Perfect for Framing
Synopsis:
Returning for a second suspense-filled mystery, Jemma Chase and Detective Tucker find themselves embroiled in a Property Owners Association power struggle. When a simple break-in escalates to murder Detective Tucker finds suspects aplenty from POA president Petula Windsor's files, leading him to suspect the victim of blackmail. Tucker tries his best to keep Jemma's interest at bay, but when the president’s husband is found dead and Tucker's life is jeopardized, Jemma won't be stopped until she finds the murderer.
Book Excerpt:
Perfect for Framing
by Maggie Bishop
PROLOGUE
Petula rose from her lover’s bed, paraded naked to the vanity mirror, and finger combed her hair so it fell over one eye.
"Your bruises are almost gone," the man said.
She smiled at him then studied herself in the mirror. "The lipo doctor did a thorough job. He took six pounds and three inches off my mid-section. I wish these numb spots would go away."
"Give it time, Pet. Your face is almost healed." He propped himself up with her pillow and reached for his cigarettes.
"I hope I’ll look better than this soon," Pet said, still studying herself in the mirror. "I thought you gave up those things."
"After this one. I’m down to a couple a day. Besides, you said the same thing after your face lift – no more plastic surgery."
"A lady has a right to change her mind," she called as she stepped into the shower.
By the time she was dressed and had put on makeup, he had his jeans back on. "I’m still mad you let someone buy that lot I wanted to build on," he said as she emerged from the dressing area in her guest house. He pulled on a crumpled polo shirt.
"Don’t you worry. I’m in the perfect position to make their lives miserable. Didn’t I make it too tough for the last owners to build? I wasn’t President of the POA a couple of years ago when you wanted to put your modular on that lot. Now I have the other homeowners in my grip. If you can’t build there, no one can."
He dropped the butt into the beer can and hugged her, resting his chin on her head. He said, "Revenge can be so sweet. Maybe you can bankrupt the POA with a lawsuit." He let her go and sat down to tie his sneakers. then asked, "What are you doing with that situation with your husband? Any progress?"
"Don’t you worry about that either. I’ll end up with the house and a big alimony settlement. Then it’ll be just the two of us."
CHAPTER 1
DECEMBER, THURSDAY
"That’s outrageous even for Madam President," Karen said into the phone. "She’s going to get herself killed one of these days. Come to think of it, that might be a relief to a lot of us."
At the mention of a murder, Jemma’s measuring tape clattered to the floor as she stared at her customer. Jemma Chase wasn’t eavesdropping, exactly.
"She must be getting a kick out of playing god again, lording over your land, teasing you with delays. The power-hungry little demon. Murder by hanging would be too easy for her." Karen Harmon grinned into the telephone. After a moment she laughed, then said, "Maybe she could be in a horrible car accident, complete with head through the windshield, destroying the doctor’s latest work. Would serve her right for using a Florida plastic surgeon who gave her that uneven hair line." Karen glanced at Jemma who quickly closed her mouth. Karen winked before continuing her phone conversation. "She deserves a spike through her heart, if she had one, the petty power abuser. She has the sculpted look of a cemetery angel and the attitude of a pit bull. There’s not enough Botox and filler in the world to plump up her shrunken heart."
Karen snapped her gum as she hung up the phone. "Our illustrious POA President is at it again," she said to Jemma. "Honey, give a petty person a little power and they’ll abuse it every time."
Jemma nodded and retrieved the tape measure, her dream of playing CSI faded. Her fantasy of being a Crime Scene Investigator wouldn’t bring in money, only trouble, as Detective Tucker was so fond of pointing out. This energetic little lady wanted more cabinets and a breakfast bar in her kitchen and Jemma was eager to use her carpentry skills on something besides decks and porches.
"You don’t live in Hickory Hills so this doesn’t matter to you," Karen dropped her wrist and snapped her gum, "but Mrs. POA Windsor has started to make building a new home in our subdivision a nightmare. Just living near her sets my pulse racing like Junior Johnson with a load of moonshine, or like Ringo on steroids." She laughed at her own joke.
"Ringo Starr?" Jemma re-measured the space to re-direct attention to the work at hand. She chomped at the bit to get on with the task at hand. Carpentry and photography had been occupying her time during the ranch’s off season, but she still managed to ride her horse Brandy most evenings.
"They were before your time. Come to think of it, they were before mine."
"What’s a POA for anyway?"
"Property Owners Association. This one started at fifty dollars a year to plow the roads after snow storms and for re-graveling in the spring. We’d have a pot-luck lunch in the spring and a quick budget review in December. That was it."
"What changed?"
"When the original president died and the treasurer moved away three years ago, nobody wanted to do the little work that was involved, including me. We had a house plan review board but the only things we enforced were minimum square footage and no trailers. Later that was expanded to keep out modular homes. Petula agreed to be president and we were happy that someone cared enough to volunteer."
User Reviews
- Christy Tillery French, Midwest Book Review by Maggie Bishop
Author Comment:
Available from bookstores and Amazon in November 2008.
Topics/Categories:
arson, Cozy Mystery, greed, lust for power, Property Owners Association
Genre:
Type of Work:
Publishers:
Original Publish Date:
November 1, 2008
Formats and associated ISBNs:
978-1-932158-84-77
Formats:
Trade Paperback
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