Nearly Departed (An Eve Appel Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
7th in Series
Publisher: Epicenter Press (January 14, 2020)
Print Length: 180 pages

Synopsis

Tired of sitting surveillance on insurance fraud, apprentice PI Eve Appel Egret gets her first big case, one where the outcome is important and personal. Eve’s best friend Madeleine has few relatives, so her Uncle Shamus is special, but someone is determined to kill him and has tried several times. Eve is certain she can identify who is after him, but this time she may have taken on more than even our self-confident Eve can handle. Coping with a growing toddler and a teenager, devoting time to the consignment shop and finding someone who can go undercover in a sexual harassment case all vie for Eve’s attention. Eve knows she cannot fail Madeleine. This is more than her favorite uncle’s life. His death would mean devastating loss for Madeleine and call into question Eve’s commitment as a friend and her ability as a PI.

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Guest Post

Today we have Madeleine from Nearly Departed joining us with some few insights.  Welcome Madeleine!

My name is Madeleine Boudreau Wilson, and I’m Eve Apple Egret’s best friend and business partner. The two of us own a consignment shop in a rural Florida community. We’ve been BFFs since sixth grade. Since everyone says we are such different people, you may wonder how we established this relationship and why it has survived for so long.

It’s never easy being a new kid in town, and if you’re the smallest kid in the class and you have carroty red hair like I had, you get picked on. My nickname, and not one of my own choosing, was “Shrimp” not only because of my size, but because one of the bullies thought I looked red like a prawn when cooked. Eve came to my rescue and taught me how to handle bullies. She told me to punch them in the gut, which I did, but since I was so short, my blow landed somewhere south of the gut area and in another more delicate spot. That lucky punch made the bullies back off. I returned Eve’s favor by telling all the girls in the class that Eve’s spikey hairdo had b been specially created for her by a famous New York salon operator. Every sixth-grade school was so jealous they tried to imitate Eve’s do with a similar one of their own. It never worked for them because only Eve Apple can pull off that look.

Eve’s advice in sixth grade is only one evidence of Eve’s take action approach to life. Me? I’m more laid back. Our different approaches to dealing with others provided the opportunity for each of us to learn from the other, although I think Eve never holds back when she feels strongly about something.

Here in rural Florida two Yankee gals charting a course this conservative southern town is not easy. Once people get to know Eve, they respect her, even like her despite her in your face approach to living. I think I’ve helped make her acceptance here easier because I have a way about me with others. I’m too tiny to be a threat, and my ladylike charm allows me to fit in well. Eve’s manner can offend easily, but I’m there to smooth things over. Don’t get me wrong. Beyond that rough exterior Eve is a thoughtful, kind and loyal person. Like me, Eve believes friends and family are everything. We’re always there for each other.

When Eve enters a room, everyone knows she’s there. When I enter a room, unless I trip over someone or drop something or crash into somebody (despite my ladylike appearance and manner, I’m clumsy), I’m ignored. In fact, I’m so awkward that there are stores in this town who would prefer I not shop in them for fear I’ll destroy their merchandise… or their customers. I ran through a lot of would-be boyfriends until I met my husband, David. Before him, a second date with a guy was rare because I’d managed to step on their feet on the dance floor or knock their drinks out of their hand. One fellow suffered a mild concussion when I accidentally hit him on the head with my purse as we both leaned over at the same time to retrieve his dropped car keys. I backed into a retaining gate at the annual rodeo, popped the latch and freed a herd of bulls, horses and steers. I’ve never been back. I think the rodeo’s sponsors are happy I stay away.

Another reason that Eve and I are such good friends is that I’m patient. She’s not. I put up with a lot from that gal. She likes to plunge headfirst into situations no one with any sense would tackle. She smart, clever and has a nose for sniffing out crime. When she gets an idea into her head, she pursues it, usually by herself although lately because she now has a family of her own to think about, she’s being more cautious. I’ve never been able to talk her into taking baby steps, but then, with her six-foot height, baby steps aren’t part of her DNA. There are times I envy her adventures in crime, but I have twin children, a boy and a girl, to think about. The boy is like his father, smart, handsome and the best child. The girl, who I named after Eve, turned out just like her. Evie is tall and was a handful from the time she was born. How did I get a child so unlike me and my husband and so like my friend? Did I offend someone, and Evie is my punishment for some social faux pas?

Eve mentioned once that we should get into the private detecting business together, pointing out how well we have done with the consignment shop. I have no interest in chasing down murderers, kidnapers and other criminals. I have my hands full just trying to raise my twins. I look ahead to their teenage years and shudder to think that my daughter could follow in Eve’s footsteps. Not that Eve was boy crazy. She was simply competitive with the boys. If driving cars fast was what guys did, then so did Eve. Daring Eve to do something wild meant she would. She was raised by her grandmother who must be some kind of saint to have put up with all Eve’s shenanigans, but I suspect her grandmother was not unlike Eve when she was an adolescent. Some families have renegade genes. I think Eve’s does. Eve now has a daughter of her own, more rambunctious than my daughter and destined to take after her mother. Her daughter will be payback for Eve’s past high-spirited youth. As mothers, we’re both in for some trying years ahead with our kids.

About the Author

Cows, Lesley learned as a child growing up on a farm, have a twisted sense of humor. They chased her when she went to the field to herd them in for milking, and one ate the lovely red mitten her grandmother knitted for her. Determining that agriculture wasn’t her career path, she took a job as a stripper, book cover stripper for a publishing company, that is. Now after many years as a college professor and university administrator, she has returned to the world of books and uses her country roots and her training to concoct stories designed to make people laugh in the face of murder. “A good chuckle,” says Lesley,” keeps us emotionally well-oiled long into our old age.”

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