Tea and Antipathy (Damien Murphy Pet Sitting and Murder Investigations Book One) by Meredith Spies

Author:Meredith Spies [Spies, Meredith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: cozy mystery, gay mystery, gay cozy mystery, queer cozy mystery, lgbtqia plus cozy mystery, queer mystery, MM romance, gay romance, cozy mystery romance, queer romance, MM mystery, lgbtqia plus mystery
Publisher: Meredith Spies
Published: 2023-06-29T18:30:00+00:00

RENEE RHODES HAD A very maximalist aesthetic, her tiny cottage overwhelmed with textures and colors that shouldn’t have worked but somehow did. It all had a very midcentury vibe but with a late seventies funky twist to it, including framed original (or what I assumed to be original) show posters lining the walls of the living room and the short corridor that led to what I presumed to be the bed and bath area. To my right, just off the entry way, was a kitchen already deep in shadows. The light of my phone showed glimpses of laminate countertops in mustard yellow and brown tile flooring that made me wince with the thought of trying to keep clean. The table was small, barely big enough for two and then only if you really liked one another, and not a thing lay out on the counter or in the sink.

Her house might be cluttered with decor, but it was still tidy where it counted apparently. I took a few careful steps towards the living room, trying to decide where I’d hide something if I were Renee Rhodes.

The same place I’d hide it myself—in plain sight.

I started with her bookshelves, lightly populated as they were with popular novels, a shelf of old sci fi and another two shelves of nonfiction and acting related books. An e-reader lay on one of the shelves, plugged in to charge. I wrapped my finger in my shirt sleeve and gave the screen a nudge to see it pop to life, the lock screen the cover image for some new release. The icon indicating a download was flashing, letting her know something she ordered was waiting for her to read.

That thought made me suddenly sad. I turned away from the bookshelves and scanned the rest of the room. The t.v. was one of the newer plasma types, set on a sleek stand that blended in with the rest of her decor, four remotes lined up beneath the screen in size order from largest (which looked to be an old, out of date number) to smallest (for the streaming device no doubt attached around the back of the t.v.).

The first thing out of place caught my eye as I moved back towards the bookshelves.

A leather day planner lay open, on the floor behind the sofa. It was open to the address section and showed its age, the pages foxed around the edges and ink faded. The numbers all had New York area codes except a few with Los Angeles ones. It was open to the A’s and B’s; some names were illegible, some just descriptions (Artie’s Dogwalker; Amazing Lover with the limp; Amazing Lover with the wife.) The pages were loose, but I couldn’t tell if it was from their age, from use, or because someone had pulled something out and torn the bindings in the process. I took a picture of it where it lay open, reluctant to touch it, and rocked back to sit on my heels, looking around the room again.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.