Sam Quinton #3
Mystery
Date Published: 03-08-2022
Publisher: Camel Press
Sociology professor Felix Thayer is brilliant but hateful. A near genius in
his field, but impossible to get along with. When his colleague Michael
Hartness is found murdered in his office, it doesn’t surprise anyone that
Thayer is arrested for the crime. Everyone who knew the two men pretty much
saw that coming. But why would Thayer have committed the murder in a manner
so careless as to almost ensure his being fingered as the culprit? It’s
almost as if the guy wanted to be caught.
That’s what Thayer’s wife needs to know. She doesn’t really care whether
her husband’s guilty. She just has to know why he’d be so careless and hires
Sam Quinton, full-time gym owner, part-time private eye, and former
professional wrestler, to find out. But as Quinton investigates the crime,
he finds there may be more to the affair than the animosity of two men. And
when the local Mafia begins dogging his steps, he figures he’s on the trail
of something that someone wants kept under wraps.
Excerpt
When she got close, I could see her eyes were a striking royal blue color.
“Mr. Quinton?”
“That’s me.” I grabbed a water bottle from underneath the bench I was sitting on and took a swig.
“I’m interested in hiring you,” the woman said.
“I don’t do individual sessions,” I said. “I can take you over to talk to Lisa. She handles most of our formal scheduling, and I’m sure –”
“No, I,” the woman paused, took a breath and shook her head a trifle. “I’m not looking for a trainer.”
“Aah,” I said, the light dawning.
“I need a detective.” She peered closer at me while keeping her expression blank. I was wearing gym shorts, a tank-top tee shirt and white Puma’s. My face was still a little flushed from the curls, and at the end of a one-hour workout I probably needed a shower.
“Pardon my appearance,” I said. “I wasn’t expecting to see any clients this afternoon.”
The woman looked around, her gaze sweeping the gym, before coming back to me. “You are a detective, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Then I need to hire you.”
I perked up at the word “need,” not “want.” “What sort of work?” I asked.
She frowned as she looked down at me. “Detective work. That is what you do, isn’t it?”
I shook my head. “What I meant was what sort of case. What do you need help with?”
Her face crumpled a bit, and a hint of moisture seeped into her eyes. She shook her head slightly, and I wondered if she was going to turn around and head back out the door.
Then she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and stood up a little straighter.
“My name is Susan Thayer,” she said. “Does that explain the kind of work I need?”
“Thayer.”
“Correct.”
“As in Dr. Felix Thayer?” I asked.
She nodded, and looking closely, I could see two parallel tears sliding down her cheeks.
Oh yeah. I don’t know if that explained everything, but it explained an awful lot.
About the Author
A high-school teacher, former college instructor, and fiction writer, Kevin
R. Doyle is the author of numerous short horror stories. He’s also
written three crime thrillers, The Group, When You Have to Go There, and And
the Devil Walks Away, and one horror novel, The Litter. In the last few
years, he’s begun working on the Sam Quinton private eye series,
published by Camel Press. The first Quinton book, Squatter’s Rights,
was nominated for the 2021 Shamus award for Best First PI Novel. The
second book, Heel Turn, was released in March of 2021, while the third in
the series, Double Frame, came out in March of 2022.
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