Tall Tales Twin-Pack, Mysteries

By Cathy Spencer

2 mysterious short stories in 1 book.
In "The House on Cliffside," Colonel Booth fears that his wife is spending too much time with their doctor. When her body is found at the foot of a cliff, Booth knows it isn't an accident.
"In the Playground," 2nd place winner in Suspense Magazine's 2011 writing contest, is a thriller about a suspicious stranger who watches over a playground - but why?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cathy Spencer
• Release date: May 25, 2013
• ISBN: 9780991725946

Cathy Spencer

I've begun a new historical novel which is set in 1927 during the Roaring Twenties. My young heroine moves from cosmopolitan Toronto to Kentville, Nova Scotia, a small but bustling town. It's a fish-out-of-water story that evolves into a mystery. With flappers, speakeasies, and rum-runners, it should be a fun read! I'm also the author of the Anna Nolan mystery series featuring an amateur sleuth working for a Calgary, Alberta university. Book One, Framed for Murder, was the winner of the 2014 Bony Blithe Mystery Award. In it, Anna discovers the body of her unfaithful ex-husband while walking her dog one evening, and quickly becomes the focus of his murder investigation. Book Two in the series, Town Haunts, is set at Halloween. Cemetery custodian Sherman Mason asks for help from Anna and her friends when he hears his dead wife calling to him from beyond the grave. In the third book, Tidings of Murder and Woe, Anna is looking forward to a happy Christmas when her new friend, the CEO of a big oil company, starts receiving anonymous death threats. I've also written two romances. The Affairs of Harriet Walters, Spinster, is an historical novel about a spinster whose life is turned upside when she is sent to live with a persnickety aunt after her father's death. The Dating Do-Over is a contemporary romantic comedy about a thirtyish school teacher with a sympathetic heart and lousy taste in men. Connect with me online: Website: http://cmspencer.blogspot.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CathySpencerAuthor

Book preview

Tall Tales Twin-Pack, Mysteries

The House on Cliffside, A Short Story

In the Playground, A Short Story

(Originally published by Suspense Magazine, March 2012, vol. 032)

By Cathy Spencer

Cover Design by Angel Creations

Published by Comely Press at Smashwords

Copyright 2012 Cathy Spencer

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The House on Cliffside

Colonel Booth and his wife’s secretary, Phyllis Hawthorne, were breakfasting together in the dining room, their cutlery clattering on plates oily with bacon grease and egg yolk. Outside, the June fog blanketed the windows, but inside the fire crackled in the hearth and the room felt cozy.

Done with the business section yet, Miss Hawthorne? Want to trade for the city news?

Certainly, Colonel.

They folded the newspapers and exchanged them with half smiles before burying their faces again. The doorbell chimed, and Mavis, the petite Irish maid, appeared in the doorway moments later.

Excuse me, sir, she said, but Doctor Scott is here to see Mrs. Booth, again.

The colonel frowned as he looked up. He was a solidly-built man with a florid face in his early sixties. Alright, Mavis, show him up. The maid nodded and withdrew. Here again – this is beginning to be a bit much, he grumbled.

He certainly is attentive, Miss Hawthorne murmured, sipping her tea. She was past the first bloom of youth but still trim in a green wool suit with a silver hummingbird brooch fastened at the throat of her blouse.

Attentive – that’s a polite way of putting it, he said before going back to his reading.

Doctor Scott paused on his way down the hallway to stick his head in the door. He was young, blond, and modishly dressed in a Nehru jacket and black turtle-neck sweater.