Scheduled To Death VBT

Scheduled to Death
by Mary Feliz

Scheduled to Death (A Maggie McDonald Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Lyrical Underground (January 17, 2017)
Paperback: 236 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1601836663
Digital Ebook – ASIN: B01EQ2N1QM

Professional organizer Maggie McDonald has a knack for cleaning up other people’s messes. So when the fiancée of her latest client turns up dead, it’s up to her to sort through the untidy list of suspects and identify the real killer.

Maggie McDonald is hoping to raise the profile of her new Orchard View organizing business via her first high-profile client. Professor Lincoln Sinclair may be up for a Nobel Prize, but he’s hopeless when it comes to organizing anything other than his thoughts. For an academic, he’s also amassed more than his share of enemies. When Sinclair’s fiancée is found dead on the floor of his home laboratory—electrocuted in a puddle of water—Maggie takes on the added task of finding the woman’s murderer. To do so, she’ll have to outmaneuver the suspicious, obnoxious police investigator she’s nicknamed “Detective Awful” before a shadowy figure can check off the first item on their personal to-do list—Kill Maggie McDonald.

Excerpt:  

April scanned the room, then stood and walked past the rows of library tables, touching each one. She turned when she reached the opposite end and looked back at us. 

“Normally, when I was in here, I’d be observing the kids or getting to know them better, seeing how I could help out,” she said. “I left it to Sarah and Maggie to pay attention to the nuts and bolts. With the kids gone, there’s not much I can tell you.”

She looked pensive and stood resting her hand on Sarah’s computer. She patted it. “We can get you access to her records, if that would be useful. Or, we took pictures of the library last year for a fund-raising brochure. Would that help with any anomalies?”

Paolo shrugged. “It’s worth a look.” 

I shook my head. “I wasn’t here when the pictures were taken, but I remember Sarah looking around the room one day and snorting with laughter. There were kids sprawled everywhere. Some were asleep on their books and some lounged on the floor working on a project. She said that it wasn’t picture-perfect, but that every inch of the library was being used and she liked that. She told me about the photo shoot, and how it was all staged and clean and the kids were all nicely dressed. She guessed that the fund-raising team knew what they were doing, but said she never wanted her library to look that stiff and clean ever again. I don’t know if comparing the way it is now to the way it was for the photo shoot would do any good.” 

Paolo stood and then turned to me. “Okay, then, Maggie. You’ve seen this room more recently. Take a look and see what it tells you about Sarah.” 

I walked to Sarah’s desk, spun her chair around, sat in it, and surveyed the library. 

“It looks… like Sarah was behind in her work.” 

I pointed to the cart of books waiting to be shelved. “There are too many books here. The cart isn’t organized. Sarah liked to have the books where students could find them. Shelving books gave her an excuse to move around the room and check on the kids. If she didn’t have time to keep up with it, she would have asked a volunteer or a student for help.”

I gathered scattered mail and catalogues into a neat pile. “She normally organized her desk before she went home—especially on Friday afternoons. It made her feel ahead of the game when she walked in the door on Monday mornings. Something must have changed dramatically if she left her desk like this.” 

About The Author

Mary Feliz has lived in five states and two countries but calls Silicon Valley home. Traveling to other areas of the United States, she’s frequently reminded that what seems normal in the high-tech heartland can seem decidedly odd to the rest of the country. A big fan of irony, serendipity, diversity, and quirky intelligence tempered with gentle humor, Mary strives to bring these elements into her writing, although her characters tend to take these elements to a whole new level. She’s a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and National Association of Professional Organizers. Mary is a Smith College graduate with a degree in Sociology. She lives in Northern California with her husband, near the homes of their two adult offspring. Visit Mary online at MaryFeliz.com, or follow her on Twitter @MaryFelizAuthor.

 

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