Cake and Corruption by S.C. Merritt
TOUR DATES: MARCH 4-19, 2021
BOOK TITLE: Cake and Corruption
SERIES: Sweetwater Springs Southern Mystery series, Book 6
AUTHOR: S.C. Merritt
PUBLICATION DATE: March 4, 2021
GENRE: Cozy Mystery
As mother of the bride, Glory wants her daughter’s wedding to be a day she’ll never forget. But when Glory’s address is found in the pocket of an unidentified body in a car crash, her biggest nightmare becomes reality. The past has followed her to Sweetwater Springs and it’s not going away without a fight. Can she solve the mystery and maybe even her husband’s two-year-old cold case murder in the process? Glory, Momma, a few of the new in-laws are working against the clock to discover the truth before wedding bells toll.
Read an Excerpt!
Excerpt from Cake and Corruption by S.C. Merritt Cake and Corruption (A Sweetwater Springs Southern Mystery Book 6)
Business was steady most of the morning. Several of the stores along Main Street were running spring sales and the weather was perfect for a little shopping. Steph arrived and I could hear the squeals of delight as Macy gave her the grand tour.
Just after the lunch rush, Hunt walked in. My heart raced at the sight of him and I couldn’t help the smile that took over my face whenever he entered a room.
“Hey, Hunt. Can I get you some coffee? Or some lunch, maybe?” I asked, noticing that his expression was more businesslike than usual.
“I’ll take some coffee. Can we talk a minute?” He nodded his head toward the kitchen. “In private?”
I felt a frown wrinkle my forehead. “Sure.” I poured his usual coffee with a splash of cream and followed him into the kitchen where Macy and Steph were filling the last of the late lunch orders.
“Hey, Hunt.” Macy saw his expression and gave me a questioning look.
“Can y’all cover the front and give us a minute?” I asked.
They nodded, wiped their hands, and took the orders out to the customers.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “You look worried.”
He blew across the top of his coffee. “That wreck this morning. It’s turned out to be very suspicious.” He took a sip from his cup. “The victim was a woman. There was no identification found in the car. No purse, driver’s license, car registration, anything.”
“You’re right. That sounds very unusual. Can’t you trace the car by the tag?”
“There was no tag on the car.” The worry lines on his brow deepened. “The car was absolutely clean of any identifying information.”
“No tag? Do you think maybe it was stolen?” I asked. That was the only reason I could think of for someone removing the car tag.
“I don’t know yet.” He ran his hand through his short-cropped, salt and pepper hair. A habit I’d picked up on when he was frustrated or uncomfortable having a conversation. “I just met with the coroner. Cause of death is officially blunt force trauma to the head, but here’s the strange part. He said that the wound that killed her was actually to the back of her head, not the front where she would have hit the steering wheel or dashboard. In fact, the crash itself didn’t seem substantial enough to cause death. There was minimal damage to the car. It just seemingly ran off into a ditch.”
“That is strange, but I guess it’s possible that she got thrown around in the car during the crash. Especially if she wasn’t wearing a seat belt.”
“That was his first thought, but after the autopsy, he determined that the wound was caused by an object not at the scene. Definitely nothing inside the car.”
My jaw dropped. “Are you saying she was murdered?” I sat down on one of the prep stools at the table. “Oh, that’s awful!”
“Glory, there’s something else.” He looked at me with concern. “The coroner found this in her pocket.” He took out a slip of paper, unfolded it and handed it to me.
“My address?” I gawked at the street address scribbled on the scrap of paper. “Why on earth would this person have my address?”
“I was hoping you could tell me.” He placed his hand over mine. “I know you have a lot of wedding guests coming in from out of town. Is there anyone you should’ve heard from by now and haven’t? Has anyone tried to contact you for directions to your house? Anything like that?”
Stunned, I ran over the guest list in my head. We hadn’t invited that many people other than family. Just a few of Macy and Tony’s college friends, but none of them were expected this early in the week.
I shook my head. “I can’t think of anyone. Tony’s family is coming in later today—”
“Tony’s family?” He raised an eyebrow. “As in his grandfather and uncle?”
“Well, yes, but there’s no way they could have anything to do with this. They’re coming for a family celebration, not to dispose of dead bodies.” I stiffened at the accusation.
“Glory, don’t take offense, but you have to admit, this smells like a mob hit.” He held tightly to my hand as I tried to pull it away.
“I refuse to believe that. You met Rocco. You know how he feels about Tony. He would never do anything to spoil Tony and Macy’s big day.”
“You’re sure no one has called you?”
“Absolut—” I stopped mid-sentence. “I did have a phone call yesterday. I was busy at work and I didn’t recognize the number, so I sent it to voicemail. I’m sure it was just a spam call.” I pulled up the app on my phone and pressed play to listen.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
S.C. MERRITT writes cozy mysteries featuring southern, female sleuths, plots with a twist, and a little sprinkle of romance. The Sweetwater Springs Southern Mystery Series is set in a small, Alabama town full of quirky characters, delicious restaurants, and lots of murder. Yummy recipes are included in each book!
When not writing, she is traveling, watching classic movies and tv shows, or collecting flamingos.
She lives in Mississippi with her husband and miniature Schnauzer, Izzy and dreams of living in a tropical locale someday.
AUTHOR WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM
Win an e-copy of S.C. Merritt's latest book, Cake and Corruption (Book 6 in the Sweetwater Springs Southern Mysteries) PLUS The Sweetwater Springs Southern Mysteries: A Cozy Mystery Box Set E-Books 1-3
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