BREAKDOWN

With: Debra Webb

Congratulations to "Sheila G.", the winner in Debra's giveaway. Please contact JUST ROMANTIC SUSPENSE to claim your prize!

You’ve built the perfect town called Shutter Lake. It’s nestled in a peaceful valley amid the Sierra-Nevada Mountains in California. Shutter Lake is almost entirely self-sufficient with its field of solar panels and organic gardens. The wealthy and the brilliant have flocked to the tranquil paradise over the years. Those who wanted to escape the insanity and ugliness of their lives have found peace and beauty. And life is as close to perfect as can be found…until the dead girl is discovered.

From the moment the murder occurs the BREAKDOWN begins and piece by piece the perfect paradise is shattered. Long buried secrets erupt, rising to the surface and no one is immune because everyone has secrets, even Deputy Chief of Police Laney Holt. Life in Shutter Lake will never be the same.

Today is release day for the first book in the series, THE DEAD GIRL. I loved writing this story. Former big city LA detective turned small town deputy chief Laney Holt made creating this story incredibly easy. When a character feels so real to the author she comes alive on the page.

Each Thursday in the month of October a new story will be released. Today the BREAKDOWN begins. Next Thursday it deepens and then it broadens, until it erupts. Don’t miss a single episode of this shocking mini-series reviewers are calling GONE GIRL MEETS BIG LITTLE LIES. Read on for an exclusive excerpt and if you leave a comment you’ll be entered to win a very special prize: a paperback arc of THE DEAD GIRL, the BREAKDOWN mug and tee-shirt.

Order your copy of THE DEAD GIRL in both ebook and print exclusively at Amazon!

Excerpt THE DEAD GIRL by Debra Webb

Thursday, October 4

Two years.

Apparently that was to be the extent of Laney Holt's reprieve in paradise.

Laney stared at the dead girl on the floor. How the hell did a beautiful young woman who had the perfect life in the perfect town get herself murdered?

Pushing to her feet, Laney turned to the uniform standing by. “Find McCabe.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Officer Seth Trask, the first on the scene, hustled out of the room. Their chief of police hadn’t answered his phone when Laney called him. Knowing his bad habits better than she cared to, it was a relatively simple matter to guess that he had likely over indulged last night. She hadn’t broached the subject with him, but in the course of working together for the past two years she couldn’t help noticing Shutter Lake’s chief of police had a deep and serious relationship with alcohol.

Laney listened for the front door to close behind Trask. When she heard the telltale sound of wood against wood her gaze settled on the victim once more. “Shit.”

The coffee she’d gulped down on the drive from Main Street to Olive Tree Lane churned in her belly. Typically, she grabbed a bagel with her coffee, but this morning her cell had buzzed with the call about a body before she’d made up her mind whether she wanted a blueberry or a poppy seed bagel. Cream cheese or honey? Instead of a leisurely morning discussing any homeless folks who had taken up residence at the century old mine outside of town, she was analyzing the kind of scene she’d thought she left behind in LA.

Body rigid with tension, she walked across the main living area of the rustic and yet somehow chic A-frame and leaned against the front door, pulling her attention away from the victim and to the room as a whole. Since the front door was slightly ajar when the victim was found, chances were the perp entered the home right here. A wisp of hair slipped loose from her ponytail. Laney smoothed it back, her gloved hand shaking, giving away the dread and uncertainty building inside her.

How the hell did this happen?

THE DEAD GIRL

THE BREAKDOWN BEGINS...

Former L.A. homicide detective Laney Holt walked away from big city crime after a shooting she couldn't put behind her. With L.A. in her rear view mirror, she accepted the position of deputy chief of police in a small picturesque paradise called Shutter Lake. Nestled in a peaceful valley surrounded by the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Shutter Lake is the perfect small town filled with pleasant, charming folks. The crime rate in Shutter Lake is zero...at least until the dead girl is found. The shocking murder shakes the town to it's very foundation.

Laney's past comes back to haunt her as she delves into the investigation of who murdered beautiful, young Sylvia Cole. But Laney's secrets aren't the only ones revealed as one by one the cracks in this perfect town start to show and the facade of perfection slowly begins to breakdown.

AMAZON

Giveaway:
Debra is giving away a paperback arc of THE DEAD GIRL as well as BREAKDOWN mug and tee!

Giveaway ends 11:59pm EST October 5th. Due to GDPR regulations you no longer need to submit your email address in the comments. If you have been selected as a winner your name will be posted at the top of the post. You may then contact maureen@justromanticsuspense.com to claim your prize. Your email address will be shared with the author/publicist providing the giveaway.