Dan of the Dead: Nether Edge Cozy Mystery, #4

By Wendy Meadows

Cassandra Dean may have a generally good life in the small town of Havenholm, but she won't particularly have a good day, once her firestorm of a difficult big sister, Helena, breezes into town for a friend's funeral.  

Stuart Wellington, the blonde, dashing leader of Cassy and Helena's old childhood group of friends, the Havenholm Gang, has died at his own hand-or so it seems. The other members of the group, jokester Elliot, ever emotional Cat, aloof Maybe and the invisible Dan, all gather in their old hometown to pay their respects. Then, the sad occasion turns deadly.

Poor, broken Dan and the kindly priest who officiated the memorial, both wind up murdered, right in the very church where friends and family said goodbye to Stuart. Of course, Cassy is on the case, but finding out the truth-about everyone's deaths-could leave her cold.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Majestic Owl Publishing LLC
• Release date: Jan 29, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386557005

Wendy Meadows

USA Today bestselling author, Wendy Meadows, is a passionate Cozy Mystery Author whose meticulously crafted stories showcase witty women sleuths and engaging plots. Her primary influences include but are not limited to mystery genre greats Joanne Fluke, Ellery Adams, and James Patterson. To date, she has published dozens of books, which include her popular Sweetfern Harbor Series, Maple Hill Series, and Alaska Cozy Series, to name a few. In a previous life, Wendy worked as a Graphic Designer, earning her Graphic Design Certification at the prestigious New York based Sessions School of Design. With this valuable artistic background, she designs her own book covers. In fact, she began writing fiction soon after designing numerous book covers for other fiction authors. When she isn’t writing about female detectives and their tactful crime solving, you can find Wendy either tending to her hobby farm, playing video games, relaxing on her back porch, or coloring in her growing collection of adult coloring books. She also loves spending quality time with her husband, two sons, two cats, and one adorable Labradoodle. Together, they call “The Granite State” home sweet home. To find out more about Wendy Meadows both personally and creatively, feel free to visit her official website at www.wendymeadows.com

Book preview

chapter one

As summer waned and a patchwork of colors spread over the trees, their leaves succumbing to the chill that rolled off the Atlantic, Cassy too felt a kind of change. She wouldn’t call it melancholy, although that word had sprung to mind. It was perhaps better explained as nostalgia; not a negative emotion, but one that swept you up and carried you adrift in your memories. It was possible to become lost in that swirling, flickering tide of half recalled pages from history.

Did you hear what I said? came Dot’s sharp voice somewhere close by. Cassy snapped out of her reverie and turned to the older woman. I said, are you sure the train arrives at three? Because we’re going to be early.

Better that we get there early, isn’t it? asked Cassy. She rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hand.

Are you alright, hun?

Bad night. Didn’t get much sleep, but I’ll be okay.

Something on your mind?

Well, of course. It’s been years since I’ve seen her, in the flesh, that is. We’ve talked online, so we keep in touch, I guess. But we’re older now and sometimes people just drift apart. Without Mom here, she has no reason to come back to Havenholm. Cassy looked out through the rain-speckled window past the lazy rivulets that streaked across her vision to the blurred forest beyond. Apart from what happened, obviously.

She has you.

There was that. But was it enough? Slowly, Cassy looked back to Dot who was still turned toward her, scrutinizing her in that way she always did.

Dorothy?

Yes, hun?

Can you please look at the road when you’re driving.

The car swerved momentarily as Dot refocused on the road. Cassy was just happy that the road from Havenholm to the nearby Nottingham was straight. It cut a wedge through the surrounding forest that rose like dark protective walls on either side. Thankfully, traffic was minimal.

Being on the small side for a town and more isolated than most, the infrastructure that serviced Cassy’s hometown was lacking, to say the least. Anyone wanting to get there had two options. The first was a long journey by car through unfamiliar roads, though sat-nav had made that experience a lot less objectionable. The only other solution besides chartering a helicopter and landing it outside of ‘Jacob’s Fruit & Veg Wholesale Warehouse’ was to arrive by train in the neighboring town and catch a lift the rest of the way.

