JANUARY KILLS ME
Samantha Rialto, a twenty-nine year old divorcee, had no idea her evening would end with the hooker falling from the car, the cheating husband slumped over the wheel and Ben Parker, lead detective on the case, surprising her, nearly killing her and making her wonder why in all the years she’s known him she never noticed how good he smelled.
Samantha, the only child of the former police chief of Oak Valley, is recovering from an abusive marriage the only way she knows how – romance novels and alcohol. Its music and teaching she loves, but that won’t pay the bills, so she accepts side jobs – the kind of side job a police chief’s daughter would find – surveillance photography. Not exactly safe, but also not supposed to get her killed. As usual for Sam, nothing turns out the way it should and one cold night in January she finds herself with a front-row seat to a brutal double murder. Before long, Sam finds herself wearing a wire to dinner, nearly run over by a car, and shot at by a trained sniper’s crazy mother. To stay alive Sam will have to use more than her considerable wit and will need to tap into reserves of inner strength left scarce after her wrenching divorce.
A BOMB IN FEBRUARY
Samantha Rialto learned everything she knows about surveillance photography from Skipper Turnbuckle, a private eye with a bum reputation. Since last month’s job they haven’t spoken. But a bomb, a shooting and a voice-mail have her seeking the old investigator out…and wishing she hadn’t.
Samantha is on leave from her job as a music teacher and trying very hard not to let motivating, positive suggestions from her mother and best friend, Maxie, cheer her up. She hasn’t spoken to her almost boyfriend, Detective Ben Parker, in two weeks and the only good news she’s had is that January is finally over. But when her neighbor’s house is blown to bits, Sam is forced to bunk with Maxie. And when, later that night, a man is shot in Maxie’s front yard, and a disturbing voice-mail implicates Sam’s old mentor, the past dances its way into Sam’s present again. Ben and Sam, once again, find themselves in a race against time, facing off against a suspicious FBI agent and tracking down a host of possible suspects, including a high profile senator, an angry giant, and a scientist who may or may not be dead.
A VIOLET MARCH
Samantha Rialto and her best friend, Maxie Peters are looking for a place to live, determined to put the traumatic events of the last two months behind them. But things start to go horribly awry when they find a dead body soaking in the bathtub of a potential rental. On that same afternoon, Violet Arnold, one of Samantha’s favorite students, asks for help finding her missing father. Once again, Samantha is embroiled in another mystery.
She enlists the help of Skipper Turnbuckle, a crotchety private eye, and meets several colorful characters, including a bait shop worker with shockingly orange hair, members of a Russian mob, and a menopausal bakery owner.
To complicate matters further, Samantha has a letter from her ex-husband she has yet to open, AND she accidentally agrees to go out on a date with Doug, a fellow teacher, on the same day that her almost-boyfriend, Ben Parker, returns from training with the FBI. To get through the week, Samantha will have to lean on her friends, face up to her ex-husband, and try not to get electrocuted by her own stun gun. Everything she holds dear will once again be threatened, and just when she thinks it’s all over, her world will be changed forever
APRIL UNDERCOVER
Spring Break – If you’re Samantha Rialto, this is a time for bingo tournaments, ice cream trucks, and backyard electrocutions. Sam is on spring break from her job as a middle school music teacher. She has no plans other than to relax and recover from the stressful events of the past few months. Her friend, private investigator Skipper Turnbuckle, has just been released from the hospital. He tricks her into accompanying him on a simple background check. But nothing in Sam’s life is ever simple. By the end of the afternoon a man named Chili threatens to kill her, a Russian mob boss briefly abducts her, and her Jeep is set on fire.
At home, Sam’s friends Maxie and Olivia, want to learn the secret of what’s buried in their backyard. Edgar and Jackson, a pair of bumbling trespassers, are also interested in the mysterious hatch, and their actions become increasingly more destructive. If that weren’t enough, FBI Agent Ben Parker, Sam’s almost-boyfriend, has a secret he won’t share and has been spending time with Sharon Gilbert, a detective on the Oak Valley Police Department. Ben is irritated with Sam for continuing to associate with Skipper, and their mutual frustration reaches a boiling point. Before Sam’s spring break is over, she’s dragged into the middle of a brutal gang war. Her life and the lives of her friends are threatened. To stay alive Sam will have to figure out the truth…before it kills her.
AN OLD MURDER IN MAY
Samantha Rialto is finally relaxing after a crazy few months. The rental is getting the repairs it needs and the end of the school year is in sight. Time to unwind, go for a jog, encounter a dying woman in the park, get held up in a bar, and become embroiled in a mystery stretching back decades. The usual…
After discovering that the dying woman was murdered, Samantha finds herself mixed up in a quest to uncover the truth behind the woman’s best friend, an orphan who disappeared fifty years ago. Maxie and Olivia, Samantha’s best friends, are dealing with problems of their own, and Ben Parker, her FBI agent boyfriend, is back in town and not overly excited that she’s treading into danger again.
As Samantha investigates the mystery of the missing orphan, she uncovers long-held secrets that someone in Oak Valley has worked hard to keep hidden. The situation escalates quickly when there is another murder, and now Samantha is in a race to find a killer before someone else gets hurt.
The sixty book in the Samantha Rialto series will be released in June 2017. NIGHTMARES IN JUNE will continue the story of Samantha Rialto.
Copyright 2016 Evan Katy. All rights reserved.