Hudson had come face to face with his past, and Tex had his resolution, too. Maybe, just maybe, it was time for me to face my own demons.
“Madison, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I lost you over this. You’re the only woman I’ve loved, honestly, truly. I’ve never known a woman like you. I wanted to tell you, tell you everything. I wanted to be honest with you from the minute we got back together but you were too perfect and I was in too deep. I was afraid to jeopardize everything.”
The film crackled and every couple of frames it faded to orange but it was more riveting than a blockbuster. As much as I’d wanted to run only seconds before, now I was caught in the tractor beam of Brad’s charisma.
“I’m sorry I lied to you. I wanted to tell you the truth so many times. I was going to tell you at the top of the mountain. But I saw them—they were there. When we went to the Poconos, when we got out of town, I thought we were safe. I told you I wanted us to get away from it all, and I meant it. I didn’t know they’d followed me. Us. And I knew if I told you, I’d bring you into it. I couldn’t do that to you. You were, are, the only thing that mattered. The only person that mattered.”
He’d said these words before, but they were tainted. Tainted with the knowledge I wasn’t his one true love. His wife was. He’d said as much right before I’d skied away from him and the limited engagement he offered me. It had taken every ounce of self-respect to leave the one person who made me feel complete, but I was not willing to be a part of the relationship equivalent of a time share.
He held his head in his hands. His shiny black hair, gelled into place with Top Brass, barely moved. He took his square glasses off and turned them over and over in his hands. It was a nervous gesture I’d seen him do before.
I’d denied him the opportunity to apologize to me when I left. I’d cut off all contact with him. These were great lengths he’d gone to, to communicate his apologies on a piece of film he’d hidden in my car. It was selfish on his part to inflict this on me after I’d fought so hard to get over him.
He put the glasses back on and stared directly into the camera. “Madison, listen to me carefully, because I can only say this once. I am not married. I never was. But I got myself involved with some bad people. I had to keep you safe. When I saw them at the top of that ski slope I knew they would come after you if they knew how important you were to me. Lying to you was the hardest thing I’ve ever done but it was the only way to drive you away. I knew it would take you out of my life. I didn’t know you would hit that tree. It almost killed me not to be able to console you while you were in the hospital. But it was the only way—”
His head snapped up suddenly, to the right of the camera. “No, NO!” he said to someone off-screen. He held his hands up as a defense mechanism. “Don’t do this!” he yelled. The camera tipped over and the screen went black.
Four shots fired in rapid succession. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. The end of the film spun through the spool, slapping the take-up reel.
“He’s—he’s dead? It’s over?” I asked the darkness, looking for answers.
“Depends on your definition of over,” said Tex. He jerked a thumb over his shoulder, to the balcony and the man in the projection booth. “According to him, your Brad Turlington is very much alive.”
Reader’s Discussion Guide
1. Is Madison Night asserting her independence by choosing to remain single, or is she possibly undermining herself by denying the feelings she has for the men in her life?
2. Does Madison have good cause to distrust Lt. Tex Allen? Is Tex Allen trustworthy?
3. From what we know of Hudson James: his quiet nature, his passion for his work, a reliable figure in Madison’s life, vs. his very guarded, private, almost mysterious persona, do you ever doubt his innocence or consider his possible guilt?
4. Does Madison’s love and loyalty for all things Doris Day serve her or shield her? Has she submerged herself in an idealistic movie-life so she doesn’t have to deal with her own? Can she move forward or is she more comfortable in someone else’s past?
5. Consider the relationship between Madison and Hudson: are they taking things slowly to develop a solid foundation for a relationship in the future, or are they both using the other as a crutch as they try to heal their own pasts?
6. The night Madison “slept” with Hudson in the unrented apartment, did she reveal her true feelings for Hudson by staying by his side, or did she recklessly put her life in danger by staying with a wanted man?
7. Tex Allen appears to be a classic womanizer. Do you think he sees Madison as a challenge or an equal?
8. Is Madison’s method of studying the obituaries for potential estate sales creepy or smart?
9. Consider the various similarities and differences between the following characters and what they might represent:
Madison Night vs. Doris Day
Hudson James vs. Tex Allen
Mad for Mod vs. The Mummy
Rocky vs. Mortiboy
10. Madison has a handicap in the form of her knee injury but insists on regular exercise and on walking more than most people. Is she stubborn, determined, or in denial? Does this trait help or hurt her as she tries to figure out what is going on around her?
11. Is it plausible that the laid back, movie and Mary Jane-loving Richard would betray his friends and coworkers because of the threat from Andreev Popov? Did he have any other choice?
12. Andreev Popov: a man without a country and a climbing body count. Can we fully understand the importance of his reputation in his mother land, or the depth of his guilt for betraying it? Or is he simply a man gone insane?
