Contents
A Murder In Milburn
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Death At A Diner
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Epilogue
Death Of A Deputy
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Death In The Library
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Epilogue
Death Under The Fireworks
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Death By Ice Cream
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Epilogue
Death At The Zoo
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue
Death At A Wedding
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Death Of A Psychic
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Epilogue
Death At A B & B
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Death On Social Media
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Death Of A Rock Star
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Epilogue
Death On Bingo Night
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Epilogue
Berry The Dead
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Epilogue
Dancing With The Dead
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Epilogue
Reminiscing With The Dead
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Reading With The Dead
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
Knitting With The Dead
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue
Retiring With The Dead
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Epilogue
One More Thing
RECIPE #1
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Disclaimer
BONUS: The Locked Room Murder
Disclaimer
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
BONUS: A Cherry Sinister Murder
Disclaimer
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Sneak Peek: Murder & Marble Cake
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Let's Connect!
MILBURN BIG BOX SET
Two Complete Series…ALL 18 Books:
“A Murder In Milburn”
Death At A Diner
Death Of A Deputy
Death In The Library
Death Under The Fireworks
Death By Ice Cream
Death At The Zoo
Death At A Wedding
Death Of A Psychic
Death At A B & B
Death On Social Media
Death Of A Rock Star
Death On Bingo Night
“Return To Milburn”
Berry The Dead
Dancing With The Dead
Reminiscing With The Dead
Reading With The Dead
Knitting With The Dead
Retiring With The Dead
By
Nancy McGovern
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Now, let’s get started…
A MURDER IN MILBURN, BOOK 1:
Death At A Diner
By
Nancy McGovern
Chapter 1
Blue Dress, Yellow Piping
“It’s here!” Raquel squealed, jumping up and down. She was clutching a large, brown package covered with stamps and stickers acquired during its trek from New York’s LaGuardia Airport. “This is it, Nora! We’re really doing this!”
Nora gave a squeal of delight, the kind of squeal a girl only makes in the presence of her best friend. The kind of squeal you give when the dream you’ve been working at steadily for ten years is finally coming true. She grabbed Raquel and danced around with her, the two of them laughing and talking excitedly.
Raquel Madden, dressed in a baggy, red sweater with dark navy tights, her hair pulled up in a messy bun, still managed to look every bit the rock star that she secretly thought she’d become one day. She finally dropped the package on the carpet and sat down, legs crossed. Nora, dressed casually in a boat-necked t-shirt and jeans, dropped down beside her.
“Ready?” Raquel asked. She rubbed her hands together. “Ready for the beginning of the rest of our lives?”
“You sound like you’re proposing to me, you know,” Nora joked.
“Marriages aren’t always forever.” Raquel laughed. “This will be.”
Nora smiled. At this moment, she felt invincible. How could she not? It was finally all coming together - the bank loans, the delays, the messy construction work, the necessary permits. She and Raquel had climbed over every hurdle together.
Sitting beside her, Raquel clapped her hands like an excited child, then drew out a small pair of scissors from her purse and cut open the package. Tissue paper rustled inside and the heavenly smell that only new clothes can possess wafted out.
“Perfect,” breathed Nora, her eyes sparkling. They’d spent hours on Pinterest scrolling through endless designs and color schemes until they’d finally found what they’d been looking for. And now here it was - the chalk-blue dress with yellow piping on the sleeves and sides, topped with a delicate, lace collar. The perfect uniform, for the perfect diner.
“It’s done then. Norquel’s Diner has finally got its uniform! We’re all set to open on Monday.”
“I can’t believe you’re still calling it Norquel’s.” Nora laughed. “It’s Rara’s Diner and you know it.”
Over the preceding months, the two friends had scribbled down pages and pages of potential names for the diner. Eventually, they’d been able to whittle the list down to three top contenders, two of which were combinations of their names. And, once the final decision was made, it had become an inside joke of sorts to call the diner by those runner-up names. The
truth, however, was that neither girl wanted to take the chance of jinxing anything by calling the diner by its real name before opening night.
The Madness Diner.
That had been the first thing Raquel said when Nora had come to her with the business plan.
“This is madness, Nora!”
Nora still remembered the moment the idea had been born, ten years ago, when the two of them were still seniors in Milburn High School. Nora had spent the three previous summers flipping burgers at various joints around town and watched each of them eventually close its doors as the unending recession blew people away from their hometown. But, despite all of that negativity, she knew that cooking was more than just a task for her. It was a passion.
That summer, way back when, Raquel had been heartbroken after a brutal break-up with her boyfriend and a series of fights with her stepmother. More often than not, she and Nora, both being nature lovers, would end up spending afternoons and evenings in and around a little cave in the woods they’d discovered while on one of their many hikes. There, Nora and Raquel could settle down, listen to the sounds of nature and talk about the future without being judged or mocked. Occasionally they’d even sneak a bottle or two of beer from home and really get philosophical.
It was in that most primitive of places when, one summer evening, Nora had first voiced her idea of opening a diner.
Raquel was being very generous when she called it madness. Stupidity, others might have said. Sheer insanity, even. After all, no other eateries had been able to sustain in their town for any great length of time.
“No, it’s not,” Nora had replied, still in her teens but already possessing the mutinous, grey eyes she has today. “Raquel, this town will survive. It always has. Trust me, one day it’s going to thrive again, and we’ll be the ones feeding its growth! Literally!”
“Come on, Nay-Nay.” That was Raquel’s nickname for her, and she spoke softly, realizing that her quiet best friend had probably been nurturing this dream for a long time. “We’ve got to be realistic. Owning a restaurant is a nice daydream, but real life doesn’t work that way. It costs money and God knows we’re both broke. It also takes skills and we don’t have those, either.”
“So?” Nora challenged. “We’ve got what matters, Raquel. We’ve got the vision! The dream! We can do this. So, we need money. We’ll get a loan. We need skills? We’ll spend time working at other places until we attain them. We can do this!”
“Sure, Nora,” Raquel had said, laughing. She leaned back against the scratchy granite and sipped from a can of Sprite. “I’ll tell you what. If you ever gather enough of a down payment to get a bank loan for the diner, I’ll drop whatever it is I’m doing and come join you.”
Nora had nodded seriously while Raquel quickly moved the conversation toward other topics, convinced that this was yet another daydream that would dissolve as the years moved on.
The years had moved on, but the daydream stuck. Through the deaths of both of her parents, through the loss of her childhood home, through the many, many, jobs she’d worked as a cook from New York City to Boston and through the night classes she took at a community college where she learned how to run a business, Nora had clung to the dream. Just as she’d clung to her only real friendship.
She and Raquel had been an odd pair, for sure, but they’d been inseparable since the third grade. Nora was the quiet teacher’s pet with a hidden - very hidden - wild streak. Raquel, on the other hand, was the madcap prom queen with a hundred boys trailing after her and a tendency to choose complicated books by French philosophers over her school work. Nora was tall and gangly and blonde with grey eyes and braces while Raquel was short, curvy, dark-haired and, with her sharp features and bright, blue eyes, as beautiful as a supermodel.
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