Murder at 1217

By David Ward Davis and Lisa E. Brown

Murder at 1217 – This first offering in Lisa and David’s new detective series is an excellent whodunnit. Of course, this book also introduces the many diverse characters who will continue their roles in each Strickland Files mystery. We believe you will soon feel a part of the extended family that is The Strickland Files.

Murder at 1217 is set in Nashville, Tennessee, appropriately known as Music City. Captain of Detectives Dan Strickland investigates the murder of a young oriental woman, Mishi Tayonaka.

His protege, young Detective Vic Moss, is an integral part of all Strickland Files Mysteries. He brings a mix of wit, concise thought processes, and dry humor that make the stories spring to life on the page.

Many plot twists, additional victims and exciting pages later all is solved thanks to old fashioned detective work. There are no convenient streetwise informers who step forward to solve the case, or blond bombshell secretaries who showcase their stuff on one hand while fighting off bad guys with the other.

Truth is, there's a psychopath on the loose, there is method to his madness – is it a love gone bad, the work of a deranged mind, or a kill for the thrill? Just plain murder wasn’t good enough, he had to make a statement – but why?.

The truth is much more complicated - and surprising - The Murder at 1217 was one of Nashville’s most baffling cases... the outcome will surprise you...

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Ward Davis
• Release date: Feb 9, 2013
• ISBN: 9781892642035

David Ward Davis

Lisa E. Brown and David Ward Davis are the bestselling authors of "Jingle Bell Rock", "The Topanginu Warrior", "Murder at 1217" “The Receptor Planet” and "Lisa's Down Home Tenmnessee Country Cooking".Smashwords does not make accomodations for 2 authors so both Authors have to be combined into ONE Author page. They really don't mind."We write as a team." Lisa says, "the system is just not set up to handle that..."Lisa E. Brown was born in Georgia and raised in Tennessee, she was daughter number four to hard working parents who made sure their home was filled with love and conviction.David Ward Davis hails from "small town" Indiana, (Martinsville) where he grew up the fifth son of loving parents and the wandering soul out of seven children.Lisa and David have been together for over 18 years and equally share the authoring of their books. They have recently begun to focus on the ebook market."Our books will always be available as printed works, but we must take advantage of new technology and present our stories however people want to receive them." David says.David and Lisa have many more books that will become available over the next four or five years - join them as they pursue their craft. They continue to move forward in their careers.Lisa E. Brown and Davis Ward Davis are names you will hear a lot of in the future. No, not as great literary writers, but as storytellers of heartfelt tales, biographies and sometimes stories about just plain people who love to live.Lisa and David's future is now...

Book preview

What Readers are Saying

about Murder at 1217

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"I’ll say without hesitation, read this book! The authors have written a very exciting murder mystery . . . It starts quickly and seems to speed up paragraph by paragraph until the very end.

Jay L. – Dubuque, IA.

"I like the character’s, they are believable down to earth everyday people."

Helen K. – Philadelphia, PA.

"The authors are correct, this one will keep you awake at night - the killer is one evil human being . . ."

Sylvia D. – Washington, PA.

I am a former police officer, and I can say this is very close to what really goes on in real cases, especially for the time period that is presented. Bravo - gladly recommend to all readers of mystery . . .

James M. – Cincinnati, OH.

MURDER AT 1217

Copyright 2012

Lisa E. Brown & David Ward Davis

Aalida Press USA

SMASHWORDS EDITION

Murder at 1217 — ISBN 978-1-892642-03-5

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This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author

Title Page

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Aalida Press USA

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Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book, including the right to reproduce this book, or parts thereof, in any form. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical without the express written permission of the authors. The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal. Purchase only duly authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of any copyrighted materials.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. All events depicted are based upon the author's collective imagination. No part of this book is intended to harm any persons, group or entity either professionally or privately. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead or any private geographical location is strictly coincidental.

The Publisher does not have, and does not assume, any control over, and does not have or assume any responsibility for authors or third party websites or their content.

