The Strange Critter at the Old Johnston Place: Deb Powers, Otherworldly PI: Case #3: Deb Powers: Otherworldly PI, #3

By Kari Kilgore

Not the Best Place for a Good Night's Sleep
Deb Powers finally gets to work. Helping an old friend with new potential upgrade his life.
This time her cousin brings a case at a B&B in town that threatens the owner's sanity.
A free stay plus a chance to investigate the bizarre proves too much for Deb to resist.
Will she figure out the trouble before she loses her own sanity in the process?

Also available in the collection Investigations Beyond Belief

 

An excerpt from The Strange Critter at the Old Johnston Place:

When an Old Friend Fears His Own Mind

 

"Cliff's been finding things like his razor in the freezer," Terri said. "An egg inside his pillowcase, which unfortunately had not been hard-cooked first. Piles of salt and pepper in his underwear drawer, potting soil in the silverware drawer, and the remote for the television inside the oven. Apparently he checked inside before he turned it on a couple of days ago, because he melted a pair of his reading glasses in there last week."

 

"And no one else has been inside?" Deb said.

 

"Nope, not until he called me personally to come take a look," Terri said. "He hasn't seen anyone skulking around on any of the security recordings."

 

"Maybe he'll let us install a few just for this?" Jeff said. "Help ease his mind?"

 

"I don't think that would help Cliff feel better," Deb said."Not unless it shows him sleepwalking, right? I'm going to guess he's afraid he's doing all of it himself but just can't remember."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Spiral Publishing, Ltd
• Release date: Aug 18, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201012182

Kari Kilgore

Kari Kilgore started her first published novel Until Death in Transylvania, Romania, and finished it in Room 217 at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, where Stephen King got the idea for The Shining. That’s just one example of how real world inspiration drives her fiction. Kari’s first published novel Until Death was included on the Preliminary Ballot for the Bram Stoker Award for Outstanding Achievement in a First Novel in 2016. It was also a finalist for the Golden Stake Award at the Vampire Arts Festival in 2018. Recent professional short story sales include three to Fiction River anthology magazine, with the first due out in the September issue. Kari also has two stories in a holiday-themed anthology project with Kristine Kathryn Rusch due out over the holidays in 2019. Kari writes fantasy, science fiction, horror, and contemporary fiction, and she’s happiest when she surprises herself. She lives at the end of a long dirt road in the middle of the woods with her husband Jason Adams, various house critters, and wildlife they’re better off not knowing more about. Kari’s novels, novellas, and short stories are available at www.spiralpublishing.net, which also publishes books by Frank Kilgore and Jason Adams. For more information about Kari, upcoming publications, her travels and adventures, and random cool things that catch her attention, visit www.karikilgore.com.

Book preview

The Strange Critter at the Old Johnston Place

For Everyone with Unusual Skeletons

in the Family Closet

The Strange Critter at the Old Johnston Place

Deb Powers, Otherworldly PI: Case #3

Kari Kilgore

Spiral Publishing, Ltd.

The Strange Critter at the Old Johnston Place

Deb Powers was a big believer in the power (so to speak) of the right motivation.

She’d put herself through college working too many hours on a computer-training help desk, absolutely determined to keep herself from sinking into debt.

All those hours talking people through their technical difficulties gave her the background she needed for her possible new career as a computer consultant.

Her post-college job as a private investigator rose out of a sincere desire to never have to punch someone else’s clock or see her hard work lining a wallet outside her own pocket. Not to mention honing those computer skills to a scarily sharp edge.

She’d turned out to be a much tougher boss than anyone else she’d worked for, but it was worth it.

The mental strain of years of her chosen career as a PI, combined with Atlanta’s traffic and heat and humidity created an undeniable need to slow...everything...down.

Between that and her beloved Auntie Zelda’s house to sweeten the deal, the move to Estonoa, Virginia, made all kinds of sense.

And so Deb sat in her cozy walk-in basement office overlooking her lovely new Appalachian Mountain hometown. An office she’d carefully arranged to give her all the flexibility and privacy she’d need to get her new venture off the ground.

Not much need for photos or paintings or other kinds of fussy decorations. Not with big windows showing off the sheltering tree-covered ridge all around Estonoa. Right now the range of springtime green was on full, lush display, creating a wonderful contrast with hilly streets full of red brick buildings.

From the right angle, Deb and any perspective clients could catch a glimpse of the Grasspe River and Oxbow Lake, forming two gentle arcs at the lowest point in town. They also anchored an extensive and beautiful network of hiking trails Deb kept meaning to take advantage of.

Maybe this very afternoon, once she finished meeting with the most interesting prospective client she’d ever had. It was a bit hotter than she’d like out there, but the sun was still high and bright. A perfect day for a long hike along the river, along the cool forest path.

She’d made sure her office wasn’t too comfortable, with only a reasonable blue sofa, and considerably less reasonable dining room chairs. All sat opposite the huge old wooden desk she’d kept out of her Auntie Zelda’s things. Sturdy and solid, and perfect for giving Deb much-needed distance between her and the people she’d be helping.

That distance and the fully loaded black bookshelves in front of her cinnamon-brown walls would help reinforce her status as an expert, every bit as much as two sleek monitors perched on her desk.

And in the case of this might-be client, she’d thrown every bit of that out the window.

Maybe to land out there with the enticing aroma of her neighbor’s sprawling lilac bush.

She glanced at Jeff Denton, sitting only a few inches away,