Beware the east wind! It’s hurricane season in Florida, and everyone’s attention is focused on preparing for the latest tempest. But in Serendipity Springs, mah jongg pals Marianne, Sydney, Micki and Kat are caught in a different kind of whirlwind—a mesmerizing murder case involving a slain hypnotist/chef and the woman police suspect of doing her in, her embittered catering partner, Portia.
Tasked by Portia to help clear her name, and at the risk of infuriating Kat’s sheriff boyfriend, Marianne and her friends discover there are more than enough suspects—and secrets—to go around. Wary of getting themselves into more dangerous situations, Marianne and Syd agree to let their protective spouses join the hunt, even if their scheming husbands are really in it for the action, not bodyguard duty.
As they dig into the hypnotist’s explosive files, more and more questions arise. Was she blackmailing her clients? Did her husband knock her off to gain access to those secrets? And is Portia telling them everything she knows? The sleuths pile their own deceptions on top of the suspects’ lies as a dangerous storm gathers steam offshore. When will the east wind strike, and will the hurricane’s merciless eye reveal a killer?
Beware the East Wind
The Mah Jongg Mysteries Book 4
By Barbara Barrett
How could she stop him from proceeding? She and the other three weren’t really in the investigation business. They’d just found themselves caught up in circumstances they had been powerless to control. Fortunately, things had worked out well. They’d been instrumental in bringing the real murderers to justice. But not until after they’d also been exposed to life-threatening danger.
“Has she hired an attorney yet?”
“She doesn’t want to do that unless they arrest her. For now, she’s hoping she can steer them away from her toward others who might have had a more compelling reason to kill the woman. That’s where you come in.”
He was determined to lay this at her feet. Since she couldn’t stop him, she’d just have to let him have his say and then turn him down.
“Word has it that you and some of your friends have solved a few other murder cases. Portia and I need you to do the same for her. Prove she didn’t do it by figuring out who really did.”
He’d been like a runaway train. There was no way she could have stopped him without physically ejecting him from the house before he got to it. Even then, he might have blurted it out as he was leaving. What besides “absolutely no” could she tell him? She liked Guy, but she couldn’t give him any hope.
“It’s true, my friends and I have been on the outskirts of some homicides, but not because we volunteered to help. We got pulled in. Sheriff Formero and his people are good at their jobs. I have faith they’ll find the real murderer.”
“You didn’t hear them question her. They made it seem like they’d already decided she was the one.”
“That’s part of the interrogation process. It’s intimidating, yes, but if your sister didn’t do it, she has nothing to worry about.” She rose, hoping he’d get the message.
He stayed seated. “You won’t help?”
“I can’t help, Guy. I’m a civilian. I have no investigative training. Nor do my friends.”
WHAT REVIEWERS ARE SAYING
“Barbara Barrett makes me want to move to Serendipity Springs, play Mah Jongg and join the four members for coffee!”
–A Wytch’s Review
“A nice addition to this cozy mystery series. We catch back up with the eclectic group of mah jongg players just in time for hurricane season.”
–Books a Plenty Book Reviews
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