Dangerous Curves Boxed Set 1: 3 Cozy Christian Mysteries

by K L Montgomery

  I was sure the hot June sun beating down on them wasn’t helping in the odor department. They were an interesting sort of fish, a rusty reddish-orange on top and a silvery gray on the bottom. The smallest ones were about eight inches in length, and the biggest were a foot or more. They weren’t small by any means, and other than being dead, they didn’t look like they had been injured or half-eaten by something else before washing up on shore.

  Molly had walked Murphy all the way back over to the lighthouse, where huge rocks jutted out into the water. She began to lead him up the rocks, with the pup pointing his nose into the wind, relishing the breeze as it blew his thick golden-blond fur back from his face. I whipped out my phone and snapped a picture of her and the dog, and then I took one of the dead fish. I didn’t know why or what I planned to do with it. It just seemed like a good idea at the time.

  We walked the trail around the lighthouse, which led to the picnic shelters further inland, then we weaved our way back to the parking lot. Murphy seemed to be getting tired as he kept stopping and trying to lie down on the dirt path, his little pink tongue wagging out as he panted.

  “Think we finally wore him out?” Molly ventured as she scooped him up into her arms. His eyes fluttered open and closed a few times, and he licked her face.

  “I don’t know, but he seems pretty happy about it.” Seeing how cute they were together almost made me want a puppy of my own. Almost. But then Paige and Bond would probably plot my murder.

  So no puppies for me.

  As I walked back to my car, I couldn’t get the image of the dead fish strewn across the sand out of my mind. I swallowed hard and tried to redirect my brain to dwell on the image I’d snapped of Murphy and my friend climbing the rocks by the lighthouse instead.

  What killed those poor fish?

  Find out in Mystery at the Marina, releasing on Amazon on 5.20.2021!

  Click here: Mystery at the Marina

  Learn more about the author and the Dangerous Curves series at www.cozychristianmystery.com.

  About the Author

  K.L. Montgomery writes #bodypositive sweet romance, romcom, and cozy mystery. A librarian in a former life, she now works as an editor and runs the 5000-member Indie Author Support group on Facebook in addition to publishing under two names.

  Though she remains a Hoosier at heart, K.L. shares her coastal Delaware home with some furry creatures and her husband, who is on the furry side as well. She has an undying love for her three sons, Broadway musicals, the beach, Seinfeld, the color teal, IU basketball, paisleys, and dark chocolate.

  Acknowledgments

  Starting this brand-new series was rather daunting, and I have quite a few people to thank for helping me get it off the ground. First off, my husband, who has been cheering me on throughout my career, but he’s been very excited and supportive of this endeavor—and he’s way more interested in helping with mystery plots than romance! Haha! Secondly, to my beta readers: Lisa, Lori, and Kayleigh—I really value all the feedback you gave me and know this is a stronger book because of your help. Thirdly, to my proofreader and friend, Tina Kissinger, I’m not sure what I would do without you. Thank you for being on my team! Last, but certainly not least, a special thank you and shout out to Colleen Noyes from Itsy Bitsy Book Bits, who has been an amazing friend and support for me, in addition to the best promoter ever.

  Also by K.L. Montgomery

  Dangerous Curves Series

  Betrayal at the Beach

  Mystery at the Marina

  Shooting at the Shore

  Poisoned at the Pier

  Romance in Rehoboth Series (romantic comedy)

  Music Man

  The Flip

  Plot Twist

  Badge Bunny

  Wedding War

  Stage Mom

  Shark Bite

  Contemporary Romance Standalones

  Given to Fly

  The Light at Dawn

  Reconstructed Heart

  Women’s Fiction

  Fat Girl

  Green Castles

  Nonfiction

  The Fat Girl’s Guide to Loving Your Body

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2021 by K.L. Montgomery

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.

  Cover design by the author, made with images licensed through DepositPhotos.

  Paperback ISBN: 978-1-949394-31-3

  Published by Mountains Wanted Publishing

  P.O. Box 1014

  Georgetown, DE 19947

  mountainswanted.com

  Created with Vellum

  To Robin. I know I’m the editor, and you’re the client…but I’ve grown as a writer from working with you. Thank you for sticking with me.

  One

  No one fell asleep. No one left in the middle. I’m going to chalk that up as a win!

  “Thank you all for coming!” I called across the room as my patrons gathered up their things and began their mass exodus from the Young Adult area. My eyes followed the pack of teens, their low rumble of chatter fading away as they crossed the lobby and headed out the library doors.

  “Make a wish on the Founders’ Bible before you leave!” my voice carried into the lobby.

  I witnessed several of my beloved patrons stopping to examine the ancient relic that was a vital part of our town’s history. Having them make a wish on it was partially a ploy to highlight the priceless artifact’s resurrection. And it was also to remind them the library was a place where wishes and dreams could come true. After all, in books, anything is possible.

  I wiped the figurative sweat off my brow, though I wouldn’t have been surprised if there were a few drops of real sweat too. Whew! Thank goodness that’s over! Planning and running YA programming was exhausting. I felt like a one-woman circus up here trying to keep everyone engaged. But I think I succeeded?

