Title Deadly Deception
Author Mary Martinez
Genre Suspense / Mystery
Book Blurb
Detectives Booker Dixson and Lashelle Valentine must deliver the news to Jonas Faraday’s widow which is the worst part of their job. Neither believes it should have been ruled an accident.
Booker and Lashelle uncover a connection between Marcie’s late husband and her father’s medical clinical trial. Coincidence or ploy? Booker Dixson does not believe in coincidence.
Deadly Deception is a thrilling journey to uncover the secrets that threaten to shatter the perfect picture of Marcie and her family.
Excerpt
She paused at the top of the stairs. It had been two years since she’d felt this paralyzed. The day the officers had told her about her family, to be precise. She drew in a deep breath as she realized she’d been paralyzed ever since.
It was time to take control.
With determination, she tackled the closest box. After three boxes, now marked for charity, she understood she was still procrastinating on what she had come to do.
With renewed purpose she surveyed the boxes until she found what she’d really been looking for; her husband’s work belongings. Bold letters indicated the content. WORK FILES. Would she find what she needed in this first box?
She used the scissors to cut the packing tape and gingerly lifted the flap. She quickly realized the files were old and only records of completed cases. They were the first to visit her father’s shredder.
Tears slipped as she fed the paper to the machine. Her husband’s life was reduced to a container of shredded paper. He’d been on his way to the top. Though he hadn’t talked much about the account he’d hoped to land that fateful day, she had felt his anticipation almost as if it had been her own. His excitement had told her it was something special. She sat back on her heels as she realized something. He was keeping it a secret because he was going to surprise her with whatever it was when he landed it.
Three boxes later she found, POLICE FILES. Her stomach churned, she swallowed down her trepidation. Come on Marcie. Where is that woman full of grit? She could almost hear Jonas say the words.
She used the back of her hand to swipe at the dampness on her cheeks. Her hands trembled so hard she was barely able to open the flaps. Once done, she realized she was staring across the room at the wall. Unwilling to look inside, she closed her eyes a moment. Lowering her head, she drew air into her lungs and held it there. Her eyes slowly opened as she released her breath.
Plastic. It took a moment for her to understand what she was looking at. The bag with all of her husband’s personal effects from the accident. She opened the bag and carefully pulled out the items one by one. At the bottom were her daughter’s hair clips and her favorite brush.
Her vision wavered as she turned her attention to the contents of the box. She reached for Tori’s backpack. Frozen characters in the background and Olaf happily dancing in the forefront. Her throat clogged with the tears that wanted to continue to fall.
“Oh, Tori you loved that snowman.” She swiped at her cheeks. “They have another one out, Frozen II. We could have gone…”
Her words ended in a sob, she pulled the pack to her face and inhaled, hoping for a whiff of her daughter.
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What makes your featured book a must-read?
I believe it’s surprising in a lot of ways. And think the medical aspect makes it a little more unique that my other suspense stories.
Giveaway –
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Author Biography
Mary lives in Magna, a little town west of Salt Lake City, Utah. Together with her husband, she has six grown children, six wonderful grandsons, and five beautiful granddaughters. She loves to spend time with family and friends--she includes good books as friends!
Mary and her husband love to travel, especially to the Caribbean for relaxing, and Italy for the wine. And most recently she discovered she was Irish and Scottish, of course, they had to visit Ireland and Scotland. Mary fell in love with both, but the green hills of Ireland felt like home. With the experience from the exotic places she has visited, she is able to fill her books with colorful descriptions of cities, painting a colorful backdrop for her characters. One of her favorite US destinations is New York/Brooklyn, where her beloved Beckett's live. When she visits, she can wander their neighborhoods, favorite parks, and visit their favorite pub, Putnum's.
They are avid concert ‘Ho’s’! Yes, they pretty much want to do them all. They love outdoor amphitheaters the best and attend as many during the warmer months as possible.
Mary writes mostly romantic suspense, romance, women's fiction, and she has just begun to dabble in young adult mystery. During her writing career she has been a conference coordinator, workshop presenter, and chapter president for the Utah Chapter of RWA. In 2007 she was presented with the Utah RWA service award in acknowledgment and appreciation for outstanding service. Mary has participated in numerous library panels on writing and co-presented a workshop on writing a series at the League of Utah Writers conference. She was awarded the 2021 N. N. Light Book Award winner for best book in two categories; Four Sisters for Women's fiction and Celtic Myst by M. L. Foxx for Fantasy.
Mary also writes as ML Foxx. This is her first jaunt into Fantasy and Sci-Fi, she loves it. It gives her freedom of choice. In her ML persona she also loves to go to the movies and you got it… Watch the Avengers, Dead Pool, among others. Something her hubby doesn't really enjoy but humors her fantasy side. You’ll see more books soon…
Mary and her husband are also enthusiastic college football fans. They have season tickets to the UTES, University of Utah Football and they tailgate every game. They love tailgating so much, that they were married at a tailgating in 1999.
GO UTES!
Social Media Links
Website: https://MaryMartinez.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/marylmartinez @marylmartinez
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