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Murder by Ellie Campbell. Please leave
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Meddling with Murder
By Ellie Campbell
A Crouch End Confidential Mystery, Book 2
Publisher: Across the Pond Press
Release Date: April 9,
2016
Genre: Mystery/Female
Sleuth
Format: eBook/Print
Length: 310 Pages
ISBN: 978-0991538157
ASIN: B01DA706ZI
Buy Link:
Amazon
About the book:
Crouch End
Confidential, the agency started by housewife and mother, Cathy O’Farrell, with
ex-cleaner, Pimple is failing badly. Hardly surprising when Cathy’s too
soft-hearted to charge their only clients, little old ladies seeking lost pets
and a school kid searching for his stolen bike.
A new case
involving a teenager in possession of an unexplained Glock pistol promises to
change all that. Quickly Cathy’s deep in waters over her head, forced with
hilarious results to pose as a mathematics tutor, a subject of which she’s
truly clueless. There’s also the tricky situation of best friend and new mother
Rosa hiring her to investigate her fiancé, Alec, plus the mysterious
sabotage of Cathy’s friends’ cycle shop and a gang of yobbos dealing drugs
at her children’s primary school.
Worst of
all, an ill-fated trip to rural Norfolk has Cathy’s husband, Declan, intent on
buying a post office and transplanting the family to safer
climes, threatening to tear Cathy permanently from her beloved
North London home.
Pretty soon
Cathy’s risking her friendships, her marriage and even her life untangling
all these messes. But that’s what you get for meddling in murder…
EXCERPTChapter 1What the fudge?The branch creaks alarmingly as I test my weight against it. For a second I think it might snap but then my foot slips and we part company anyway. Bark scrapes another layer off my grazed skin and to my horror I find myself tipping backwards, falling, falling…Far beneath me my daughter Sophie gives an unwitting squeal, Henrietta’s twins shriek in unison and I hear son Josh call out ‘Mummeeee!’ when as much by luck as design my left arm catches a forked limb long enough for me to grasp it and come to a bone-jolting, shoulder-wrenching stop. Sweat drips down my body, my knees shake uncontrollably and something’s poking between my ribs like a sharpened spear, causing an actual hole through clothes into flesh.Dangling, I somehow hook one leg round the main trunk and cling there like my life depends on it. Which, for the record, it does.‘Hang on, Mum!’ Sophie yells for perhaps the fifteenth time. She’d wanted to climb up here but I’d told her it was too dangerous. When will I listen to my own advice?I stop panting long enough to call down. ‘I’m OK, sweetheart. Perfectly safe.’ How long since I last clambered up a tree? Me, an overweight, unfit middle-aged, mother-of-two in not so skinny jeans. And what did I promise my family – that I’d avoid potentially risky situations? That any cases I took on would absolutely not involve capturing murderers or exposing criminals? Not that our patch of North London known as Crouch End is inundated with killings, just that I’ve somehow succeeded in entangling myself with two in the last eighteen months. And now the simplest of mundane jobs has turned an everyday school drop-off into what could possibly be my final farewell.A terrified glance below shows Sophie clutching on to her younger brother’s arm, their long-standing feud forgotten as they contemplate their mother’s plight. Lauren, Henrietta’s eldest by two seconds, is hopping from foot to foot, pale with anxiety while her sister’s nervously studying her watch. I wonder what’s upsetting them most – the thought of Aunty Cathy’s untimely demise or being late for class. Yet again.Three feet above me, inches from reach, a tortoiseshell cat stares down with baleful yellow eyes. I hold out a coaxing hand. ‘Here, Fluffy. C’mon, kitty. Pishhh whishh.’Disregarding me entirely, he licks his paw before stalking further out, balancing on a twig, with the arrogant grace of a tightrope walker. Oh how I wish I’d ignored him when I saw that distinctive white-tipped tail swagger across the zebra crossing. But I’d spent weeks scouring backyards, crawling on hands and knees, peeking under parked cars, over hedges, listening to sweet old Mrs Thompson choke back sobs as I admitted failure.I’m gathering my courage and strength to scale higher when my mobile rings. I wedge my bum into a crevice between branch and tree, tighten my hold and, with a few contortions worthy of the great Houdini, extract my phone from my pocket to peer at the screen.Caller’s number withheld. Should I answer it?Am I in any position to answer it?Could be urgent.‘Hello?’ I venture.‘Is this…?’ A woman. Middle-aged at a guess, posh sounding. She drops to a muted whisper so low I have to crane to hear. ‘The HP…um…WS…um…thingy?’Several months back I’d been donated this money, you see, ten thousand pounds, which was kind of hot, but gone cold. Semi-illegal – not to be returned. Brilliant timing as my husband, Declan, had recently re-evaluated what he wanted from life: Rhode Island Reds and a less pressurised career, I’d been suspended from work and my house cleaner, Pimple, was tired of domestic duties. I was thinking maybe it’s time I should do some soul-searching. So we, as in Pimple and myself, decided to start up a business.‘That’s right,’ I say briskly, with enough softness to encourage conversation. ‘The H.P.W.W.O.C.S. Helping People Who Would Otherwise Commit Suicide. Or even H.P.W.M.O.C.S. – People Who Might Otherwise…but we’re called Crouch End Confidential now.’ Impromptu market research among friends had ended up with tongue-tied repetitions and lots of ‘You whats?’We’d originally substituted the would for might, because after all, how can one predict who’ll kill themselves? Some people threaten it with no intention of going through with it and others, not a word and then boom – lives are devastated. Then there’s those who talk about it all the time and no one gives a hoot because they’re labelled attention-seekers and before you can say boom again – they carry out what they’d always said they’d carry out.‘But you are that organisation? The ones who help with, uh difficult problems, like er…’‘Lost pets?’ I finish for her, looking up again at Fluffy. ‘Yes, we do a fair amount of those.’ Far more than intended. ‘What kind do you have?’‘Well, I-I…’ She seems at a loss. ‘Only—’A strange wailing fills the morning air. At first I think it’s the cat, but it’s clearly a siren, volume increasing as it draws closer. Exceptionally loud now. Anyone would think it—‘Is that the police?’ There’s a fearful edge to the woman’s voice. Or perhaps she’s merely anxious to be heard over the noise.I glimpse through the branches, hearing cotton rip as I lean forward. A huge red vehicle’s speeding this way, lights blazing.‘Fire engine,’ I report back. ‘Can’t see smoke but it must be nearby. They’re slowing down. They’re—’Stopping right beside the kids…What the blazes?Sophie’s small face gazes up at me, expression distraught in the strobe lighting, finger pointing in my direction.‘PERHAPS I’D…’ I find I’m screaming into the phone as the siren abruptly cuts out. I turn away from the cluster of grinning helmeted and booted firemen assembling at the foot of the tree as someone cranks up the ladder. Fluffy takes one look, turns tail and bolts down the other side. I modulate my voice to more professional tones. Perhaps I’d better ring you back I’m about to suggest politely, but too late. She’s gone.
Ellie Campbell is a pseudonym for sister writing
team, Pam Burks and Lorraine Campbell. Running wild as tomboys in
Scotland, playing imagination games, they couldn’t dream that one day they’d
co-author novels despite an ocean between them. From boring clerical jobs in
London to a varied life of backpacking and adventure travel, both started almost
accidentally as short story writers, Lorraine when working in publishing, Pam
as a fun hobby while an at-home mother of three.
By the time
each had 70 short stories published internationally, Pam was settled in Surrey,
England, and Lorraine had finally taken root in Boulder, Colorado. Long
telephone chats about life and fiction led to their current
collaboration. They have produced five acclaimed novels – How To Survive
Your Sisters, When Good Friends Go Bad, Looking For La La, To Catch A Creeper
and Million Dollar Question. They write contemporary women’s fiction
laced with humour, romance, and mystery.
When not
hunched over computers, Lorraine, a certified ROTH ‘horse whisperer’, can
usually be found messing about with her four rescue horses and Pam on a fund
raising bike ride, madly cycling over mountains to Paris, Barcelona or
Gibraltar on the back of her husband’s bone-shaking tandem.
Author Links:
Webpage: http://chicklitsisters.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ecampbellbooks
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/ecampbellbooks
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/settings/authors#authors-search
Ellie Campbell
Thank you so much for hosting us on your site and for the great spotlight :)
ReplyDeleteHow do you feel when someone disagrees with something you have written?
ReplyDeleteEverybody got a right to agree or disagree. And it depends on what the disagreement is. If it is something factual I look it up and find out what is right, if it is something ethical I consider whether or not it is within the realm of harm to another person and go from there. Mostly disagreements don't bother me though so long as the person has bought the book.
DeleteHave added this to my TBR list. Can't wait to read it.
ReplyDelete