Death Visits Hair Salon: Marion Mysteries, #1

By AMY ANDERSEN

If you like mysteries with a hint of romance...
When Marion and Ruth open their salon, just as they do every morning, they’re horrified to discover a corpse seated in a styling chair. The police determine that the cause of death is strangulation. The murderer has to be someone from Chippingville, someone who knows Marion and Ruth.
In their quest to discover the truth, they receive the unexpected help of their hair salon's clients, and that of the attractive village doctor, Glenn Steel, who has a secret.
If you like short mystery stories, get hooked with the first book in the Marion Fox mystery series. Marion is a character that will amaze you with her ingenuity and tenacity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Red Books
• Release date: Feb 26, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386905752

Book preview

Death Visits the Hair Salon

Chapter 1

Marion Fox had no idea a dead body would be her first customer as she walked with her friend and only employee, Ruth Jones, to their downtown salon, Silver Shears. It was a normal, chilly morning in Chippingville. The sun was shining, the storefronts looked like they always did and the air smelled just a little bit like bacon as nearby cafes fed the breakfast crowd. Marion took a moment to stretch while Ruth fumbled for her keys.

You’re quiet this morning, Marion said, frowning at Ruth.

I just couldn’t get to sleep last night. She rubbed her forehead, sighing. Andy snores like a wood saw. It’s awful.

She held eye contact with Marion for a long moment, who returned it with her arms crossed and her eyebrow up. After a few seconds, the two of them burst into laughter. It was their favorite joke and just like always, they would laugh about it the rest of the day.

Marion loved Ruth dearly. They had gone to school at different times, came from different generations, sure. But once they started hanging out, they both found the friend they’d been looking for year after year. Marion always had a hard time with how seriously her peers took life, not understanding any level of irony or laughing at themselves, even in a truly silly situation.

Ruth was the opposite. Almost nothing was a serious matter to the young, vivacious twenty-something, and when Marion found out she also did hair, she snapped her up. Ruth had been so grateful to have a good steady job that the partnership worked out beautifully for both of them and the business was thriving. Today they were booked solid with appointments for highlights, cuts, waxing and nails. Lately it seemed all of Chippingville needed to get beautiful and wanted the Silver Shears salon on the job.

Still laughing, the two of them walked over to their salon. Marion adored this little place. Her mentor had handed over the keys a couple of years ago and it had been tough at first, but now she was loving every moment of being the boss.

Ruth fumbled for a moment, turning her big key ring full of jangly keys until she finally found the one she needed. Ruth let out a little sigh at the sight of the key going into the door.

The door opened into the same old salon and Marion flipped on the lights and both of them froze. There was a horrible smell in the salon, like sour, dark earth filled with worms and maggots. Both of them put their hands over their noses, the stench stopping them in the doorway.

What is that? Ruth choked a little as Marion moved forward, looking for the source. She froze when she realized that in one of their hair dryer chairs was a stiff, unmoving woman. Marion moved slowly, uncertain why the visitor was there.

Hello? No answer. Can I help you? Silence. Gathering all her courage, she approached the stranger and reached out to tap her shoulder. As soon as she touched it, the woman’s body fell to the side and Marion shrieked when she saw what was going on.

There was a reason their new customer wasn’t talking; this woman was dead. Both women could see that her face