Lauren Carr Presents New Series, The Prime Suspect--Includes New Setting! New Characters! But Same Great Mysteries!

 

Hey Everybody! Two of My Favorite Authors, 

Lauren Carr and Cindy McDonald,

Who've been reviewed here...Now Have a Podcast! Check it out!

Sam’s mouth dropped open. “Cat had a sister who had committed suicide?” “It was maybe a couple of months before Cat disappeared. She told me she had postpartum depression. I guess Haley resented Cat for not doing more to help their sister, or maybe she wanted Cat to share in taking care of her baby.” “What about the baby’s father?” “I don’t think he was in the picture.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m just guessing. Cat never really told me anything except that her younger sister had a baby and she hung herself a few weeks later. Haley took in the baby. We never saw or heard from Haley. If it were me, I would have interrogated the roomies to find out what happened.” She shook her head. “Haley never even picked up Cat’s stuff after the semester ended. It was another girl, a childhood friend, who came to the apartment to clear out her stuff.” 

Sam wrote notes of what she was saying in bullets down the length of the page. “What was the friend’s name?” Bryce narrowed her eyes. “I don’t remember. I only met her once.” He flipped to a blank sheet in the notepad. “What did you find when you searched Cat’s room?” “All of her toiletries and makeup were there. So was her school stuff. She wouldn’t have gone to the Outer Banks without her makeup and toiletries.” She jumped when she recalled, “Her laptop was missing. I couldn’t find that.” “You have a good eye for detail.” He shot her a grin of approval. “She would not have gone to the beach without her toiletries.” “I was the one who reported her missing. Would I have done that if I’d killed her?” “You’d be surprised how many killers report their victims missing to throw off suspicion.” He held up his hands. “Just saying.” He shook his head. 

“What motive would you have to bury your roommate under a statue?” “Seriously? Do I look like a maniac?” “I don’t know.” Sam looked down at Cleo. “Does she look like a maniac to you?” Cleo turned her attention to Bryce. With a heavy sigh, she dropped her head down between her two paws. “Is that a yes or a no?” Bryce asked. “Based on our professional experience, we’ve found that maniacs don’t look like maniacs.” She sipped the last of her wine and gestured to the bartender for a second one. “How was she killed?” She jerked her chin at his notepad. “Have you found a cause of death in your research?” “The police aren’t releasing that information.” Sam shook his head in response to the bartender asking if he wanted another drink. His mug was half filled, and the beer had warmed to room temperature. “If anyone knows how she was killed, they would reveal themselves as the killer,” Bryce said with a nod of her head. “We didn’t see any sign of a fight or violence in the apartment. But then, the police never searched it for a crime scene.” “They only recently discovered that a violent crime had been committed.” 

She leaned across the table. “Susan and I were gone that entire week. Erin was in and out. Whoever killed Cat could have done it in the apartment, got rid of the body at night when no one was around, and had plenty of time to clean up without being caught. “Until some drunken kids on ATVs crashed into the statue under which the killer dumped the body.” Sam referred to his notes and found out that her car, a red Chevy Cavalier, had been parked at Reston Metro. Her purse wasn’t in it. “It would have been easy for her killer to ditch the car at the metro and ride the train back to campus,” Bryce said. “Right now, the detectives are interviewing anyone and everyone in your and Cat’s worlds. They’re going to continue digging until they can find a motive for you to murder her. The best way that I can help you is to do the same—sift through the muck to find out who really killed Cat and your husband.” 

“We’re not looking for one person.” Sam cocked his head at her. “How do you know that?” “I don’t. It’s just …” Her voice trailed off. “Dermot had never met Cat. Why would Cat’s killer go after Dermot?” “Maybe to get back at you for something. Maybe someone close to you, or someone who wants to be close to you, took out Cat and your husband for hurting you.” 

