FAMILY
IS MURDER
MCKINLEY MYSTERIES Book 5
by Carolyn Arnold
Published by: Hibbert & Stiles
Publishing Inc.
ASIN: B00LLLG28Q
ISBN (e-book): 978-1-988064-58-1
ISBN (print): 978-1-988064-47-5
Approximately 148 pages
BOOK
OVERVIEW
The search for a
maid results in a mess.
When a woman
shows up and claims to be Sara’s birth mother, it pits Sara and Sean against
each other. Sara opens her heart and wants to believe the woman, but Sean is
suspicious of her true identity and motive. After all, there are billions at
stake. But when the woman goes missing and a dead body turns up, they both
start to question the truth.
Led by Sara’s intuition,
they pursue all possible leads and soon realize they may have welcomed a killer
into their home.
Chapter
1
THE
UNEXPECTED
THE
BRUNETTE CAME INTO THE coffee
shop, clutching her purse to her chest and staggering along at a fast pace. She
wasn’t heavy-set, by any means, but her ankles seemed to have the tendency
to buckle, telling Sara that, despite being in her late forties to early
fifties, she didn’t have much experience walking in high heels. The woman spotted them, and Sara
smiled, doing her best to put the woman at ease.
She and Sean had decided upon a
local Starbucks as the meeting place to conduct interviews for a live-in maid.
They had been in their new house for a week and the basic upkeep took time they’d rather spend elsewhere. One example
was Sara still hadn’t taken cooking lessons and she knew Sean wasn’t impressed by her
existing culinary skills, judging by the way
he’d fill his mouth and expel the sentiment, yum. He was trying to appease her.
“Hello? Mrs. and Mrs. McKinley?” The woman didn’t seem to pass Sean a
second’s glance but kept her eyes glued to Sara.
“Please, Sara and Sean.” She gestured toward
him then turned back to the woman. “You’re Angela?”
“Yes.” Angela shook Sara’s hand
but took a seat without reaching for Sean’s. As she sat, Angela ran a hand along the back of her skirt, her
eyes never leaving Sara.
Sara smiled to suppress her
uncomfortable feeling. “Tell us about yourself.”
“Oh, yes, I’m from Maine. Augusta.”
“Such a coincidence. I was born there.”
Angela didn’t say anything.
Her eyes now drifted to Sean but flicked
back to the table.
Sara glanced at Sean, back to
Angela. “So, I take it you have experience with keeping a house?” She had the
resume in front of her but preferred to have all the candidates say it in their
own words.
“Absolutely.” Angela threw in a brief smile that didn’t touch her eyes. “As
you can tell, I’ve been around a bit. This year will mark my forty-eighth birthday.”
“Well, happy birthday.”
Angela’s eyes dropped to the table and lifted back up a few
seconds later. “The last family I cleaned for was many years ago. What is it you
want me to do for you?”
Sara thought back to their ad—was it
not clear enough? She and Sean had gone over the details and had decided to sum
up the responsibilities under the title house manager. Basically, they required
someone to maintain the interior and to oversee other things that would need organizing
on the property, such as pool and lawn maintenance.
“We need someone who’s good at
everything,” Sean said. “We need a cook, a cleaner—ideally, someone who can
handle all aspects of running a household.”
“Yes, well, I have that. I even had a child.” Angela glanced quickly at
Sean.
“Very nice.” Sara’s tendency was to sympathize with people and relate to
them, but Sean had told her that when it came to something like this, she had
to distance herself. While she didn’t need to think of herself as above anyone,
for a healthy work environment, their employee couldn’t feel they were best
friends either. It could lead to problems down the road.
She looked at the resume that Angela had submitted and took an aspect
from it. “It says here that you worked as a tutor for a couple years with a
family in New York City.”
“Yes.” Angela’s eyes were flitting about the Starbucks, not resting on
anyone, or anything, longer than a half a second. Her aura had escalated from
uneasiness to jitteriness.
Sara glanced at Sean. She could tell
by his eyes that he’d noticed the odd behavior as well. “Is today a
good time?” Sara asked.
“Uh-huh.” Angela ran a quaking hand down her cheek, and let her arm
return to her lap. She looked Sara in the eyes. “You’re so beautiful.”
The entire scenario should have had
Sara asking their guest to leave, but there was something about this woman, but
what, exactly, Sara didn’t know.
Sean went to get up, but Sara held her arm out.
Angela’s eyes shot to him
and then went back to Sara. “I lied.”
“You—”
The woman siphoned her bottom lip
through her teeth and shook her head. “I’m not who you think I am. You’re here to meet
someone to interview I take it. I just played along to get close to you. See, I
need to talk to you.”
The current swirling in the woman’s eyes was
electric—Sara couldn’t effectively read her.
Sean put a hand on Sara’s knee and she
knew that he was about to step in and ask this woman, whoever she was, to
leave.
“Why would you need to talk to me?” Sara asked. For some reason, this
woman’s energy had Sara’s heart speeding up.
“Because my real name is Leslie Summers.”
“I’m still not sure what—”
“I’m your mother.”
McKinley Mysteries
Carolyn Arnold
Published by: Hibbert and Stiles Publishing Inc.
Number of books in series as of May 2016: 10
Sleuth around with murder-solving duo Sean and Sara McKinley as they do whatever it takes to unravel a mystery while romancing it up along the way.
Series Overview:
Romance. Humor. Murder. Are you looking for a murder mystery without all the graphic violence and foul language? Something that you can enjoy in an afternoon and walk away feeling good about afterward? How about a dash of humor and romance? If so, meet former detectives Sean and Sara McKinley. When a billionaire leaves them all his money, they no longer have to work, but they find themselves sticking to what they’re good at—solving murders. Undercover, off the books, and around the world, they’ll get to the bottom of things…and romance it up along the way.
This is the perfect book series for fans of Hart to Hart, Castle, Colombo, Monk, Rockford Files, Psych, and Magnum PI.
Read in any order or follow the series from the beginning: The Day Job is Murder, Vacation is Murder, Money is Murder, Politics is Murder, Family is Murder, Shopping is Murder, Christmas is Murder, Valentine’s Day is Murder, Coffee is Murder, Skiing is Murder.
About the Author:
CAROLYN ARNOLD is an international best-selling and award-winning author, as well as a speaker, teacher, and inspirational mentor. She has four continuing fiction series—Detective Madison Knight, Brandon Fisher FBI, McKinley Mysteries, and Matthew Connor Adventures—and has written nearly thirty books. Her genre diversity offers her readers everything from cozy to hard-boiled mysteries, and thrillers to action adventures.
Both her female detective and FBI profiler series have been praised by those in law enforcement as being accurate and entertaining, leading her to adopt the trademark: POLICE PROCEDURALS RESPECTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT™.
Carolyn was born in a small town and enjoys spending time outdoors, but she also loves the lights of a big city. Grounded by her roots and lifted by her dreams, her overactive imagination insists that she tell her stories. Her intention is to touch the hearts of millions with her books, to entertain, inspire, and empower.
She currently lives just west of Toronto with her husband and beagle and is a member of Crime Writers of Canada.
Connect with CAROLYN ARNOLD Online:
Website - http://carolynarnold.net/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Carolyn_Arnold
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCarolynArnold
And don’t forget to sign up for her newsletter for up-to-date information on release and special offers at http://carolynarnold.net/newsletters
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