Oh, hi! Come in and have a seat. No, not there. Hand me those magazines. Thanks. Now you can sit.
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve seen you, huh? My private law practice is going along great, thanks. Tanelsa Parson, my friend from the public defender’s office, joined me. Our styles are very complimentary and we’ve handled some pretty interesting cases.
Right now, I’m trying to behave myself and stay out of business that isn’t mine. See, last Sunday Jim and I found a little girl in Ohiopyle State Park. She was all alone and terrified. She’s also deaf. Jim went looking for her mother and he found her. Dead, of course. Shot. I’m not sure if Bronwen, that’s the girl’s name, saw anything or not. She’s the sweetest thing. Fortunately, we found her father’s grandparents and they took custody. I want to know what happened to her mother, Glynis, but I took a vow to stay out of this one.
Except Bronwen’s grandparents are in trouble. See, their son is deceased. He was an artist and his agent is awful. They have notes from Glynis that she suspected him, the agent, of some shady dealings, but before they could do anything with her information he served them with a lawsuit. What am I supposed to do? Leave them hanging? I can’t.
On top of it all, yes, those were bridal magazines you almost sat on. You probably know Jim proposed last winter. I knew my mother would go insane with wedding planning. I underestimated how much. She’s determined to make this an event to rival the British royal nuptials. Jim and I are equally set on not letting her. It makes for… let’s call them interesting conversations and leave it at that.
Jim, bless him, is making very few demands of his own, although he flat-out refused to wear his dress uniform for the ceremony. Mostly he backs me up. I think he’d just as soon head to the county courthouse, or even Vegas. After all, this is his second wedding. But I can’t. The fall-out would be disastrous. I’d catch hell from Mom, who would complain to my sister, Noreen, then she’d call me to lecture.
I just need to remember to breathe. Tanelsa tells me that all the time. Another thing she’s great at: Keeping me from losing my mind after Mom calls.
Anyway, that’s what’s going on these days. Now, tell me. What do you think of the dress on page fifty-three? Too much lace? Yeah, I thought so too.
Silent Witness – A Laurel Highlands Mystery, Book 8
Genre: Traditional Mystery
Release: September 2025
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link
Defense attorney Sally Castle already has her hands full with work and planning her upcoming wedding—which her mother is determined to turn into the event of the year—when she encounters a terrified and unsupervised young deaf girl alone in the state park. The girl’s mother is soon found murdered, and Sally is drawn into caring for the child.
Sally’s fiancé, State Trooper Jim Duncan, leads the murder investigation, but instead of working with his usual partner, he is breaking in a new investigator who seems intent on cutting corners. On top of that, he worries the demands of their wedding-planning may drive Sally past her breaking point.
Jim and Sally’s worst fears are realized when the girl, the only witness to the murder, becomes the killer’s next target. Now Sally must do whatever she can to protect the girl before she and the child become the next victims.
About the author
Liz Milliron is the Shamus award-nominated author of The Homefront Mysteries, The Laurel Highlands Mysteries series, and The Jackson Davis Mysteries. Her short fiction has been published in multiple anthologies. Liz is a member of Pennwriters, Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and The Historical Novel Society and is the current Secretary of the Pittsburgh chapter of Sisters in Crime and served as the Education Liaison for the National SinC board. Liz lives in the Laurel Highlands with her husband and the “dog of pharaohs,” a pampered retired-racer greyhound named Koda.