Yeah, I know. But I had to work.
Then, the pilot comes on the PA.
He says "We have a little situation." He says: "Apparently, LAX is reorganizing its flight patterns. Which, they're telling me, will have an effect on flights into regional airports.
(Like where we're going, Santa Barbara.)
He says: so it looks like we'll have a bit of a delay.
TWO AND A HALF HOURS.
We are ON THE PLANE.
The energy in the passengers plummeted. Thudded to earth so profoundly I'm surprised the plane didn't sink into the tarmac.
When they announced we'd only be 90 minutes late, we were thrilled.
(Remember that in your next marketing class.)
But! Santa Barbara, when we finally arrived, is gorgeous. GORGEOUS! I don't mind the delay..as long as I can be here.
So it's perfect that Nancy West is here to talk about another fabulous destination. WITH a giveaway! (oh, someone wins Brunonia Barry's THE FIFTH PETAL. I'll post soon.)
But now, without delay :-)-- another wonderful destination.
But is it: TOO IDYLLIC FOR MURDER?
By Nancy G. West
Aggie Mundeen, author of the
column “Stay Young with Aggie,” is single and pushing hard against forty. She’s
fearless until she thinks about aging, which drives her into a cold sweat. She
moved from Chicago to San Antonio a couple years ago to start over, and worked
out at Fit and Firm to shape up before anybody learned she wrote the staying-young
column. Things went swimmingly until she saw a girl floating face down in the
pool. (Fit to Be Dead) Naturally, she
tried to help and wound up involved in a murder investigation, made more
palatable by the arrival of SAPD Detective Sam Vanderhoven.
I, her author, was blissfully
writing a suspense novel when Aggie, a supporting character, wormed her way
into my brain and demanded that I write about her. It seems she had ideas about
helping the San Antonio detective with future investigations, which would
require multiple stories.
After the health club
investigation, Aggie convinced Sam to accompany her and a friend on a dude
ranch vacation in the Texas Hill Country, incognito
so he wouldn’t put a damper on their fun. Their getaway morphed into murderous Home on the Range. (Dang Near Dead) The
threesome managed to oust the snake-in-the-topsoil and set things right. In the
process, Aggie and Sam learned to work together. After a fashion.
When Aggie heard a San
Antonio university professor would teach a course on the effects of genetics on
aging, she blasted to the campus to register. Unfortunately, she discovered a
dead academic. (Smart, But Dead) Sam
cautioned her to avoid the investigation. But dangerously curious and
programmed to prod, she raced to solve the crime, wound up prime suspect and
was on target to become next campus corpse.
Aggie’s brush with oblivion
made her and Sam realize they truly cared for one another despite their contentious
approaches to crime solving. Perhaps they were ready for a long weekend
together away from the distraction of felonious deeds. But where? A cruise? Skiing
in the mountains? An escape to Tahiti?
Why not a hotel on the San
Antonio River Walk? Aggie was right there in River City, but she’d never
lingered on the River Walk for an extended stay (so far as I knew). Not with
Sam.
They could marvel at the history
of how a river came to ramble through the heart of a city. How did La Villita,
the original little city, come to be perched alongside the river? How did
Arneson River Theater find a resting place on one side of a meandering river while
its theater seats hovered across the water on the other bank? What was the
story behind three bells that hung behind the Arneson stage?
River City was also Military
City, USA with its multiple military bases and active duty personnel. How were
these thousands discharged into the active life of a thriving city? What was
the significance of Day-of-the-Dead skulls that popped up at Fiesta events?
What started Fiesta Week, the
annual citywide party, that began a hundred years earlier? Was it true the
event began with ladies tossing flower petals at a visiting president and that
the parade grew to be the largest procession run exclusively by women?
What if crime descended on
the hotel, bursting with conventioneers, where Aggie and Sam met? With thousands
of Fiesta Week revelers in River City, suspects were everywhere. Aggie and Sam
had avenues to explore and challenges to face. Right there in River City.
------------
I’m delighted to give a copy
of RIVER CITY DEAD to one interested commenter. What intrigues you about the San Antonio River Walk?
HANK: Or, Reds, what city are you in love with? River City Dead to one lucky commenter!
(I am still in the amazing Santa Barbara--at a wonderful event--I will check in when I can! Whoa. Time Zones.)
Nancy G. West was a
University of Texas business major who decided that writing mysteries was more
fun than accounting and decided to pursue an MA in English literature.
RIVER CITY DEAD is the fourth
book in her award-winning series. She lived in Missouri, Kansas and Florida but
has spent the most time in San Antonio.
Aggie Mundeen Mysteries: www.nancygwest.com
Amazon:
http://tinyurl.com/authorNancyG-West
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/river-city-dead-nancy-g-west/1124917721?ean=9781635111330
Sometimes Nancy and Aggie clash brains at https://stayyoungwithaggie.wordpress.com/
RIVER CITY DEAD
Advice
columnist Aggie Mundeen and SAPD Detective Sam Vanderhoven plan their first
rendezvous at a San Antonio River Walk hotel during Fiesta Week—sumptuous
sights, sounds, and festivities in the middle of America’s Venice. A vacation
from crime and a reset for their tumultuous relationship. But murder descends
on Casa Prima Hotel. Disturbing revelations surface about Aggie’s new friends
holding a convention, the Fabulous Femmes. Evil emerges at parties in La
Villita. Calamity plagues Aggie’s debut dance performance at Arneson River
Theater, the celebration skewed by carousing, crazies, and corpses. Even in
idyllic River City, crime complicates relationships.
