A Christmas in July Sundowner Sally: Hettie & Ceefer Mysteries, #2.5

By Rennae Todd

Young love. A troubled mother. Christmas dinner under threat.

The Christmas in July Sundowner is an event looked forward to by members of the Parke Croquet and Bowls Clubs. But this year not everyone is full of Christmas spirit. When someone falls in the lake, and a valuable piece of jewellery goes missing, Hettie finds herself with a plateful of problems instead of plum pudding.
Can that cat Ceefer lend a paw, or is he too busy creating mischief with his own guest, because if Hettie can't sort it out, this Christmas in July threatens to put a deep wedge between the croquet and bowls clubs that might never be repaired.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jakada Books
• Release date: Aug 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223736073

Book preview

A Christmas in July

Sundowner Sally

A Hettie & Ceefer (short) Mystery #2.5

Rennae Todd

A tree and bench under a white background Description automatically generated

Jakada Books

PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Copyright © 2022, Rennae Todd, Irene Sauman

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.

A Christmas in July Sundowner Sally: Format (novella) / Rennae Todd / Jakada Books / Perth Western Australia

Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

Contents

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In this Story

Main Characters

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

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In this Story

A Christmas in July Sundowner Sally, is an extra story in the Hettie & Ceefer Mystery series. Half the length of a main series titles, it fits between books 2 and 3.

It’s winter in Australia. Life in Woody Lake is tracking along in some form of normal, meaning no one has died recently. On Friday 24 July, the Parke Bowls and Croquet Clubs are about to share their annual Christmas in July Sundowner. Despite looking forward to good company, Christmas pudding, and perhaps a game of croquet if the rain holds off, Hettie’s evening gets off to a poor start. Unfortunately, things have a tendency to go from bad to worse.

Main Characters

Parke Family

Henrietta (Hettie) Parke – 48-year-old President of the Parke Croquet Club and a relief teacher. Divorced and widowed from Brian Hitchcock, whose name she didn’t take. Lives at 6 Old Dairy Road.

Ceefer – a black cat who recently arrived in Hettie’s life. Has some unusual talents, not yet fully understood.

Violet Hitchcock – Hettie’s 22-year old daughter. Runs the Club Cafe. Lives with Hettie.

Elly and Rafe  Figeroa -  Hettie’s 27-year-old daughter, works part-time in advertising. Husband Rafe, landscape designer. Two daughters, Jazmin (4) and Rosa (2). Live at 4 Old Dairy Road.

Larry and Gwen Parke – Hettie’s younger brother, aged 46. Plays bowls. Runs the Parke Real Estate Agency with wife Gwen. She and Hettie are friends, most of the time. Live at 2 Old Dairy Road on the corner of Jersey Street.

Pearl, Max and Maxxie Longchamp – Hettie’s younger sister aged 37. Married to businessman Max. Their 20-year old son Maxxie is a university student.  Previously lived at 10 Old Dairy Road, now live on Rosny Circle.

Jack and California (Callie) Parke – Hettie’s parents. Live in a villa unit across the Road at Sunny Vale Retirement Village.

Alice Slater –Alice is Jack’s Parke’s younger sister. A widow now, she lives at 8 Old Dairy Road.

Eddie, Gloria and Frank Garcia – Eddie is a retired plumber. His son Frank, early 30s, is a primary school sports teacher. Eddie’s sister Gloria favours conspiracy theories. Related to Callie Parke. They occupy two houses further along Old Dairy Road.

Others

Detective Inspector Grayson Fox – Perth homicide squad. Someone Hettie knew quite well some years ago.

Sergeant Stuart Higgins – In charge of Rosny Police Station

Dan Wallace – reporter for the Rosny Record

Mrs. Edith Braxton and Mrs. Ila Bronson – Known as the Mrs. B’s. Frequent the Club Cafe and live opposite on Old Dairy Road.

Janelle Rice – knew Ceefer’s previous owner, Miranda. Has a white Persian named Aurora who is Ceefer’s troublesome friend.

Various Croquet and Bowls Club members – Judy Sanford, Romola Asquith & Belle Danvers play croquet and are friends of Hettie’s.

Parke Trust

Bladen (Den) Barrett – former mayor of Cygnet LGA

Isolde Reflex – lawyer

Darla Dalrymple – owner of Top Cut Hair Salons

Chapter One

An Unwelcome Guest

Oh, I don’t believe it. Hettie stared at the message on her phone. That woman!

Merrow? Ceefer paused in chasing Aurora who had just wriggled in behind the sofa.

Where did all that wool come from? Hettie asked, noticing for the first time a seemingly endless rope of bright red wool looping around the living room furniture. Turn your back for one minute…

She could see where it had gone, behind