Tag: #Samurai

The Samurai’s Inro and a New Excerpt

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It’s almost Launch Day! So here’s another excerpt for you.

 

I followed my morning routine—coffee, shower, sit on the steps and read the paper—but the simple joy had disappeared. The biker was gone, but he wasn’t the problem. No, I still hadn’t heard from Eli. No requests for reports or research, not even a text to say hi. I missed him.

But he was more than my lover, he was my boss. Even if I didn’t have a new assignment from him, I still had research to do. The topic was up to me. I could do it anywhere with an internet signal, but I chose to stick with my routine and go to the library. If the biker showed up, I’d know and could keep an eye on him while he kept an eye on me.

With no excuse to build a wall of books, I took a chair in the periodicals area. With the setup of the room, I’d be able to watch anyone coming or going from it. There’d be no sneaking up on me.

At least, that was true as far as the public knew. There was a secret way in and out. Out mostly, because it was hard to slide the last set of shelves from the backside to get in. But I wouldn’t have to worry about getting stuck with no escape route.

Late morning, tired of lists and analysis of security vulnerabilities, I strolled through the stacks of the second floor to stretch my legs and give my eyes a break. I leaned against the balcony railing to survey the reading room below and gaze through the windows on the far wall.

That’s when I spotted him—or not. It was hard to tell from the angle. Plus, he didn’t look like a biker anymore. He’d adopted the persona of a frazzled businessman. White short-sleeved shirt, black pants, he looked like he came from the fifties. The beard was gone, too. I couldn’t get a good look at his face, but the hint of a tattoo peeking out from under the sleeve of his shirt gave him away.

From the second floor, there wasn’t a good place to study him further without exposing my presence. If I stood on the steps, I’d have a better chance, but they squeaked. If he looked up at just the right moment, he’d see me. I suppose it didn’t matter; he knew I was in the library. So, how to mess with him?

 

Trouble has a long memory and is stalking Harmony Duprie.  The Samurai’s Inro, coming June 1st.

 

The Samurai’s Inro

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Trouble has a long memory and is stalking Harmony Duprie.

 

Don’t forget! The Samurai’s Inro, the fifth book in the Harmony Duprie Mysteries, will be available June 1st.

Here’s a quick excerpt just for you:

I cradled the pot with what remained of my mother’s African violet in my lap. They plucked every flower and bud and pulled off half the leaves. The plant would live—I’d make sure of it—but it would take a lot of effort.

Pages from my books lay scattered around. All my first editions survived, they’d only destroyed the more current ones. The latest Jack Reacher book. A biography of Queen Elizabeth. The popular-for-the-moment romance, The Pirate’s Nanny. At least I’d finished reading them.

They used a permanent marker to draw mustaches and beards on the framed picture of me and Eli kept on the end table, a middle school type of prank. Thank heavens the original was digital.

I sat in a kitchen chair and rocked, plotting my revenge. A stream of religious missionaries sent to their door. Dead fish mailed regularly. Confetti bombs. Putting a potato in their exhaust. Nothing legal seemed adequate.

It wasn’t a case of a mysterious suitor, of that I was convinced. It felt darker, bordering on evil. Like the culprit was taunting me. Someone who knew me. Someone I thought was a friend. How else would they understand where to draw the line in the damage they’d done?

But I couldn’t explain this to Freddie without sounding crazy. Either Joe or Luke had called him. The three of them were working on straightening out the furniture in the front room while pretending not to keep an eye on me. They had a right to be concerned. That didn’t make it any less irritating.

What I needed to do was jump in and start cleaning. What I wanted to do was grab my laptop and create a spreadsheet of potential suspects. The police were still questioning neighbors and so far, no one had any helpful information. Freddie, although he hadn’t been assigned to the investigation, was following it and keeping me updated.

The short mental list taking form made me hurt as I added each entry. Gary from the pawnshop. Luke or Joe. Big Daddy Al from the Pink Flamingo. That was, assuming they could hotwire cars, something we’d never talked about. And I bet every one of them had an unshakeable alibi.

Jake.

Eli.

Stay tuned for buy links and more information.

Welcome to The Samurai’s Inro

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I’ve been working hard on the next Harmony story and it’s getting close! I haven’t set an official release date, but it likely will be the early part of May. No cover to share just yet, but I’ve got the tagline and description. And of course the title! It’s called The Samurai’s Inro.

Tagline:

Trouble has a long memory and is stalking Harmony Duprie.

 

Doesn’t that sound like fun? Here’s the description:

Harmony Duprie has it made. Or so she thinks.

New job.

New routine.

A quiet life in the quiet little town of Oak Grove.

Oh, and Eli.

But trouble has a long memory and it’s playing a deadly game.

Friends’ cars stolen.

Her apartment ransacked.

The duplicate of a stolen Japanese antique carved box left behind.

Trouble follows wherever she goes, including the parking lot of the police station. Not even the want-to-be bodyguard brought in by Police Chief Sorenson can end the harassment. And all her research leads to dead ends.

Can Harmony identify the face of trouble before she loses and the winner takes her life as the final prize?

Let the games begin.