A Look to Die for (Preview)

Chapter One

“If you’re going to call this place “Hollywood Hair”, you really ought to provide more upscale beverage options,” Sue Ellen said, hitting the welcome counter that Erin Armstrong was standing behind. “Water, iced tea, and coffee? Why not just serve bread and water? This already seems like the offering at a prison buffet.”

Although Erin wanted to retort, she was able to restrain herself and paste a seemingly-pleasant smile on her face. As much as Sue Ellen Easton worked to disprove the notion that “the customer is always right,” Erin still wanted her salon to be a place where everyone felt cared for and treated with kindness.

Erin had chosen to name her salon “Hollywood Hair” because she knew that even though she had grown up in the small town of Glengrove, Illinois, most of the people there still associated her with the time she had spent living in Los Angeles. Erin had been a hairstylist there too, and had worked for a few minor celebrities. Her most impressive gig had been when she joined the hair and makeup team for a sitcom that had aired for several seasons.

The work had been fine, and Erin liked that the winters were much milder than the ones that hit the Chicago area. However, the main reason why she had settled on California for her styling work was that her husband, Ed, had been an aspiring actor. When she had caught him fooling around with one of the actresses on the show (and someone she had considered a friend), she had decided there was nothing holding her in that town anymore and immediately left.

Erin had been careful with the money she made from her television work. While she had planned on using it to start a family or for an emergency rainy day fund if Ed never did land a role, Erin found a new use for the funds. She chose to open up her own hair salon where she could feel more in charge of her destiny. She decided she should open it back in Glengrove because it was a place that still felt like home.

Though the salon had been running for several years now, she still had customers asking her about what certain celebrities were like behind the scenes. Often when Erin told them that she had never met those particular famous people, her customers thought she was being coy. Some would say that they understood that Erin wasn’t allowed to betray a celebrity’s trust and would then extrapolate their own answers about what that person was really like.

Since it was good for business and seemed all in good fun, Erin didn’t mind the questions. She liked that the others in town seemed to think that she had been a big deal in LA and it made coming up with the salon’s name simple.

She also thought it was a fitting name for the place, because she really did believe that everyone deserved to be treated like a star. Erin enjoyed owning her own salon because she loved helping people feel beautiful.

There were some other perks about being the boss too. She had been able to hire people that she thought were wonderful. She had become especially close to one vivacious hairstylist, Deena, who had been there since the salon opened, and now it seemed like Erin got to work with her best friend every day.

Even if sometimes an annoying customer did cause Erin some headaches, there was a lot for her to be thankful for. She just needed to remind herself of this when it got tricky.

“Why don’t you have anything else available?” Sue Ellen asked. She whipped her long platinum blonde hair to the side.

“Well, adding some more drinks is certainly something to consider,” Erin replied neutrally. “I try to provide some options to keep you hydrated if you’re under the dryer for a while or something to perk you up with a little caffeine if you have an early morning appointment. I honestly didn’t consider having much more because this isn’t a food establishment, and there are two bistros within walking distance.”

“With a name like “Hollywood Hair”, you should be offering me champagne,” Sue Ellen drawled as if this was the most obvious idea in the world and Erin was an imbecile.

Erin struggled to come up with a response to this demand, but eventually found something appropriate she could add. “There hasn’t been much demand for that here, but I could look into the local laws about serving champagne. It might be fun to have an event like Mimosa Mornings for our clients. Until then, are you sure you wouldn’t like some water or iced tea?”

Erin headed out from behind the counter and toward the refreshment table in the waiting area. She was prepared to serve Sue Ellen a drink, but the other woman shook her head dismissively.

“No, thank you. I’m not thirsty now.”

Erin paused, unsure of what she should do next. She hadn’t expected someone to give her a hard time about her beverage options without wanting one to quench their thirst.

A customer sitting in the waiting room started making an exasperated clucking sound from behind her magazine. Erin bit her lip. This customer was another regular, and chatty Adele loved to both hear about and be a part of dramatic situations.

Sue Ellen turned sharply toward her, “I assume those noises you’re making are regarding the blather in your trashy magazine.”

“Of course,” Adele said sweetly, pushing up her glasses. “Though sometimes things are even more interesting in real life. I hear you’re running for re-election at the Good Deeds Society. I wonder what they will think of your desire to day drink during a haircut.”

