Murder Book Club: Cozy Mystery Short Story

By S. Y. Robins

Susan's book club reads mystery books all the time, but this time they aren't just reading about it, they are living it when Laura dies the same way the main character in the book did. Carbon Monoxide poisoning might be common, but Susan does not like the coincidence and refuses to believe it is accidental the way the police think it is. Butting heads with Detective Mason, Susan is determined to find out the truth and together with her beloved dog Toby she sets out to find it. Will Susan be able to find out what truly happened, and whether it was murder or an accident, or will the fact that she can't remember the night herself get in the way of the truth? Will Toby be able to help her, despite the fact that he can't talk?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lovy Books Ltd
• Release date: Aug 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223234692

Book preview

1

Susan loved going to her book club each week, always ready to discuss the next chapters in the book they were reading at the moment. They all loved mystery books and speculated over who they thought was the killer and who they thought would be the next victim. Often though, once the book had been discussed, talk turned to other things going on in the world around them. Combined with good drinks and appetizers, it always made for a pleasant evening and one that Susan tried never to miss.

This week they were meeting at Laura’s house and Susan was excited about that. Laura loved entertaining and always went the extra mile for the ladies of the book club, trying to outdo all the others. Her drinks were slightly better quality and her appetizers slightly more unique and extravagant. All the ladies were in their early thirties, and they all had average everyday jobs, with the exception of Laura. See, Laura didn’t need a job as she had inherited quite a bit of money from a distant uncle who had left her everything he had. She lived fairly frugal when alone, and only splurged when it came to entertaining others, which is how she was able to live without having to work a day in her life. At the age of thirty two, she had no intention of settling down anytime soon and made it a point to enjoy life and everything in it. Every week she had stories of some man she had met, and while they all grumbled and complained, they all secretly wanted to know more and looked forward to these stories.

Susan herself didn’t think she was nearly that exciting, and considered her life quite dull in comparison. At 26, she was the youngest of the group and she was the only one who had joined the club with the sole intention of reading more books. Everyone else was in it for the books as well as the gossip and friendship. Susan was a librarian, and while that sounded boring to everyone else, she loved it and went to work with a smile on her face every single day. She loved helping the small children choose what books to read next, getting excited over the prospect of taking them home, just as much as she loved showing an elderly woman how to email her grandson across the country. She felt like she was passing on a joy of reading to the next generation, cultivating the joy of reading in those who had already discovered it, and helping the community with anything else they might need. Just that day she had helped a young man apply for jobs after he had been laid off from his current job, and he was worried about how he was going to support his young wife and new-born son.

The third member of their group was Angela. Angela was a corporate lawyer, smart as could be and tough as nails. Susan knew she would be terrified if she ever had to oppose Angela in a courtroom, and she admired the drive she had in a world mostly consisting of men. She had fought