Foto: Rada berem romance
Pri nas smo Lucy Score in njeno delo spoznali zahvaljujoč trilogiji Knockemount, ki jo sestavljajo knjige Stvari, ki jih nikoli ne prebolimo, Stvari, ki jih skrivamo v sebi in Stvari, ki jih pustimo za sabo. Lucy je poleg te napisala še nekaj drugih knjižnih serij in samostojnih romanc, le redki pa vedo, da piše tudi ljubezensko obarvane kriminalne romane. Govorim o knjižni seriji Riley Thorn.
The body in the backyard je naslov novega, četrtega romana v tej seriji, ki bo luč sveta ugledal 16. julija. Knjiga bo izšla pri založbi Bloom Books, v kateri bodo bralci lahko sledili novim pustolovščinam glavne junakinje in čudaški zasedbi likov, ki jo obkrožajo. Pisateljica, ki je knjižno serijo postavila v svojo domačo zvezno državo Pennsylvanio, je navdih našla v svoji okolici. "Moj mož je delal za zasebnega detektiva, ko sva začela hoditi na zmenke. Na enem najinih prvih zmenkov me je odpeljal na odpad, kjer je moral izprazniti osebne stvari iz avtomobila, ki je bil več mesecev zapuščen. Spomnim se, da sem brskala po predalu za rokavice in razmišljala: 'To bi bil dober prizor v knjigi!' Trajalo je kar nekaj let, a ta prizor je postal del ene izmed knjig v seriji Riley Thorn," je z navdušenjem razkrila priljubljena pisateljica.
V tej novi knjigi se Rileyjin nekdanji mož vrne v njeno življenje in jo prosi za pomoč, njen fant, zasebni detektiv Nick Santiago, pa se v posle njenega nekdanjega moža ne želi vmešavati. Ko Nickova osemdesetletna poslovna partnerica, gospa Penny, zavrne njegove pomisleke in se pojavi truplo, ki da vedeti, da je Rileyjin bivši morda res v nevarnosti, so nenadoma vse karte odprte. Medtem ko Nick in Riley poskušata najti krivca, se na njunem pragu prične ustvarjati kaos.
V nadaljevanju si lahko preberete ekskluzivni odlomek (v angleškem jeziku) iz Rileyjinih pustolovščin, ki so ga objavili na spletnem portalu People.
Riley watched from the kitchen as a uniformed cop unspooled the yellow crime scene tape in the backyard and the coroner’s gurney wheeled into view.
“I was just saying how I would be an excellent game show host because I’m so handsome and charming when the power went out,” Griffin explained to the officer. He and Bella were sitting at the glass and chrome kitchen table. He held an ice pack to his forehead, and Bella was delicately sipping on one of her creepy placenta smoothies.
“And I was doing my facial exercises so I don’t get wrinkles,” Bella added, demonstrating by scrunching her face like a prune.
“Okaaaaay,” Mabel said.
“Here we are again. You, me, and another dead body. I’m starting to think we’re cursed,” Riley whispered to Nick as he helped himself to a cup of coffee.
“Are you kidding? Thorn, if that DB turns out to be who I think it is, we just scored. Big time.”
She frowned. “Who is it?”
“I can’t be sure, but the back of his head looks a hell of a lot like Gentry.”
Riley instinctively looked out the window toward the fence. “Lyle Larstein?”
“Looks to me like the neighborhood sleep-deprived weirdo was cutting the power and managed to electrocute himself.”
“Hence the block of wood and the bolt cutter thingies,” Riley said.
“Exactly. He was at the top of our list of suspects, and he just did us the favor of taking himself out. This is what we call an open-and-shut case. You and I are gonna celebrate by hooking up that TV tonight, installing a dead bolt on our bedroom door, having sex and then watching movies.”
“That sounds perfect. Maybe we could add paying some bills in there somewhere?” Riley suggested.
Weber stepped inside from the backyard, his no-nonsense footsteps echoing on the tile. He removed his latex gloves and pointed at them. “You two, with me,” he ordered.
“You two, with me,” Nick mimicked under his breath.
“Play nice,” Riley hissed.
“I don’t know how.”
They followed the detective out the glass doors and onto the patio.
“Why do I keep finding you at my crime scenes, Santiago?” Weber demanded, gesturing for them to sit down at the slate-topped table.
“If you were better at your job, maybe I wouldn’t get there first every time,” Nick shot back, pulling out a chair for Riley.
“Hey, maybe we could save the habitual pissing contest for later,” she suggested as she sat. Nick took the chair next to her. Weber took a look around them at the manicured lawn, the stone patio, and the unmissable 12-foot-tall Griffin. Someone had taken the initiative to drape a blue tarp over the statue’s nether regions. He shook his head and pulled out a third chair.
“All right, you two. How do you just so happen to be on the scene of another unattended death?”
“Just lucky I guess,” Nick said.
“Mrs. Penny was here with Griffin. She called us,” Riley said.
“What was an 80-year-old troublemaker doing here, and why did she call you?”
“Don’t blame us for doing our jobs,” Nick snarled. “Gentry went to the cops first, and your boys in blue dismissed the threats.”
“The threat at the time was…” Weber paused to consult his notes. “A ‘mean note’ in his bedroom and a chest waxing accident.”
“Well, maybe if you had taken it seriously, we wouldn’t be standing over a dead f---ing body,” Nick said.
“I didn’t take the report. I’m homicide.”
“Right, because what’s the fun in preventing murders when you can investigate them?"
They both came halfway out of their chairs. Riley waved her hands between them. “I really can’t tell how much of this is actual animosity and how much is old habit. But we’re in the middle of a crime scene, so let’s at least pretend to be professionals.”
Adapted from THE BODY IN THE BACKYARD, a Riley Thorn novel, Copyright © 2024 by Lucy Score.
Odlomek je bil objavljen na spletnem portalu people.com
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