Murder on the Boardwalk
a Rosa Reed Mystery
Lee Strauss Denise Jaden
Contents
Summary
More from Lee Strauss
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Rosa & Miguel’s Wartime Romance
Murder at the Bomb Shelter Sneak Peek
About the Authors
Acknowledgments
Summary
Murder's such a shock!
When Rosa Reed—aka WPC Reed of the Metropolitan Police—and her cousin Gloria decide to spend a fun-filled afternoon in 1956 at the fair on the boardwalk in Santa Bonita, California, they're in for a shocking surprise. After a ride assistant's death by electrocution is determined to be murder, Rosa finds herself entangled once again with her high school sweetheart, Detective Miguel Belmonte. Should she catch the next flight to London before she loses her heart again? Or worse, her life?
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LADY GOLD INVESTIGATES (Ginger Gold companion short stories)
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1
Lines of gently swaying palm trees and stucco Spanish mansions were set against a cloudless blue sky, and Miss Rosa Reed, known in rainy London, England as WPC Reed of the Metropolitan Police, thought the endless sunshine would never get old. She strolled away from the Forrester mansion in Santa Bonita, California, with her cousin Gloria at her side.
“We need to find you a fuller crinoline,” Gloria said, playfully nudging Rosa with an elbow as they neared one of the Forrester vehicles, a two-tone yellow Chevrolet Bel Air parked in the driveway.
Not once in her life in London had Rosa been criticized for her wardrobe. With a mother who owned one of London’s highbrow Regent Street dress shops, Rosa had grown up under the influence of stylish and quality fashion, the kind that certainly turned heads in the United Kingdom. Apparently, the California coast was a different story as Rosa had been encouraged more than once to wear something a little brighter, a little tighter, or today, a little fuller.
Then again, those suggestions had come from Gloria and might have said more about Rosa’s spirited cousin than they did about California fashions. Already, Rosa regretted giving in to Gloria’s pleas to accompany her to the fair recently set up at the boardwalk. Rosa preferred the quiet of her bedroom—hers at the Forrester mansion felt as cozy and comfortable as her room at Hartigan House in South Kensington—and a good book. Rosa had a stack resting on her night table, from mystery fiction to the latest in forensic science developments. She’d raided the Forrester mansion library shortly after she’d arrived in Santa Bonita, and had tipped one of the maids to make a run to the local library for her (not daring to go there herself for reasons she’d rather not think of at this time). The gentle purring and warm companionship of her kitten, Diego, was all the socializing Rosa desired, and with a deep breath she had to brace herself for the cacophony sure to come.
Not wanting to face Gloria’s wrath if she changed her mind, Rosa was determined to be a good sport. Gloria looked adorable and rather youthful—seven years Rosa’s junior, Rosa often felt ancient at twenty-eight in Gloria’s presence—in her pink flared skirt with an embroidery of a sizable French poodle and flat black-and-white leather saddleback shoes.
Gloria stood with one hand on one tiny hip and the other stretched out, palm open. “Keys?”
“Why?”
“You’ve driven it all week. Besides, you have Diego to concern yourself with.”
Rosa peeked into her tapestry handbag, or satchel, as she liked to call it, where her kitten slept soundly. She’d chosen the satchel more for the comfort of Diego, a brown tabby kitten Rosa had recently rescued, than she had for how it complimented her sky-blue swing dress—the one without a large enough crinoline, apparently—and matching Juliette cap.
Diego
