Title: Family is Murder
Series: McKinley Mysteries #5
Author: Carolyn Arnold
Published: July 6, 2014
Publisher: Hibbert & Stiles Publishing Inc.
Genre: Cozy Mystery, Romance, Humor
Synopsis:
The search for a maid results in a mess.
When a woman shows up and claims to be Sara’s birth mother, it pits Sara and Sean against each other. Sara opens her heart and wants to believe the woman, but Sean is
suspicious of her true identity and motive. After all, there are billions at stake. But when the woman goes missing and a dead body turns up, they both start to question the truth.
suspicious of her true identity and motive. After all, there are billions at stake. But when the woman goes missing and a dead body turns up, they both start to question the truth.
Led by Sara’s intuition, they pursue all possible leads and soon realize they may have welcomed a killer into their home.
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Excerpt:
HASTY PREPARATIONS
SEAN KNEW
SARA’S HEART WAS jumping in before she listened to the warnings that would be going
off in her head. But that was his Sara—always taking a leap before assessing
the fall. He wasn’t just going to stand by and watch the woman he loved get
hurt, though. The chances of this being her mother, after all these years, was
hard to believe. Why resurface now if it wasn’t for the money? It seemed easier
to accept that she was a fake, playing a role in
staking a claim in their fortune.
While the DNA tests would confirm or deny whether she was, in fact,
Sara’s biological mother, until then how much drama would Sara live through?
Whether she verbalized it or not, he could tell by the subtle twist of her
lips, the way she looked on this woman, that she wanted to believe this was her
real mom. There was also a mess in Sara’s eyes, a swirl that, to him, spoke to
guilt.
Sara hadn’t stopped moving since they got back to the house. She was
hurrying around tidying up and preparing the meal.
On her way by this time, he took her hand to slow her stride, and he
drew her in to him. “You can relax,
darling. It will all work out.”
“I just want everything to be perfect.” Her eyes scanned his.
“And it will be.” He led her to a sofa in their sitting room. “Please,
darling, sit and let’s talk.”
Her eyes sparked. “I know what you’re going to say.”
He tapped the tip of her nose. “You’ve always been sort of a mind
reader, but—”
“You’re going to tell me to keep my head about me, to not rush to accept
this woman as my mother.”
The way she stared into his eyes made him feel like he was the enemy. “I
just don’t want you to get hurt.”
“And I appreciate that.” Her raised shoulders relaxed slightly, and her
tone softened when she continued. “I know that you had a rough life, Sean. You
lost your mother when you were nine, your father when you were a young adult.
But I’ve never known my real parents.” She paused, and there was that flicker
of guilt dancing across her eyes. “Jeannie and Leon are the world to me. They were there for me from the
beginning and will always be Mom and Dad. But, if this woman is who she claims
to be, well, this may sound silly, but I’ll feel I belong in this world.”
He wasn’t prepared for those words and they attacked him as if a thrown
fist, hitting him dead in the heart.
She put her hand on his leg. “Darling, please, know that I love you with
all my heart and soul.”
He nodded. No words would form.
“And that didn’t come out right. I know I belong because of you, because
of Jeannie and Leon, but this is my chance to know where I came from. I have
never had a blood relative all my life.”
The way her eyes misted as she spoke chipped away at the gnawing pain in
his chest, somehow making his life experience seem less significant. Still,
losing his mother had impacted him as a boy. He remembered the isolation, the
separation from others his age when there were school outings. Even watching
his friends unpack their boxed lunches, he knew their mothers had taken extra
care. His dad had tried, bless his soul, but he was a man. He didn’t put the
little cards in his lunch box telling him to smile
or reminding him that he was loved. While the boys who received these would
blush from embarrassment, Sean would have traded spots with them in a
heartbeat.
Yes, he knew grief, he knew heartache, he knew what it was like to be
left in the world without a blood relative—but the latter not fully. He had his
dad until he was nineteen and, to this day, he had his uncle Ray, although he
lived in North Carolina.
He wanted to warn her to guard her heart, but seeing the look in her
eyes, he couldn’t speak those words. “I’m happy for you.”
She leaned in and kissed him, then pulled back slowly. “I love you for
that.”
He nodded and smiled. She had stolen his heart two years ago when he’d
first met her, and with their spoken vows that bond had only solidified into
concrete.
Sara tapped the couch and went to get up. “I better get that roast in
the oven.”
“Roast?”
One of her brows arched slightly higher than the other, a smirk on her
lips. “Yes, and I am fully capable of cooking it, you know.”
He raised his hands in surrender. “Hey, I never said that you weren’t.”
“Uh-huh.” She laughed as she pranced back to the kitchen.
Sean stayed on the couch, his heart wanting to accept Leslie, but his
mind warring against the request. He would try to open up, for Sara’s sake, but
there was a little voice inside his head that cautioned him to stay vigilant.
CAROLYN ARNOLD is an international best-selling and award-winning author, as well as a speaker, teacher, and inspirational mentor. She has four continuing fiction series—Detective Madison Knight, Brandon Fisher FBI, McKinley Mysteries, and Matthew Connor Adventures—and has written nearly thirty books. Her genre diversity offers her readers everything from cozy to hard-boiled mysteries, and thrillers to action adventures.
Both her female detective and FBI profiler series have been praised by those in law enforcement as being accurate and entertaining, leading her to adopt the trademark: POLICE PROCEDURALS RESPECTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT™.
Carolyn was born in a small town and enjoys spending time outdoors, but she also loves the lights of a big city. Grounded by her roots and lifted by her dreams, her overactive imagination insists that she tell her stories. Her intention is to touch the hearts of millions with her books, to entertain, inspire, and empower.
She currently lives just west of Toronto with her husband and beagle and is a member of Crime Writers of Canada.
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