By
Rebecca Barrett

MAYHEM MEETS MISTLETOE–

Trouble, the Sherlock of black cat detectives, finds himself in Turnout, MS on Christmas Eve. Teddy Adamson, that heart breaker, has just walked back into Billie Dean Bailey’s life. But more dire happenings are going on under the mistletoe. Who ends up dead and why? Was it the maraschino cherries in the Tizzington sisters’ fruit compote? Or was it something more sinister?

No clue will go unturned by the suave, savvy, and sleuthing black cat! Find out all the answers in this short story of Trouble’s latest escapade in the Familiar Legacy Mystery Series.

Yes I know it’s July but everyone does a Christmas in July don’t they?

Trouble is staying with Billie Dean a cousin of his beloved Tammy Lynn. This time it’s Christmas and of course we need a mystery for him to solve.

Billie Jean works at her father’s used car lot. Trouble is waiting for her time there to be done, when a surprise visitor appears.

This is a favorite scene, through Trouble’s eyes.

I RAISE MY head from the countertop where I lie in languid splendor and a post lunch semi-stupor. Who would have thought I’d be spending Christmas Eve at a used car dealership but here I am, patiently waiting for Billie Dean to call it a day and close up shop.

The jangling of the bell above the door of Bubba Bailey’s Auto Sales draws my attention to the man in military fatigues entering the show room. My whiskers twitch as he zeroes in on first me, then Billie Dean.

Billie Dean reads to the end of the sentence of the novel, places her finger to mark her spot, and looks up. She stands abruptly and the book slips to the floor.

“Teddy.” The name is barely a whisper.

“Billie Dean.” He stops on the other side of the counter. “Merry Christmas.”

“You’re home.”

Well, now, what’s this? Who is this fellow that makes Billie Dean breathless? Tammy Lynn left her in my charge and I take my responsibilities quite seriously. I twitch my tail, waiting to see which way the wind blows.

“So it would seem.” He says

“How…I didn’t know.”

He smiles. “I didn’t tell Mom just in case things didn’t work out.”

Billie Dean takes a breath and releases it on a soft sigh. “She’s happy then.”

“She will be. I haven’t been home yet.”

“Oh.”

The clatter of rapid footfalls on the metal stairs that lead to the upper story gallery and the offices of Bubba Bailey’s Auto Sales draws my attention to Evan Russell, the number one salesman at the dealership.

“Oh,” Billie Dean says again.

I look from Billie Dean to the man she calls Teddy, and lastly at Evan. This could prove to be interesting.

Evan stops in front of Teddy, gives him a quick once over, and extends his hand. “You must be Mr. Higgins. I’m Evan Russell. How can I help you?”

Teddy shakes hands. “Hello,” he says. “But I’m afraid I’m not Mr. Higgins. I just dropped by to see Billie Dean.”

I detect a subtle change in Evan’s expression. So Tammy Lynn’s suspicions must be true. Bubba’s number one salesman is interested in Bubba’s daughter and only child.

Evan indicates Teddy’s uniform with a slight nod of his head. “You active duty?”

“Not today,” Teddy replies.

Evan looks from Teddy to Billie Dean, then back again. When no introduction is forthcoming, he gives another nod. “Well, Merry Christmas,” he says as he walks away and climbs back up the stairs. At the landing, he looks down at Billie Dean and Teddy once more before disappearing into his office.

Into the silence that falls between Billie Dean and Teddy, I rise from my prone position and walk along the counter on velvet paws to investigate the newcomer who renders Billie Dean speechless and Evan pea green.

Teddy runs his hand along my back. Ohhhh, I do like that.

“When did you get a cat?” he asks.

Billie Dean tickles me under the chin. “He belongs to Tammy Lynn.”

“Your cousin?”

“My third cousin once removed.”

“Right.”

I do believe I detect a note of humor in Teddy’s voice.

Billie Dean smiles. “She and Aiden have gone to New York on the Jingle Bell Tour.”

“I won’t ask.”

“They’re staying through New Year’s Eve.”

“So you’re cat sitting.”

Billie Dean laughs. “Not exactly. Let’s just say I feed, groom, and otherwise cater to the wishes of Trouble.”

“Difficult, is he?”

“Not difficult, just determined, and he knows his own mind. Among other things.”

“Sounds like my kind of animal.”