“I’ve done no such thing,” said Sue Ellen vehemently. “I simply don’t like false advertising. Whenever I come in here, I like to offer suggestions about how to make the salon seem more like a Hollywood experience. Right now the only thing that makes this place feel like California is the heat. Why is it so hot in here?”

“I can adjust the temperature,” Erin offered.

“I think it’s quite comfortable,” Adele said, casually flipping through her magazine again.

Sue Ellen decided she was finished with Adele and turned her attention back to the salon owner. She changed tactics and started tapping her foot.

“Is it your custom to make all your clients wait?”

“I’m not waiting,” Adele muttered. “I’m deciding if I want to do something besides my usual perm.”

“You are early for your appointment,” Erin reminded Sue Ellen. “If you’d like me to take care of you, we could begin now. If you want Deena to be your stylist as you requested, you’ll have to wait until she’s finished with her first client.”

“Of course I want Deena. Deena has been my stylist for over a year. I have a very special event tomorrow that I need to look perfect for. I can’t have someone who doesn’t know my hair work on me now. And besides, she knows all about the special arrangements I need.”

Erin nodded politely. She knew that Sue Ellen requested a certain shampoo to be used during her appointments. She had an allergy and wanted to be sure that her shampoo wouldn’t cause her any adverse reactions. Erin had always ordered the proper shampoo for when she arrived, and made sure that it was exclusively for Sue Ellen’s use.

“I’m sure she’ll be ready in a few minutes,” Erin assured her.

Sue Ellen began to pace across the waiting room, letting everyone know – just in case they weren’t completely sure – that she was dissatisfied with having to wait her turn.

Erin noticed one of her employees walk up to the glass entrance door, but upon seeing Sue Ellen, make an about-face and leave. Erin hoped that Sylvia was planning on entering from the employees’ entrance so she wouldn’t have to walk directly past the pacing customer and that Sue Ellen hadn’t completely scared Sylvia away.

Sue Ellen was just letting out an immense sigh when Deena walked her other customer over to a drying chair close to the waiting area. Sue Ellen’s lip curled when she recognized who it was.

“Vicki?”

“Oh, Sue Ellen. Hello,” the woman with foil in her curly hair said meekly.

“So, you’re the reason why I was forced to wait. It seems you’ve been getting in my way a lot recently, Vicki.”

“But there’s no reason for her to be in your way on a trip to the sink,” Deena said, calmly stepping in between the two women.

Deena had hair that was dark and curly. Though she did put some product into it each day, she made no effort to shrink her wild mane. There were a few advantages to this style. One was that it made her slender form look even tinier. Her hair was also so large that when she stood between these two angry women, she was blocking them from seeing each other’s faces.

“Sue Ellen, you can make yourself comfortable in the rinsing chair. I’ll be with you in a moment.”

Sue Ellen gave Vicki a dirty look, but because the other woman was averting her eyes, she might not have seen this malice.

“Do you have my specialty shampoo?” Sue Ellen asked.

“It’s right there by the sink,” Deena said, pointing. “A full bottle.”

Sue Ellen seemed appeased for the moment and took a seat. Erin hurried over to assist Vicki with the dryer so that Deena was free to deal with her more demanding client. Once Vicki was settled and the dryer was on, Erin realized that there was an advantage to being under the machine. Vicki wasn’t able to hear Sue Ellen’s complaints, but Erin still was. She was grateful that Sue Ellen had moved away from the salon as a topic, but she couldn’t help feeling bad for the assistant that Sue Ellen was verbally bashing.

Deena was handling the situation in her stride though. She made a few noncommittal jokes about the situation that seemed to please Sue Ellen. If Erin hadn’t known Deena so well and recognized that her smile kept tilting to the side, which was something that Deena only did when she was stressed or telling white lies, she might have thought that the stylist and client were friends.

Adele still hadn’t made a decision about her own style, so Erin returned to the welcome desk. She was starting to realize that this was a habit of Adele’s. Since Adele always invariably landed on getting another perm and cut to the same length as her previous visits, Erin was pretty sure that this town gossip just wanted to hang out at a location that could provide ample interesting ammunition as long as possible.

“I’m sorry,” Sylvia said, making her way toward the welcome desk after coming in from the employee’s entrance. “I usually don’t go out of my way to avoid Sue Ellen, but it looked like she was on a warpath today.”

“It’s all right. Kimmy has been hiding in the storage room since Sue Ellen came in,” Erin said, teasing about her youngest employee.

