Title: A Wordless Death
Series: Adele Gossling Mysteries: Book 2
Author: Tam May
Genres: Historical Cozy Mystery
Release Date: July 30, 2022
Adele Gossling is adjusting well to small-town life after the hustle and bustle of San Francisco. Despite her progressive ideas about women and her unladylike business acumen, even Arrojo’s most prominent citizens are beginning to accept her. Provided she sticks with the business of fountain pens and letter paper and stays out of crime investigation, that is…
But that’s just what she can’t do when Millie Gibb, the new teacher at the local girl’s school, is found dead and everybody in town assumes the homely, unmarried spinster committed suicide. After all, what enemies could a harmless, middle-aged woman have?
Adele and her clairvoyant friend Nin intend to find out. But can they prove Millie’s death was foul play based on a cigar stub, a letter fragment, and a cigarette lighter before the case is closed for good?
You’ll love this turn-of-the-century whodunit where a sassy and smart New Woman gives the police a run for their money!
“The characters are true to life, and the early methods used in criminal detection are fun to read.” – Amazon reviewer
You can get your copy of the book at a special promotional price at the following online retailers.
Excerpt
After the men had left, both her brother and the sheriff rose, brushing coal dust from their clothes.
“No glass, I take it,” said Adele.
“No, but something much more interest,” said her brother. “Something in your line of work, Del.”
He showed her what looked like a fragment of a written document. The edges were crisp and charred and written on it was a small dark print she could barely read.
“That explains why there was a fire burning last night even though it’s been rather mild these past few days except for the wind,” he remarked.
“A discouraging lover, you think?” Hatfield raised an eye.
“It wouldn’t be uncommon,” said Jackson. “Though perhaps a little surprising.”
Adele did not fail to catch his meaning. “Miss Gibb might not have been a beauty, Jack, but many men appreciate intelligence and education more than giggles and curls.”
She was rewarded by Hatfield’s deep chuckle of approval.
“Love doesn’t usually go with money, though, does it?” Jackson said. “Whatever this letter contained, it had to do with a lot of money.” He showed the sheriff what he meant.
Here, the croak sounded from Mrs. Taylor and they all looked at her.
“Begging your pardon, sir,” said the woman. “I don’t get into the business of my guests unless —”
“Unless?” Hatfield head went up.
“It’s necessary, of course,” was her resolute answer.
“You know something about this?” he asked.
“Well, no, sir, not that in particular,” said Mrs. Taylor. “But more than once Millie had to ask to delay her payment here. Had a cousin who was rather in a bad way financially.” She looked embarrassed. “I don’t like to go ‘round telling the private business of my guests but —”
“That’s all right, ma’am,” said Jackson. “We’re police, not gossips.”
“Well, now that I see everything is all right —” But she still hesitated and Adele understood the woman’s concern. Her sense of decorum had gotten a jolt at the idea a room she only rented to women boarders was now being trampled over my male footsteps.
“I’ll make sure everything is all right, Mrs. Taylor,” she said in a low voice.
The woman rewarded her with one of her gummy smiles and departed without ceremony.
“Could be this cousin was asking for money again,” Jackson said.
“Why throw the letter in the fire, then?” asked Hatfield. “I’ve had more than one of Ma’s uncles write us for a few gold coins and even when I refused, I never threw the letter out.”
“Perhaps she didn’t want other people in the house to know she had a mercenary cousin,” Adele said.
“A relative that keeps asking for money is not a favorite relative,” Jackson agreed.
“The question is, could he be a relative that kills?” Adele murmured.
About the Author
As soon as Tam May started her first novel at the age of fourteen, writing became her voice. She writes engaging, fun-to-solve historical cozy mysteries featuring sassy suffragist Adele Gossling. Tam is the author of the Adele Gossling Mysteries which take place in the early 20th century and feature amateur sleuth and epistolary expert Adele Gossling, a forward-thinking young woman whose talent for solving crimes doesn’t sit well with her town’s Victorian ideas about women’s place in society. Tam has also written historical women’s fiction. Her post-World War II short story collection, Lessons From My Mother’s Life, debuted at #1 in its category on Amazon, and the first book of her Gilded Age family saga, the Waxwood Series, The Specter, remains in the top 10 in its category. Although Tam left her heart in San Francisco, she lives in Texas because it’s cheaper. When she’s not writing, she’s devouring everything classic (books, films, art, music) and concocting vegetarian dishes in her kitchen.
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Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Tam-May/e/B01N7BQZ9Y/
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