by Cynthia Chow

Details at the end of this post on how to win an ebook copy of Fatal Choice, along with a link to purchase the book.

Jillian phones her best friend Dana Mackenzie—at three o’clock in the morning. It seems that Jillian went home with a man after meeting him at a local wine bar, but now she’s been left alone at his house. To prevent her stranded friend from doing a Walk of Shame, Dana drives over to Brett Sinclair’s home, only to discover that Jillian wasn’t alone there after all. Instead of Jillian’s one-night stand, they discover the body of a woman on the kitchen floor. Dana may have been annoyed with Jillian for dragging her out of bed, but Jillian returns the favor by forcing her friend to leave before the police arrive and Dana is detained. Dana has the opportunity to get out of working as an asset manager for Mid-America Financial Services, and the truth is that nothing would jeopardize a potential job in Pasadena like being involved in (another) murder investigation.

It seems that Brett left out a few details about himself, the biggest being that he was married; it’s his wife’s body that was left in a pool of blood. The police quickly begin to focus on Jillian as “the other woman,” and with Brett not around to explain himself, Jillian begs Dana to call for help. Said help takes the form of homicide detective Nick Travis, the one man Dana is intent on avoiding.

Knowing that it’s only a matter of time before the police discover Dana’s presence at the murder scene, her only alternative is to solve the murder before the police get further into their investigation. Dana’s first step is to look into the wine bar and restaurant Brett claimed to own, and finds that he’s left a long trail of broken hearts and disgruntled staff.

This third and final installment in the series has Dana at a crossroads in her life, facing the decision over whether to leave her beloved Santa Flores for a new town that doesn’t hold painful memories of a broken relationship. That fact that Mid-America’s district manager is making a surprise visit to their branch and maximizing their paranoia level is further incentive to leave, even though that would mean moving away from her parents at a time when her brother is being secretive.

Despite Dana’s elevated stress, the author never fails to entertain with a copious amount of humor, frustratingly sexy banter from Nick, and an appearance by a smoking-hot ex-Air Force Special Ops repo man. The conclusion will satisfy every fan of this lively mystery series, although readers will miss the adventures of this intelligent and charming advocate for the troubled and vulnerable.

To enter to win a copy of Fatal Choice, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “Fatal,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen September 5, 2015. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please include your mailing address, and if via comment please include your email address.

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Cynthia Chow is the branch manager of Kaneohe Public Library on the island of Oahu. She balances a librarian lifestyle of cardigans and hair buns with a passion for motorcycle riding and regrettable tattoos (sorry, Mom).