Sylvia hung up her jacket and shook her head. Her bouffant barely moved as her head did.

“I don’t blame Kimmy for that. And I do try to be supportive of Sue Ellen. I know we want all our customers to be happy, and I know what it’s like to have allergies. I don’t mind Sue Ellen being cautious about her shampoo. I have a food allergy that could be fatal, so I know that you have to be careful. However, most of her demands have nothing to do with that. She just likes bossing people around and making people feel bad. Usually, she doesn’t have a reason.”

“I have some bossing of my own to do,” said Erin. “I need you to set up the manicure station. I’d like Vicki to be able to get her nails done as soon as her hair is dry.”

“That’s no problem. I don’t mind your bossing, boss.”

Sylvia walked away to begin her station setup, and Erin began checking the appointments for the day in the large client book that she had on the desk. She also had a computer where she stored relevant information, but she preferred having a paper calendar and contact list for her use nearby.

However, as she squinted at one of their afternoon timeslots, she realized that she couldn’t make heads or tails of the handwriting.

“Kimmy,” she called.

A teenage girl with long, light blonde hair and a broom in her hands poked her head out of the storage room.

“Could you come here a moment?” Erin asked. “I can’t read who is supposed to be here at three o’clock today.”

Kimmy nodded and joined her at the desk. Kimmy was a junior at the local high school and worked at the salon on the weekends. She wasn’t a licensed stylist, so she didn’t work on anyone’s hair yet. However, she was very helpful when it came to cleaning up and answering the phone. It was only occasionally that Erin couldn’t read her handwriting.

“That’s the Pasquale Family,” Kimmy said, barely looking down. “The twins both need a haircut and they want to make sure that they don’t look exactly the same.”

“Got it,” Erin said, making a more legible note in her book.

“And after them is another prom hair consultation.”

“We’ve been getting a few of those,” said Erin. “I’m glad that high schoolers are thinking of us when it comes to their prom hairstyles. I bet that you working here has something to do with that.”

“I don’t know,” Kimmy said with an embarrassed shrug. “I don’t think my classmates flock to do what I’m doing. I am really excited about prom though. I have my ticket, my dress, and my shoes. My hair is obviously going to be taken care of. All I need is to find a date.”

“Do you even need a date? A lot of people go with friends.”

“That’s the problem. All the friends I’m going with have dates. I don’t want to be a seventh wheel.”

“You’re a wonderful person. I’m sure you’ll find someone who will want to go with you,” Erin assured her.

A huge smile appeared on Kimmy’s face as she began to daydream. “I can imagine it all. I think it’s going to be a magical night. Proms usually are, right?”

Erin gave a little cough rather than answering that question.

“Don’t you think?” Kimmy asked, desiring a more direct answer. “I mean, yours was great, wasn’t it? You did go to it?”

“I did go,” Erin said, evasively. “And so did Deena. She was a little ahead of me in school, but she has some fun stories. You should ask her about it. She’ll tell you she was the only one who was able to walk in her high heels the entire night.”

“I think I chose good shoes that I can dance in,” Kimmy considered it. “What type of shoes did you wear?”

“I bet Sylvia has some good stories about her prom too. And maybe some stories about recent proms too. Her husband is a science teacher at the high school.”

“That’s nice, but what about your prom?”

Erin looked at Kimmy’s earnest and eager face, and eventually settled on saying, “It was fine.”

“Do you not want to talk about your prom?” Kimmy asked, starting to pick up on the not-so-subtle clues.

The truth was that Erin did not want to talk about her prom. She had gotten stood up by her date, and since she had harbored a huge crush on him until that point, it was a very disappointing experience. She thought that she had some chemistry with the guy and had been overjoyed when he had asked her to the dance. However, his intention all along must have been to embarrass her. Erin would have been mortified if Ed had not swooped in as a last-minute replacement.

Erin didn’t want to talk about this painful moment in her teenage years, and she didn’t want to put the idea that something like this could happen to Kimmy as well into the young girl’s happy head.

“The dance itself was fun,” Erin told her. “It’s just that I ended up going to prom with the man I eventually married.”

“I’m sorry for bringing this up then,” Kimmy said quickly. “I know he was a big jerk to you in Hollywood. It must hurt to think about happy times too. I won’t talk about prom anymore.”

“I’m delighted to talk about your prom,” Erin clarified. “But I would prefer not to talk about my own.”