13. Much of what made Madison the independent woman she is is undermined by the truth she learns at the end of the book. How might this affect her?
14. Who would you like to see Madison with? Tex, Hudson, or Brad? Why?
From the Author
Unlike Madison Night, I didn’t grow up watching Doris Day movies. I discovered them when I was going through a rough time in my life. It was during that time I lived in a small apartment in Dallas, Texas. While I tried to remain true to the Lakewood/White Rock Lake area, I fictionalized businesses and locations to create Madison’s world. I’m sure parts of what I remember fondly no longer exist, but in my memory, they always will.
About Diane Vallere
Diane Vallere lives in a world where popcorn is a breakfast food and Doris Day movies are revered for their cultural significance. After over twenty years in the fashion industry, she now writes full time, juggling the Mad for Mod series, the Style & Error series, and the upcoming Material Witness series. She launched her own detective agency at age ten and has maintained a passion for shoes, clues, and clothes ever since. Visit her at www.dianevallere.com.
Don’t Miss the 2nd Book in the Series
THAT TOUCH OF INK
Diane Vallere
A Mad for Mod Mystery (#2)
When mid-century modern interior decorator Madison Night receives a five thousand dollar bill in the mail, she knows it’s a message from her past. Watching Doris Day movies helps with inspiration for her business, but her favorite actress can’t help when Madison’s lover comes back.
After finding a corpse at a local numismatist, she follows a circuit of rare dollars and common sense to expose a kidnapping plot, a counterfeit operation, and the true price of her independence.
Read all about it and/or grab the book from Amazon
CLICK FOR THAT TOUCH OF INK
Be sure to check out Madison’s prequel novella
MIDNIGHT ICE featured in
OTHER PEOPLE’S BAGGAGE
Kendel Lynn, Gigi Pandian, Diane Vallere
Baggage claim can be terminal. These are the stories of what happened after three women with a knack for solving mysteries each grabbed the wrong bag.
MIDNIGHT ICE by Diane Vallere: When interior decorator Madison Night crosses the country to distance herself from a recent breakup, she learns it’s harde
r to escape her past than she thought, and diamonds are rarely a girl’s best friend.
SWITCH BACK by Kendel Lynn: Ballantyne Foundation director Elliott Lisbon travels to Texas after inheriting an entire town, but when she learns the benefactor was murdered, she must unlock the small town’s big secrets or she’ll never get out alive.
FOOL’S GOLD by Gigi Pandian: When a world-famous chess set is stolen from a locked room during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, historian Jaya Jones and her magician best friend must outwit actresses and alchemists to solve the baffling crime.
Read all about it and/or grab the book from Amazon
CLICK FOR OTHER PEOPLE’S BAGGAGE
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Henery Press Mystery Books
And finally, before you go...
Here are a few other mysteries
you might enjoy:
LOWCOUNTRY BOIL
Susan M. Boyer
A Liz Talbot Mystery (#1)
Private Investigator Liz Talbot is a modern Southern belle: she blesses hearts and takes names. She carries her Sig 9 in her Kate Spade handbag, and her golden retriever, Rhett, rides shotgun in her hybrid Escape. When her grandmother is murdered, Liz high-tails it back to her South Carolina island home to find the killer.
She’s fit to be tied when her police-chief brother shuts her out of the investigation, so she opens her own. Then her long-dead best friend pops in and things really get complicated. When more folks start turning up dead in this small seaside town, Liz must use more than just her wits and charm to keep her family safe, chase down clues from the hereafter, and catch a psychopath before he catches her.
Read all about it and/or grab the book from Amazon
CLICK FOR LOWCOUNTRY BOIL
DOUBLE WHAMMY
Gretchen Archer
A Davis Way Crime Caper (#1)
Davis Way thinks she’s hit the jackpot when she lands a job as the fifth wheel on an elite security team at the fabulous Bellissimo Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. But once there, she runs straight into her ex-ex husband, a rigged slot machine, her evil twin, and a trail of dead bodies. Davis learns the truth and it does not set her free—in fact, it lands her in the pokey.
Buried under a mistaken identity, unable to seek help from her family, her hot streak runs cold until her landlord Bradley Cole steps in. Make that her landlord, lawyer, and love interest. With his help, Davis must win this high stakes game before her luck runs out.
Read all about it and/or grab the book from Amazon
CLICK FOR DOUBLE WHAMMY
BOARD STIFF
Kendel Lynn
An Elliott Lisbon Mystery (#1)
As director of the Ballantyne Foundation on Sea Pine Island, SC, Elliott Lisbon scratches her detective itch by performing discreet inquiries for Foundation donors. Usually nothing more serious than retrieving a pilfered Pomeranian. Until Jane Hatting, Ballantyne board chair, is accused of murder. The Ballantyne’s reputation tanks, Jane’s headed to a jail cell, and Elliott’s sexy ex is the new lieutenant in town.
