Once Upon a Crime

By Evelyn Cullet
Romantic Mystery, 397 pages
Cover art finishes by Pat Evans
Original design by Evelyn Cullet
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Fleeing her life for a short break, Charlotte Ross, along with her best friend Jane Marshall, find themselves at her aunt’s home in the sleepy town of Raven’s Caw, Michigan. Charlotte hopes to recover from a breakup with her fiancé, and her friend Jane, a new mystery writer, is looking forward to somewhere relaxing. But life has different plans for the two friends and they find themselves swept up in a whirlwind of romance, mystery and murder. Excerpt:
Jane had no appetite for dinner, but she forced herself to eat Nettie’s leftover vegetarian chili. After she’d eaten, she paced the kitchen floor while Nettie brewed tea.

“There’s nothing like dandelion root tea to clear the toxins out of your liver,” Nettie said.

“Right,” Jane answered, not really listening. She stopped pacing when Nettie handed her a cup.

“I’m kind of glad Charlotte’s on another date with Rex.” Nettie sipped her tea. “It’ll help her get over her broken engagement.”

Jane put on a weak smile. She had to tell Nettie something. If she confessed Charlotte was taken by those two thugs, Nettie would freak out and call Charlotte’s parents, the FBI and God only knew who else. Since she was sure Rex would save Charlotte, like he always had in the past, why put everyone through all the needless worry.

Jane sat at the table and sipped her tea. I can’t stand just waiting around. I should be out there searching or doing something to help.

Jane’s cell phone vibrated. She gratefully answered it.

“Hi, beautiful,” Kenny said smoothly, and Jane fought the blush that was threatening to stain her cheeks. “If you’re with my mother, don’t say anything. Just make some excuse to leave the house. I’ve got news about Charlotte. I’ll meet you at the gas station in town.”

“Okay.” Jane got up from the table. “Uh, that was…that was the sheriff. He needs me to, to come to the police station for more questioning.” Jane went for her coat. “This shouldn’t take long.”

“Too bad,” Nettie said. “I was hoping you would come to the Non-Denominational Church in Redville with me. It’s Bingo night.”

“I’m not really a Bingo player, but thanks for the invitation anyway.” Jane waved goodbye and sprinted to Charlotte’s car.

She drove into the gas station parking lot ten minutes later. Kenny was inside buying a sandwich and a cup of coffee, so she pulled up to the gas pump, used her credit card to pay and filled the tank. Then she got in the car and waited for Kenny to come out. He finally headed toward the car.

Kenny slipped into the seat and leaned forward. Had his wounds gotten worse?

“How’s your back?”

“It’s better today, thanks.”

She let out a breath. “When you called, you said you had news.”

“I found Charlotte.”

“That’s great!” She waited for him to tell her where, but he didn’t. “Well, let’s go get her.”

“It’s not that simple. Those two guys are with her, and I’m sure one of them has a gun.”

“What! Are you crazy? You left her there with a couple of thugs who have a gun? I’m calling Rex, and you can tell him where she is.”

Kenny took a sip of coffee. “I have a feeling Rex already knows where she is.”

Love, Lies And Murder

By Evelyn Cullet

Romantic Mystery, 321 pages

Cover art by Pat Evans

Blurb: Charlotte Ross's world is about to crumble. The man she loves has announced his engagement to another woman. Charlotte’s friend, dubious globe-trotter and mystery author, Jane Marshall, is back in town; but when she stumbles upon the gruesome body of the town’s millionaire industrialist, Jane becomes too wrapped up in the murder to help Charlotte in her embarrassing attempts to stop her ex-lover’s wedding. Charlotte is endearingly impractical as her impulsive choices lead her into and out of trouble, only to discover that people are not always who they seem--and a single error in judgment can prove fatal.

Excerpt: Early the next morning, Charlotte sat at her desk and stared meditatively at John's face while he stood in the doorway of his office having a quiet conversation with his fiancée. What could the two of them possibly have in common: the handsome, sophisticated man of my dreams and the trashy, witless girl with whom he claims to be in love? Charlotte's eyes never left him as the couple casually walked past her desk arm in arm.

