer.

Well, not entirely accurate. I’d never let one of my editing clients away with that.

Actually I’m a consecrated assassin. I belong to a small, secret order of lady poisoners, who’ve been quietly disposing of evil men who evade human justice for the last seven hundred years or so. Think #MeToo with untraceable poison instead of social media shaming.

Over the centuries, we’ve taken out a bunch of kings, a U.S. President or two, and an assortment of princes, pirates, and captains of industry. Anytime an evil man seems to drop dead for no apparent reason, we might be involved.

We (the order’s never bothered with a name because it’s easier to stay invisible that way) are exactly what we seem to be: a group of nice, upstanding ladies. Just with a little twist.

So, most days, I don’t mind that my husband has no idea what I’m doing. A couple times a year, both our lives depend on it.

“Ma! I want my green stripe polo!” Daniel wandered into the kitchen as I loaded the dishwasher. At six, he looks like a baby owl, with his dad’s red hair, my blue-violet eyes, and glasses.

“Left it on your bed.”

“Goody! Thanks!” He tackle-hugged me.

“Aw, you’re welcome, sweetie.” I ruffled his hair, looked at the clock. “Get moving. It’s going to be a day.”

Between kid, dog, books, and the wrong running shorts, it sure was.

What I didn’t know then was Saturday would be a lot more of a day, when that untraceable poison ended up in the wrong hands…at the Library Book Fair, yet!

Wrong Poison, A Grace “The Hit Mom” Mystery Book #1
Genre: Cozy
Release: July 2023
Format: Digital
Purchase Link

She’s a nice suburban mom and a sacred assassin…and Grace Adair’s secret life has just become a problem.

In “WRONG POISON,” Grace knows she’s in trouble when a death at the Library Book Fair turns out to be murder – by a poison used only by her ancient sisterhood. Now, she’ll need all her skills as a PTA mom and former prosecutor to find the killer and protect her friends…and their secrets. Hopefully without using her other skills.

About those other skills: Grace and her sweet older pal Madge are members of a 700-year-old order of assassins, sacred to the Archangel Gabriel and sworn to remove evil men who elude man’s justice. Think #MeToo with a poison solution.

With the unwitting help of her diverse and colorful parent pals, Scotchie the Giant Dog, and her clueless defense lawyer husband, Grace tracks the killer and unearths all kinds of secrets in suburbia…finally cornering the killer in a wild confrontation at the PTA Ice Cream Social.

Can she protect her friends and her sisterhood? Or is it the end of centuries of quietly meting out justice – and Grace herself?

Call it a cozy with a twist. You’ve never met anyone like Grace…and you’ll never forget her.

About the author
Nikki Knight describes herself as an Author/Anchor/Mom…not in that order. An award-winning weekend anchor at New York City’s 1010 WINS Radio, she writes short stories and novels including the Grace the Hit Mom Mystery, Wrong Poison (July 2023, Charade Media). Her stories appear in magazines including Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, online, and in anthologies, and on short lists for Black Orchid Novella and Derringer Awards. As Kathleen Marple Kalb, she writes the Ella Shane and Old Stuff Mysteries. She, her husband, and son live in a Connecticut house owned by their cat.

All comments are welcomed.