Brilliant collection of unique #crimefiction short stories | MALICE AND FORETHOUGHT @MsFelicia

Fans of crime fiction will love this brilliant collection of unique short stories.

A five-star read.

Everyone is capable of malice and no one is immune to its outcome.

A Hint of Malice - When her last living relative commits suicide after having her identity and assets stolen, a grieving niece longs for justice.

Burned - When the masterminds behind a major drug operation get off with a slap on the wrists, a frustrated police detective warns them their wealth cannot shield them from everything.

The Marshall Sisters - After seeing her sister mistreated by far too many men, Leslie Marshall is proud of Paula for standing up for herself and accompanies her on a cold winter's night to confront her boyfriend, but even Leslie isn't ready for the new, assertive Paula.

The Watcher - Shamed into exiled by his family because of his sexual fetish and hanging on to the shreds of his sanity, a man plots the ultimate date night with his new neighbor.

What's done in the dark always comes to the light.

EXCERPT FROM 'A HINT OF MALICE':

SHE CAUGHT HER BLURRED reflection in the antiquated steel doors of the basement elevator.

Black turtleneck. Black Jeans. Black boots. Jacket and gloves, also black.

If she were in a nightclub, she would be considered hot.

But she wasn’t some voluptuous bad-ass fashionista making a statement or setting a trend. She wore black for one reason. It hid blood splatter.

“Give me your knife, Jess.”

She’d forgotten she still gripped it tightly in her hand, blood dripping from its blade to the tarp on which she stood.

They extended their gloved hands, and he took the knife, dipping it into a small container of clear solution.

The blood disappeared.

He tossed the knife onto the tarp with the body and began rolling it up.

Jess stepped off her end and bent to help.

“No. I got this. You look a little shaken up. Scour the area and make sure we leave nothing behind.”

Jess walked around the small area of the underground parking garage but glanced over her shoulder to see Ren complete his task with ease and no emotion.

Was she shaken up?

Jess took one last look into the unseeing eyes of Neil Garner AKA William McNaughton before he disappeared into the folds of the tarp. She couldn’t muster up one ounce of guilt or remorse. She’d sent him to hell and knew she’d join him one day.

Jess grabbed Ren’s ‘tool bag’ and tossed it into the back of the Mercedes. She heard a dull thud and turned to see Ren walking away from the abandoned dumpster.

They climbed into the vehicle and began their return trip.

Thoughts of her aunt, Carmella Gordon, flooded her mind.

Her amazing aunt who’d always been a major part of Jess’s life was gone, dead by her own hand.

Because of Neil Garner.

The heartless sixty-two-year-old Lothario picked Carmella out of a group of wealthy women attending a charity benefit and stalked her. Running into Carmella by “accident” on several occasions, the conman then asked the youthful seventy-eight-year-old retired physics professor out to dinner and his game began. Courting her aunt, spoiling her with gifts, and convincing Carmella he was in love with her.

Two short months after the senior citizens met, Neil asked Carmella to marry him and she accepted.

Distracted by new love and wedding preparations, Carmella wasn’t her usual watchful self and didn’t realize until it was too late someone had stolen her identity.

And Neil Garner was nowhere to be found. Humiliated and penniless, a bottle of Xanax and a water-glass of vodka was all Carmella needed to stop her broken heart and hide her carelessness.

Shame kept Carmella from reporting the crime and when Jess tried to after Carmella’s suicide, the police were no help.

Interested at first after hearing about the deceased woman’s empty bank accounts and missing property deed, detectives back-pedaled and double-talked Jess on her next visit to the station three days later. Phrases like ‘lack of evidence’ and ‘no complaining witness’ were tossed around.

When Jess said she’d take her story to the media, the captain of detectives took her by the arm, walking her to the elevator.

“Ms. Hunter, I believe you and I want to help you. But our hands are tied. This Garner character has friends and family in high places. We’ve been ordered off this case. Your aunt’s death is ruled a suicide, reasons unknown. I’m sorry.”

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