People are surprised DeeLo Myer is my aunt, as I’m a year older and almost a head taller. We’re more like sisters than DeeLo and my mother, Desiree, who is sixteen years her senior. Since Desiree was still in high school when I was born, I was raised mostly by her parents, along with DeeLo.

Yes, I’m the daughter of a single mom, but I grew up in a middle-class, white family. They treat me like I belong, even though I don’t look like them.

DeeLo knows exactly where she came from, who her ancestors are. They’re my relatives, too, and the only ones I’ve ever known. But it bothers me that I’m missing half my family tree. No matter how much I badger her, Desiree won’t tell me who my father is.

When I was little, I fantasized that my dad was an African prince and I was heiress to some faraway kingdom. I made DeeLo call me “Princess Demi.” (Partly to get her back for making me call her “Aunt DeeLo.”)

When I was in my early twenties, I sent my DNA off to one of those ancestry sites, but I didn’t get a match. A few months ago, DeeLo suggested I try again. This time, I found a half-brother, and he claims to have a lead on our father.

I’ll admit, Kwintone is a little mysterious. DeeLo doesn’t trust him. That’s because they got off on the wrong foot.

The first time I set up a meeting with Kwintone, I persuaded DeeLo to go with me. We chose her favorite restaurant in Pecan Point, the sleepy burg where she lives. En route, Kwintone got a speeding ticket. (There’s a reason the locals nicknamed their town Police Point.) Since DeeLo got stopped last year for D.U.I. and did community service with the Pecan Point Humane Society, I suggested she help Kwintone get the same sentence.

Sure enough, Kwintone got assigned to the Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, Return (TNVR) program. (That’s where they trap feral cats, take them to a clinic to be neutered and vaccinated, then return them to their outdoor colonies.) DeeLo was his supervisor. For some reason, Kwin was distracted that first night and left abruptly, which pissed DeeLo off.

After she finished her cat trapping and started driving home, DeeLo found Kwintone’s car abandoned by the side of the road, windows down, phone on the seat. When he didn’t return after a few minutes, she called me. Together, we searched for my brother, but instead of finding him, we stumbled over the body of a man who’d been stabbed. (Turns out he’s the CEO of a research facility that does tests on animals, mainly cats.) By the time the paramedics arrived, Kwintone’s car was gone.

Where is Kwintone? Did he have anything to do with stabbing that man? I can’t believe my newfound brother would hurt anyone, but DeeLo’s not so sure. We need to find him before the cops do.

TRAPPED AND TESTED
Series Name: A DeeLo Myer Cat Rescue Mystery, Book 2
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: December 2025
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

When DeeLo’s niece, Demi Myer, tries to find her father on an ancestry website, she meets Kwintone, a half-brother with a few secrets. After getting a speeding ticket, Kwintone is assigned to community service in the Pecan Point Humane Society’s Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, Return program—trapping cats with DeeLo on the new Oakwood Studios lot. The disinterested trainee leaves abruptly on his first night, and later, DeeLo finds his car abandoned beside the road, phone on the seat.

Where is Kwintone, and is he connected to the stabbing of the CEO of Neuroscience Laboratories, a medical research facility that tests its products on cats?

DeeLo is still determined to change the county’s animal ordinance to support TNVR, but is the newcomer candidate she backs for the open commissioner slot involved in a murder?

About the author
Sharon Marchisello is the author of the DeeLo Myer cat rescue mystery series from Level Best Books. Trap, Neuter, Die, the first in the series, was a Killer Nashville Claymore finalist. Her other mysteries were published by Sunbury Press: Going Home (2014), Secrets of the Galapagos (2019), and Murder at Leisure Dreams – Galapagos (2025). She has also written a nonfiction book, travel articles, a blog, book reviews, and short stories. She earned a Master’s in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California and is active in Sisters in Crime, the Atlanta Writers Club, and the Hometown Novel Writers Association. She lives in Peachtree City, GA, and does volunteer work for the Fayette Humane Society.

To connect, go to her website at sharonmarchisello.com. She’s also on Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads, and X.