UNLEASH THE MUTTS featuring "Paws-itively Scandalous" by Jayne Ormerod

The mutts are ready to run free on the beach! If the authors of To Fetch a Scoundrel would only unleash them!  Don’t worry, we will. On March 3^rd. Until then, this series of posts is digging deep into the reason the author set their story in a specific location, followed by the first few pages of the story to give you a taste of things to come!

Today’s feature…

“PAWSITIVELY SCANDALOUS” by Jayne Ormerod

We asked Jayne where her story is set, and why she chose that location:

Thanks to my husband’s career as a naval officer, I’ve spent the majority of my adult life living near a significant body of water. There’s something about sandy toes and sea breezes that sooth a troubled soul. As I learned from the many hours spent watching Murder, She Wrote, it’s a delicious juxtaposition when something as ugly as murder occurs in a bucolic coastal setting. Too delicious to ignore. As a result, I often set my stories in charming coastal towns that are a conglomerate of the many seaside towns I have visited. (It also convenient when the tides wash away the clues or carry the dead bodies away!)  

“Pawsitively Scandalous” follows that pattern. Brookville, North Carolina, is located on the Albemarle Sound. But don’t go looking to visit (as I did with Cabot Cove, Maine, only to find out that fishing village in the opening credits was actually Mendocino, California!) because I made it all up!  

Now read this:

CHAPTER ONE

“What’s in your Yeti today?” my friend and neighbor Ryleigh Duncan asked as I approached the community dog park.

My Mona Lisa smile accompanied by a devilish wink let her know she was in for a treat.

I parked my gallon jug of adult beverage on the park bench and then bent to unsnap the leash from my dog Natti’s collar. Ryleigh’s sheepadoodle Chewy (short for Chewbacca, whom he’d resembled as a pup) greeted my black Lab/mix in the traditional manor of dogs. Off they ran, frolicking through the grass.

I picked up the Yeti and gave it a shake. “Let’s wait until the others get here.”

“Maybe I can guess, then. What’s the occasion?” Ryleigh asked.

What makes my party planning business special is my personalized concoction based on the clients’ preferences. And then I give the drink a unique name. But nothing, and I mean nothing, went out to the client until I’d run it through a taste testing by my fellow Friday afternoon Yappy Hour participants. Yappy Hour, for those who have never heard of it, is an opportunity for dogs to burn off energy while their owners enjoy a refreshing drink. Oh, and there may be a wee bit of gossip while we sip. Just a wee bit.

Ryleigh waved jazz hands in front of my face, her two dozen or so bangle bracelets jangling with the motion. “I’m feeling a Star Wars wedding.” Yeah, Ryleigh could get a little “woo-woo” at times. She was, after all, a descendant of Gypsies and claimed to have clairvoyant powers. She dressed exclusively in loose fitting natural fibers from whatever color palette suited her mood. Today she wore dull earthy shades in stark contrast to the vibrant greens of summer in the park.

“Star Wars is so 2015. I did that for Janice and Gary’s wedding. Remember?”

“Ah, yes. The infamous Nookie Wookiees. I have a vague recollection.” She smiled sheepishly.

Let’s be honest. That concoction had knocked the tall wispy woman on her butt. “Today’s drink is to celebrate somebody’s book launch.”

“So, a book-ish cocktail.”

“Did someone say cocktail?” neighbor Tilda Young interrupted us. “Count me in!”

CLICK HERE to read more about the authors.

CLICK HERE to read more about the stories.

CHECK BACK March 3rd to see how you can purchase a copy of To Fetch a Scoundrel, Four Fun “Tails” of Scandal and Murder.