Armed with moxie and her Mini Coop, Elliott uncovers a trail of blackmail schemes, gambling debts, illicit affairs, and investment scams. But the deeper she digs to clear Jane’s name, the guiltier Jane looks. The closer she gets to the truth, the more treacherous her investigation becomes. With victims piling up faster than shells at a clambake, Elliott realizes she’s next on the killer’s list.
Read all about it and/or grab the book from Amazon
CLICK FOR BOARD STIFF
DINERS, DIVES & DEAD ENDS
Terri L. Austin
A Rose Strickland Mystery (#1)
As a struggling waitress and part-time college student, Rose Strickland’s life is stalled in the slow lane. But when her close friend, Axton, disappears, Rose suddenly finds herself serving up more than hot coffee and flapjacks. Now she’s hashing it out with sexy bad guys and scrambling to find clues in a race to save Axton before his time runs out.
With her anime-loving bestie, her septuagenarian boss, and a pair of IT wise men along for the ride, Rose discovers political corruption, illegal gambling, and shady corporations. She’s gone from zero to sixty and quickly learns when you’re speeding down the fast lane, it’s easy to crash and burn.
Read all about it and/or grab the book from Amazon
CLICK FOR DINERS, DIVES & DEAD ENDS
ARTIFACT
Gigi Pandian
A Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery (#1)
Historian Jaya Jones discovers the secrets of a lost Indian treasure may be hidden in a Scottish legend from the days of the British Raj. But she’s not the only one on the trail…
From San Francisco to London to the Highlands of Scotland, Jaya must evade a shadowy stalker as she follows hints from the hastily scrawled note of her dead lover to a remote archaeological dig. Helping her decipher the cryptic clues are her magician best friend, a devastatingly handsome art historian with something to hide, and a charming archaeologist running for his life.
Read all about it and/or grab the book from Amazon
CLICK FOR ARTIFACT
THE AMBITIOUS CARD
John Gaspard
An Eli Marks Mystery (#1)
The life of a magician isn’t all kiddie shows and card tricks. Some-times it’s murder. Especially when magician Eli Marks very publicly debunks a famed psychic, and said psychic ends up dead. The evidence, including a bloody King of Diamonds playing card (one from Eli’s own Ambitious Card routine), directs the police right to Eli.
As more psychics are slain, and more King cards rise to the top, Eli can’t escape suspicion. Things get really complicated when romance blooms with a beautiful psychic, and Eli discovers she’s the next target for murder, and he’s scheduled to die with her. Now Eli must use every trick he knows to keep them both alive and reveal the true killer.
Read all about it and/or grab the book from Amazon
CLICK FOR THE AMBITIOUS CARD
PORTRAIT OF A DEAD GUY
Larissa Reinhart
A Cherry Tucker Mystery (#1)
In Halo, Georgia, folks know Cherry Tucker as big in mouth, small in stature, and able to sketch a portrait faster than buck-shot rips from a ten gauge -- but commissions are scarce. So when the well-heeled Branson family wants to memorialize their murdered son in a coffin portrait, Cherry scrambles to win their patronage from her small town rival.
As the clock ticks toward the deadline, Cherry faces more trouble than just a controversial subject. Between ex-boyfriends, her flaky family, an illegal gambling ring, and outwitting a killer on a spree, Cherry finds herself painted into a corner she’ll be lucky to survive.
Read all about it and/or grab the book from Amazon
CLICK FOR PORTRAIT OF A DEAD GUY
FRONT PAGE FATALITY
LynDee Walker
A Headlines in High Heels Mystery (#1)
Crime reporter Nichelle Clarke’s days can flip from macabre to comical with a beep of her police scanner. Then an ordinary accident story turns extraordinary when evidence goes missing, a prosecutor vanishes, and a sexy Mafia boss shows up with the headline tip of a lifetime.
As Nichelle gets closer to the truth, her story gets more dangerous. Armed with a notebook, a hunch, and her favorite stilettos, Nichelle races to splash these shady dealings across the front page before this deadline becomes her last.
Read all about it and/or grab the book from Amazon
CLICK FOR FRONT PAGE FATALITY
CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE
Annette Dashofy
A Zoe Chambers Mystery (#1)
Zoe Chambers, paramedic and deputy coroner
in rural Pennsylvania’s tight-knit Vance Township, has been privy to a number of local secrets over the years, some of them her own. But secrets become explosive when a dead body is found in the Township Board President’s abandoned car.
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