Murder in the Mix Boxed Set 28-30: Cozy Mystery Addison Moore (the reading strategies book .txt) 📖

bustling with budding authors. In fact, Carlotta is already hard at work on her own novel while seated at my mother’s table, along with Mom’s besties, Chrissy Nash, Mayor Nash’s ex, and Becca Turner, Keelie’s mother. And just past her I see Noah’s battle-axe of a mother, Suze, thumping at a laptop of her own, looking stymied by the process.

Believe me, I’m stymied she’d take a stab at penning a romance novel. Knowing Suze, her male lead will end up at the bottom of the ocean and stay there. No real tragedy considering that’s how her husband supposedly “died”. But as fate and a timely resurrection would have it, Wiley Fox staged his death and is now alive and well and dating my mother. Suze lives here at the B&B right along with them, and she seems to be friendly enough with my mother. It’s an odd arrangement, but one we’ve all gotten used to.

The sound of women cackling comes from my left, and I glance that way to see a couple of blondes huddled over the same computer. I’m about to look away, but I do a double take instead.

“Oh, for the love of all that’s good and evil,” I huff. And it’s clearly the evil part that’s being highlighted here today.

Those two blondes are none other than Cormack and Cressida. Why do I find it hard to believe they’re penning a romance of their own? On second thought, if that helps take their eyes off Noah and Everett, I’m all for it.

Lainey comes over with her sweet baby Josie nursing away, as my sister flashes half the room her water balloon of a boob, although no one seems to notice. As it should be. But let’s face it, for some men, spotting Lainey’s boob in the wild might just save them a trip to Red Satin.

“So what’s with that dead girl?” Lainey’s hazel eyes grow wide. “I heard the mob stole her body and took it to New Jersey to keep in a glass case as a way to mentally torment the mob down in Leeds.”

I make a face. “Well, hello to you, too.” I give Josie’s sweet blonde head a quick pat. “I don’t know anything about that. I’m only interested in procuring justice for the girl.”

“Speaking of justice, Mom said you got on the jury. Geez, Lot. What good is being married to a judge if he can’t get you out of a little civic duty once in a while?”

“You’re telling me.” I check my phone, only to see I have plenty of time before I need to get back. “But actually, the case is pretty interesting. A woman named Allison Gray is accused of killing her boyfriend.” No sooner do the words slip from my lips than I clamp my hand over my mouth.

Lainey laughs. “Don’t worry, Lottie. I won’t tell a soul. And hey, that’s a pretty big case. I heard all about it. She got national coverage. You don’t think she did it, do you?”

“I don’t have all the facts yet.”

“I have all the facts.” She shrugs. “Believe me, the guy had it coming. He was—” Josie belches, and Lainey just about jumps out of her skin as the baby spits up all over her chest. “Oh, criminy.” She quickly mops it up with the blanket draped from her shoulder. “Welcome to motherhood, Lottie, where you get puked on six times a day. I’d better take care of this before I smell like sour milk,” she says as she heads in the direction of the restroom.

My stomach gives a hard roll of nausea just as Mom makes her way over and quickly piles a couple of waffles onto a plate for herself.

“Oh, Lottie, isn’t this great?” she purrs. “Everyone came early, and we’re already meeting our chapter goals. It’s so important to stay disciplined when you do something like this. But we’re ready for a break, so whenever you want to give your dissertation on romance, the floor is all yours.”

“Mom, I don’t have any dissertation planned,” I tell her. “I wouldn’t know the first thing to tell these women on how to write a book on romance.”

“Leave the intricacies of the craft to the writers, Lottie. All you have to do is fill us in on how to juggle two men. A love triangle is a very popular trope when it comes to romance novels. We could use a tip from a pro like you.”

A spray of dark stars emits from near my feet, and I look down to see Thirteen, the cute little black cat who used up all of his nine lives, yowling up at me.

“Lottie, come quick.” A couple of stray stars emits from his mouth as he speaks. “That brutish banshee you’ve managed to conjure is about to pluck all of Greer’s supernatural follicles out.”

“I’ll be right back, Mom. Just give me a minute to get my head together and I’ll share a few words with the ladies.”

Thirteen leads the way to the foyer where the air is slightly cooler but the ambience of the B&B is just as cozy.

The flooring in the lobby is partially stained wood and partially carpeted and the walls are all covered with a dark mahogany. There’s a sweeping staircase that leads upstairs where most of the rooms are located, and at the moment there’s an entire gaggle of ghosts having what sounds to be a screaming match in a darkened alcove to the left of the reception desk.

Little Lea floats my way, looking every bit the haunting menace she is. Lea was about six when she and her family were slaughtered right over the land here at the B&B. Her dark hair is combed over her face, long and stringy, she’s wearing a dingy pinafore, has on a pair of badly scuffed Mary Janes, and has a machete dangling from her hand, ready to avenge the blood of her family. Her formal name is Azalea, but no one who has actually called