The FIRST Books & Bootleggers Excerpt!

Plus Alex Paige has more news!

For the last several weeks I’ve talked about this new cozy mystery series I’m writing. It’s been fun, and it’s also been challenging. Although I know many of the characters, I don’t know them as well as Alex Paige and friends. I’m discovering who they are; it’s a fascinating process.

As soon as I wrote Peril in the Peninsula, Evelyn Dahl and the other Alvin’s Landing residents let me know I needed to tell their stories, too. Detective Billy Pierce became a regular fixture in Alex’s tales, and Evelyn and Juke appeared in Menace at the Marina.

Now they’re getting their turn in Books and Bootleggers! Scroll to the bottom for the very FIRST excerpt!

Before you do, I have other news. Last week I mentioned that Alex won’t leave me alone, so she’s returning this summer. She let me know she’s ready to try something different: Kickstarter, here we come!

If you’re not familiar with Kickstarter, it’s a crowdfunding platform that enables people like you to directly support the creation of everything from tech doo-dads to special editions of books you love.

I’ll be launching Alex’s next adventure on this platform before making it available anywhere else.

In addition to Book Seven in the series, you’ll also be able to get the first six. What’s cool is I can offer all sorts of fun stuff. Want a hardcover edition? We can do that. How about a book box filled with goodies a travel writer like Alex (and a travel reader like you) would like. An actual bona fide box set? Yep.

I’ll be setting it up over the next few weeks and I’ll keep you posted.

Ready to read the first (unedited) excerpt of Books and Bootleggers? Scroll down!

Happy reading!

Theresa

p.s. Look out for another email from me today, because Free Books Friday will be out this afternoon.

Books and Bootleggers

Evelyn caressed the worn leather, dragging her fingertips over the minute cracks. She wrapped her hands around the book and gently lifted it out of its plexiglass case. Holding it like a swaddled baby, she moved to one of the couches and sat down. The cushion exhaled as she settled in.

“When’s the last time you brought it out of purgatory?” her friend Tess asked.

Evelyn grinned, a fond memory tickling her. “Never.”

“Never? Now that’s a travesty.” As a bookstore owner, Tess believed books should be read and loved, not locked up in protective tombs.

“Grandpa used to take it out all the time. He’d sit right over there and read to me.” Evelyn pointed to a wingback chair next to the fireplace. “I’d lay on the rug with my head in my hands and imagine what it must have been like.”

“Did his grandfather read it to him?”

Evelyn snorted. “Nope. Grandpa said the biggest trouble he ever got in was when his grandpa found him with the book. He was hiding under a blanket with a flashlight, which is what gave him away.”

“Sounds like my kind of guy. But why’d he get in trouble?”

“Great-great-grandpa Alvin said it was his book, his memories, and grandpa had no right getting into his personal stuff.”

Tess reached her hands out and wiggled her fingers. Evelyn handed the book to her, keeping her eyes on it the whole time. “And now you’re going to read it to a bunch of strangers?” Tess asked.

Evelyn nodded. “Only the stuff about him landing here and deciding to stay after he met Ingrid. A love story for the ages.”

“Maybe that’s why he didn’t want his grandson reading it,” Tess chuckled.

“Oh, there’s nothing salacious in it. It would seem my great-great-grandpa was a man of few words. He basically recorded the what, where, and when, sometimes the how, but rarely the why. However, when he did get into the why, it generally had to do with Ingrid.”

Tess opened the cover tenderly. “Alvin Dahl, 1872,” she read. “I still don’t understand why you’ve kept it locked up.”

Evelyn shrugged. “Dad’s wishes. He wanted to protect it so it’d be here for his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, etcetera. Not that he has any yet, but he’s ever hopeful. He finally gave me permission to bring it out for the celebration. Honestly, it’s probably a good thing he wouldn't let me. He knows me too well.”

“You’d be reading it every night, wouldn’t you?” Tess said, smiling as she gently turned the yellowed pages.

“Maybe not every night, but more often than I should.”

Tess studied her. “I’ve always known you were a rule-follower, but this seems extreme even for you.”

“Dad treated the book with such reverence it almost seemed like I’d be committing a crime if I went against his wishes. As soon as grandpa died, Dad put it in the case, locked it up, and it’s been there ever since.”

Tess turned another page and stopped. A big grin covered her face as she scanned the entry. “Found it. Where Alvin and Ingrid meet. I see what you mean; suddenly he’s much more loquacious.”

Evelyn leaned over to read the passage. “Ingrid sounds like she was amazing. I wish I could have met her. Grandpa told me Grandma reminded him of her, though.”

“I remember your grandma. She made the best cherry pie.”

The two friends sighed at the memory of Grandma Dahl’s flaky crust and rich filling made with fresh cherries and a hint of cinnamon. Evelyn reached for the book and Tess handed it over. She stood up, walked over to the plinth where the book was displayed and carefully placed it back in the case.

“Wait!”

Evelyn turned around to see a man approaching with his hand reaching towards her. She paused and smiled at him. “Hey Mikey. What brings you here?”

“Michael. I’m here to talk some sense into you. Or at least, try to.”

Tess stood up and narrowed her eyes at him, but didn’t say anything.

“About what?” Evelyn asked, even though she knew exactly what he was going to say.

“That. The book,” he said, pointing at the case. “You know it belongs at the museum. You need to hand it over.”

Evelyn shook her head. They’d been over this a million times. “My great-great-grandfather’s book has been at The Mast for 150 years, and that’s where it’s going to stay. It’s part of our legacy.”

“He was my grandfather, too, you know. I may not have the Dahl name, but I’ve got his genes.” He moved closer, towering over Evelyn.

Despite being several inches shorter than her cousin, Evelyn refused to be intimidated. “Yes, you do. You’ve also got the Dahl House.”

“I don’t ‘have’ the Dahl House. That’s the historical society’s.”

“And aren’t you the president?”

Michael waved it off. “But it’s not mine. Not like this.” He gestured towards the book and the items that surrounded it. For as long as Evelyn could remember, this section of The Mast, the inn founded by her great-great-grandmother to give weary sailors a place to rest, had contained a museum, despite Alvin’s objections. There were mariners’ instruments, lithographs, and the most prized item of all, Alvin’s log book and diary.

Evelyn gave him a sad smile. “Mikey–sorry, Michael–none of this is mine. I’m safeguarding it, just like you are with the house and all the other items from the past.” She paused. “Why is this book so important to you? You never cared about it when we were kids. You didn’t care about any of this stuff when we were kids.”

Michael straightened. “Are you the same person you were twenty-five years ago? Of course not. Why would you expect me to be?” He checked his watch, an expensive timepiece that looked like it weighed more than Alvin’s book. “I have to get back and continue setting up. I thought I’d give you one last chance to hand it over.”

Tess spoke up. “Or what, Michael? You’ll just take it?”

Books and Bootleggers is coming out in 2025!