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MISSION TO KILL: A DEAD SISTER TALKING MYSTERY

MISSION TO KILL: A DEAD SISTER TALKING MYSTERY
Coming 2015

After Emily Noble is killed in a shootout with police during a bank robbery in El Paso, Dr. Kate Garcia gets a call from a Houston lawyer. Seems the woman has left her sizeable inheritance to Kate and family friend, Benny Yates, who runs The Mission of Hope, a soup kitchen for the down and out citizens of Vineyard. The problem is-- the Emily they knew lived on the streets of Vineyard and died of a drug overdose three months before. Suspicion falls on Benny when another homeless person drops dead at The Mission, and he is listed as the beneficiary on the man’s recent life insurance policy. The Garcia sisters go into sleuth mode once again to keep their friend out of jail, but even with the trash-talking ghost of their dead sister, Tessa, making another appearance from the “other side,” they have their work cut out for them.

Excerpt | Reviews

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Reviews

I am such a fan of Ms. Lipperman. Jordan McAllister was my first series, and while I do enjoy it, I really enjoy the Garcia Sisters and that series. I am the oldest of six children, four girls, and the love, teasing, and genuine interest in parts of life you may not wish to share, are all part of a close knit family. The sisters also have that wonderful bond. The storyline is well done, and characters are interesting and impact. And who can not enjoy the irreverent humour in the ghostly sister, Tessa. While this may be a bit richer in language and romantic entanglements than the normal cozy, this book is not anything you wouldn't see or hear on television. It's a pure delight, and a book I have recommended to several friends.

Stephanie Jones/Amazon

Lizbeth Lipperman had written yet another fantastic mystery!

I love Tessa and when she returns from “the great beyond” you know one of her sisters is in trouble. She drops in on Kate this time at a very inopportune moment, but Dr. Kate Garcia handles the surprise pretty well. …..This is such a great series. Kate, Lainey, Maddy, and Deena are quite a force to be reckoned with, together and separately. …..All of these books can stand on their own but you should really start at the beginning because these sisters are such wonderful and unique characters. Tessa will surely have you laughing out loud in each, and every one of the mysteries is top-notch.

                                                    Lori Caswell/Escape with Dollycas into a Good Book

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Excerpt

“Are you the Kate Garcia who volunteers at Mission of Hope?”

“I am. What’s this about?”

“I’m Conrad Winters of Winters and Delgado in Houston. We’re the attorneys of record for the estate of Horatio and Paulina Santiago.”

Kate scrunched her eyebrows, wondering why a lawyer was calling her at the office. Was someone suing her? And who were Horatio and Paulina Santiago?

Before she could ask, the man continued, “We’ve received word that their daughter Emily was killed in El Paso last week.” He paused as if allowing the news to sink in before continuing. “A couple of years ago Horatio and Paulina diedin a tragic plane crash, and with the exception of an endowment to Houston Memorial to build a new cancer wing, Emily inherited everything, including Santiago Oil Refineries.”

“What does this have to do with me?”

“Please, allow me to finish. The private investigator hired by the estate found her living on the streets in Vineyard not long after. Although we were able to complete probate and transfer everything to her, she chose not to use any of the funds at her disposal until six months ago.”

"I have to interrupt you again, Mr. Winters, because I think you’re wasting your time. I’ve never heard of Emily Santiago."

“You probably knew her as Emily Ruiz. She sometimes used her mother’s maiden name instead of her legal one because she and her father had an antagonistic relationship at best. According to the will I drew up for Emily, you and Benjamin Yates inherit everything."

Kate gasped. “There must be some mistake, Mr. Winters. Emily died three months ago. An overdose, I believe.”Not sure what was more shocking, that Emily had left everything to her and Benny, or that she may have died twice.

“Your information must be incorrect.”

“Sir, I identified the body at the morgue myself.” Kate closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead as if to push away a migraine. The police had found her phone number in Emily’s tattered jacket when the woman’s body was discovered in the woods behind the square, and she’d been called in to make the positive ID. The image of sweet Emily lying on that flat metal slab in the county morgue still haunted her. Emily, who had been so hopelessly addicted to meth and anything else that would take her out of the world she lived in, at least until the next fix—an heiress?

“There is no mistake, Dr. Garcia,” the lawyer continued. “I’m looking at the police report right now. Emily must have chosen to get her life back together in another city. Unfortunately, she was in line at the El Paso National Bank when a robbery went wrong. She and the security guard were both shot and killed.Since you and Mr. Yates are the only beneficiaries of her estate, I’d like to set up a time to sit down with the two of you and go over the technicalities.”

The lawyer continued to talk, and the sound of a cough from inside her office distracted her.Opening her eyes, she stared directly at her dead sister, who was now sitting in one of the chairs across from her desk with an I-told-you-so look on her face.