  “Great job!” Anna Cooper clapped as she came around the wall of bookcases that separated the YA area from the adult area.

  “You think it went okay?” It wasn’t that I needed validation from my favorite patron, but… Well, validation is nice, isn’t it?

  “I had a lot of fun!” She set a stack of books on one of the wooden tables we’d used during the program and looked around. “Everyone leave already?”

  “Yeah. They seemed happy, though? I think?” It was hard to tell sometimes with teens.

  She nodded enthusiastically. And then: “Can I check these out? I know you’re getting ready to close in a few minutes.” Her big brown pleading eyes looked up at me. How could I say no to that face? Especially after she and her sister helped save the library just over a month ago.

  “Of course, dear. C’mon over to my desk.” She followed me, and I sat down to wield my trusty scanner, zapping the barcode on each one of the mysteries she’d chosen.

  “Mysteries, huh?” My eyebrow arched as I peered up at her.

  She flashed me a sheepish smile. “Yeah, to be honest, solving the Bryce Beach Bandit mystery was so exciting, I thought it would be fun to read a few mysteries too.”

  I had to laugh at her use of my phrase “Bryce Beach Bandit.” I’d coined it long before the newspaper interviewed me about my work to bust the thief of the Founders’ Bible and the proceeds of the library’s annual fundraising gala. Now the culprit was getting her just desserts.

  Mmm…desserts. I couldn’t bake them worth a darn, but I sure enjoyed eating them!

  “I don’t know what I would have done without you and your sister. She’s all ready to start her new job, right?” I had hired Anna’s older sister Liz to do some website and other tech work for the library this summer. I was anxious to see h
ow it went, because if Evangeline Dupree, my friend and our interim library director, liked what Liz did with the YA web pages, she was considering hiring her to redesign the entire library site. We needed it desperately. Susan, our former director, was always stingy when it came to technology. We’d had the same website since around 2008. Not good.

  “Yes, she’s really excited to get started,” Anna confirmed. The precocious thirteen-year-old smoothed her long braids over her shoulder as she waited for me to print out her due date slip.

  “You about done, Sunshine?” my best friend Molly Simmons, the children’s librarian, asked as she peeked around the corner.

  “Yup! Just let me finish checking these out to Anna.” I printed out the slip and stuck it inside the top book, my usual routine. And then Anna stuffed the books in her canvas bag—her usual routine.

  “Have a good night, Anna. Tell Liz I’ll see her bright and early on Monday morning!”

  Anna waved as she headed toward the lobby with her full bag slung over her shoulder. Books made her so happy that I could see the joy radiating off her as she bounced along in her cut-off jean shorts and sandals.

  I turned to Molly, who looked like she was ready to burst with excitement, even after a long day of librarianing. Not a word, but should be. Her blonde hair was pulled up in a smooth bun on top of her head, and her summery sundress looked just perfect with a matching knit shrug over it.

  “You look really nice today!” I gushed. “I was so busy getting my program together, I forgot to tell you.”

  Molly’s cheeks flushed pink, and I knew right then that something was up with her.

  “You look like you’re excited about something more than dinner…” My voice trailed off as I studied her face, trying to figure out what was going on.

  “I am excited about dinner!” she insisted. “But I have some other news too. I’ll share it when we get there.”

  “Well, then maybe we all have something to celebrate?” I suggested, and she pumped her head up and down in agreement.

  We were going to the new restaurant at the marina. It was called Josie’s Seafood Shack, and apparently “shack” was quite a misnomer. It was rumored to have taken over the coveted title of Most Elegant Restaurant in town, and it was perched right on the water with a stunning view of the docks at the marina as well as Bryce Cove and our famous lighthouse in the distance.

  I followed Molly out to the parking lot, and when we exited the building, we both looked over our shoulders to see Evangeline coming down the front steps with Jada Booker, the head of technical services, falling in step behind her. The two were already friends before last month’s Bryce Beach Bandit incident, but now they were thick as thieves.

  Hmmm, maybe that’s a poor choice of words considering what happened…

  “Hey, wait up!” Jada called. She was quite a bit younger than us, still in her twenties, but Bryce Beach was a small town, and she probably hadn’t found a clique to run around with. She’d latched on to Evangeline, who was in her late thirties, and Molly and I were the two old ladies at forty-one and forty-two, respectively.

  “Are you guys hungry?” I asked as we convened in the parking lot. I was hoping we weren’t going to stand there and chit chat when we could save the discussion for the dinner table.

  “Yeah, let’s go. I’m starving!” Evangeline dug through her purse for her keys. “See you guys there.”

  We all went to our cars and climbed in. My red Mazda CX-3 carried me down the main street of town and then down Mulberry until I arrived at the marina. I hadn’t spent much time here in all my years of living at Bryce Beach, but with so many townsfolk raving about this restaurant, I had a feeling that was about to change. My parents came here for their anniversary last week, and I’d heard some ladies gushing about it at church the other day as well.

