Shades of Murder (The Mac Faraday Mysteries) Read online

  He nodded his head. “I know.”

  “That’s the first time you told me that.”

  “Is it?” he asked. “I didn’t notice.”

  “I did.” Her voice was husky. “Are you ready?”

  Mac sucked in his breath. “Yes, I’m ready.”

  She slipped the mask on over her head and crawled under the covers.

  Yep, she looks like Hannibal Lector. Holding his breath to keep from laughing, Mac slipped in next to her and wrapped his arms around her.

  The sound of the air rushing through the machine took on a rhythm that soothed both of them to sleep.

  Knowing that she would be there in his arms when he woke up, Mac drifted off to sleep. She may be scary in bed, but I love her and she’s mine.

  Gnarly gave up on his master’s return. He jumped up onto the bed, and dug with his paws and snout until he burrowed under the comforter. He stretched out the length of the king-sized bed and buried his head down under the pillows in the master bedroom of the penthouse suite at the Spencer Inn to fall sound asleep.

  Ah, it’s a dog’s life.

  The End

  About the Author

  Lauren Carr fell in love with mysteries when her mother read Perry Mason to her at bedtime. The first installment in the Joshua Thornton mysteries, A Small Case of Murder was a finalist for the Independent Publisher Book Award. A Reunion to Die For was released in June 2007. Both of these books are in re-release.

  The Mac Faraday Mysteries take place in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland. The first two books in her series, It’s Murder, My Son and Old Loves Die Hard have been getting rave reviews from readers and reviewers. Shades of Murder is Lauren’s fifth mystery.

  The owner of Acorn Book Services, Lauren is also a publishing manager, consultant, editor, cover and layout designer, and marketing agent for independent authors.

  A popular speaker, Lauren has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and at conventions. She also passes on what she has learned in her years of writing and publishing by conducting workshops and teaching in community education classes.

  She lives with her husband, son, and two dogs on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.

  Visit Lauren’s websites at:

  Website: http://acornbookservices.com/

  http://mysterylady.net/

  E-Mail: [email protected]

  Check Out These Other Highly-Acclaimed

  Lauren Carr Mysteries!

  The Mac Faraday Mysteries

  It’s Murder, My Son

  An exciting mystery with plenty of intriguing and enigmatic characters, It’s Murder, My Son is not a read that should be missed for mystery fans.

  Reviewer: Margaret LaneMidwest Book Reviews

  What started out as the worst day of Mac Faraday’s life would end up being a new beginning. After a messy divorce hearing, the last person that Mac wanted to see was another lawyer. Yet, this lawyer wore the expression of a child bursting to tell his secret. This secret would reveal Mac as heir to undreamed of fortunes, and lead him to the birthplace of America’s Queen of Mystery and an investigation that will unfold like one of her famous mystery novels.

  Soon after she moves to her new lakefront home in Spencer, Maryland, multi-millionaire Katrina Singleton learns that life in an exclusive community is not all good. For some unknown reason, a strange man calling himself “Pay Back” begins stalking her. When Katrina is found strangled all evidence points to her terrorist, who is nowhere to be found.

  Three months later, the file on her murder is still open with only vague speculations from the local police department when Mac Faraday, sole heir to his unknown birth mother’s home and fortune, moves into the estate next door. Little does he know as he drives up to Spencer Manor that he is driving into a closed gate community that is hiding more suspicious deaths than his DC workload as a homicide detective. With the help of his late mother’s journal, this retired cop puts all his detective skills to work to pick up where the local investigators have left off to follow the clues to Katrina’s killer.

  Old Loves Die Hard

  The fast-paced complex plot brings surprising twists into a storyline that leads Mac and his friends into grave danger. Readers are drawn into Mac’s past, meet his children, and experience the troubling relationships of his former in-laws. New fans will surely look forward to the next installment in this great new series.

  Reviewer: Edie Dykeman

  Bellaonline Mystery Books Editor

  Old Loves Die Hard…and in the worst places.

  Retired homicide detective Mac Faraday, heir of the late mystery writer Robin Spencer, is settling nicely into his new life at Spencer Manor when his ex-wife Christine shows up—and she wants him back! Before Mac can send her packing, Christine and her estranged lover are murdered in Mac’s private penthouse suite at the Spencer Inn, the five-star resort built by his ancestors.

  The investigation leads to the discovery of cases files for some of Mac’s murder cases in the room of the man responsible for destroying his marriage. Why would his ex-wife’s lover come to Spencer to dig into Mac’s old cases?

  With the help of his new friends on Deep Creek Lake, Mac must use all of his detective skills to clear his name and the Spencer Inn’s reputation, before its five-stars—and more bodies—start dropping!

  The Joshua Thornton Mysteries

  A Small Case of Murder

  Independent Publisher Book Award Finalist!

  A Small Case of Murder is a GRAND case of murder. Following a style, reminiscent of that of Lisa Scottoline, and David Rosenfelt, Lauren Carr in her debut novel A Small Case of Murder, delivers a powerful and strong detective- legal thriller that has all the makings of a Hollywood movie.

  New Mystery Reader

  Carr weaves an extraordinary story that is gripping and crafted at the highest level to entertain the reader with its touch familial centerpiece amidst evil and chaos.

  Midwest Book Reviews

  A Small Case of Murder is set in the quaint West Virginia town of Chester, where everyone knows everyone, and there is never a secret that someone doesn’t know. In such an intimate town, how many suspicious deaths can be left unquestioned?

  Following his wife’s death, Joshua Thornton leaves a promising career in the U. S. Navy’s JAG division to move across country with his five children into his ancestral home. While clearing out the attic they find a letter written to their grandmother postmarked 34 years ago.

  In the letter, Lulu Jefferson wrote “…Remember that dead body we found in the Bosley barn?...I saw him today…I went to talk to the reverend and there was his picture on the wall.” What dead body? His interest piqued, Joshua asks about Lulu and finds that in 1970 she died on the same day that she penned the letter implicating the pastor in an unreported murder. There is much more to this story than a 34-year-old letter. It’s a 34-year-old mystery!

  Today, a double murder has the whole town under a microscope. The state attorney general appoints Joshua special prosecutor to solve the crimes. In a small town where gossip flies as swiftly as a spring breeze, it is impossible to know who to trust. Asking simple questions about events long ago could prove to be deadly for Joshua and his family.

  A Reunion to Die For

  Lauren Carr writes with a flair that will not only keep you reading but also make you glad you didn’t graduate with this class!

  Romance Reviews Today

  High school cheerleader Tricia Wheeler didn’t make it to her graduation because a bullet went through her heart and killed her.

  Twenty years later, a journalist is investigating Tricia’s supposed suicide for a book. Suddenly, a second cheerleader is dead and the body count in the small West Virginia town continues to rise.

  For Joshua Thornton, the case is personal. The reopening of the Wheeler case stirs up memories and feelings for a girl who died without knowing his true feelings for her. Now, the newly-elected prosecutor is challenged to use everything he’s got to find out what
had really happened to Tricia and stop the killing.

  Coming Fall 2012!

  Dead on Ice

  A Lovers in Crime Mystery!

  Table of Contents

  Shades of Murder for epud