#SaturdaySpotlight: Jen J Danna!

Good Morning Friends!

Well March just seems to be marching on as here we are at the 7th already!

Today it is my pleasure to welcome author Jen J Danna back to the spotlight with her book, Two Parts Bloody Murder.

A scientist specializing in infectious diseases, Jen J. Danna works as part of a dynamic research group at a cutting-edge Canadian university. However, her true passion lies in indulging her love of the mysterious through her writing. Together with her partner Ann Vanderlaan she crafts suspenseful crime fiction with a realistic scientific edge. Their four Abbott and Lowell Forensic Mysteries include DEAD, WITHOUT A STONE TO TELL IT; NO ONE SEES ME ’TILL I FALL; A FLAME IN THE WIND OF DEATH; and TWO PARTS BLOODY MURDER.

Jen lives near Toronto, Ontario, with her husband and two daughters. You can find out more about Jen by visiting her website or connecting with her on Facebook, Goodreads, Pinterest or Twitter!

Prohibition was a time of clandestine excess—short skirts, drinking, dancing . . . and death. But a murder committed so many years ago still has the power to reverberate decades later with deadly consequences. It’s a double surprise for Trooper Leigh Abbott as she investigates a cold case and discovers two murder victims in a historic nineteenth-century building. Together with forensic anthropologist Matt Lowell and medical examiner Dr. Edward Rowe, she uncovers the secrets of a long-forgotten, Prohibition-era speakeasy in the same building. But when the two victims are discovered to be relatives—their deaths separated by over eighty years—the case deepens, and suddenly the speakeasy is revealed as ground zero for a cascade of crimes through the decades. When a murder committed nearly forty years ago comes under fresh scrutiny, the team realizes that an innocent man was wrongly imprisoned and the real murderer is still at large. Now they must solve three murders spanning over eighty years if they hope to set a wronged man free.

EXCERPT

“Whoa!” Brad Riley’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he stepped into the dimly lit bar. 

“This is amazing!” Riley was the squad rookie, and the one trooper in the unit Leigh was on truly good terms with. He’d heard the stories about Leigh from the other guys, but had decided on his own that she wasn’t a bad cop. He’d even volunteered to help with her casework in the past. He was young and green, but they’d all been that at some point, and Leigh genuinely liked him.

Leigh grinned at his enthusiasm. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool.”

“The body is down here?” Riley swung the sledgehammer off his shoulder, carefully lowering it to the ground.

“Maybe. We’re about to find out for sure. Through here.” She led the way into the back, waiting patiently as Riley dragged his heels a bit, looking at everything as he came through.

“Do you want to do the honors?” she asked Rowe.

He stepped back, one hand raised, the other still weighed down with the crowbar he carried. “No, ma’am. This is the most fun I’ve had on a case in years, but this is your show. You do the honors.”

Leigh accepted the sledgehammer from Riley, swinging it up to rest on her shoulder. “I’m thinking dead center to have the least amount of support from the surrounding structure. Agreed?”

“Yes. Not that you’ll have much luck aiming with that, but try for the mortar joins. The mortar will give way before the brick.”

Leigh got a good grip on the sledgehammer and then swung it with all her strength at the wall. It hit with a resounding crash, the reverberations shooting up both arms and straight into her shoulders. She let the sledgehammer fall heavily to the floor, narrowly missing her toes, before examining the wall. The bricks were all still in place, but mortar crumbled to the floor. Heaving the sledgehammer up to her shoulder again, she prepared for the second strike.

It took three blows to knock the first brick free and two more to make a hole big enough to see through. Leigh set the sledgehammer down against the wall, panting. “That . . . should do it.” 

Stepping up to the shoulder-height hole, she pulled a loose brick free and tossed it onto the plank floor at her feet. She angled the light into the hole, crouched down to peer in, and froze.

The hidden space was approximately two feet deep and ran the length of the eight foot wall. She had to crane her neck to follow the narrow beam of light down to the floor. But after all the time spent with Matt and his students, there was no mistaking the pale flash of bones lying inside.

A tomb was hidden on the other side of this wall. But had the victim been alive or dead when he was bricked in so long ago?

Wordlessly, she stepped back and handed the flashlight to Rowe. He gave her a quick, searching glance, but then moved in to see for himself. He peered through the gap, squinting in the dim light and then spending a long moment taking in the remains. Finally, he pulled back and handed the flashlight to Riley before stepping out of the way.

Leigh met his solemn gaze. “Better call Lowell back ASAP,” he said. “Looks like we’re going to need him again.”

Well if you like murder mysteries, you might want to check this one out!

Two Parts Bloody Murder can be purchased at Amazon in Print and for Kindle; Amazon CA Print, Kindle; Amazon UK Print, Kindle and at B&N.

I sure hope you enjoyed this week's Saturday Spotlight!
Be sure and come back weekly for Tuesday Treasure, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight. Oh and watch for upcoming Egg-cerpt Exchanges!

Until later....take care, God Bless and remember....Our thoughts create our life so choose your thoughts wisely.

Something to think about.....
"Inspirational with an Edge" ™