December is a wonderful time of year, especially for Sagittarians! Welcome to Tuesday Tales, where authors write excerpts incorporating word and picture prompts. Today I am working on a cozy mystery I started last year. The word prompt is star. When you finish reading my snippet, make sure to visit all the talented authors of Tuesday Tales.
Grimacing at the line of cars, Peri pushed the walk button and turned to Robin with an incredulous look. “Traffic sure has increased around the square.”
Robin nodded absent mindedly. Apparently, she was too focused on the murder to allow a conversation change to mundane details such as traffic flow and statistics. “So there was bad blood between them.”
Peri nodded, wishing she hadn’t broached the subject until they were out of public scrutiny. Why did she feel that each driver passing by stared an extra long time at her and Robin? This murder was getting to her. She lowered her voice. “Definitely. And it’s not just he said, she said. Apparently, the whole office caught the diatribe she laid on him.” The two friends stepped into the crosswalk and hurried across. “You never caught a whiff of any animosity?”
A frown knit Robin’s brows together. “Not specifically from those two, no. Naturally, it was known how hard the Squire was to get along with sometimes, wanting his own way and all.”
They had reached the rest home entrance. Peri whispered, “Let’s continue this later in private. We’ve got a group of senior citizens to whip up into a merry brood!”
Vivian Higgins rushed across to meet them, inevitable notebook and pen in hand. Her expression was one of manic consternation. “Thank you for coming on such short notice, girls. I don’t know where my committee is. You’d think this time of year everyone would keep track of where they are supposed to be. You didn’t forget to bring what I asked for, did you, Peri? I swear, the ladies are not going to be happy without an angel for the top of the tree. Since the one we’ve been using for years disappeared, they are taking it like an omen of evil or something.”
“Don’t worry. Hesta had a lovely one in her shop, and I have it right here. They’ll be crazy for it. A star ornament came with it!” She patted her shoulder bag.
“Of course, you’ll be reimbursed.”
“Don’t worry about it. I can afford a little generosity for the Goldies.” She gave a brief chuckle at the nickname assigned long ago to the ladies of the Golden Hour Retirement Palace. Most of the male inhabitants shunned the name, but the ladies seemed to revel in it, like a line of folly girls or rockettes.
I hope you enjoyed the snippet incorporating the word star. Thanks for stopping by. If you haven’t done so already, check out the other excerpts at Tuesday Tales.
Cheers & Happy Reading!
Flossie Benton Rogers, Conjuring the Magic in Romance
All rights reserved, copyright @ 2022 Flossie Benton Rogers
Wonderful snippet!!
Thank you!
I’m intrigued.
Good! I’m glad.
Excellent scene. Looking forward to more. Merry Christmas. We also have an angel atop our tree.
Aww, I know your angel is beautiful.
Great intro to a new story. You establish your characters with such ease. You really know how to use words. You make a few words do triple duty. And I love the expression, “manic consternation” — I can picture that perfectly. Looking forward to more on this story. I’m sucked in and I need to know more about the murder. I’m s big mystery fan.
I’m so glad that term came across okay. I have no ideas where it came from, but it popped out. Mysteries are such entertaining reading. I hope I can succeed in making this one so.
Oooh. The idea everyone was staring at them made me shiver. And I love the nickname the Goldies. Great job!.
Apparently, people think the body finders are a bit suspicious. That would be creepy.