Another awkward silence makes Billie Dean blush and Teddy look down at his boots before giving her a lopsided smile and saying, “Well, Merry Christmas, Billie Dean.”

He turns toward the door and she finds her voice. “You’re coming tonight aren’t you? To the Christmas Eve party?”

He looks back at her. “You want me to come?”

The color in her cheeks deepens and she nods. “It’ll be nice. Like old times.”

Teddy watches her a moment. “Sure. If Mom wants to come, we’ll be there. Same time?”

“Same time, same place. Just like always.”
Rebecca Barrett. Trouble Under the Mistletoe: A Familiar Legacy Short Mystery (Kindle Locations 22-61). KaliOka Press. Kindle Edition.

It’s at the party where things get crazy, and I do mean crazy. With a spiked fruit salad most folks avoid, and plenty of fun. Including a murder.

I did a lot of laughing in this one, Trouble is a character for sure. There’s that romance with Teddy and Billie Dean, that her father wishes was his lead salesman Evan. Yeah so not happening.

Plenty of suspects, romance and suspense. A wonderful short story.

Oh, and rumor has it there’s a new book in this series coming out next week, watch for it!

5 Contented Purrs for Rebecca!

Rebecca Barrett

Rebecca Barrett writes historical fiction, romantic mysteries, post-apocalyptic fiction (writing as Campbell O’Neal), children’s stories, and short stories of life in the South. An avid reader all her life and a product of “front porch” socializing, she became a story-teller at an early age.

Her current novel, Trouble in Paradise, features that handsome, sleek, black cat detective, Trouble. The game is afoot in Key West, Florida and there’s a dead body in the Toucan Suite of the Paradise B&B. This is Rebecca Barrett’s second book in this series written by multiple authors (The Mad Catters) who follow the antics of super-sleuth Trouble as he lands in first one crime scene then another. Of course, the humans help a little. These romantic mysteries are fun and light hearted and just perfect for a beach read or a rainy day.

By
USA Today Bestselling Author
Rebecca Barrett

DEAD IN PARADISE…

Key West is paradise–unless you’re the dead woman in the Toucan Suite. The Hemingway cats, Megs and Bartholomew, who wander the grounds of the B&B, think Liberty Anderson was a spy. But spying on whom? And why? Trouble, the black cat detective, must decipher their cryptic communications and piece together a motive for murder.

Ginger Browne runs the B&B on a shoestring. The Paradise is her home, her history, and her refuge. An unsolved murder could be the kiss of death for this native Conch’s struggle for financial and emotional security.

Trout Richardson is one of the many recluses who came to Key West to escape his past and work as a charter boat captain. Was Liberty merely a charter to him? Or is there more to their relationship?

Both Trout and Ginger resist their mutual attraction, but Trouble knows they’re on an irreversible course toward love and redemption. Trouble must help them resolve the mystery of Liberty’s murder and steer them down the path toward each other.

All while a killer roams the island paradise of the Conch Republic and a lost treasure is up for grabs.

Trouble’s human Tammy Lee, is off on a cruise. She leaves Trouble with her friend Ginger who owns a delightful Bed and Breakfast called Paradise. If you’ve been reading these books along with me you’ll know that Trouble is the son of a famous cat detective named Familiar, and he appears to have the same skills.

When Charter Captain Trout Richardson shows up looking for the woman who booked his boat, Ginger finds her guest, Liberty Anderson, deceased on her bed. Not a very good way to start a day in Paradise.

As the investigation begins, Trouble of course is in the middle of everything. I really love that every chapter begins with Trouble’s musings or interactions.

This is a favorite scene as he meets a couple of Hemingway Museum Cats.

I slip through the front door of the Paradise on the heels of a policeman. The grounds of the bed and breakfast are lush with foliage and I’m briefly distracted by a rather large iguana. He must be at least two feet long, tail to nose. We engage in a Mexican standoff, his beady eyes unflinching, but one flick of my tail and he darts away.

At the rear of the house is a narrow back porch that runs the length of the building. On the southeast corner a staircase runs up the east side to the second floor. At the top of these stairs, lying on his back, sprawled across the landing, is a very fat, gray cat. Beside him is a petite gray with white markings.

As I top the stairs, the petite gray ceases her complaining and turns her crossed-eyed gaze on me. Obviously curious about the cause of the sudden silence, the fat cat opens his eyes.

“Who’re you?” he asks.

