by ACF Bookens
We’d been gone since last Wednesday, and while I’d had a blast – including wearing a ridiculous hat with faux fur and dangling bead trim to cheer Mart on as she took first in her age group in the race – I was glad to be back home to St. Marin’s. And to Daniel. I’d missed him.
“She rocked it. I think she could have run another 26.4 miles if she’d been allowed. But by the time she was done, she was starving. You know my favorite meal is breakfast, so we hit this place called The Chalet House of Omelettes.”
“Cheddar and mushrooms?”
Oh, he knew me so well. “You know it. But the spectacular part was watching Mart eat two omelets and a short stack of pancakes. For a tiny woman, she can really put it away.” I did not miss the irony of the fact that I had just shoved a second, full-size burrito into my mouth while I made this statement, but I didn’t care. Lu’s burritos were that good.
“Did you make it down to the city?” Daniel looked over at the dogs as he asked.
“Just on the way to and from SFO, the airport, I mean.” I leaned over so he could look me in the face. “We didn’t see anyone. I did, however, force Mart to take me for take-out at Burma Superstar since it wasn’t out of the way on our trip over the Golden Gate. I needed a tofu tower and those deep friend string beans.” I tried to make my answer seem light and fun, but I knew there was a lot riding on my answer.
“Oh, okay. I wasn’t sure if you were going to spend more time there.”
“Nope. I love that city, but I didn’t have anyone I wanted to see there.” I wiped the paint off my hands and then pulled a bucket up next to him. “You are the only man I want in my life. And I didn’t even want that guy when I had him. You don’t need to worry.”
I had been married when I lived in San Francisco, but that marriage was broken in some fundamental ways, mainly the husband in that marriage was broken, so it had ended before I moved back east. But I knew that the fact that I’d been married before was a tender spot with this sweet man I loved.
“The only love I have in San Francisco is that tofu tower. Okay, and maybe the omelets at Louis’. Oh, and the pork rolls from . . . “
He kissed me and then said, “Okay, so my main competition is food. I can work with that.”
“As long as you bring me burritos every so often, we shouldn’t have a problem,” I said slyly as I pushed myself to my feet. How come the ground got lower every time I sat near her? “You’re early for the shop. Want to come in?” I pointed toward the back door of the shop.
“Sure,” he stood easily from his own paint bucket, and I gave him the evil eye. “How can I help?”
Those four words offered so easily. Oh, they made my heart sputter. “Well, now that you’ve asked . . . “
While I put the paint away, he got Taco and Mayhem and brought them behind us into the bookstore. They immediately headed to the big orthopedic beds I’d placed in the front window. They were a gift from our favorite customer Galen had got them through an Instagram deal he was offered by a dog company. They had hired his bulldog Mack as their spokesdog, and now Mack was flush with merch and ready to share. Plus, dogs in the window were always good for tourist traffic, especially if a bulldog with a pronounced underbite joined them. During the summer high season, those pups had been all the pr I needed for the store.
Daniel had just brought out the last of the pumpkin books I needed for the new window display when Mart burst through the front door. She was sweaty and out of breath, something she hadn’t been even at the end of this weekend’s marathon.
“Call Tuck. There’s been a murder.”
“What?! Mart slow down,” I said even as I grabbed my phone from the counter by the register. “Who’s dead?
“Coach Cagle. I just found his body on the high school track.”
To Read More of Plotted For Murder, pre-order your copy here - https://books2read.com/plottedformurder
Harvey and Marcus’s Book Recommendations
Here, you will find all the books and authors recommended in Bound To Execute to add to your never-ending to-read-list!
Crime And Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
The Myth of Solid Ground by David L. Ulin
The Rest Of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
Why Didn’t They Teach Me This In School by Cary Siegel
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
The Best Bass Flies by Jay Zimmerman
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
Poison In Paddington by Samantha Silver
I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith
Bruno, Chief Of Police by Martin Walker
Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott
Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Everything, Everything by Michelle Yoon
Turtles All The Way Down by John Green
Reading People by Anne Bogel
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Master of the Mountain by Henry Wiencek
In the Market for Love by Megan Squires
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding
I have personally read each of these titles and recommend them highly. See this list plus the recommendations from the other books in the series here - https://books2read.com/rl/HarveyAndMarcusRecommend.
Feel free to drop me a line at [email protected] and let me know if you read any or have books you think I should read. Thanks!
Happy Reading,
ACF
Want to read about Harvey’s first sleuthing expedition?
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About the Author
ACF Bookens lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, where the mountain tops remind her that life is a rugged beauty of a beast worthy of our attention. When she’s not writing, she enjoys watching her husband and son ride the tractor, cross-stitching while she binge-watches police procedurals, and reading everything she can get her hands on. Find her at bookens.andilit.com.
Also by ACF Bookens
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