You know, I don’t think I can give you my typical day. They’re all so different. Such is the life of a detective. A private eye. Okay, a person detecting and trying to become a private eye. Imogene Duckworthy, Private Investigator. That sounds so nice. I’ve been taking an online course for a certificate and I think I did really well. I hope my certificate gets here soon.

I can say that my day is usually spent in Saltlick, Texas, where I lived in the single-wide for many years with my mother, Hortense, and my daughter, Drew. Hortense is a retired librarian and prides herself on her extensive vocabulary. Sometimes it’s so extensive that I have to translate for other people. She’s very formal, also. For instance, most people call me Immy, but Mother calls me Imogene. Then there’s my daughter, Drew, whom she calls Nancy Drew, every time. I mean, that is her name, but… (I have to always say “whom” where it belongs or Mother gives me that librarian look.)

Now, though, Drew and I live with Ralph Sandoval, a county deputy, still in Saltlick, but in his regular house. I was so happy when he asked me to move in! It’s so much sturdier than the trailer. We get a lot of wind here in west Texas, and the house doesn’t even sway.

But I made a mistake the other day. I wanted a place to put my desk, for when I get my certificate and start taking Cases, so I shoved his ratty old recliner out onto the porch. I thought he would be happy I got rid of it. He wasn’t. It was snowing and the thing got a little wet. Now he’s really mad at me. The recliner is back inside and it smells bad, in addition to looking bad.

It’s probably a good thing that Mother invited us to go with her to Slap Out where her cousin’s son is getting married in a couple of days. Well, it was all good until the groom didn’t show at the altar, because he was dead. Someone killed him and lashed him to the top beam of one of those huge old oil pumps. Pump jacks, they call them. Ralph didn’t come with us. I’m not sure he was as disinterested as he said, or if maybe he’s just mad at me. I could have used him here. At least he’s back home looking after Marshmallow, Drew’s pet pig.

Loryetta, the bride, has asked me to try to find out what went wrong, who killed him. Even though she was having sex in the bathroom just before her nuptials. With another guy. She’s upset because her dad is the main suspect right now. Of course I said I’d find the real killer. I can’t help it. I just love to solve Cases. I can’t wait to name this one and write it on the tab of a manila folder. And start digging into the lives of these…strange people. They’re not like the folks back home.

So, you see, from moving in with Ralph, to driving way down south of Dallas for this Case…I mean this wedding, my days aren’t too typical.

Stroke, An Imogene Duckworthy Mystery Book #4
Genre: Humorous
Release: April 2023
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

When Imogene Duckworthy is invited to the wedding of her mother’s cousin in East Texas, and the groom is murdered just before the ceremony, does she get involved? Will swindled rancher Sydney Harbor succeed in laying the blame for the murder of the groom on Eccles Justice, the bride’s father, who is Sydney’s old nemesis—or will Immy shake up the complacent East Texas police force of Slap Out, find out who really killed the groom on his wedding night, and show everyone Imogene Duckworthy can be a real detective in a real case?

About the author
Kaye George, award-winning novelist and short-story writer, writes cozy and traditional mysteries and a prehistory series, which are both traditionally and self-published: two cozy series, Fat Cat and Vintage Sweets; two traditionals featuring Cressa Carraway and Imogene Duckworthy; and the People of the Wind prehistory Neanderthal mysteries. Over 50 short stories have also appeared, mostly in anthologies and magazines. She has done reviews for Suspense Magazine, writes a column for Mysterical-E, and lives in Knoxville TN.

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