Whoa. Calm down, dude. Yes, I am that Don Virtue. I’m happy to give you an autograph, but I can only sign things above the waist. My daughter, Layla, used to be a cop and she’s a stickler for indecent exposure or whatever. Butts. Apparently they’re a crime now. Someone should tell Dave Lee Roth.
It’s totally rad that you’re hyped to see me and all, but I gotta go man. My daughter has a gig at Capital One Arena and I’m totally gonna try and crash it. She needs all the help she can get. She can totally shred, but it’s hard for a chick to break into the metal scene so I’m going for support.
Okay, false alarm. Apparently she’s just running errands. Like I totally had no idea Capital One was also a bank. I guess I can go take off my spandex now. And I’m gonna see if her husband, Nick, will make me some nachos. Layla might say she can make nachos, but if she offers – do yourself a favor and just say no. All those nannies I hired when she was growing up and not one of them could teach her to cook. Oh, shhh. Here she comes.
“Dad? Did you take your medicine today?”
“Of course I did, baby girl. Don’t give me that look. You can trust me.”
“Okay. I’m sending Ringo in to watch you while I’m gone.”
“Awesome! Who’s Ringo?”
“Our dog, Dad.”
“Oh. Awesome! He loves that Lassie show. Bye baby girl.”
I have no idea what medicine she’s talking about. She’s a good girl but her memory sucks. She don’t even remember her last day as a cop. Something went really bad and she don’t want to talk about it. I do know she doesn’t mean tequila, cause I’ve been off that medicine for two years and I have the sobriety chip to prove it. Hey! She better not be going to a meeting without me. I’ve made a lot of friends in her AA group even if they do think I’m her Aunt Trixie who may or may not be a cross dresser. I’m not really sure what the role entails. I Just do what she tells me. I live with her now so she’s kinda the boss.
Ooh! Who’s the Boss? That’s a TV show, isn’t it? Never mind. It’s got Tony Danza in it. That dude owes me twenty dollars. Frickin Tony Danza. I gotta go make a call, dude. Peace.
GIMME SHELTER
Series: A Layla Virtue Mystery, Book 2
Genre: Women’s Fiction / Traditional Mystery
Release: April 2026
Format: Print, Digital, Audio
Purchase Link
This whip-smart, witty series packs an emotional punch within an engaging mystery as Layla Virtue, a 30-something recovering alcoholic and former cop turned party musician, finds a sideline in solving murders from her new home in a Potomac County trailer park…
An unforgettable mystery brimming with hilarity and heart for readers of Margot Douaihy, Jane Pek, and Darynda Jones.
As the song says, you can’t always get what you want. Maybe that’s why, instead of fulfilling her youthful dream of being a rock star, Layla Fortune is living in a trailer park while playing third-rate gigs, including a stint at a ʼ70s Abba brunch. Given everything else she’s been through lately, she’s not complaining (much) about satin ruffles and go-go boots. She has a squad of supportive new BFFs, and she’s reclaimed a relationship with her famous rocker dad. His recent diagnosis has brought them even closer—sharing the trailer park’s lake house, which he’s had remodeled in typically over-the-top style.
Layla’s dad loves his new community and the feeling seems mutual. So, why is one of them blackmailing him? It’s a mystery almost as baffling as the assignment Layla receives from her former Commissioner: look into the brutal murder of a mild-mannered school teacher. Archie Wilkins was bludgeoned with a candelabra, shot up with drugs, and stuffed into a church confessional. Not the kind of outcome expected for a guy reputed to be the world’s nicest.
Perhaps Archie had secrets. Perhaps everyone does, including Layla’s one-time cop colleagues. She’s been blaming herself for a deadly ambush that destroyed her career and her peace of mind, but as her new friends help Layla regain her memories, a different picture emerges, and it’s one that forces her to question so much that she’s taken as truth . . .
About the author
Libby Klein is author of the Vice and Virtue series and the Poppy McAllister mysteries. A member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, she writes out of her Northern Virginia home with her sweet black Lab named Vader, and a very naughty Persian named Miss Eliza Doolittle. Visit her online at LibbyKleinBooks.com.