| Peri Minneopa has traded her housecleaning career for a private investigator's license. Her timing seems perfect, especially when she cleans a former client's freezer and finds a severed hand inside, wearing an expensive ring. |
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(c) 2009 Gayle Carline. No part of this webpage may be used without the written permission of the copyright holder.
| Gayle |
| Carline |
PROLOGUE
Such exquisite hands. What a pity to waste them.
Long, tapered fingers balanced the size of the palms
perfectly. Half moons shone in the nails, which were
strong and rounded, and extended the line of the hand.
The porcelain skin blushed the slightest pink, although
it seemed to be fading quickly.
The shadow knelt in the darkness, eyes glowing.
I'd better use the electric knife. No, the hacksaw.
Under the sliver of moonlight, deft hands opened the
toolkit and went to work.
Such exquisite hands. What a pity to waste them.
Long, tapered fingers balanced the size of the palms
perfectly. Half moons shone in the nails, which were
strong and rounded, and extended the line of the hand.
The porcelain skin blushed the slightest pink, although
it seemed to be fading quickly.
The shadow knelt in the darkness, eyes glowing.
I'd better use the electric knife. No, the hacksaw.
Under the sliver of moonlight, deft hands opened the
toolkit and went to work.
CHAPTER ONE
“Miss Menopause?”
“Benny, it’s Minn-ee-OH-pa.” Peri corrected him as she sat
behind her desk, reading the Private Investigators Legal
Manual.
Benny Needles stood in the doorway. He was the kind of man
who made you want to disinfect your eyeballs when you looked
at him. Short and swarthy, he considered himself Dean Martin’s
twin. Although he plucked his overgrown uni-brow and curled
his thinning hair, he failed to convince anyone. The slim dark
suits that had made Martin look like a pencil made Benny look
more like a wide-tip marker. If you stood fifty feet away and
squinted, he might resemble Dino. Of course, it would help if
you’d been drinking.
“Ah, Miss Minnie - oh - you know I can’t pronounce that,” he
said.
He slunk into her office and plopped his weight into a chair.
Sitting across from Peri, he picked up a mesh pencil holder
from her large wooden desk and rolled the pencils around.
“Just stop calling me ‘Menopause’,” she told him. “How did you
even find me?”
“Aunt Esmy came over last Thursday. She said she saw you the
other day and you told her about this place.” Benny looked
around the tiny office.
“Nice digs,” he said. “You keep it real clean.”
Peri looked up from her studying and sighed. “What do you
want?”
“I got a job for you.”
“Miss Menopause?”
“Benny, it’s Minn-ee-OH-pa.” Peri corrected him as she sat
behind her desk, reading the Private Investigators Legal
Manual.
Benny Needles stood in the doorway. He was the kind of man
who made you want to disinfect your eyeballs when you looked
at him. Short and swarthy, he considered himself Dean Martin’s
twin. Although he plucked his overgrown uni-brow and curled
his thinning hair, he failed to convince anyone. The slim dark
suits that had made Martin look like a pencil made Benny look
more like a wide-tip marker. If you stood fifty feet away and
squinted, he might resemble Dino. Of course, it would help if
you’d been drinking.
“Ah, Miss Minnie - oh - you know I can’t pronounce that,” he
said.
He slunk into her office and plopped his weight into a chair.
Sitting across from Peri, he picked up a mesh pencil holder
from her large wooden desk and rolled the pencils around.
“Just stop calling me ‘Menopause’,” she told him. “How did you
even find me?”
“Aunt Esmy came over last Thursday. She said she saw you the
other day and you told her about this place.” Benny looked
around the tiny office.
“Nice digs,” he said. “You keep it real clean.”
Peri looked up from her studying and sighed. “What do you
want?”
“I got a job for you.”
| WHAT JOB DOES BENNY HAVE FOR PERI? BUY THE BOOK AND FIND OUT! |
| FREEZER BURN: A Peri Minneopa Mystery |
| Get Burned. It's Cool. |
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