Deadly Summer (Darling Investigations Book 1)

by Denise Grover Swank

  I visited Amazon a few years ago and ran into Alison in the Thomas & Mercer department. She told her coworker that I was great at revisions. I sure hoped she believed that after I turned in the first draft of this manuscript, because this book saw some major changes.

  I turned in the first draft and knew it was bad. Bad enough that I pushed “Send,” opened a bottle of wine, and called my oldest son and said, “I need you to help me plot a crime.” Perhaps I should have been more worried when he said, “No problem.”

  Trace and I spent the next hour coming up with a crime and motives . . . then I changed half of it when I started revising, because just like Baby in Dirty Dancing, turns out my brain doesn’t like being put in a corner. So my apologies to the patrons who were present at Buffalo Wild Wings in Independence, Missouri, on the night when Trace asked me at a family dinner how my revision was going, and I confessed I’d changed his murderer.

  Oops.

  Thank you to Angela for always having my back and dealing with my recent missed deadlines with a sunny attitude and multiple pep talks. It’s a blessing when your editor truly gets you—both on the page and off.

  Thank you to Alison for taking a chance on me. Especially thanks for not demanding back your advance after reading the first version.

  Thank you to my son, Trace, for helping me brainstorm crimes. Please save your criminal mastermind for my plots.

  Thank you to my children who deal with a frazzled mother who feeds them fast food for dinner way too many times when she’s on (or behind) deadline. At least we still eat together at the kitchen table. (Hey, I’m taking my Mother of the Year points wherever I can get them.)

  And thank you, dear readers, who chose to read my book out of the millions available. I never take you for granted.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Denise Grover Swank is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of the Rose Gardner Mystery Series, the Magnolia Steele Mystery Series, The Wedding Pact Series, The Curse Keepers Series, and others. She was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and lived in the area until she was nineteen. Then she became a nomad, living in five cities, four states, and ten houses over the course of ten years before moving back to her roots. Her hobbies include witty Facebook comments (in her own mind) and dancing in her kitchen with her children (quite badly, if you believe her offspring).

  Hidden talents include the gift of justification and the ability to drink massive amounts of caffeine and still fall asleep within two minutes. Her lack of the sense of smell allows her to perform many unspeakable tasks. She has six children and hasn’t lost her sanity—or so she leads you to believe. For more information about Denise, please visit her at www.denisegroverswank.com.