Kimmy nodded. She started sweeping up the shop but based on the spring in her step and how at moments she seemed to dance, Erin suspected that the young woman was still daydreaming about a potential date to the prom.

Erin checked with Adele who was still “deciding on her style,” and then was able to help Vicki out from under the dryer and over to Sylvia at the manicure table. Deena finished washing Sue Ellen’s hair and led her to the drying chairs.

Sue Ellen didn’t make a big fuss about this portion of her appointment. She merely said that she didn’t want to use the same seat that Vicki had recently been in. Deena positioned her in a different chair and turned the dryer on.

While it seemed like she had a few minutes of reprieve, she made her way over to Erin.

“Always a fun way to start the day,” Deena said sarcastically. “What demands did I miss while I was tending to Vicki earlier?”

Erin replied, “Apparently, we should be serving champagne.”

“Well, after this day we’re having I bet we could use a drink tonight. Want to get some wine at the Lakeside Bar after we close?”

“Sounds like fun,” Erin agreed. “I’m sorry that the salon’s most difficult client likes you best so you always have to deal with her. You do a great job with her ego as well as her hair though.”

“Thanks.” Deena leaned across the counter and whispered conspiratorially, “Of course, sometimes when she’s yelling, I do wish that she would drop dead.”

Erin knew that her friend was using hyperbole, but almost the instant after they guiltily smiled at this joke, Sue Ellen began coughing. She fells out of the drying chair and onto the floor as her coughing fit became more intense. Soon it seemed like she wasn’t able to breathe at all.

“What do we do?” Kimmy cried.

Erin grabbed the nearby phone and started to dial 911. Deena moved closer to Sue Ellen, who suddenly stopped moving.

“I can’t believe it,” Deena said, kneeling down to check for a pulse. “She’s dead.”

Chapter Two

“This doesn’t feel real,” Kimmy muttered. “It’s too awful.”

Erin placed an arm around her to try and provide some comfort. It was hard not to feel panicked after what they had just witnessed, and they were further reminded of the tragedy as the medical examiner arrived instead of an ambulance.

Erin sat outside with her employees and customers. Vicki’s hair had not been completely finished, and only one hand had colored nails on it. Adele alternated between looking gleeful and terrified about being so close to this piece of juicy gossip.

Sylvia and Deena were both silent. Sylvia was still and staring at the ground. Deena had some restless energy that expressed itself in anxious heel bounces and hand twisting.

Outside the shop provided a view of the local lake. It wasn’t one of the great ones located in the north of Illinois, but it provided a picturesque scene to the town. The weather was gentle and sunny. It was such a serene day outside that Erin had trouble matching it up with the terrible sight she had just witnessed inside the salon she loved.

“How could that have happened?” asked Kimmy.

“I don’t know,” Erin admitted. “But Detective Randall might have more information for us when she comes back.”

“I was always scared of Sue Ellen,” Kimmy said. “Now this is definitely going to be in my nightmares.”

Erin and the others waited for what seemed like an eternity, but what could not actually have been more than a half-hour. Kimmy’s mom arrived during this time and took over reassuring her daughter. Erin turned her focus over to Deena, who now looked pale.

“Can I get you something?” Erin asked her friend. “Do you need some water?”

Deena shrugged, but Erin thought it might be a good idea to look into getting everyone something to drink. They were all in various states of shock, and it would be good to get them something to stay hydrated.

She walked to the salon entrance, hoping to ask Detective Linda Randall if she could take some of the water bottles over to the waiting witnesses. However, it wasn’t Detective Randall that she saw when she got there. Instead, it was one of the last people she wanted to see.

“You! What are you doing here?” she asked before she realized that the words were spilling out of her mouth.

Harrison Connors looked up from the notebook he had been writing in. Based on the badge on his belt, the reason he was there was obvious. He must be Detective Randall’s partner and was examining the scene with her.

While Erin did immediately understand that Harrison was there because he was working, she still couldn’t wrap her head around why he had to be the one here at her salon.

This was the man who had stood her up at her prom, and now here he was standing in front of her again. He was older and appeared more athletic now than he had in high school, but he had the same piercing blue eyes and diligent look when he held a pen in his hand.

Erin had had such a big crush on Harrison when they were in school. They were in a few classes together, and when they were paired on a science project together Erin thought they had great chemistry. She thought that he felt the same way about her because he asked her to accompany him to the prom right after they finished their senior project. However, it must have been a joke for him and his friends. He had never picked her up for the dance and avoided her attempts to ask him what had happened.