  I parked, stepped out of my car, and smoothed down my navy blue skirt that was billowing up in the wind. Just what I needed to do was flash all the fishermen coming in to dock after a day out on the water. After looking around and not seeing any of my colleagues’ cars, I assumed I must have beaten them there.

  I waited on a bench in front of the restaurant. Was I driving fast? How did I beat everyone?

  My thoughts were interrupted by two suit-clad businessmen walking down the front steps and heading into the parking lot. I shouldn’t have been eavesdropping, but they were talking so loudly, I couldn’t exactly turn off my ears. That’s not the way ears work.

  The shorter man, who was bald and looked to be in his mid-fifties with a salt-and-pepper goatee and thick black brows, grabbed the other guy by the arm. “I’m so glad we were able to work this deal out.”

  The taller man, who was a decade or more younger, had a head full of thick, dark brown hair. I couldn’t help but notice he was incredibly handsome as he stopped and patted his companion on the back. “I knew we’d come to an agreement, Bob. There’s a lot of money to be made, after all, and why not make it lucrative for both of us?”

  They were stopped only three or four feet in front of me, apparently not caring if I overheard their conversation. And my ears still hadn’t magically turned themselves off, so I kept listening. It was a good way to pass the time while I waited for my friends, who apparently drove like they were eighty years old. Either that, or they hit both red lights between the library and here.

  “Exactly,” the older man agreed. “And I have a feeling the fishing is going to be mighty fine this summer!” When he winked, the younger man laughed in agreement.

  As they started to walk toward their cars again, I spotted my friends heading toward me from the parking lot. It’s about time! I had to admit, though, I was still replaying the conversation between the two businessmen in my head. I wondered what kind of deal they’d made? Something to do with fish?

  “Oh my gosh, do you know who that was?” Molly gasped as they made it to the bench where I was waiting.

  I stood up to greet them. “Who? Those two guys?”

  “Yeah!” She leaned in and whispered as though she was afraid they could hear her, even though they were clear across the lot by now. “That taller man is the mayor’s son!”

  “Mayor Steyer?” I repeated.

  “Yes,” Molly said, nearly swooning. “From the mayor’s first marriage… I haven’t seen him in years, but I’d recognize him anywhere.”

  Oh, right. I had forgotten that Camille Steyer, the chair of our Friends of the Library committee, was the mayor’s second wife.

  “Didn’t he move away in elementary school?” Evangeline asked.

  “He’s back now, apparently.” Molly shrugged. “I know that was him. He’s cute, isn’t he?”

  Jada was still looking off in that direction. “For an older guy, he’s totally hot!” She looked as though she needed a cold shower at this point.

  “Who was the other man?” I asked Molly, who seemed to be a fount of information. Why didn’t I know that was the mayor’s son?

  “I have no clue. Never seen him before.” She shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

  “Evidently, his name is Bob,” I remembered from the conversation. “They were talking about some business deal. Something about how the fishing would be ‘mighty fine’ this summer.”

  “Hey, I’m still starving, you guys. And as your boss—”

  “Interim boss,” I interjected.

  Evangeline shot me a scowl before continuing, “As your boss, I suggest we get going. We have a reservation, right? Aren’t we running late?”

  I glanced down at my watch. “Oh, fudgesicles! Yeah, we gotta go, ladies. Chop chop!”

  We rushed up the steps and headed to the hostess station inside the restaurant after passing through the wide veranda. The restaurant was built as an addition to the main marina building, but it was designed to look like an old Victorian house with intricately carved woodwork painted in bright colors—pinks and greens. It was charming, and the smells wafting out from the kitchen made my stomach rumble.
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br />   The hostess was a young woman with her dark hair piled on top of her head, wearing a crisp white shirt and a black pencil skirt. She smiled, collected four menus and ushered us out to the back deck, which overlooked the water. It was a beautiful June evening, not too hot and not too humid. Really, the best weather you could ask for in the summer.

  As we took our seats next to the deck railing, I saw a blue heron swoop down to the marshy area at the far edge of the marina. In the distance, the Bryce Beach lighthouse towered over the other end of the cove, guarding the beach. Our small town was anchored on both ends by land that jutted out into the Atlantic Ocean. On one end was the lighthouse, and on the other, the marina. It was about as quaint and cozy as a town could be, and I felt lucky to call it home.

  “So…Molly has some big news,” I shared as soon as we got settled in.

  “Oh, let’s order first,” Evangeline insisted. “Otherwise I’m going to harpoon that heron down there and see if it tastes like chicken.”

  Molly rolled her eyes. “Gross. I can wait. It’s not that big of a deal!”

  The server, a young man with red hair and copious freckles—so, basically, one of my People, appeared just moments later with his notepad ready to record our selections. After he walked away, shaking his head because Jada asked him approximately three million questions about how the fish was prepared, all eyes turned back to Molly.

  She laced her fingers together and brought them in front of her as she surveyed our anxious expressions. “Well… I’m adding a new member to my family,” she announced, her smile so bright, it competed with the sun.