Love You Till Tuesday

and maybe a while longer

Shake a library bookshelf and see how many detectives fall out! If you’re in the cozy mystery section, the racks will be bare. Everybody is a sleuth in a cozy, even the pet hamsters, with cute little gumshoes.

Well, competition is supposed to stimulate business. As of this week there’s a new private dick in town. He does NOT own a pet rodent.

Love You Till Tuesday is out in paperback and eBook. You can get it from Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.

What is the story all about? No spoilers. More a teaser-synopsis to whet your appetite. Believe me, there’s a lot more.

Here’s how it goes …

When Declan Shaw left April Easton’s apartment early on Sunday morning he expected to see her again. She didn’t pick up when he called. He left a message and she didn’t call back. He thought they had the beginning of something. Maybe she was the one. He wouldn’t call it love. Not after a single night, but there was a promise of more and she gave him the impression she felt the same. Funny how attraction works, so suddenly born, and so easily squashed. Because she didn’t call back.

On Tuesday, the police came to his office to arrest him for April’s murder. The shock shut his mouth more effectively than the cops’ rough handling. He didn’t spend the night in jail. Later that day he was hauled to Houston PD headquarters to explain to his lawyer and Steve Robledo, the detective in charge, what his relationship with April was all about.

Robledo had been working the case for a dozen hours and had already covered a lot of ground. Even before the lab came back with an analysis of the blood found at the scene, he knew Declan didn’t kill April. She died Sunday, hours after he left, and there were two attackers. Robledo suspected she was targeted. The murder was a hit. Nothing in her life pointed to a motive. She was a jazz singer, a minor success, who could have wanted her dead?

Declan is a private investigator, a professional. Didn’t he notice anything? He went back to April’s place with Robledo, crossed the crime scene tape, saw the traces left by the forensics team, the stripped bed, and the bathroom where she died. His memory of April was fading already, as if she’d never existed. Declan thought that if he dipped a toe in the investigation, gave a hand to Steve Robledo, did some legwork that the cops had little time for, he could nurse the dull ache caused by her absence, fill the void by learning more about her. He’s good at that stuff, it’s how he makes a living.

Declan might have found leads to follow, or not, but it didn’t matter because the mention of his name in connection with the investigation was sufficient to create trouble.

The men behind April’s murder knew him as a dogged and resourceful detective. They worried about him a lot more than they worried about the police. Declan was a risk they couldn’t take. The stakes were high: a trial with the murder penalty attached, and cartel connections. Declan had to be stopped before he could do serious damage.

The men set to work. A trap to ensnare him, a campaign to destroy him.

Their actions would have unintended and disastrous consequences.

What do you think? Want to dig in?

You can get the book here.

This is what Mike McHone, a great crime story writer had to say:

“For the numerous fans of M.E. Proctor’s short fiction, this debut novel is sure to be a revelatory delight. A sleek entry into the pantheon of detective fiction, Love You Till Tuesday keeps you guessing and holding your breath until the very end. You won’t look at other P.I. novels (or hammers for that matter) the same way again.”

Yes, about that hammer …

P.S.: Love You Till Tuesday is the title of a David Bowie song from 1967. A boy-meets-girl story. Curious about the lyrics? They’re here.

A Fun Guest Post - A Day in My Life

Not my life, Declan Shaw’s life…. and I chose what he calls the worst day of his life. I might have more catastrophes in store for him… It’s a short read, enjoy: A Day in my life on Dru’s Book Musings.