Through the chatter at the salon, Erin had learned that he recently moved back to town to care for his mother and she vaguely remembered mention that he was part of the Glengrove Police Force. However, she had no desire to see him again and had been avoiding running into him.

What were the odds that Sue Ellen would have some sort of fatal medical incident at her salon, and then that the dreaded Harrison Connors would be called to the scene? Erin tried not to groan. This day kept getting worse and worse.

“I should be asking you that question,” Harrison replied.

“This is my salon,” Erin said. “I’m the owner.”

“But I believe my partner asked everyone to wait outside. You can follow simple directions, can’t you, Erin?”

She bristled at his tone. “Yes. And I can understand why you’d want us away from the immediate area but close enough to question. However, we all just saw something terrible happen before our eyes. One of my employees isn’t looking very well and I wanted to get her some water. I thought it was a better idea to grab something from here instead of leaving and going to the bistro.”

Harrison walked over to where her beverages were displayed for customers and examined the setup. She thought he was going to hand her a water bottle, but instead, he shook his head.

“I’m sorry. I’m not ready to release anything from the scene. Not until I know exactly what I’m dealing with.”

“And my employee who is looking faint should just…” She trailed off ,inviting him to come up with an appropriate response.

Erin knew her ire was up. She was upset about what had happened to Sue Ellen in her salon and she was feeling protective of her friend, Deena. She also was a little angry that her attempts to avoid talking to Harrison had finally been thwarted. She hated that even though many years had passed, when she saw him now, she kept thinking about how embarrassed she had been on her prom night. It was distracting when she should be focused on what should be done for her deceased customer.

“I don’t want anyone fainting on my watch,” Harrison said. “I’ll ask the medical examiner to check on your staff and customers before he leaves. If medical assistance is needed, we’ll provide it.”

She didn’t love this suggestion since she knew the medical examiner normally dealt with corpses and not the living, but she figured this was probably the best offer she was going to get from him. She agreed and was going to walk away, but then paused.

“While I’m here and trying to help my staff, I want to ask if Kimmy can leave. Her mom is here. She’s only sixteen and this has been really upsetting for her.”

Erin was starting to think of further arguments that she could use to convince the man she remembered as stubborn and somewhat cruel to agree with her, but it wasn’t necessary. Harrison nodded.

“If you provide us with her contact information so we can speak with her later, then the minor can leave. The rest of you will need to stay.”

Erin was surprised but grateful. “Thank you. Yes, I have her contact information on my phone and it’s also on my welcome desk. I think it will be good for her to go home.”

“And you’ll go back to the waiting area now?” he asked, though it did sound more than an order than a request.

Erin wanted to leave to get further away from both him and the area where Sue Ellen had passed away, but with how he had treated her in the past, she wasn’t eager to bow to his requests the instant he told her to. There was also something troubling her that she was trying to make sense of. Erin lingered in the doorway, much to the detective’s chagrin.

“Is this normal?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

Erin started listing the things that she thought might be strange. “If someone dies because of a medical condition, is it normal to keep everyone who was in the room as a witness? And to not let any water leave the building?”

“Who said her death was due to a medical condition?” he asked immediately.

Erin took a step back and stuttered. “No one but… That’s what it looked like. It suddenly seemed like she couldn’t breathe, but we were all in the same room as her and could breathe normally. You think it was something else?”

“Let’s just say that we’re looking at this as a suspicious death.”

“A suspicious death? Is that code for saying she was murdered?”

“It’s code for: we think the death might be suspicious,” he replied wryly.

“But who would want to hurt her like this?” Erin wondered aloud. “I know she could be trying at times, but that’s not something to kill someone over. She did a lot of charity in town.”

She realized that the detective was watching her intently and she became self-conscious.

“I didn’t kill her. I wouldn’t have done something like this at my salon. Also, honestly, I don’t think that I could hurt anyone.”

This seemed to touch a nerve for Harrison. He gritted his teeth and then gestured to the door.

“Will you please head back to the designated waiting area?”

“Just one more question,” Erin said as a terrifying thought occurred to her. “Do you think a killer might have come into my salon?”

“You know. It’s funny,” Harrison said, roughly closing his notebook and stuffing it into his pocket. “You’ve been avoiding me so long, and now I can’t get rid of you.”

