Murderous Affair: The Riverbrook Geeky Cozy Mysteries, #0

By Alina Popescu

Betrayal, murder, and elitist liars. Never a dull moment in the art world.

Aspiring artist Jayden Carmichael loves her Manhattan life. She'll willingly work way too many shifts at a coffee shop to sustain it, put up with her boyfriend dismissing her manga-inspired art, and drown her sorrows in cosplaying and anime collectibles. No one's life is perfect, right?

When a murder sends Jayden's world into a tailspin, everything she thought she had turns out to be a big, fat lie. Slap a mean detective and an impending murder charge on top of that, and Jayden is forced to turn amateur sleuth to prove her innocence.

With a best friend ready to provide a shoulder to cry on and a place to retreat and regroup, her famous father's unwanted help, and her own wits, Jayden might just avoid a jail sentence.

Murderous Affair is the prequel to the Riverbrook Geeky Cozy Mysteries series. If you love artsy female sleuths and murder mysteries, then you'll enjoy this novella.

Grab your copy of Murderous Affair to find out if Jayden finds the killer before NYPD's finest lock her up and throw away the key.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alina Popescu
• Release date: Oct 13, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393256175

Alina Popescu

Alina Popescu is an author, traveler, and coffee addict. She has published several paranormal, science fiction, urban fantasy, and contemporary series, many of them having reached the Amazon bestseller lists for their genres. Her stories often fall under the LGBTQ fiction and romance subgenres. Born and raised in Romania, Alina has been writing for most of her life. She’s an avid consumer of stories in all their forms. She’s fascinated by myths, folk tales, and other creators’ visions of the future. She finds her inspiration in books of all genres, movies, and the occasional TV shows or anime binges. Alina is a proud geek and needs her fast internet connection and assortment of gadgets more than she needs air.

Book preview

Copyright © 2019 by Alina Popescu

Murderous Affair

A Prequel to the Riverbrook Geeky Cozy Mystery Series

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

To all the manga and anime fans out there. One day, we’ll be mainstream and cool. Or cool-adjacent…

Chapter One

I SHOVED MYSELF in the elevator with a grunt. Behind me, Greg slid in gracefully, his costume taking way less space than mine.

Good evening, I said and smiled brightly at the two people already inside. I actually knew these neighbors. The mother, Theresa, gave me a half-amused look, but her son, Tony, a five-year-old spitfire, grinned ear to ear.

Look, Mommy, it’s the lady Daddy has a lot of pictures of.

Theresa rolled her eyes. No, baby, Jayden is dressed as a different lady.

But she looks just like that Saber girl, the boy whined.

I understood his dismay. So many different characters that looked like clones in the Fate franchise! Today, I’d dressed as Nero. I was wearing a bright-red and very revealing dress. I’d wanted to go as Saber (exact same body, face, and hairdo, just different outfit, if you’re wondering. Like I said, clones are a thing, get with the program. But don’t start with the Fate anime! Don’t be a normie, go get the visual novels first). Sadly, Greg had vetoed my choice. He’d gone as Astolfo and decreed Nero was the best character to complement his choice. Apparently, Nero and her sexy outfit would contrast with Astolfo’s more wholesome beauty and prove to the world he was the undeniable best girl of the Fate franchise.

It’s confusing, I know, I said, patting the boy’s head.

Okay, he said, brushing my hand off. Who are you?

Nero, I said.

Nero, as in the emperor of Rome? Theresa asked, her eyes wide. He was a man.

I shrugged. "Not in the Fate world. Remember Saber is actually a historical male figure, so he’s also a woman." That sentence sounded strange even to me. But all I had to do was look convincing.

Right, she nodded but she didn’t look like she got it. My husband tried to explain it once and it gave me a headache.

You should just watch the anime, Greg said. It’s way easier.

Theresa, looking anything but convinced, stared at him for a long moment. And you are?

Astolfo, Greg said, beaming with pride.

Also a woman?

No, he’s a male paladin. He just likes to dress in pretty clothes, Greg explained, his brown-gold eyes getting that manic glint that always came with talking about Astolfo.

Theresa’s confusion grew to worrying levels. Her face contorted so hard, I feared she was having a stroke. Or a seizure. Or a normal reaction to our conversation. I’m sorry I asked, she muttered.

Let’s go, the little guy yelped, pulling on her arm. We’d lost him early in the interaction and he was eager to find something more interesting to do.

Why do people have such a hard time understanding basic things, Greg whined when we were left alone in the elevator. He’d moved farther from me, so I didn’t need to look up at him all the time. I wasn’t that short, but Greg towered over most people.

I rolled my eyes. "Dude, shut up. When you first started watching Fate, you were as confused as she was."

He shrugged. Yeah, but I stuck with it.

I couldn’t tell if Greg realized that wasn’t exactly something to brag about. Well, not to the world at large anyway. Sure, anime and manga were gaining a lot of mainstream attention lately, but we’d still be labeled geeks or nerds or weirdos in most social interactions. The fact that we’d been cosplaying at an anime convention wasn’t helping our cause much.

The elevator groaned as it stopped at my floor. I forced my humongous dress through the door and stepped into the hallway. Greg followed with ease. Of course! Why did I always go along with his crazy ideas? At least he made all our outfits, so it was fine.

We walked down the hallway of the top floor to the tiny apartment at the end of it, on the right. Greg lived across the hall from me, which was awesome, as being best friends and all, we spent a lot of time together.

Are you coming in? I asked, probably making puppy eyes at him. I loved Dale, but my boyfriend had some issues with my overall geekery. He’d told me numerous times that I should tone it down. As his girlfriend, he claimed I negatively impacted his image of a serious fine art professional. I’d taken to using Greg as a buffer after every cosplay event.

Greg stared down at me and sighed. Yeah, okay. You better have beer though.

I grinned and unlocked the door. For you? Always. I stocked Greg’s favorite brand religiously. It was the only way to convince him to hang out at my place. Otherwise he’d insist on his apartment to avoid my boyfriend. As his place was even smaller and had a shitty view to boot, it was hard for me to pretend Greg didn’t despised Dale and endure any discomfort to avoid him.

Jayden, there you are, Dale said, coming out of the bathroom. Oh, my! He scoffed. It figures. The one time you wear something daring, it’s to portray some random cartoon character.

I blushed and looked down at my cleavage. To amp the sexy Nero look, Greg had found me the next step in the evolution of push-up bras. And my gown, super short in the front, long in the back, helped sell the look.

You know we have a party to be at in an hour? Dale crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his foot.

Yeah, of course. I’ll be ready with time to spare.

Dale arched a brow and nodded. He then looked behind me at Greg, his lips curving into a challenging grin. Oh, look at you. Are you finally giving up art and starting a career as a drag queen?

I pinched Dale’s shoulder and he yelped. What did you do that for?

I glared at him. Why are you so mean to Greg?

Behind me, Greg laughed. Leave him be, Jay. Besides, I’d make an awesome queen.

You certainly look like one, Dale muttered. Except Greg wore no makeup today. And no high heels or an actual drag outfit.

I’m dressed as a paladin, Greg