Trending Topic #Murder by Sarah E. Burr ~ Spotlight

Posted October 7, 2020 by karenbaron in Blog Tour, Book Excerpt, Mystery / 1 Comment

Trending Topic #Murder

Series: Trending Topic Mystery Series #1

Author: Sarah E. Burr

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Pages: 218

Release Date: September 8, 2020, by Camel Press

Summary:

Meet 28-year-old celebrity blogger Coco Cline, who has started her own social media consulting company in her hometown of Central Shores, Delaware. Her new clients, Peter and Olivia Chen, are ten days away from the grand opening of their specialty consignment shop when Coco finds their store clerk Stacy dead behind the register.

Worried that a cloud of suspicion will ruin their chances of a successful business launch, the Chens ask Coco to work alongside the inexperienced, small-town police force to speed up the investigation. Using her celebrity status and social media savviness, Coco realizes Stacy’s seemingly ordinary life was all an act. Following a trail of cryptic online posts and muddied gossip, Coco and her friends discover Stacy’s questionable relationships just might be the reason for her untimely demise.

Excerpt

“I’ll have a more concrete timeline once I speak with the police, but let’s assume we can open as planned. I don’t think the police hold on to crime scenes for very long, but I’ll see what I can do to persuade them to move quickly.” I was ever the optimist. “Before I forget,” I paused, reaching into my Cole Haan bag to pull out the printed PDF that my lawyer had sent to me last night, “here’s the amendment you’ve suggested.” I bit my lower lip as I thumbed through the document. I didn’t want to offend my clients, but their personal finances were in complete tatters. “Though, given your current situation, maybe we should just toss it out the window?”

Peter sighed. “I appreciate your concern, Coco, but we need the store to be successful, now more than ever, and that’s never going to happen if either Liv or I are tempted to badger the police.”

He grabbed a pen from the counter and scratched his signature across the page, pushing it over to his wife.

Olivia rolled her eyes before scrawling her name below her husband’s.

“Are you able to continue your inventory work remotely?” I directed my next question to Olivia as I put the document away.

Her eyes scanned the room, like she was doing phantom math right before our eyes. “I have all the merchandise photos uploaded to my cloud drive, so I’ll be able to import them into the website using my home computer.”

“Is all the inventory at the store, or do you have some here?” I ticked the next box on my list.

“Most of it is at the store, but we did have a few shipments sent here. Why?” Peter questioned.

I considered our options for a moment. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure that the police would give us access to the store by next Saturday, and we had the store’s image within the community to consider. The more I mulled it over, the more it seemed distasteful for the Chens to open right after their loyal employee was murdered, no matter how badly they needed to turn a profit. “I think we should plan a soft opening online. We can blast special promos for the event across your social media platforms, so there’s a certain exclusivity to it. It will make buyers feel like it’s ‘invite-only’. You can feature the pieces that were sent here, so if someone does buy something, you’ll be able to process it at home and ship it out. If we start selling pieces that are in the store, who knows if the police will be willing to let us retrieve them for shipping.”

Olivia didn’t look pleased. “That’s less than a quarter of our inventory! If we only advertise what’s here at the house, people will think our store is a joke.”

I didn’t not agree with her but knew our options were limited. “A soft opening gets your name out in the online retail world and allows for potential cash flow. We could also pursue hosting a benefit, where store pieces are auctioned off with the proceeds going to Stacy’s family, but you’d have to take a hit to your bottom line.”

As Olivia’s tiny body swelled in protest, I held up a hand to calm her down. “Before we make any decisions, let me go speak with the police. I’ll call you once I have more details.” I picked up my bag, preparing for my next assignment.

“Thank you, Coco. We really appreciate you going above and beyond on this one.” Peter gave me a weary smile as he escorted me to the door.

“I hope I don’t let you down.” I waved goodbye and climbed into Jolly, sounding a lot more confident than I felt.

About the Author

Sarah E. Burr grew up in the small town of Appleton, Maine, and now lives outside New York City. Since she was seven, Sarah has wanted to be Nancy Drew, but she wasn’t stumbling across any mysteries in corporate America. Deciding it was time to follow her dreams, Sarah left her career in healthcare information technology three years ago and started writing mysteries of her own. The Trending Topic Mysteries is her first traditionally published series. Sarah also writes the Court of Mystery series.

Sarah attended Elmira College and graduated with degrees in Political Science and Philosophy & Religious Studies. She loves to weave these themes into her writing. When she’s not spinning up new stories, Ms. Burr is off seeing Broadway musicals, reading up a storm, video gaming, and enjoying walks around the city.