“Well, can you really blame me for ignoring you?” Erin asked.

Harrison stood up even straighter and put on his most authoritative cop voice. “Please, wait outside.”

This time Erin did as instructed. She was as eager to leave as he was to see her go. She headed back to where the others were waiting.

“I wasn’t able to get any water, but someone will check on us soon,” she told them.

Deena nodded, but it didn’t quite look like she was paying attention to what was being said. She appeared wrapped up in her own sad thoughts. Erin’s heart went out to her friend. Everyone was upset by what they saw, but Deena must feel even worse because she was the one who was working on Sue Ellen’s hair and had uttered the wrong words at a bad moment.

“Did you find out any news?” Adele asked, leaning forward.

“I did find out that Kimmy is free to leave. The police might contact you later, but it’s okay for you to go home with your mom now.”

Kimmy nodded. “Thanks.”

Her mother started escorting her away from the salon, but Kimmy turned back to remind Erin that they should call the Pasquale family so they wouldn’t bring the young twins over and see this. Erin promised she would contact them and couldn’t help but feel proud of how attentive to the customers Kimmy was even in the face of tragedy.

“They didn’t tell you anything else?” Adele asked. She watched Kimmy walk away, hoping that the absence of the minor might reveal more gruesome details. “You were over there a while.”

“The conversation was mostly about how the detective wanted me to leave,” Erin admitted.

“But about Sue Ellen?” Adele pressed. “What do they think happened to her?”

“I doubt the police told her anything,” Deena said. She looked like she was coming out of her reverie. “They can’t know exactly what killed her right now. There will have to be an autopsy.”

“That is what happens on TV,” Adele agreed.

“They can’t say anything to comfort us if they don’t know exactly what killed her,” Deena continued. “And if they think we did anything to cause this… well, they’re going to want to talk to us to make sure that isn’t what happened.”

“Interesting,” Adele said, considering the matter.

Erin suddenly felt very tired. She didn’t want to keep waiting outside the place where someone had died. She wanted to go home, put a blanket around her shoulders, and see her dogs. She wanted to do something to try and make herself feel a little bit better. Was there something she could do to make the others feel better too?

Vicki had started to bite her nails that had not been painted, and Sylvia was remaining silent. Adele had her phone out and was undoubtedly beginning to spread some word about what had happened. Deena started fidgeting again. Erin moved closer and gave her friend a side hug.

“This isn’t your fault,” she said quietly. “You didn’t mean what you said before, and you didn’t do anything wrong with her hair.”

Deena didn’t answer, but she returned the hug.

“They’re coming,” Adele announced as she saw the detectives walking toward the group. “Maybe we’ll get some good information now.”

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“A Look to Die for” is an Amazon Best-Selling novel, check it out here!

“Hollywood Hair”, located far away from L.A., in the small town of Glengrove, Illinois, is a place where all the customers are made to feel like stars. Former celebrity hairstylist and current owner, Erin Armstrong, chose her hometown as the obvious location for her new business when her marriage and life in L.A. fell apart a few years ago. Since then, she often finds herself fielding questions about the backstage drama of Hollywood, but it’s all in good fun and good for business. Her salon is a homey place where friends might exchange gossip, but no one really has a deep, dark secret to hide. All that comes to a crashing halt on a seemingly normal afternoon, when a particularly demanding customer keels over dead under the hairdryer…

Stunned and upset at what she’s just witnessed, Erin is about to have an even worse day when the police arrive on the scene. Not only is the death being deemed a murder, but it soon becomes clear that suspicion is being heaped on Erin’s best friend and colleague. Realising the seriousness of the situation, Erin is compelled to begin her own investigation in hopes of clearing her best friend’s name. Following a trail of clues, she uncovers shocking secrets about her customers, employees, and the people she thought she knew best. As if that wasn’t enough, the lead detective on the case turns out to be a guy she’s been trying to avoid for years since he stood her up at prom…

Forced to confront the stubborn man, Erin works desperately to convince him that he’s making a grave mistake and arresting the wrong person. Dismayed at the thought of her innocent best friend behind bars, she’s also terrified by the looming danger posed by the real killer still being on the loose. Working against the clock and with evidence stacking up against her friend, will Erin be able to uncover the truth in time? Or could the killer have unfinished business and strike again before she does?

“A Look to Die for” is an intriguing cozy mystery novel of approximately 80,000 words. No cliffhangers, just pure captivating mystery.

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