Susan continued walking, but John stopped abruptly and turned around. He leaned over her desk and spoke in a confidential tone. "Susan told me all about your visit to the shipping office yesterday. Blanchard is extremely upset, to say the least. He thinks I sent you to dig up some dirt on him. What were you really doing down there?"

Do I want to tell him the truth? Absolutely not. "I don't know why he should be upset. I explained that I only went there to get some figures for the annual report. Which I got, and speaking of which, I'm falling behind on." She scooted her chair closer to her computer keyboard and began typing. "If you want this report done by the end of the day, you'll have to excuse me."

John leaned in closer, his warm breath flush with her hair. He lingered there a moment longer than was comfortable. She held still and stared straight ahead as he took in a long, slow breath. "I'm telling you nicely, Charlotte. Don't stick your nose in where it doesn't belong."

If this was his attempt at intimidation, it wasn't working. Charlotte quirked an eyebrow and wrinkled her nose at him.

With a swift jerk, he pulled himself away from the desk and strolled back to his office.

A breath of relief escaped Charlotte's lips as she continued typing. The report was taking more time to complete than it should have. Partly because she hated doing reports and partly because she couldn't keep her mind on her work. How could she concentrate on one thing, when so many others were fighting to occupy the same space?

Bits of conversation she'd had the previous day drifted in and out of her thoughts. Every time she saw John, her heart sank at what might be taking place that night on the shipping dock, or worse, the next morning at the courthouse. She needed to confess what she heard Susan say about him in the shipping office, but would he think she was telling the truth or lying out of jealousy?

It was nearly five when Charlotte finally raised her eyes to check the office clock. How quickly time passed when most of it was spent daydreaming.

As she typed the final words of the report, John poked his head out of his door, "Charlotte, can you come in here, please?"

Sighing, Charlotte quietly wandered in. She felt defeated and any fight she had had earlier was gone.

Masterpiece of Murder

By Evelyn Cullet, Romantic, Suspense, 272 pages

Cover art by Richard Stroud

Heartbroken art student Charlotte Ross, intent on locating her errant fiancé, follows him to Bariloche, Argentina. But her fiancé has his own reasons for being in Bariloche which complicate Charlotte’s life and threaten her very existence, as she quickly stumbles into a downward spiral of deceit, art forgery, and murder.

Excerpt:

“Me? You go. I’ll watch the luggage.”

Tony shook his head. Finally, he shrugged.

“We’ll both go.”

As they neared the corner, one of the wheels on Charlotte’s luggage got stuck in the crack of an abutment between the sidewalk and the street. She tugged at it, to no avail. She gave a last hard pull and it came free, but she slipped on the wet pavement and found herself spread eagle in the middle of a deep puddle of water. A sharp pain shot through her back.

Tony squatted down beside her.

“Nasty fall. Break anything?”

“No, but I’m soaking wet, worse than before.”

As she carefully sat up, a rusted, green army Jeep squealed to a stop at the curb and Charlotte saw a pair of heavy black boots approaching. She looked up to see a young man, wearing a green poncho over a blue police uniform. Immediately, her mind recalled the horror stories of military police arresting foreign visitors for ridiculous reasons. Visions of rat infested prison cells and cattle prods passed before her eyes as she waited for him to whip out the handcuffs.

She struggled to her feet and shuddered as she stared at his thick eyebrows, mean mouth, rapacious jaw line, and piercing black eyes. The officer rattled off what seemed to be questions in rapid Spanish. It had been too many years since her high school Spanish class and her phrase book was in one of her suitcases. When neither of them responded to his questions, he sighed and began speaking in heavily accented English.

“You are in need of assistance?”

Charlotte nodded. She gave him a weak smile as she noticed his eyes scanning her and the clothes that clung seductively to her slender figure.

“You are here to dance for the discos, no?”

Tony stepped forward and spoke slowly and deliberately, as if speaking to a child.

“We’re not here to dance. We’re trying to get to Ty Champion’s house, for art classes. Perhaps you could help us get a taxi, so we could get out of this rain.”

“Americanos,” the officer muttered. “Get in.”