1st in Series
Setting - A small mountain town in Oregon
Publisher: Primrose Publishing
Publication Date: May 17, 2022
Paperback: 248 pages
ISBN-13: 979-8986430003 / Digital ASIN: B0B1P989TT
As I walk away from
the bar after exchanging absurd air kisses with Kori, my phone rings. Veronica
Sharpe’s name flashes across the screen.
“Did you get it?”
she says between heavy breaths. I figure she’s on the treadmill in her office.
Veronica’s middle name is Multitasker.
“Hi to you too.”
“Okay, hi. Tell me,
did Emily Delaney, my number-one reporter, get Kori Koffee to spill her beans?”
“You know I got it.”
I hear the treadmill
beep indicating her workout is complete.
“You don’t sound
very happy about it.”
“No, it’s great.” I
adjust my voice to try to sound happy about it. “It’s just, you know, Kori
Koffee.” I scrunch up my nose as if smelling her signature perfume, Kori Glory.
I get to the corner
and bang on the walk button as Range Rovers and BMWs whisk by me, windshields
framing aging yet pulled-tight faces of actresses and trophy wives desperate to
get to their spa appointments.
“This deserves a
celebration,” Veronica presses forward. “Meet me at Garnish in twenty minutes.”
I’m tired and not
completely in the mood for Veronica and her celebrity-obsessed conversation,
but I do love the bruschetta at Garnish. “Fine, but you’re buying.”
“What else is new?”
she snorts. “Anyway, I want to hear about your date last night.”
I start to say I
don’t want to talk about it, but before I can protest, she hangs up.
When I walk into
Garnish, Veronica already has an order of bruschetta waiting for me, as well as
a tall mojito with extra lime.
“This almost makes
up for that assignment.” I lift my glass, and she clinks her beer bottle
against it.
“So, she’s
pregnant?” Veronica’s eyes gleam. “Obviously.” I take a long drink.
“And you got it on
the record?”
“Everything is on the record. She saw the recording light.”
“Fair enough,”
Veronica nods.
My phone rings, and
Crystal’s name lights up the screen.
I hit ignore and
place it back on the table.
“So, how was the
date?” Veronica asks.
“I’d tell you, but I
don’t think you could handle it.”
“Try me.” She
narrows her eyes, waiting for the goods. “No, I mean I don’t think you could
handle how boring it was.” I stretch my neck to the left and then the right,
trying to ease out of the topic.
“How can that be? I
thought this guy was pretty much perfect.”
I know she’s right.
He is perfect - on paper. We were seated next to each other at a fund-raiser
three months ago. He’s an entertainment lawyer who gets invited to top-shelf
parties with true A-list celebrities. Come to think of it, that’s probably why
Veronica was so excited when we started dating. He’s tall and fit with blue
eyes and blond hair bleached by time spent in the pool and on the tennis court.
I really was excited
when he asked me out. And I had a good time shopping for furniture for his new
condo. I also had fun on our second date at Chez Rodrigo. But by our third date
at the beach, I realized I was enjoying our dates because I like shopping and
Spanish/French fusion cuisine, and sand beneath my feet, and not so much
because I like him.
“I think I’m
simply...” I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know. He is a great guy.” I roll my
eyes at my inability to articulate my feelings.
“Sure. He’s just not
your guy.” Veronica takes a drink and nods at her own conclusion.
“Easy for you to
say, Mrs. Sharpe.” At forty-one, Veronica is eight years older than me and has
been happily married for twelve.
“I didn’t find my
husband by staying with the wrong guys.” She motions to the waiter to bring her
another beer. “If this guy isn’t right for you, move on. But...”
“But what?”
“Maybe you could
stay friends?” She grins and blinks feigned innocence. “Those are some pretty
fabulous parties he goes to.”
“Your concern for my
emotional well-being is touching.” I shake my head. “Don’t worry, I stay
friends with all my exes. It’s how we do it here in LA.”
Veronica gives me a
knowing smile. “Naturally.”