He peered closely at her. “Tell me about your relationship with Cat.” “We weren’t friends.” Her tone was firm. “It was a four-bedroom suite. The four of us lived together for two years. I was in my last year in the architectural program. It was a five-year program. Erin and I were a year older than Susan and Cat.” “It sounds like you, Susan, and Erin have remained close all these years.” He made a note to interview Susan and Erin. “Erin and I were the first ones to move into the suite. We were there a year before Susan and Cat moved in. The university management would place the roommates together. We would get together occasionally for a movie night or meet for drinks or something like that. Susan made more effort to be friends than Cat. But …” 

Her voice trailed off. His beer finished, he slid the mug aside and sat back in his seat. He arched an eyebrow at her. “I will find out. Better for you to tell me straight up than allow me to find out from elsewhere.” “I dated Justin Turner for close to a year.” Recognition filled his face at the sound of Justin’s last name. “Turner? Any relation to—” “Susan’s husband. Justin dated Cat for about six weeks between me and Susan.” “Cat stole your boyfriend?” His lips curled. He sat forward. “How did you feel about that?” Agitation crept into her tone. “I’m from a small town where everyone trusts everyone. Susan was the one who told me that Cat was hitting on Justin. I laughed. Justin was a teacher’s assistant for the department chair. He crossed paths with Cat and Susan every day. I assumed Cat was being friendly and Susan was reading too much into it.” She sighed. 

“I could not see Cat ever being interested in Justin.” Sam’s eyes narrowed. “What was Cat’s type of guy?” “Rich. Handsome. Exciting.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Justin was Mr. Reliable. His idea of cutting loose was spicy buffalo wings.” His blue eyes narrowed in thought. “Why do you think Cat pursued him?” “Because she could,” Bryce said. “Cat loved nothing more than another woman’s man. Once she had him, the thrill was gone, and she dumped him. Cat stood him up—on Valentine’s Day, of all days. He showed up with an enormous bouquet and Cat was nowhere to be seen. Susan spent the evening comforting him. They ended up getting married a few months later.” “Did you and Cat have any blow-ups about her stealing Justin that potential witnesses could bring up?” Bryce gazed into the bottom of her wineglass in silence. When she finally spoke, she said, “I was never in love with Justin. He was just someone to go out with on the weekends. We never even slept together. I admit it offended me that Cat stole him from me, but it isn’t like it devastated me.” He flipped a page of the notepad to a fresh page. 

“Tell me about the last time you saw Cat.” “It was late Friday afternoon. My last midterm exam was over at four-thirty. I had packed the night before. Everything was in my car, and I was ready to hit the road to go back home. But I had forgotten my laptop. I went racing back to the apartment to get it. Cat was dancing in the apartment when I ran in.” “She was dancing with whom?” “Herself. She was dancing alone.” Slowly, he nodded his head—digesting that information. “Haven’t you ever danced alone?” “Not really.” His eyes narrowed. “But then, I’m not a big dancer. What was she dancing to?” “Annie Lennox. ‘Money Can’t Buy It.’ I remember everything about the last time I saw Cat.” “I don’t know that song. But then, there are a lot of songs I don’t know. You came home, and you found her dancing alone in the apartment.” “She claimed she needed to blow off steam. She’d often do that. Especially that last semester.” She giggled at the memory. “She had just gotten her fingernails done. Cat had acrylic fingernails. They were long and elegant. She had had the same manicurist in Tysons Corner since she was a teenager. She had just gotten them done and had to show me. They had gradient black tips.” “I don’t know what that means,” Sam said with a frown. Bryce held out her hands. Her nails were tame compared to the other fingernails he had seen. They were pink with white tips. “Cat loved to try the latest nail styles. She had a standing appointment with Misty to get her nails done every other Friday. That day, she had gotten her nails done with black tips that blended into a beige color.” “How chic. Were Erin and Susan in the apartment when you were there?” She shook her head. “Cat told me she was getting dressed when the song came on and she started dancing. So here she is dancing half naked—” Sam’s eyebrow arched. “Half naked?” “Her bra, panties, and shirt.” “What floor were you on?” he asked. “Third.” “Were the blinds open?” She nodded her head. “Do you think a predator was watching and attacked her?” “I’ve investigated more than one murder where that was what happened.” “When I walked in and saw her spinning around the room, I told her she looked like a stripper. She said that was flattering. We had a good laugh. I grabbed my laptop and looked around one more time to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything else. She told me she had to go to a party—” “Was she going with anyone?” “Richard,” she said in a soft voice. “Richard? The same Richard who had invited her to the Outer Banks? The one who she celebrated spontaneity with, according to her Facebook post?” “That’s another reason I didn’t buy that post. Cat wasn’t in love with Richard by any stretch of the imagination. She dated him off and on.” “Was he a student?” “I’d never met him. I noticed she had two phones—a regular phone with an account and one of those pay-as-you-go phones she used only to talk or text him.” “Burner phone,” Sam said with a frown. “How observant for you to notice that.” “I looked for it after she went missing, but couldn’t find it. I told the police about it, too. The detective said that they found no phone in her car. Did they find it with her body?” “I’ll check with my contacts about what they may or may not have found with her remains,” he said. 

