No good deed goes unpunished, as television star Marla Dane learns the hard way. The recently fired TV detective, trying to figure out her next move at her sister’s Minnesota condo, reluctantly agrees to sub as Water Girl at a weekend pickleball match. Which makes her the first suspect of many when the team captain turns up dead.
Eloise Wallace, owner of a local PR company, will never receive the title Boss of the Year. She’s dragged her staff, her old college roommate, and even her ex-husband and ex-employees onto her pickleball team. No wonder their success on the court is so sad. They all have reasons for wanting her dead, and Marla and former cop Rex Alcorn are enlisted to figure out who poisoned her.
As Marla’s sister Kitty distracts them with a new obsession, pie baking, Marla and Rex find their suspects crusty and evasive. The victim excelled at making everyone around her miserable, so what did the killer have to gain by staying in her life — or ensuring her death? The answer may be more toxic than either of them bargained for.
Murder on the Court
Book 2
By Barbara Barrett
Thanks in large part to Marla’s lesson in pie baking, Kitty survived her stint as a pie judge. In fact, at least according to her, the experience went quite well. The first forty-eight hours following the event, Marla was pleased for her sister. After that, not so much. And if she never heard the name Hub Sherman again, it would be too soon. Fortunately, Kitty didn’t bring him back to her condo.
Marla didn’t expect to see Scottie for a few days, figuring she stayed at least another day in Chicago. But she did think the woman would stop by or call on Monday to thank her for taking over her water role.
On Tuesday, instead of Scottie, she was visited by Colman Goodhue, the Maple Knolls Chief of Police. A tad taller than Marla, Goodhue also had reddish hair sprinkled with gray like her, only his gray was winning out sooner. His usually smiling gray eyes were more somber today.
“Chief, haven’t seen you since we wrapped up the Elliot murder. Unless some new detail popped up?”
Goodhue had been all smiles after she and Rex discovered who killed the Condo Casanova, as the media tagged him. There were no smiles today.
“Could we sit somewhere?” he asked.
“Uh, sure.” She led him to the sofa in the living room. She settled in a nearby easy chair.
“I understand you helped out at a pickleball match last Saturday.”
“Yes, I subbed for the woman who usually provides the water for the team so she could go to Chicago.”
“And you met a woman by the name of Eloise Wallace?” he continued.
“Yes, but just briefly. She acts as the team’s captain and went off right away to get things organized.”
“Had you met her before?”
“No.” His seriousness alarmed her. “What’s this all about, Chief?”
“She was murdered, Marla.”
Keep up to date on the latest news and releases!
Get the inside scoop on my upcoming projects and giveaways by subscribing to one or both of my newsletters.
