by Nancy Lynn Jarvis
Former Santa Cruz County Law Librarian Pat Pirard has had an eventful year. She was downsized from the job she loved in May on her thirty-fifth birthday after spending all her savings on a sunshine yellow Mercades convertible and suddenly faces a couch surfing future with her Dalmatian, Dot, and her ginger tabby, Lord Peter Wimsey. Pat doesn’t panic, though. She prints up business cards declaring herself Private Investigator Pat hoping to be hired by officers of the court like attorneys or government entities to stay housed and fed. By the end of the month, she’s been hired by attorney Mark Bellows, a man she’s had a crush on for some time, to help him work on a defense case.
She accepts her best friend Syda Gonzales’s birthday gift: a glass fabrication class to take her mind off her troubles. After the teacher of the glass class that she and Syda attend is murdered in front of his students she’s interviewed by cute Deputy Sheriff Tim Lindsey. He asks her out; she says no but he’s persistent.
By June, Mark Bellows has disappointed her and she has reluctantly agreed to a date with Deputy Sheriff Lindsey. By July…well, let’s just say by October Pat has proposed to him offering a velvet covered box of drill bits instead of an engagement ring, and by December they have decided to get married on Christmas Eve.
There’s just one problem. Local men who are planning to be married on Christmas Eve are being shot. One has died, one is in serious condition, and two others are left wounded. The killer is still on the loose which means bridegroom Tim has a target on his back.
Considering the eventful year Pat has had, on Christmas Eve will she become a bride or a widow? I’d love to give away a copy of the book in print or for your e-reader so you can find out what happens. Send an email to nancylynnjarvis@gmail.com and say bride or widow. I’ll pick a winner from the emailers who guess correctly. Good luck and Merry Christmas.
ABOUT NANCY LYNN JARVIS
Nancy Lynn Jarvis wore many hats before she started writing cozy mysteries. After earning a BA in behavioral science from San Jose State University, she worked in the advertising department of the San Jose Mercury News, as a librarian, as the business manager for Shakespeare/Santa Cruz, and as a Realtor.
Nancy’s work history reflects her philosophy: people should try something radically different every few years, a philosophy she applies to her writing, as well. She has written seven Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries; six PIP Inc. Mysteries; a stand-alone novel “Mags and the AARP Gang” about a group of octogenarian bank robbers; edited “Cozy Food: 128 Cozy Mystery Writers Share Their Favorite Recipes,” and short story anthologies, “Santa Cruz Weird,” and “Santa Cruz Ghost Stories.” She also has an ebook on Amazon which she keeps adding to as she writes more short stories.