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Please Visit our website www.aalidausa.com

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Author's Other Works

(Our Books Available in All Formats)

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Lisa E. Brown & David Ward Davis

Jingle Bell Rock

The Receptor Planet

The Horizontal Lie

The Topanginu Warrior

Lisa's Tennessee Country Cooking

* * * * *

We dedicate this book to Dave's late brother

Phil Davis of Martinsville, Indiana

He was an inspiration, not only to us

but, to all who had the pleasure of knowing him.

He was the original Duke of Earl and Mr. Cool

He will always be one of our favorite hero's.

* * * * *

Table of Contents

What Readers Are Saying

Copyright Page

Title Page

Publisher's Note

Contact Us

Author's Other Works

Preface

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Thanks to Our Fans

Synopsis' of Our Other Books

Author's Bios

Preface

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Lisa and I went to Nashville in 1997, we were doing some legwork on our book Jingle Bell Rock searching through the Country Music Hall of Fame archives and nailing down some facts about the history behind our book.

We were, at that time, also working on this detective novel - we really did not have a title, or a true direction, we pretty much had outlined the characters, including a brief storyline, and we were searching for a setting that would work for our detectives.

It just so happened, that while in Music City, it dawned on us that Nashville would make the perfect backdrop for our novel.

There were several reasons. I had previously lived in Nashville, worked in the Music industry and knew the city fairly well. So locations would be no problem, although, we decided to create fictional areas and streets most of the time.

We set out early one day, and decided that we would go to the police station, sort of feel out the total idea. Perhaps we would speak to a few police officers, and decide if a city of Nashville setting would work for us.

The day turned out much better than anticipated - while taking pictures of the police headquarters building, we were fortunate enough to meet a Nashville Detective; he would turn out to be the perfect answer to our problem. We became fast friends and we now had someone who knew the inner workings of the department, and was willing to share some limited information with us.

We did not desire any departmental secrets, we just wanted to be sure that procedure, ranking and policy we used in the book sort of resembled the actual, in place policies, of that department. (we really did not end up doing that very well)

Of course, we were writing a fictional account of several fictional murders set in this city, and we are adamant about fictional, we made up the characters, the settings, and the procedures. We did not base any character on any real person or persons, or any case on any case past or present.

The nice thing about writing and creating is: our characters can do whatever we decide they can do. They can fly, walk like a duck or run faster than the speed of sound.

We asked our new Detective friend very generic questions: Would a police officer be allowed to do this, say this, or approach a subject in this manner etc., etc? Would the hierarchy be set up in this manner - or could it be?

Once we established the fact that our theory would work, the rest took care of itself.

We wrote to our Detective a few times after returning home and asked generic questions, he was kind enough to keep us on a sort of straight path.

One very important fact to remember, these are old cases from the 70's and 80's - much of the newer crime scene procedures were not in place at that time. There were no CSI's like there are today - DNA laboratories, Luminol or specialty investigators. Old fashioned detective work was the only way to solve crimes and it worked. If you catch yourself wondering why the detective's didn't try this or that, remember the procedures did not exist at that time.

A funny thing happened about halfway through this first book; we decided that our characters were so strong and alive, that we would definitely have to count on writing a second or third mystery with them. You never waste a really good character or a set of them.

The Strickland Files was born. The chief of Detectives was Dan Strickland and we were supposedly pulling old files from his file cabinet and telling the story of a grisly or baffling murder.

All of the characters were introduced in this, the first book in the series, Murder at 1217 and continued in the second and third book.

Lisa and I are planning on two to three more books and we will decide then if the series will continue.

One last thought, we experienced something that neither of us had ever experienced in our writing. Our characters took on a life of their own and would, at times, take off in a direction we had not foreseen or planned.

Lisa would be editing and all of a sudden proclaim - Where in the world did that come from?

I would look at her with my famous blank look (dumb as a rock), To tell you the truth, I don’t know - he just went there - I tried to stop him but he kept looking at me and saying ‘I’m doing it - so write it!

