This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Marla A. White will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Description of Cause for Elimination
Reclaiming her life after a devastating riding accident, equestrian Emily Conners’ world shatters again when she discovers her friend and boss laying in a stall with a smashed skull. Now jobless and with a handsome cop underfoot investigating the case, she’s torn between wanting the killer found and keeping her own secrets safe.
Detective Justin Butler always gets his killer, but this victim has a stampede of enemies and few leads to go on. Stonewalled by the tight-knit equestrian world, he looks to Emily for help, but she’s strangely reluctant. Is she hiding something, or is she afraid of their growing attraction?
As the search for the murderer heats up, their hearts become entangled and their lives at risk, forcing Emily and Justin to work together to find the killer before they strike again.
Read an Excerpt of Cause for Elimination
Dennis snapped on his own set of gloves and gestured toward the woman standing just outside the stall-cum-office. “Nice coat she’s got on. Didn’t you used to have one like it?”
“That’s Emily Conners. She found the body.”
“And so what, it’s a new gimmick? Everyone who reports a murder wins a free Blueberry coat?”
“It’s a Bu—never mind, you philistine. What was I supposed to do? We took her coat and shoes as evidence.”
Dennis wanted to say, you mind your own business and solve the crime, not take every hard-luck case you see under your wing. Nobody, not even Justin, had big enough wings to take in all the strays they met in this line of work. Instead, he left it alone. It was a lesson every cop had to learn for themselves.
Justin ignored his unspoken disapproval and took a sip of coffee. Instantly, his face scrunched up in an expression of pure horror.
“Don’t blame me. It was the only coffee I could find around here,” Dennis said while he checked out the office. “Hey, you take the horse out of the stall, add a ceiling fan, crappy furniture from the local office supply store, and a phone and you’ve got—a stall minus a horse.”
“People who live in glass cubicles,” his partner countered. “I kind of like the Feng Shui, it’s very grounding, especially with the window—”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s facing south and angled toward the moon, whatever,” he scoffed.
About Author Marla A. White
Marla White is a story analysis instructor at UCLA and writing coach who lives in Los Angeles. She graduated from the University of Kentucky (go Wildcats!), where she took her first horseback riding lesson. After dabbling in hunters, barrel racing, and weekly trail rides, she fell hopelessly in love with the sport of eventing. She conquered Novice level before taking a break to pursue novel writing but hopes to return to the saddle someday soon. Her first novel, “The Starlight Mint Surprise Murder,” was published in 2021 followed by the first two books in her Keeper Chronicles series. When she’s not writing, she’s out in the garden, hiking, or putting together impossibly difficult puzzles.
Buy Links
Marla A. White will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Goddess Fish Promotions
October 10, 2022 at 6:09 amThanks for hosting!
Bea LaRocca
October 10, 2022 at 6:22 amAn intriguing synopsis and excerpt, Cause for Elimination sounds like a thrilling read. Thank you for sharing your bio and book details, I have enjoyed reading about you and your work and I am looking forward to reading your story. Which aspect of this story required the most research on your part?
Marla
October 10, 2022 at 2:09 pmI realized I didn’t properly hit the “reply” button. Sorry, it was pre-coffee clarity!
The equestrian parts of the story came naturally to me as I had been riding one discipline or another since I started taking lessons in college. But Emily’s injury and addiction to pain meds, as a result, was something I’d fortunately never had to deal with personally but know it happens all too often so I wanted to be sure to get it right. That was what I spend the most time researching and talking to people in the medical field for answers.
Marla
October 10, 2022 at 9:14 amThank you for hosting, Deborah.
Hey Bea, nice to meet you! The equestrian parts of the story came naturally to me as I had been riding one discipline or another since I started taking lessons in college. But Emily’s injury and addiction to pain meds, as a result, was something I’d fortunately never had to deal with personally but know it happens all too often so I wanted to be sure to get it right. That was what I spend the most time researching and talking to people in the medical field for answers.
Deborah
October 10, 2022 at 1:29 pmWelcome to the blog, Marla!