Sneak Peek | Diana Orgain

4 Sleuths & A Bachelorette ~ A Killer Foursome Mystery ~ Preview of Chapter One Continued!

From 4 Sleuths & a Bachelorette  Did you miss Chapter One Part One? Chapter One Continued… Valentine      I was within two feet when he started singing the company’s wiener ditty. Wait a minute! That wasn’t a guy’s voice. Even with the drilling in the background, I could tell that lustrous voice belonged to a female. Holy jumpin’! Not just any female. That was Babette’s voice. I twirled around and stared into the face of my once chubby friend, her tall, voluptuous figure hidden inside the foam costume, her eyelids sparkling with eyeshadow the color of yellow and green condiments. It wasn’t meant to look garish, but as a beautician, I would’ve toned it down a bit. “Babette?” Her eyes widened. “Valentine!” Ignoring ogles from shoppers, she dropped the tray on the table beside her and pulled me in for a warm squeeze. I gaped wordlessly past her shoulder, then back at her in her hot dog costume. “Why are you dressed as a wiener?” Oops. I really had to work on my quick tongue. She picked up the tray again, offering me a sample, and filled me in on her job situation. “It’s not all bad,” she cooed, her mouth twitching into a thin grin. “I get these complimentary baby jars of mustards that my boss, Stanley, wants to charge customers for.” She pried open my bag with her free hand and tossed some inside. “Tightwad. He’d kill me if he saw me handing these out.” She bit her luscious lips, and suddenly I was back to hot summer days, eating red Popsicles as kids, then giggling...

4 Sleuths & A Bachelorette ~ A Killer Foursome Mystery ~ Preview of Chapter One!

From 4 Sleuths & a Bachelorette  Chapter One Valentine      “Who’s Babette Lang?” Max Martell, my wingman in the salon and occasional worrywart, flipped the invitation back and forth in his hand. “And why is this”—he read the name on the RSVP again—“Merry Wrath inviting you to Babette’s bachelorette party?” It was seven-thirty, Saturday morning, middle of June. Max had agreed to come into work before my two other employees to go over final details before I left for a weekend at Niagara Falls. Naturally, he was more interested in learning about Babette than talking details that were already fixed in his clever brain. He practically stepped on my sparkly heels as I traipsed from my office to my station, stuffing last-minute supplies into my black beauty bag. I wasn’t trying to put him off, but I had other things on my mind. Top of the list: why was I invited to Babette’s bachelorette party? She’d sworn off men three years ago after Greasy Toes Ricco had persuaded her then slimy fiancé to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge with a cement block tied to his ankle. Lucky Babette, escaping that marriage! Unfortunately, I hadn’t seen her since that bachelorette party. “Val-en-tine!” I ceased from shoving my flat iron into my bag and gave Max a tolerant look, making this as succinct as I could. “Babette is one of my best friends.” At least she was during our childhood. “Merry must be another friend who was in charge of sending out invitations to the party. It’s as simple as that.” Max puckered his lips, telling me it wasn’t that...

Murder at the Clocktower (Gold Strike Mysteries: Book Three) Sneak Peek – Chapter Three Continued

From Murder at the Clocktower  Did you miss Chapter One? Did you miss Chapter Two? Did you miss part one of Chapter Three? Chapter Three Continued Sonny cleared his throat. “Now, before you get too shocked by what we’re proposing, just know we’re estimating a huge rate of return for what this new commercial center would bring to your town. Bradley’s passing out some of our spec sheets on what Revival estimates on the profits Golden could make with the influx of tourists.” “Not to mention,” Adam added, “this new design includes a significant amount of recycled material. Going green is in.” I snorted, and Adam shot me a look. I looked at my fingernails to avoid his gaze, but I caught Tori grinning in my direction. Tori shook her head when Bradley reached her, not even wanting to take a sheet. “We didn’t ask you to come in and bulldoze half our town,” she said. “We wanted a bid on updating the Clock tower, museum, and miner statue.” Dustin took Tori’s sheet for her and placed it in front of her. “Before you all get upset with Revival, I should probably admit my part in this,” Dustin said, opening his briefcase. He handed papers to the other committee members. “This is the preliminary inspection report on the clock tower which you will see has been deemed potentially unsafe. You all know we had to close it to the public last year due to a leak, and it’s yet to open, except for those working on the clock. It’s been a nightmare. While the structure can be reinforced and...