Then it happened to her one evening, she said, Now I know what you were talking about - it’s so weird, they sort of take over, it’s like losing control.

Since that time, it is not uncommon for us to let them have their way, they are living the story; we are just putting it on paper.

There are some scenes in this book that we both had trouble writing and editing. The language is raw as well as brutal, just as the characters we depict are. There is nothing nice or proper about anything they do or say.

The words are written for effect, to establish that we are not dealing with some really nice, well-mannered criminals. They are none of that - they are vile, hardened characters, who will do whatever it takes to further their desire or intent.

We do hope you enjoy Murder at 1217 - Please don’t forget to look up The Horizontal Lie, The Receptor Planet, The Topanginu Warrior, Jingle Bell Rock and all of our other books.

Lisa & Dave

Chapter 1

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She was only eighteen! a hushed voice, buried within the faceless crowd whispered.

It’s God-awful . . . an old white hired gentleman groaned lowly, speaking to no one in particular.

This was a gaping, curious throng that was gathered along the sidewalk in front of 1217 Latham Place.

How could something like this happen here? a middle-aged woman asked as a small boy begged, Let’s go, Mama, he tugged on her dress in antsy boredom.

The gawking crowd carefully watched as the uniformed patrolmen scurried in and out of the vacant house. Seemingly too busy to notice the curious neighbors gathered along the neat white picket fence; they too, were engrossed in the scenario unfolding before them.

The plastic yellow tape, with the words ‘CRIME SCENE - DO NOT CROSS’ stamped in bold black letters, held them at bay. The tape stretched from the fence-post to the extreme left of 1217 and continued to the tree-line to the right of the pre-fifties frame house.

Off the grass! a white haired officer instructed the crowd in a monotone as he waved his arm to indicate the area to his left and right. Back-up people, he continued as he walked back and forth the length of the ribbon, waving his arms as if shooing invisible flies. The importance of the task was not lost in his silent demeanor.

The curious neighbors would fall back momentarily then press forward again and he would repeat his instructions. Their ears strained for any uttered clue concerning the bloody horror that had taken place a few hours past in this seemingly innocent small frame house.

1217 Latham Place was located in the Braverman area of Nashville. It was actually a part of the city, though separated by a main thoroughfare. The people who inhabited Braverman were middle class citizens who went about their business in almost total obscurity as far as the police were concerned. Trouble seldom reared its ugly head amidst the community. It was quite unusual for the police to be seen in Braverman, let alone investigating a murder; which now was the case.

As the cruiser turned the corner onto Latham Place, Captain of Homicide Detectives Dan Strickland let out a heavy breath of air as he surveyed the mass of people gathered in the distance.

There’s a TV camera crew behind us Captain, the officer driving said - glancing at Dan in the rear-view mirror.

Dan turned slightly looking out the back window. WSM is with us the others won’t be far behind, he nodded and said grimly.

The crowd began to murmur when the white and blue Metro police cruiser pulled up to the curb. Two patrolmen exited the front of the squad car. A middle-aged, suit-clad, hulking Chief of Detectives climbed from the rear passenger side.

To his left Dan could see another of Nashville’s television crews setting up their equipment. Get me in there! he nudged the sergeant leading the way.

They hurried through the crowd and through the picket gate of 1217 without a breath of air escaping their lips

Is that him? a voice whispered lowly.

Who’s that man? another called out, is he the husband?

Yea . . . What’s his business here? another shouted gruffly.

I heard they’re bringing in the big brass.

Yes, that’s definitely the police commissioner, I remember seeing him on TV once! a small fellow with glasses said confidently as he pushed his way through the ever pressing crowd.

Rumors were already broiling.

No! another answered importantly, That’s the Captain of Homicide! He shook his head as if to indicate disbelief that someone would not recognize the Captain in person.

The throng continued to conjure stories of pure fantasy. No one knew what actually happened, the facts were this; someone, purportedly a young woman of about eighteen, had been viciously murdered