Book Blitz ~ Dead Winner by Kevin G. Chapman

 

Mystery/Thriller/Romance

Date Published: 11-22-2022

Publisher: First Legacy Publishing (Independent)

Be careful what you wish for . . .

Rory McEntyre is a lonely trusts & estates attorney who plays the hero inside video games. Then, his old flame, Monica, walks into his office with a $60 million winning lottery ticket and a world of trouble.

Monica’s husband, Tom, is dead, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot. A homicide detective considers Monica a suspect, so Rory must be her criminal lawyer. Thugs from Tom’s shady business think Monica has incriminating evidence Tom stole from the company, so Rory must be her protector. Most importantly, Rory must be Monica’s private detective, because the winning lottery ticket is missing. As Monica and Rory search for the ticket, their relationship heats up well beyond attorney and client. Rory has the chance to win the girl of his dreams, but does he have what it takes to be a real hero? And is Monica everything he wants to believe she is? If he’s not careful, Rory could end up like Tom – a Dead Winner.

Excerpt

“Do we have a time of death yet?”

          “The assistant M.E. on the scene said she couldn’t be sure, but the blood was coagulated and the corpse looked like it had been there for a few hours at least. We won’t have an official TOD until we get the autopsy back, but it didn’t seem likely the wife shot him after she came home at nine o’clock. The stiff wasn’t that fresh.”

          Sullivan looked up from the report at his two detectives and blew out a breath. “You look like you got something else to say, Steve.”

          George glanced at his partner, then shrugged. Steve said, “It’s just a feeling, Cap. We decided not to put anything in the report, but the wife’s behavior at the scene was . . . a little unusual.”

          Sully dropped his head and said into his desktop, “OK, out with it.”

          “Well, this was a pretty bloody scene. It looks like the victim put the gun in his mouth and blew out the whole back of his head. The wife said she found him and rushed to the body, rolled him over, stepped on the bloody floor, and picked up the gun. So, her prints are all over the gun, her footprints are all around the body, and it’s basically impossible to tell whether she was there when the shot was fired or came to the scene later. It seems unusual to me. What kind of fresh widow rushes over and touches the body? It’s not like there was any chance he was still breathing. But, like I said, she was pretty broken up and emotional last night, so her behavior while we were there wasn’t particularly suspicious.”

          Sully scowled. “Did you test the wife for powder residue?”

          “No. She had a lawyer.”

          “A lawyer? At the crime scene?”

          “Yeah. It looked like they knew each other. He was looking at her like he wanted to spend some time alone with the widow. Don’t worry, Sully, we’ll cover our bases here. If there’s anything fishy, we’ll let you know.”

          “OK, but don’t chase shadows here. Let the M.E. confirm it was self-inflicted. If there’s no smoke, get it closed. We’ve got actual homicides for you to chase down.”

 

About the Author

Kevin G. Chapman is an attorney specializing in labor and employment law and an independent author. In 2021, Kevin finished the first five books in the Mike Stoneman Thriller series. Righteous Assassin (Mike Stoneman Thriller #1), was named one of the top 20 Mystery/Thrillers of 2019 by the Kindle Book Review and was a finalist for the Chanticleer Book Review CLUE award. Deadly Enterprise (Mike Stoneman Thriller #2) was also named a top-20 Mystery/Thriller of 2020 by the Kindle Book Review and made the Short-List for the 2020 CLUE Award. Book #3, Lethal Voyage, was the winner of the 2021 Kindle Book Award and a Finalist for the CLUE and for the InD’Tale Magazine RONE Award. Book #4 in the series, Fatal Infraction, was named Best Police Procedural of the year by the Chanticleer Book Review, and book #5 (Perilous Gambit) was published November 24, 2021. Kevin has also written a serious political drama, A Legacy of One, originally published in 2016, which was short-listed for the Chanticleer Somerset Award for literary fiction. A Legacy of One was re-published in a newly re-edited and revised second edition in 2021. Currently, Kevin is working on a stand-alone mystery/thriller titled Dead Winner, expected out in late 2022, and a romantic thriller titled A Good Girl. Kevin is a resident of Central New Jersey and is a graduate of Columbia College and Boston University School of Law. Readers can contact Kevin via his website at www.KevinGChapman.com.

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