Murder at the Clocktower (Gold Strike Mysteries: Book Three) Sneak Peek – Chapter Three

From Murder at the Clocktower  Did you miss Chapter One? Did you miss Chapter Two? Chapter Three I sat in my car the morning of the meeting with the restoration committee, my heart pounding. My run-in with Dustin had been bad enough; I couldn’t imagine who I’d potentially run into at the town center if I dared to actually step outside of my car. I had driven through town late several times since Tori first told me about the job, looking at the Clock tower and picking up blueprints. But coming in the middle of the day was a different story. “You can do this, you big baby,” I said to myself, sitting upright and turning my rearview mirror towards myself. “Your meeting is in two minutes, and you’re not even sure what room it’s in… so why are you still sitting here like a big dope?” I took a deep breath, and as I reached for the handle, I spotted Dustin hurrying across the parking lot. He was dressed in a flattering suit, a small briefcase at his side. “Typical Dustin,” I muttered. He always overdressed, and the briefcase was just a step too far for the occasion. Glancing in the direction he was sprinting, I saw a young man in an even more uppity business suit with an even more unnecessarily fancy briefcase. They met and shook hands. Two other gentlemen were standing on either side, and he seemed to be introducing Dustin to the group. “Must be the reps from Revival,” I muttered, realizing they were likely about to be escorted by the president of the...

Murder at the Clocktower (Gold Strike Mysteries: Book Three) Sneak Peek – Chapter Two Continued

From Murder at the Clocktower  Did you miss Chapter One? Did you miss part one of Chapter Two? Chapter Two Continued “Oh, shut up!” I said. “Right now, I’m debating on whether or not to get groceries for just another week or if I should play it safe and get enough for two….” “Get enough for two, so it’ll last you until after you get the job,” Tori said excitedly. “But then again, if that happens—which it will—you’ll get a place closer to town, I assume. And you don’t want to have to move a bunch of groceries from the motel to wherever you wind up. So… maybe just shoot for a weeks’ worth? I’m going to drag you out to eat at least one more time before the committee meeting. We could go rental shopping together tomorrow and grab lunch if you want?” “I can’t even think about that right now.” I grabbed a few cans from the shelves, including baked beans. I could make tacos one night. I didn’t have much to do at the motel other than work on my presentation and plan out meals, so I resisted the urge to buy too much processed stuff. In the past few days, I’d snacked too much out of boredom. “You want the job. The job means staying in Golden for a while, you know?” Tori said. “You can handle that, can’t you, Hope?” “I can handle it,” I said, though I didn’t feel it. Tori missed my tone. “If you can handle it, stop wearing a disguise to the store,” Tori insisted. “Look, I know this is...

Murder at the Clocktower (Gold Strike Mysteries: Book Three) Sneak Peek – Chapter Two

From Murder at the Clocktower  Did you miss Chapter One? Chapter Two  I knew this would happen eventually. For the last two days, I’d been surviving on eggs and potato chips, in denial of what needed to be done: a grocery run. I’d stuffed my bags with enough food to avoid having to leave the motel until after the committee meeting, but now the meeting had been pushed back a week, and I was down to one slice of bread and a half-empty jar of mayonnaise. I was in a rather unfortunate predicament. I could go to a store outside of town, I thought and whipped out my phone to find the nearest store outside of Golden. Anything to avoid going home just yet. “An extra fifteen minutes just to get off the freeway….” I mumbled. Looking at the time, I knew that fifteen minutes was an understatement given the traffic outside of town. Golden might have been a small town, but larger cities with heavy traffic surrounded it. I was bound to get caught up in an early lunch rush. “Am I going to drive thirty minutes to avoid bumping into anyone I know?” I asked aloud, staring at the keys in the little bowl by the door. “Maybe I could just grab lunch at that sandwich shop again…” But I didn’t need to spend frivolously when I wasn’t sure I’d land the clock tower renovation job. The tiny one-bed motel room had been more than enough in the past two weeks, but it was already beginning to feel cramped. Sooner or later, if I managed to get...