“Trouble.”

He wriggles and squirms until he can get his feet under him and he strolls over to me. “We won’t have any trouble around here, you hear?”

I suppress a sigh. “My name is Trouble.”

The female begins to purr, moves beside the fat cat, and touches her nose to mine. Her eyes are very disconcerting.

“I’m Megs,” she says.

The fat cat muscles her to the side. “Where’d you come from?”

“Wetumpka.”

“What’s that? Wetumpka?”

“A city.”

“Oh.”

They stare at me as if I had said the moon.

I know Ginger doesn’t own any pets. “Where’d you come from?”

The female motions with her head toward the east. “The museum. We’re Hemingway cats.”

The tone of her voice suggests I should be impressed by this revelation. When she gets no reaction from me she holds up her paw, a bodacious seven toes displayed for my edification, and glances at the fat cat. “Show him, Bartholomew,” she says.

Bartholomew grunts and lies back down, ignoring me and Megs.

She sidles up to me and rubs along the length of my body, purring all the while. “So, what brings you to Key West?”

I confess vanity made me say it. “Murder.”

Bartholomew lifts his large head, opens his eyes, and stares at me. Megs does a funny little quick step, right paw over left paw, left paw over right, three times in rapid succession.

Still unimpressed, Bartholomew says, “Who’d you kill, a mouse?”

Then he grins. That rather deflates my ego. “No one,” I say, “I’m a detective.”

“Wow.” Megs moves right up in my face. “You mean you solve crimes? Catch murderers?”

“Precisely. You may have heard of my father, Familiar?”

Bartholomew grunts, lies his head down, closes his eyes, and rolls onto his back.

“Are you on a case? Are you on a case?” Megs does her little dance.

Normally I play my cards close to my vest, but given that Megs and Bartholomew appear to use the premises as they wish, I see the benefit of putting them in the know.

“Where were you both last night?”

“You are on a case!” Meg’s crossed-eyes almost twirl like a whirly-gig in her excitement. “Is it murder?”

“Yes, I’m on a case and it’s most definitely murder.”

“Oh, oh, oh! Can I help? Can I be your sidekick?”

“What you can do is tell me if you were on the grounds of the Paradise last night and anything you saw.”

“Yes!” Megs does her little dance. “We were a…”

“Megs!” Bartholomew growls and rocks back and forth until his great weight shifts and he is once again on his feet. “We were at the museum, in our beds in the cat house. We weren’t spying on anyone.”

“Oh, right.” Megs says, as she looks from me to Bartholomew then back to me. “We weren’t violating the court order. Honest.”

“Court order? What court order?” Hello. What have I uncovered?

“What are you talking about?” Bartholomew asks. “We’re cats. We know nothing of legal wranglings and officious secret agents.” He suddenly discovers a need to groom between his toes.

Megs lowers her gaze and moves to the corner of the landing, gazing out across the back lawn. She won’t look at me.

Well, something is afoot here, but it must take a back seat to the matter at hand. Whatever these two know could be vital to finding a killer.
Rebecca Barrett. Trouble in Paradise: Familiar Legacy #6 (Kindle Locations 307-344). KaliOka Press.

This tale gets more intriguing as you turn the pages. Adding to the murder there is also the occupant of the ‘Bird Cage’ room that keeps expecting phone calls. Plus some someone is looking for something, causing even more havoc for poor Ginger.

Fast-paced and fun with intrigue and suspense, plus some romance aided by Trouble as well.

I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.

5 Contented Purrs for Rebecca!

Rebecca Barrett

Rebecca Barrett writes historical fiction, romantic mysteries, post-apocalyptic fiction (writing as Campbell O’Neal), children’s stories, and short stories of life in the South. An avid reader all her life and a product of “front porch” socializing, she became a story-teller at an early age.

Her current novel, Trouble in Paradise, features that handsome, sleek, black cat detective, Trouble. The game is afoot in Key West, Florida and there’s a dead body in the Toucan Suite of the Paradise B&B. This is Rebecca Barrett’s second book in this series written by multiple authors (The Mad Catters) who follow the antics of super-sleuth Trouble as he lands in first one crime scene then another. Of course, the humans help a little. These romantic mysteries are fun and light hearted and just perfect for a beach read or a rainy day.

