SAVING
DABBA
Beth
Bowman is not a late sleeper, but it doesn’t bother her if the sun beats her
up. Certainly, five AM is too early for her to be stirring unless on a case.
This time, though, it’s the Chief of Police asking her to come into the
station. If you’re a PI in Coral Lakes, FL, you want to maintain good relations
with the police, especially the chief. So, Beth drags herself out of bed, preps
for the day and heads for a meeting on an unknown subject.
The
news is not good. A man was found dead in the park, beaten to death. He carried
no identification, but has the looks of a homeless person. Since Beth is
friends with several of the homeless in the area, the chief is hopeful she’ll
recognize him. She does. The dead man has a tattoo of the outline of the state
of Texas on his neck. A star in the tattoo in the approximate location of
Dallas gave him his street name—Dallas. But that’s about all Beth knows about
him. He hasn’t been in the area very long.
The
chief has nothing except a gut feeling to go on, and that points him toward a
new group that has come to Coral Lakes—Friends Intent on The Environment, or
FITE. He asks Beth not to get involved, to let the police handle this one.
Beth
is noncommittal, knowing full-well she will warn her friends to sleep indoors
and be more careful. A second body turns up, a copy of what happened to Dallas.
Then, a young man is found shot to death in the park. Dabba, a member of Beth’s
group, is arrested for the murder.
Beth
will not believe Dabba to be guilty and sets herself on a path to track down
the people who are turning Coral Lakes into a social battlefield.
The
young man who was killed was a member of Friends Intent on The Environment. The
demonstrations intensify as the leader of FITE demands that Dabba be turned
over to them for justice. That leader, Cloie Morales, is expert at manipulating
a crowd, and the Coral Lakes downtown is soon a burning scene reminiscent of
war between the police and those supporting FITE.
SAVING
DABBA is book 4 in the Beth Bowman series. A transplanted
Texan, she is a PI in Coral Lakes, FL. In book 1, HOT ROCKS, Beth is
befriended by a group of homeless. They accept her and become her allies in
resolving the cases she takes on. Each of them has a tragic story, which comes
out during the course of the books.
Book
5, which is in progress, takes Beth into the world of illegal immigration and
those who exploit immigrants. It’s a look at another social and political
problem in our society.
Thanks,
Kevin, for letting me discuss my work.
Randy Rawls ©2018
Randy Rawls was born and reared in
Williamston, North Carolina, a small town in the northeastern part of the
state. From there, he says he inherited a sense of responsibility, a belief in
fair play, and a love of country. As a career US Army officer, he had the
opportunity to learn, travel, teach, and hone talents inherited from his
parents. Following retirement, he worked in other ventures for the US
Government. Every job has in some way been fun. Even the dark days of Vietnam
had their light moments, and he cherishes the camaraderie that was an integral
part of survival in that hostile world.
Today, he has short stories in several
anthologies, and a growing list of novels to his credit. As a prolific reader,
the reads across several genres and takes that into his writing. He has written
mysteries, thrillers, an historical, and two fantasy/mystery/thrillers
featuring a Santa Elf. The count is now at fourteen and growing. He is a
regular contributor to Happy Homicides, a twice annual anthology of cozy short
stories. He also has a series of short stories featuring a cattle-herding
burro. Wherever his imagination will take him, he follows.
Posts
4 comments:
One of the nice things about this business is the people you meet. I've had the pleasure of spending some time with Kevin and know he's first class in every way. Thanks for letting me in, Kevin. It's a pleasure to have shared an intro to SAVING DABBA with your followers.
I used to see Randy Rawls at the annual Killer Nashville writing conference. One year, before I was published, he was in a session where he invited anyone who attended the session to send him the first 10 pages of their work in progress and he'd edit it for them. I sent him what I'd rewritten and polished a 100 times, but he found ways to improve it. I knew I wasn't ready for publication. I appreciated his free advice. You could always find him because of the hat. I enjoyed reading this post.
Thank you, Randy.
That does sound like Randy, Linda. Thank you for coming by.
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