Murder Intermezzo

By O'Neil De Noux

A haunting romance, an obsession with a beautiful woman, a thundering heart that feels as if it will burst is played out against the backdrop of Tchaikovsky and Bizet. Is that a derringer in her hand? Intermezzo – a short movement separating the major sections of a musical composition. Intermezzo – a short movement separating the halves of a life spent yearning.

As lagniappe, also offered is another haunting piece that begins with someone throwing a party in the New Orleans morgue on Christmas Eve.

• Language: English
• Publisher: O'Neil De Noux
• Release date: Mar 16, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476114620

O'Neil De Noux

O’Neil De Noux writes in many genres, primarily realistic crime fiction, strong on setting, mostly New Orleans, featuring the accurate dialogue of the streets. He also writes scintillating erotica. His publishing credits include 20 novels, nine short story collections and over 300 short stories. From contemporary to historical, De Noux uses several recurring characters in his New Orleans stories and novels: NOPD Homicide Detective John Raven Beau (21st Century); NOPD Homicide Detective LaStanza (20th Century); Private-eye Lucien Caye (1940s) and NOPD Detective Jacques Dugas (1890s). A primary theme in De Noux’s fiction is the effect of violence on victims and their families as well as the sometimes debilitating effect of violence on law enforcement officers, private-eyes and their loved ones. As a former private-eye and currently a police investigator, De Noux knows his subject well. De Noux’s stories span from mystery to mainstream, literary, suspense, thriller, science-fiction, fantasy, horror, erotica, humor, westerns, children’s fiction as well as cross-genre stories – erotic-detective, science-fiction mysteries and the like. O’Neil De Noux’s “The Heart Has Reasons” (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, September 2006) won the Private Eye Writers of America’s prestigious SHAMUS AWARD for BEST SHORT STORY 2007. The SHAMUS is given annually to recognize outstanding achievement in private eye fiction. In 2009, the Short Mystery Fiction Society awarded the Derringer Award for Best Novelette to another Lucien Caye story, “Too Wise” by O’Neil De Noux (which appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine’s November 2008 Issue). The Derringer Award is given annually to recognize excellence in the mystery short form. In June 2012, De Noux’s novel JOHN RAVEN BEAU was named 2011 POLICE BOOK OF THE YEAR by Police-Writers.com, a group that boasts of 1153 state and local law enforcement officials from 485 state and local law enforcement agencies who have written 2504 police books. A hyper-realistic crime story, JOHN RAVEN BEAU provides an intimate look into the beleaguered NOPD Homicide Division, a story that begins in the French Quarter and ends in a swamp, all within the city limits of America’s eternal city, a city that cannot be destroyed – New Orleans. A second Beau novel was released in 2013 – CITY OF SECRETS. Books by O’Neil De Noux (all available as eBooks and trade paperbacks). Go to www.oneildenoux.net for links.

Book preview

Cover Art Copyright 2011 O’Neil De Noux

Murder Intermezzo

O’Neil De Noux

Copyright 2011 O’Neil De Noux

Smashwords Edition

While the orchestra is warming up, Germaine LeFebvre strolls into the Saenger Theatre like she’s Aphrodite, some goddess of beauty, her latest lover in tow. I feel that familiar stab in my heart. Former Miss University of New Orleans, former Miss Louisiana, first runner up to Miss U.S.A., Germaine is also the former occupant of my bed.

Her face is striking to behold, her lips a fiery crimson, her long red hair hanging in curls. Her form-fitting, blue velvet gown, with a generous slit up the front, reveals her sleek legs as she walks languidly, like a cat. She acts as if she doesn’t notice the people staring at her, but I know her. She notices.

In her spiked high-heels, Germaine is as tall as her escort – another of her linebacker-types with broad shoulders, thick hair and a square jaw. He’s young too, probably in his twenties. Germaine is thirty-one, a good two years older than me, although she works hard to look younger. How many nights did I watch her paint up that gorgeous face until it was – angelic?

I finally exhale when she sits, three rows down, directly in front of my date. Alma Burke looks mousy in comparison, with her short brown hair and small brown eyes. She squeezes my hand as I glance at her beige outfit with its full skirt and high-neck matching blouse. I try to keep my breathing normal but I feel the sharp pain growing in my chest again, perspiration working its way down my temples, my mouth as dry as the Sahara. It’s Germaine’s touch, that lingering