By
Rebecca Barrett

OLD MONEY AND FRESH MURDER —

Trouble, a savvy black cat with a penchant for sleuthing, has landed in the cream of Savannah society. So has a murderer and art thief. Julia Hampton comes from old family, old money, and old society, but her job as an art insurance investigator puts her at odds with her background–and with the killer. Julia is determined to stop him. U. S. Deputy Marshal Mitch Lawson knows more than he’s willing to let on. One thing is clear: Julia is in danger–because of secrets he won’t share.

But have no fear, Trouble the black cat detective is on the job and while Julia and Mitch are distracted by their attraction to each other, he is about to get his man.

I love this detective cat! In this one Tammy Lynn is off canvasing libraries and Trouble is in Savannah, Georgia with a Private Investigator friend Julia.

We jump right into suspense with Julia’s office being broken into. Her parents having a fit and being coerced into attending a formal affair to appease her father.

Followed by not being able to reach her contact at the Insurance Agency she is contracted to, but meeting an intriguing fellow, Doug Heinz, who has been pranked by two of his co-workers. Then meeting a US Marshall Mitch Lawson.

This is a favorite scene after Mitch shows up at her office.

Julia picked up the card and read it. Then she moved to the window and watched as Mitch Lawson stood on the sidewalk outside her house, unmoving, staring into the darkness.

She hated to think she was so fickle but from the moment he had stepped into her office she had forgotten all about Doug Heinz. That is, until Lawson brought him up. What was it between those two? She had sensed the tension in Doug on the street earlier in the day when Mitch arrived in response to her 911 call. At the time she brushed it aside as anger over the vandalism. Now she wasn’t so sure. It now seemed more than a little suspicious that Mitch would have shown up at the scene, and so quickly at that. And now he was asking questions about her relationship with Doug.

He had come to her in search of information on the theft, or so he said. Why did she feel there was more to it than that? She sighed. Her father’s concern over her safety was beginning to take its toll. All these unanswered questions didn’t help matters. She had brushed off the break-in to everyone but now she could admit to herself a little niggle of fear. After the break-in, Peter Ryder had disappeared, a U. S. Deputy Marshal had arrived on the scene, tight lipped and watchful. What was really going on?

She placed the card on her desk and started to tidy up the files on the table in the corner of her office. Trouble dropped to the floor from the sofa and padded across to her desk. He jumped to the chair then the desktop.

“What have I told you about my desk, Trouble?” Julia stopped what she was doing, a stack of files in her hand.

“Yeow.” Trouble batted at the card with his paw, moving it around on the desktop. Then he sat on his haunches and blinked slowly three times. “Yeow.”

Julia placed the files on the table and crossed the room to stand looking down at Trouble. She picked up the card. “Okay. So, what’s the message? Friend or foe?”

Trouble began to purr, his eyelids drooping to half mast.

Julia started scratching him under his chin. His eyes closed and the purring grew to the sound of a small cement mixer. “I think you like him.”

Trouble’s eyes opened to green slits, then closed again. A final judgment, Julia thought, on the merits of one Mitchell Lawson, U. S. Deputy Marshal.

Julia tapped Mitch’s card against her chin. The key, she thought, was Peter Ryder. As soon as the claim was assigned to her, he disappeared. True, it had been only a little over forty-eight hours since anyone had last seen him, but the timing was suspicious.
Rebecca Barrett. Trouble in Dixie (Kindle Locations 475-498). KaliOka Press. Kindle Edition.

Fast-paced, lots of fun and danger. Twists and turns abound in this tale.

Julia’s family is a hoot and Mitch is delightful. Trouble is in fact always in the middle of things and I adore this cat.

I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.

5 Contented Purrs for Rebecca!

Rebecca Barrett

Rebecca Barrett writes historical fiction, romantic mysteries, post-apocalyptic fiction (writing as Campbell O’Neal), children’s stories, and short stories of life in the South. An avid reader all her life and a product of “front porch” socializing, she became a story-teller at an early age.

Her current novel, Trouble in Paradise, features that handsome, sleek, black cat detective, Trouble. The game is afoot in Key West, Florida and there’s a dead body in the Toucan Suite of the Paradise B&B. This is Rebecca Barrett’s second book in this series written by multiple authors (The Mad Catters) who follow the antics of super-sleuth Trouble as he lands in first one crime scene then another. Of course, the humans help a little. These romantic mysteries are fun and light hearted and just perfect for a beach read or a rainy day.