Her Second Death is a kick-ass short story introduction to Melinda Leigh’s on-going Bree Taggart mystery series. It takes place just days after Detective Taggart’s transfer to the Homicide division of the Philadelphia Police Department. And while this is the first official homicide she’s been assigned to — and is, in fact, her second case with this department — it’s far from the first homicide she’s ever been involved with.
What that was and how it impacted her life and career form a large part of this wonderfully dense short story, that packs a whole lot of mystery into fewer than fifty pages. It also provides a lot of excellent character work both for Detective Taggart and her highly experienced, no-nonsense new partner Detective Dana Romano, as they’re called out to investigate the shooting death of one James Tyson, found shot in the head in his car one cold December morning. This story really whetted my appetite for more in the Bree Taggart series, which I’ve now added to my never-ending To Be Read pile.
We here at the Frumious Consortium are so honored and pleased to be able to kick off the book tour for this terrific short story. Keep reading for an excerpt, as well as for an Amazon giveaway!
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Her Second Death Excerpt
The medical examiner pulled out of the Ford’s interior. “No rigor yet. Livor mortis isn’t fixed yet either. Cold would slow decomp, but he’s relatively fresh. Died very early this morning.” He closed his eyes and his jowly face screwed up as he did the mental math. “Six to eight hours ago, roughly between midnight and two a.m.”
Which matched the times on the surveillance video. “Detective Romano?” Reilly called. “CSU is here.”
As soon as the ME removed the body, the crime scene unit would take over.
“Do we have a next of kin for the victim?” Romano asked.
Reilly nodded. “He’s married to Kelly Tyson.”
“Let’s go notify Mrs. Tyson.” Romano turned back toward their vehicle. Once behind the wheel, she rubbed her palms together, then pulled a pair of leather gloves from her pocket and tugged them on.
In the passenger seat, Bree blew on her freezing hands. Romano peeled away from the curb.
“Wasn’t a robbery.” Bree rolled the facts around in her head. “They left cash in Tyson’s wallet. Also, they didn’t take the car. Drug deal gone sour?”
“We have no idea what happened, other than a guy got shot.”
“You don’t like any of those theories?” Bree asked.
Romano shot her a direct look. “I like evidence, not theories.”
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