The Case of the Human Body: The Eli Leafrunner Case Files, #2

By Laura Ware

On a previously uncharted Pacific island, elves, dwarves, and other mythical creatures run a magical theme park called Islands of Fantasy.  While humans travel from all over the world to visit, the creatures of the park live in the seamy, dangerous Neighborhood, where humans are not allowed.

When half-elf detective Eli Leafrunner discovers a dead human in a Neighborhood alley, it means nothing  but trouble.  Can he solve the case before the future of the park is endangered?

• Language: English
• Publisher: JJ Press
• Release date: Aug 6, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393961314

Laura Ware

Laura Ware writes in a variety of genres. Her novels are mostly inspirational fiction, although she is currently working on a fantasy series as well. Her short fiction ranges from mainstream to fantasy/science fiction and several things in between. Her stories have been published in a number of Fiction River anthologies, including Past Crime, Last Stand, Editor’s Choice and Feel the Fear. Laura also writes a weekly column for the Highlands News-Sun and her essay “Touched by an Angel” was published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Random Acts of Kindness in 2017.

Book preview

Warm humid Pacific air fills my lungs as I lope through the Neighborhood, steering clear of a stoop where a drunk troll totters, drinking from a brown bottle as I hurry past.

To my right, there is a faint glow in the late-night darkness that I know comes from Islands of Fantasy, the magical theme park humans helped us build when they discovered our island years ago. Most of those who live in the Neighborhood – trolls, pixies, elves, and the like – work at the park, bringing happiness to thousands of Humans who come to visit, and income plus trading opportunities for us.

Humans – most humans (my father being a notable exception) – don’t even know the Neighborhood exists. They think we live in the made up world we’ve created for them to see. Not this dark, messy place where we exist and try to eke out some kind of a life. Where I work to try to make that a little bit easier, a little bit safer.

My name’s Eli Leafrunner. I carry a badge.

I’m coming up on a block of apartment buildings, the darkness hiding the graffiti and dirt, just wanting to get to my boarding house when I hear a pixie screech.

The sound sets my teeth on edge. The scream seems to bounce off the dark apartment buildings on the street. A couple of lights flicker on despite the hour but most windows remain dark; the elves, ogres, and other denizens of the island have heard such sounds before, and tend to ignore those things that might bring trouble to them.

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