by Zara Keane
With as much dignity as I could muster with my rain-sodden hair, I tossed frizzy curls over my shoulder and lifted my chin in defiance. “If you think you’ll get rid of me that easily, you have another think coming, Sergeant. If I see a wrong that needs to be put right, I’ll do it, license or no license.”
He threw his head back and laughed, the hearty sound whipping around my ears in the wind. “How did I know you’d say that?”
On instinct, I flipped him the bird, changing it into a peace sign at the last second. Indignant and fuming, I turned on my heel and marched down the road, destination unknown. Reynolds’ laughter rang in my ears for a long time.
• Thanks for reading To Hatch a Thief. I hope you enjoyed Maggie’s new adventure on Whisper Island! Maggie and her friends will be back in September 2017 for more murder and mayhem in The Thirty-Nine Cupcakes. Turn the page for an excerpt and a cocktail recipe.
• If you haven’t yet read the first three books in the Movie Club Mysteries, you can check them out on the Kindle Store, or borrow them for free through the Kindle Unlimited program.
Happy Reading!
Zara xx
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•I also have an active reader group, The Ballybeg Belles, where I chat, share snippets of upcoming stories, and host members only giveaways. I hope to join you for a virtual pint very soon!
Would you like to try one of the cocktails Maggie made for the To Catch a Thief movie night? There are a few variations on this classic cocktail that gained popularity in 1920s Paris. Here’s Maggie’s favorite combo!
ROSE COCKTAIL
2 oz (60ml) dry vermouth
1 oz (30ml) Kirschwasser
1 tsp raspberry syrup or Chambord
Put all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker.
Add ice and shake vigorously.
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Maggie’s tip: If you’re serving a series of gin-based cocktails, you can easily add 1oz dry gin, and lower the amount of dry vermouth from 2oz to 1 oz.
Zara’s brand new cozy mystery series continues in September 2017 with The 39 Cupcakes.
Acting as chaperone to a group of bratty summer camp kids has ex-cop-turned-private-investigator Maggie Doyle screaming to get her tubes tied. In case a day of fart jokes, fidget spinners, and fisticuffs wasn't enough, Maggie and one of her demonic charges stumble upon a skeleton at an archaeological dig. What at first appears to be a missing persons cold case takes a more sinister turn when a member of the excavation team winds up dead.
Can Maggie and her UFO-enthusiast sidekick solve the case before more bodies stack up? And will the case send Maggie on a collision course with her sort-of-boyfriend, the handsome Sergeant Liam Reynolds?
EXCERPT FROM THE 39 CUPCAKES
Whisper Island, Ireland
I stood and brushed dirt from the front of my jeans. A crowd had gathered at the edge of the pit, staring down at the skull with matching expressions of horror. Dean Forbisher, the excavation team’s leader, pushed his way to the front of the crowd. He was purple in the face and shot me a look of pure venom.
“Are you insane?” he snarled. “You can’t go around interfering with the units. This is an excavation site.”
I crossed my arms across my chest and stared him down. “This is also a crime scene.”
“Don’t be so quick to jump to conclusions, Ms. Doyle. For all you know you and that infernal brat have just tampered with an important archaeological find.”
“Susie just told our group that the Vikings favored cremations,” Caoimhe said, jutting her chin. “That can’t be a Viking.”
Touché. I was beginning to warm to the kid.
Forbisher’s complexion turned even redder. “It’s unlikely to be a Viking, but the skeleton could come from the monastic community, or come from a later period than what we’re looking for. It’s not uncommon to make finds from other periods during a dig. We know there was a religious community in this area up to the seventeenth century.”
I rolled my eyes. “Dude, unless the monks had orthodontics, that skeleton’s not been dead that long. Add in the hole through the forehead and we can conclude that this is a case for the police.”
Forbisher recoiled, but Jane Tate pushed past him and climbed into the pit with me. She examined the skull, and looked up at her boss. “Maggie’s right. The skull has a retainer on the inside of the bottom four teeth. And this does look like a musket ball hole.”
Forbisher’s face underwent a serious of spasmodic movements. “Impossible,” he spluttered. “Not on my dig.”
Jane exchanged an exasperated glance with me. “I took a postgrad course in forensic archaeology. I might not practice as a forensic archaeologist, but I know what I’m looking at. We have no choice but to call the police, Dean.”
