Paws and Premonitions
Pamela McCord
(Erin Bailey in Franklin Paranormal Mystery, #2)
Publication date: August 10th 2024
Genres: Adult, Cozy Mystery, Paranormal
Another murder! Erin Bailey has already been there, done that. Just weeks ago, Erin was embroiled in solving the murder of her benefactor. That little adventure almost led to Erin’s premature death. Now, another ghost…long story…has approached Erin asking for her help to solve his murder. When would she ever get to relax and enjoy her new life in Franklin, Tennessee? Once again, Erin enlists her reluctant team: Susie, her best friend, Ryan, her detective boyfriend, and DC, her, um, private investigator, and the not-so-reluctant Peekaboo, the talking cat who was responsible for Erin’s entry into the ghost world, to help uncover the person who killed Timothy, a sweet little old gentleman who lived across the street from Erin. As of now, everyone thinks Tim died in his sleep of natural causes. Now it’s up to Erin and her friends to solve Timothy’s murder so his spirit can go into the light.
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EXCERPT:
“Ow!”
I banged my cast on the kitchen island, and immediately four sets of eyes whipped my way. “I’m okay,” I said to head off the exclamations of concern I was sure were on the way.
I couldn’t blame them, of course. With my broken arm and various cuts and bruises resulting from my encounter with a deranged middle-age charity committee treasurer who was trying to kill me, I was a pitiful sight.
Lucky for me, my friends loved me anyway. I carried my cup of coffee over to the kitchen table, around which sat my best friend Susie DeAngelo, my detective boyfriend Ryan Cahill and my private investigator DC Washington. I didn’t know if I could call DC my PI, since I’d only hired him for one case and didn’t think I’d be needing him for more. But he’d definitely become my friend.
Also on the table…that’s right…on the table, sat Peekaboo, a gorgeous orange cat with huge gold eyes. No gathering would be complete without her.
The four of us, make that five counting Peekaboo, had just experienced something that I doubted very many people could claim. We’d watched the ghost of Alice Chapman go into the light. Sobering.
I should back up. I met Alice in Los Angeles seven years ago. She was in the process of being mugged by a trio of gangbangers when I stepped in to save her and pretended to call 911 and give descriptions of the muggers, which caused the lowlifes to scram. Poor Alice was a little bloody and in shock, so I went to the hospital with her and helped her feel safe again. I guess you could say we became friends, although communications between the two of us dropped off after the first few years.
Fast forward to a couple of months ago when I was summoned to Franklin, Tennessee, by Alice’s attorney, who shared the news that I was Alice’s beneficiary. Of a house, an Infiniti SUV and a very large bank account. And Peekaboo, although she was named Weeds at the time.
That’s how I came to be in Franklin. Lovely house, nice neighborhood, but that was just the frosting. The actual cake was that Peekaboo tripped me and caused a near-death experience, after which I could see Alice’s ghost. And talk to Peekaboo, who admitted that her actions were intentional because she needed me to acquire a severe head injury which would open my chakras, or whatever woo-woo result was supposed to happen. Peekaboo rushed to assure me that she knew I’d survive because…get this…she’s psychic.
Long story short, Peekaboo dropped this gift on me because she needed me to prove that Alice’s death wasn’t an accident. Guided by a talking cat and Alice’s insights, with the help of my very best friend, Susie, who, as predicted by Peekaboo, decided she wanted to move to Franklin and be my roommate, we sifted through a raft of suspects, in the meantime irking Detective Cahill, whom Peekaboo deemed to be The One, who wanted me to stay as far away from danger as possible.
But what would you do if a ghost and a talking cat pushed for you to follow the leads and bring Alice’s killer to justice?
Following those leads is what brought me into the sites of the aforesaid deranged middle-age charity committee treasurer. Hence, my cast and the myriad bandages covering various parts of my body, not to mention a few adorning my face.
The doorbell announced the arrival of pizza.
Author Bio:
Born in Arkansas and raised in Southern California, Pamela McCord started writing later in life when she was challenged by a friend to create a book out of his story idea. Since then, she's become an internationally published author. Pam has spent over 40 years working as a legal secretary at a law firm in Orange County, California. Aside from writing, she follows the stock market, buying, selling and trading stocks and options. In contrast to that, she loves trips to Las Vegas where she can spend many happy hours at the Pai Gow tables. She shares a condo with her very own My Cat From Hell TV star, Allie, who manages to exude just enough affection to make her scary feral ways tolerable.
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