Thomas Bennington first appeared in Too Lucky to Live and one of the best ways to learn about a person is by asking questions, so let’s get to know Tom.

What is your name?
Thomas Bennington III. No middle name in there, thank goodness. Got stuck with the III at birth. Call me Tom.

How old are you?
Late-mid-thirties.

What is your profession?
Problematic. Until summer before last, I was an associate professor of English literature, but because of recent circumstances, I’m a threat to innocent bystanders. So I had to give up teaching for now. I’d say my new job description is “Danger Magnet.“

Do you have a significant other?
Oh, honey.

What is her name and profession?
Her given name is Alice Jane Harper, but she goes by Allie. Before we met, Allie was a “bogus part-time librarian,” but that career went out the window same as mine. Now Allie and I are the “founding partners” of the T&A Detective Agency—and yes, before you ask, it would have been smart to put her initial first.

Any children?
Okay. Look. That first afternoon, right before Allie rescued me from the crosswalk in front of Joe’s Super Market, I’d bought a MondoMillionsJackpot ticket to prove to a kid that gambling doesn’t pay. I barely got a chance to kiss her before I won $550,000,000. That’ll put the “kid” in kidnapping. So, for now, no children.

Do you have any sibling(s)?
No.

Do your parents live near you?
No. Atlanta. Safe distance for everybody.

Who is your best friend?
Alice Jane Harper. Although Otis Johnson, our live-In security guy, who’s also the only actual P.I. in in the T&A, is an excellent friend. The other T&A members make life . . . interesting. Margo, Allie’s ex-landlady, is a grenade with the pin out about 80% of the time. Maybe 90%. I can’t imagine life without Margo and the other amateur detectives.

Cats, dogs or other pets?
Well, this spring there was a guard dog on the security team for a while, but we weren’t permitted to pet him or know his name. Allie called him “Who’s A Good Boy?” But other than Good Boy? No.

What town do you live in?
Bratenahl, OH. It’s an upscale village surrounded by the City of Cleveland, with its back against Lake Erie.

House or building complex? Own or Rent?
7,000-square-foot mansion. Own. Downsizing. Don’t forget I won 550 million dollars, and every evil, scheming, weasel in the City of Cleveland is on our trail. So we needed a house with a gate house and a guard in the gate house. Things are complex. Multiple people have died.

What is your favorite spot in your house?
Mmmm. Is Allie going to see this? The master bath’s got this “oversized-square-rainfall shower head.” It’s like a waterfall on Maui— But the bedroom is very nice too.

Favorite meal?
Otis has a mean recipe for ribs.

Favorite Dessert?
Mitchell’s Key Lime Pie Ice Cream.

Favorite hobby?
Books. Music. Allie.

Favorite color?
I guess I’d have to say black, since that’s the whole palette for me.

Favorite author?
Tough choice. I’m from the South. So Eudora Welty, maybe. But I change my mind once a week.

Favorite vacation spot?
Under a waterfall on Maui. With Alice Jane.

Favorite sports team?
The Cleveland Orchestra.

Movies or Broadway?
Movies on Netflix. Narrated by Allie. [Editor’s note: I love his devotion to Allie]

Are you a morning or a night person?
Funny you should ask about that. You probably don’t know this since we’re not face-to-face right now, but I’ve been blind since I was 25 and I guess you could say I’ve been a night person 24/7 since then. Before I was blind, I loved early mornings best. I guess I still do.

Amateur sleuth or professional?
So profoundly amateur you would not believe. But being blind gives me an edge sighted people don’t have. Vision rules the other senses. Takes over. When it’s gone, the others come into play: sound, smell, taste, touch—loaded with information most people aren’t aware of. Clues they might easily miss. Also I have my blind-guy Spidey Sense. . .

Whom do you work with when sleuthing?
Allie, Otis, the T&A—and, for our latest case, a Cleveland Homicide Detective named Olivia Wood.

In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
Mostly it’s nonstop “murder, mayhem, and romance.” Usually, in that order. I’m still waiting for “typical.”

You can read more about Tom in The Devil’s Own Game, the third book in the “Somebody’s Bound to Wind Up Dead” private investigator mystery series, released October 15, 2019.

The murder is the message

What you don’t see is what you get. When a sniper targets a blind man walking along the lagoon of the Cleveland Museum of Art, the bullet is a wake-up call aimed straight for Allie Harper and Tom Bennington, shattering their illusion that the Mondo Mega Jackpot Nightmare is over.

On the day Allie―sassy, lonely, broke―met Tom―smart, hot, blind―he won $550 million trying to show a kid that gambling doesn’t pay. Romance―and multiple murders―ensued, along with a new, opulent lifestyle that the couple had never dreamed possible. Then a ruthless man of formidable skills and resources hacked into the security system in their rented 9,000 square-foot lakeside mansion, and they learned just how far someone who begrudges their good fortune would go to destroy them. Now they know the past six months of peace and quiet were the calm before a rising storm of mayhem and revenge.

The new game begins tonight. An old devil. A new devil. And a new case for The T&A Detective Agency. (Yes. They should have put Allie’s initial first.) Tom and Allie aren’t on the case long before they discover a strong lead that takes them into the heights of Cleveland’s upper-crust, where husbands and wives weave webs of betrayal with unfathomable sums of money at the center. As the threats―and murders―multiply, Allie, Tom, and the T&A must fight to beat the devil’s own game. Will they get out alive?

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About the author
Annie Hogsett is the author of the Somebody’s Bound to Wind Up Dead Mysteries. She lives in the City of Cleveland, ten yards from the shore of Lake Erie, with her husband, Bill, and a cat named Cujo. The Devil’s Own Game, published by Poisoned Pen/Sourcebooks, is third in her series. Annie has never won a $550 million lottery jackpot.

To learn more about Annie, visit her website at anniehogsett.com.

All comments are welcomed.