“I’ll also check to see if we can identify this Richard. It sounds to me like he was a married man working hard to conceal his mistress. If he was a professor at the university and she threatened to reveal their affair, he may have gotten rid of her to keep things under wraps. A professor would have access to the campus to bury her under the statue. How long had she been seeing Richard?” She let out a breath. “Off and on for the entire two years that she was living in our suite. She seemed to have money, but her family didn’t. Cat told me she got her money from tutoring. She got good grades, so I had no reason not to believe that. But then, I noticed the two different phones. She said that Richard was a powerful man, and he wanted to keep his private life private.” “But she was going to a party with him? I wonder how Justin felt about that?” “He was dating Susan by then. They were hot and heavy. What happened with Cat was water under the bridge.” Sam sighed. “Talk about drama.”

~~~

In a clever turn, Lauren Carr has moved from "Mac" Faraday, the main character  

in her first wonderful series to Sam MacKade in her newest series! Hey Lauren, do you have an important "Mac" in your life? One of your avid readers wants to know!  And, we already knew you love German Shepherds but

decided to "go dutch" so that we could meet Cleo and Gus... These two, I have to say, have promptly become your star characters! Along with Misha who truly won a place in my heart... I had to find Misha whose eyes would tell me that she was aloof, sassy, and, maybe, just, maybe, a one-person type of cat... In this case, not her owner! LOL

Seriously, folks, the three animal characters you will find in this book are extraordinary... Maybe it's due to the writer being a fluent animal conversationalist, but if my memory of all her earlier animals is correct, the relationship between the main character Sam MacKade, whose dogs are both service trained, is so beautifully intertwined that I actually wanted to reach out and talk to all of them myself...

And Sam MacKade? Yowza!!! Sam was a canine officer. He’s on disability from the force after getting shot. Goody Two-Shoes was his partner.” “Goody Two-Shoes?” “The female. Gus is the Filthy Beast. They’re Dutch shepherds.”

I picked Cameron Diaz for the lead female character, at least in this book since she may or may not stay. After all, the Series is named after MacKade! Personally I think she will stay, since she was first to make the moves on Sam and even his ex approves! You can be sure, I'll be reading this series as it progresses!

So here's the primary thing you need to know, Cameron, aka, Bryce Greyson, is under investigation by the police for not one, but two, murders! One of which was her husband!

The first took place almost two decades ago while Bryce was in college. One of her roommates disappeared, presumed dead... Bryce was the one who reported her missing, so, of course, the local police decided to look closely at her involvement with the missing student... and never bothered to look further.

Eighteen years later they are still trying to prove Bryce is the killer, especially when her husband was murdered four years ago! So what happens where the police has their sights on one person who has alibis, but there is nobody else to consider? Well, of course, that's how cold cases develop!

Carr has moved into a setting which I know very well. A campus setting for Harrison University brings an interesting type of location for possible financial scams and readers will be both amused and, later, quite satisfied with how that all turns out... Because in the midst of Bryce desperately turning to Sam, who is now a licensed private investigator, to finally prove she is not guilty--by solving the case(s)--Yes, you will not "Believe" just how many "cold and ongoing cases" are exposed as Sam McKade starts putting all the clues together!

Seriously, in order to create a "murder board" for all the events that start being connected, it would take up an entire wall in one of the university classrooms! And it all began when the body of the student who had disappeared 18 years ago was discovered! Bryce was once more the target of the police...

A smirk crossed his face. “I’m guessing your daddy taught you everything there is to know about constructing houses. Hammering a nail. Leveling boards. Driving heavy equipment like a bulldozer or bobcat.” Her brow furrowed. Where is this leading? She did not like the expression on Detective Hughes’s face. She had nothing to do with Dermot’s murder. Why did she feel so guilty? Because she had seen and read a lot of stories about innocent people going to jail for things they had not done. “What does that have to do with Dermot’s murder?” “Didn’t you live in a suite at a university apartment complex off-campus while you were in college?” Unsure of where the detective was going, Bryce nodded her head. “Last month, some frat boys got drunk one night and went racing around the campus at J.W. Harrison with a couple of ATVs. One crashed head-on into J.W. Harrison.” “The statue?” There was a seven-foot statue of the university’s namesake in the center quad on campus. They had erected it on a three-foot cement base. The detective chuckled. “The kid flew over the front of the ATV and hit his head. Got a concussion.” “That’s too bad.” The impending feeling of doom prevented Bryce from being amused. “What’s your point?” “The collision cracked the statue’s cement base. Did so much damage that last week, a crew had to come in with equipment to lift the statue and tear apart the base to replace it.” A smirk crossed his face. “They found the skeleton of a young woman buried under the statue.” Bryce felt the blood drain from her face. She felt weak in the knees. “Cat Wessex.” “Dental records confirmed it today,” the detective said. “The original detective on the case has long since retired. We were going through the case file, and wouldn’t you know it? The name of one of Cat’s roommates at the time of her disappearance was—” “Two other students were living in our suite.” “Neither of them had a spouse gunned down. Nor did either of them know how to operate a crane to pick up that cement base and place it on top of Cat Wessex’s body.” “I was down in southern Virginia when Cat went missing!” “So you claim.” With a chuckle, the detective cocked his head at Bryce. “You know, most people go through their entire lives never knowing even one person who gets murdered. But you, Bryce Greyson, have the unfortunate experience of knowing two people who were violently killed while living with you. Now, what are the odds of that?”