Her boss ran a hand through his wild gray curls. “They’ll close down the dig. All our work—”
I let Jane deal with his tirade and hit speed dial. Before the call connected, Susie and Alan appeared at the edge of the pit. Susie’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh my goodness.”
Alan swayed from side to side. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
I wasn’t in the mood to play nursemaid. “Puke somewhere else. Forensics will want as little touched as possible.”
The grad student’s eyes rolled back in his head and he pitched forward into the pit. Jane and I scrambled to break his fall and prevent him from landing on the skull, but the man’s weight knocked us sideways. I landed with thud, and found myself face to skull with Tommy’s find. In the tumult, I dropped my phone. Naturally, my sort-of boyfriend chose that moment to answer.
The green button glowed on my phone, but I hadn’t hit speaker, and I couldn’t hear what he was saying. Alan moaned on top of me. For heaven’s sake. I pushed the Ph.D. student off me and rolled him as far from the skull as I could manage. Once I was sure he wouldn’t suffocate in the dirt—I was nice that way—I groped for the phone.
“Hey, Liam,” I said in a breathless voice.
“Uh, hi. What’s going on, Maggie? What’s with all the groaning in the background?”
“Some dude named Alan. He’s fine. I shoved him into the recovery position.”
Reynolds made a choking sound on the other end of the line that might have been laughter.
“Listen, I need you to get to the excavation site on St. Finbar’s Hill as soon as you can. And call forensics.”
“I thought you said Alan was fine,” Reynolds said in confusion.
“Forensics isn’t meant for him.”
“Oh, no,” he groaned. “Please tell me you’re pulling my leg. Today is my last day of work before my daughter arrives.”
“No joke, I’m afraid. The good news is that I didn’t find a dead body.”
“That’s great,” he said gloomily. “Now hit me with the bad.”
“Tommy Greer found a skull on the excavation site.”
“And you don’t think it’s from an ancient burial?”
“Not unless the skull’s owner was a time traveler. He had a retainer on his lower teeth. And from the size and shape of the hole in his forehead, I doubt we’re talking an accidental death.”
Liam sighed. “Of course he was murdered. You’re in the vicinity.”
“A low blow. Before today, I hadn’t found a dead body in six weeks. And this is just a head.”
In the background, Alan let out a yowl. With eyes filled with terror, he held up a skeletal hand and threw it in my direction. It landed in my lap. Seriously, this day…
“Well,” I conceded, “we have a head and a hand.”
“That’s…not reassuring,” Liam said dryly.
Out September 2017
Also by Zara Keane
MOVIE CLUB MYSTERIES—Cozy Mystery
Dial P For Poison
To Hatch a Thief (novella)
The Postman Always Dies Twice
How to Murder a Millionaire
The 39 Cupcakes (September 2017)
BALLYBEG SERIES—Contemporary Romance
Love and Shenanigans
Love and Blarney
Love and Leprechauns
Love and Mistletoe
Love and Shamrocks
BALLYBEG BAD BOYS—Romantic Suspense
Her Treasure Hunter Ex
The Rock Star’s Secret Baby
The Navy SEAL’s Holiday Fling
Bodyguard by Day, Ex-Husband by Night
The Navy SEAL’s Accidental Wife
DUBLIN MAFIA—Romantic Suspense
Final Target
Kiss Shot
Bullet Point (2017)
About Zara Keane
USA Today bestselling author Zara Keane grew up in Dublin, Ireland, but spent her summers in a small town very similar to the fictitious Whisper Island and Ballybeg.
She currently lives in Switzerland with her family. When she’s not writing or wrestling small people, she drinks far too much coffee, and tries—with occasional success—to resist the siren call of Swiss chocolate.
Zara has an active reader group, The Ballybeg Belles, where she chats, shares snippets of upcoming stories, and hosts members-only giveaways. She hopes to join you for a virtual pint very soon!
zarakeane.com
TO HATCH A THIEF
Copyright © 2017 by Sarah Tanner
Published 2017 by Beaverstone Press GmbH (LLC)
Excerpt from The 39 Cupcakes © 2017 by Sarah Tanner
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental
ISBN: 978-3-906245-51-5