Driving down the isolated road in autumn led Cassy back through her memories to a place of wistfulness and indulgent yearning for her childhood.

Of course, her sister Helena could easily have afforded a helicopter and was the kind of person wild enough to go through with abseiling from it, giving poor old Jacob the shock of his life when she picked up her groceries. A private hire car would have been well within her means too, but Cassy knew this was more about a long-founded rivalry between them. Making Cassy come out all this way was a kind of power play, yet another game played only so that her sister could assert her control.

But that was what big sisters were for, right?

Isn’t she an attorney now? Dot questioned, eyes unwavering from the road.

A lawyer. There’s a difference.

There is?

Yes.

Dot seemed satisfied and left it at that. After a moment of silence, underscored by the soft rain against the windshield and the ceaseless rumble of the wheels, Dot spoke again.

I lied earlier.

Cassy struggled to think back to a moment when the truthfulness of anything the woman had said could have been called into question. With a percussive rat-a-tat-tat, Dot drummed her fingers against the faintly glowing readout behind the steering wheel.

We’re going to be late.

Cassy looked at the clock. They were going to be late, or cut it very close at least.

That wasn’t a lie, Dot. That was just you being wrong, as usual. Cassy chuckled. There was something about Dot’s blissful ignorance and ability to drift through life seemingly unaware of her surroundings that Cassy found oddly reassuring. It was a little condescending, but Cassy felt that if Dot could make it in the world, then there was hope for everyone.

Well, either way, I hope your sister doesn’t mind waiting around in the rain.

As if on cue by some divine stage-managed synchronicity, thunder rolled overhead and fat drops of rain burst against the windshield.

You know what, Dot, said Cassy, relaxing back into her seat, take your time. There’s no rush.

chapter two

Nottingham Central Station platform 9 was under repair when Dot and Cassy arrived. The awning that would have protected them from the rain had been stripped bare, leaving a skeletal frame that was inadequate for the purpose. That might not have been a problem, as the waiting lounge was easily accessible and required only a short walk over the connecting walkway. But the train that Helena was due to arrive on had been delayed at the last possible moment to allow other trains to depart. And so the two of them waited dutifully on the platform, increasingly soaked in a clinging-to-your-body sort of way, unaware that they would be there for some time. Just as they decided to seek shelter, a distant klaxon signaled the train’s arrival. It crawled slowly, almost mockingly, toward them. With a hiss of pneumatic brakes, it came to a juddering halt. The doors were flung open and out spilled a group of unruly children and their bedraggled-looking mother. Having safely herded them onto the platform, the rest of the passengers were allowed to alight. The first Cassy saw of Helena was a huge Burberry travel case. It bounced down the steps out of the carriage followed by a shrill cry of ‘look out below!’.

Revealed from behind it was a familiar face; a little older perhaps, but somehow even more beautiful than before. Cassy couldn’t help but feel several things at once, each vying for prominence. There was longing—the kind that you only feel when you’re reunited with the object of that longing. A kind of retro-active emotion that comes on all at once to make up for all the times you hadn’t thought about your older, more attractive sister. She realized then that she’d truly missed her sister, her midnight confidante, her rival, her closest friend and keenest enemy. Her idol.

Only she hadn’t thought about her since the call last Tuesday when she’d had to relay the terrible news.

Ca-ssandra! Helena flung her arms out wide for a hug, but then attended to the case as it began to topple over.

Then Cassy remembered all the pain that came with Helena. The arguments, the sheer incompatibility of two people thrust together under no choice of their own and forced to co-habit. There had been a fracture at some point and the two of them had gone their separate ways. But why was she being coy? Cassy knew exactly why Helena had left and what had caused that little unit of a family to disperse.

Hell- said Cassy, leaning forward to embrace her. ‘Hell’ had always been Cassy’s name for her sister, and she had always thought of it spelled like the fiery place down below, though that was a thought that had remained private.

The skies had cleared, allowing a little sunshine in, and briefly the rain stopped. But Cassy remained dripping wet and Helena backed away awkwardly so as to not be soaked herself.

Oh, come here! commanded Cassy. Reluctantly at first, but then giving in completely, Helena