Still, even with her
reassurance, I wonder what is wrong with me that I’m not falling for Derek, a
guy any normally functioning girl would be over the moon to date.
My phone dings as a
text message comes in from Crystal.
Call me ASAP
I can’t imagine what
Crystal could possibly have to tell me that’s urgent. I plop the phone into my
purse.
“Look, I know you’re
going to hate it when I say this.” Veronica tucks a strand of shiny black hair
behind her ear. “I used to hate it when people said it to me.”
“Then don’t say it.”
I put my hand up to block her words.
But she says it
anyway. “When it’s the right guy, you just know.”
I throw my hands in
the air. “I don’t believe you.” “Believe it. Now go home and write my cover
story.”
As Veronica signs the credit card slip, my phone rings and Crystal’s name
flashes across the screen again.
“I gotta take this,” I say pulling on my sweater. It’s Octo‐ ber, and even
though it’s still in the seventies, I’ve acclimated to LA’s weather over the
past fifteen years. Because of this, I usually need an extra layer on days
dipping below eighty degrees. “I’ll email you the story by tomorrow.”
“You’re the best.” Veronica stands and polishes off her beer.
“You know it,” I
say, hitting the accept button on my phone.
“Know what?” Crystal
asks.
“Sorry, I was
talking to my boss. So, where’s the fire?” “What fire?”
“Crystal, you both
called and texted in the past twenty minutes.”
“I just wanted to
make sure you heard. I mean I know you’d eventually hear from someone, but I
thought it might be easier coming from me.” Crystal’s words are quick and
breathless.
I unlock my car door
and slip inside, the leather seats still warm from the late-afternoon sun.
“Slow down. What are
you talking about?”
“So, then you
haven’t heard about Lois?”
My heart starts
beating faster as my mind anticipates the many possible directions Crystal’s
next sentence could go. “No. What about Lois? What’s she gotten herself into
now?”
“Emily...I’m so
sorry, but Lois Miller is dead.”
***
Excerpt from SECRETS AND SCANDALS by Piper Glendale. Copyright 2022 by Piper Glendale. Reproduced with permission from Piper Glendale. All rights reserved.
Secrets and Scandals is the first Gilman Gazette Cozy Mystery, a new series by author Piper Glendale, and with its Hollywood interview opening scenario, I was immediately hooked. From the blurb, I knew that the protagonist was slated to leave this often-tawdry business behind, but still, this kind of thing is like watching a trainwreck, and I couldn’t look away. As promised, the story quickly shifts to the main character, who firmly believes you can’t go home again - for a reason.
Emily Delany is the main character whose single past misstep was so big it caused her to flee her hometown immediately after high school. Fifteen years later, she’s still burdened by her guilt over having published a sensitive personal secret of a classmate in an ambitious desire for a big name-making story for the school paper. Emily’s guilt has kept her from ever visiting her best friend back in Gilman, even when Crystal needed her emotional support the most. She’d even cut ties with her mentor at the Gilman Gazette, Lois Miller, who, as the story begins, has died and left Emily a secret legacy in her will. Emily must return to Gilman for the reading of the will.
The plot has multiple interesting storylines, including an unsolved murder for which Lois was a main suspect before her death. The Gazette has a critical bank deadline to meet, and Emily, as the paper’s new owner, must hit the ground running to save the paper and return safely to the anonymous comfort of her life in Los Angeles. As this is the debut novel in a new series, the author must build an entire town from scratch, and Glendale does a terrific job introducing residents, businesses, and backstories without bogging down the action. Her descriptions of the town are vivid and nostalgic, making it sound like the perfect little tourist town it has gained a reputation for being.
Emily is surprised by her reception in town after her inglorious departure so many years ago: sometimes good, sometimes not. As she put her journalistic skills to work and started digging, the plot takes some twists and turns and ends up quite differently than I ever expected. I am definitely looking forward to more in this series.
I recommend SECRETS AND SCANDALS to cozy mystery readers,
especially those who enjoy books set in Oregon and not on the coast.
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