Virtual Book Tour Dates: 5/1/14
– 5/30/14
Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery
In
their book, A Foolish Plucking, Dee Pipes and Charlie Yates, writing as
Dee Wilbur, are again telling the truth about Richmond, Texas (as well
as a few lies). They’ve expanded Jon Miller’s area of operations to
include Liberty, Texas, Dee’s home town. She demanded equal time with
Richmond so much of the story is centered in Liberty. But not to limit
themselves, they’ve also had some of the story take place in Victoria,
Texas. You can’t confine a great man like Jon Miller.
–It’s all fun and games ‘til someone gets a conviction–
Gary
is a lush and a womanizer. On that everyone agrees. But is he a
murderer? The police sure think so. Gary denies it, and the police don’t
have a corpse. But they do have the big fight at the country club, his
wife’s blood behind the bed, in the shower drain, and in the back of her
Escalade, and Gary’s lack of an alibi. The jury agrees with the police.
Gary’s
mistress leaves Dayton with Gary’s child and moves to Richmond, to be
nearby for her once a month visits with him in the Vance Unit (a Texas
State Prison in Sugar Land). She hears of Jon through Lulu, her new
boss, and enlists his aid in trying to get Gary a new trial.
In
the meantime Jon and Sandy are dealing with a family problem. Why
haven’t Jon’s brother and sister-in-law ever shown up at any of their
events. It isn’t because Sandy’s cooking is bad.
All in all it stirs up a nice little brew of a mystery that’ll keep you busy for an afternoon or two.
Excerpt:
Valentine’s
Day was the holiday of pink hearts, red roses, lace, gold, diamonds,
and love. The organizers of the Pecan Hill Country Club had
transformed the dining room into a dreamlike façade with tables for
individual couples. The tables were draped in lace, garnished with
red heart confetti, and lit by votives. The tables scattered about
the periphery of the room revealed a central dance floor with several
couples slow dancing. The D.J. watched as the couples returned to
their tables. Many gathered up their coats, purses, and party favors
to move toward the exit. The party was winding down. Heads swiveled
as one irate husband stomped to the floor to drag his wife back to
their table.
“What
in the hell are you doing?” Gary spat the words out through
clenched teeth as he pulled her from the dance floor.
“What
do you think you’re doing?” Alice answered, rubbing her left
wrist where he had grabbed her, and glancing around to see if anyone
was watching.
He
pushed her into a chair at their table. “I’m trying to keep you
from making a complete spectacle of yourself.” His voice rose loud
enough to be heard over the music that the D.J. had started. Other
patrons at the Pecan Hill Country Club Valentine Dance turned to
stare at the shouting couple, always eager to watch a good fight.
“Rubbing
your boobs all over Franklin Johns out there on the dance floor.”
“You’ve
had too much to drink. You’re so drunk you can barely stand
upright. I sure can’t dance with you. I’m going home. You might
think about where you plan to sleep tonight ’cause it sure ain’t
anywhere near me.” With that Alice picked up her stole and strode
across the dance floor and out of the room.
Gary
slumped into his chair and finished off his drink. He pondered his
situation for a few minutes and then staggered to the front door of
the club just in time to see Alice speed off in her Escalade. “Shit,
I think I need another drink,” he said as he slid to the floor,
ending up with his head resting against the door frame.
An
elderly, white-haired couple, leaving for the evening, gingerly
stepped over his legs and continued to the parking lot. The woman
glanced back.
“There
he is again. I don’t know how poor little Alice puts up with him.
And it’s her daddy’s money, bless her heart.”
Her
husband, a municipal court judge for the city of Liberty, answered,
“Wouldn’t
take that much for him to have his own money, if he just sobered up
and worked, instead of playing.”
Emma,
his wife, said, “I’m going to call Thelma, Alice’s mother, and
tell her. This is disgraceful.”
About
two hours later, Gary awoke lying on the couch in the men’s locker
room, cold water running down his chin.
A
voice which said, “Come on, wake up. It’s time for all good
little boys to go home,” and a wet face brought him to
semi-consciousness.
“Fred,
what have you done to me? Why am I all wet?”
Fred,
the men’s locker room attendant and general custodian, leaned over
Gary and said “Mr. Spencer, you been asleep for two hours. Cold
water in the face was my last choice ’fore I threw you in the
shower. We’re closing the place down for the night. I’ve called
you a taxi, and it’s here. So up you go.”
He
lifted the man from the couch and drunk-walked him to the waiting
cab.
Buy Link:
About Dee Wilbur:
Dee Wilbur
Dee Wilbur is the pen name of Charles Yates and Dee Pipes.
A Texas
native, Charles (Wilbur) Yates, Jr., was reared in a small Texas town,
Rosenberg. He graduated from Rice University in Houston with a B.A. and
Ph.D. in Biology. He received the M.D. degree from the University of
Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. He was in the private
practice of radiology for thirty years before retiring in 2001. He has
been married to his wife Sally for fifty years. They have four adult
sons and eight grandchildren. He now tends his garden in Richmond,
Texas.
Also a Texas
native, Beatrice (Dee) Pipes grew up in another small Texas town,
Liberty. Her degree from Rice University is a B.A. in English. She holds
two patents from her work at Compaq Computer Corporation. She currently
runs a company that helps other companies with marketing, project
management, and other tasks. She has been married to her husband Bryan
for over thirty-five years.
Connect With Dee Wilbur:
Enter to Win:
The authors are giving away four electronic copies of A Jealous God, the
first book in their series. Open internationally, 18 and over, please!
The giveaway will run 5/1/14 – 5/30/14.
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