~~~ 

This book also includes two younger adults, one a podcaster and one a news reporter. These two who were graduates from Harrison, provide the up-to-date tech expertise in searching for clues in identifying the who-what-when-where questions, while Sam slowly assimilates, merges, investigates, eliminates and then moves in to confirm... Of course, taking Cleo and Gus as backup! Wearing their service blankets, which saves Cleo from a mid-flight attack! And Misha? She acted on instinct and rids the world of at least one of the bad guys who had dared to enter her and Bryce's home!

You know, I wonder just how long this award-winning author took to conceive this book. The interplay and backward twists, together with the villains involved  is simply amazing. Once again, Carr has upped her game beyond anything I can remember--and I've read most of her books! Her mind weaves this way and that way in seemingly ease to produce an incredible number of cases ranging from years ago and up to the present. And the "only" twist I guessed was at the very end! At least I got that one right...

But it didn't end in just clearing the two cases that had been held against Bryce for years! Several side hustles were identified and brought out for public accountability! Think of various issues that are in the headlines often--and it will have been woven into one of the best mysteries I have ever read! The complexity, diversity of players together with the characters within the university setting lends to the authentic setting and environment that we find in America.

And Bryce MacKade? I was impressed! His training and discipline together with the vibe of love from his animal partners is unique to our world of cruelty. By the end of the story, Bryce and I were both in love with him! I don't remember I've ever had such an immediate affection for one male, lead character. I promise you will love him too! Lauren, when's the next Sam MacKade book out?!

No wonder Lauren has such loyal fans! Her books not only change in plot, but her writing mind keeps creating worlds of wonder in which we sink--gladly! Kudos! Lauren!

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