A Rip Roaring Good Time

A Rip Roaring Good Time

A Ripple Effect Cozy Mystery

Book One

by

Jeanne Glidewell

Published by
ePublishing Works!

www.epublishingworks.com

ISBN: 978-1-61417-714-2

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Copyright © 2015 by Jeanne Glidewell. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

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Dedication

This book is dedicated to my wonderful 152 Crew friends and neighbors, Janet Wright and Colleen Dudley, aspiring authors themselves, who help me by letting me bounce plots and titles off them. I appreciate that Janet and Colleen don't mind when I use some of their ideas in my stories. It was the two of them who convinced me, a former RV Park owner, to write a cozy series about RV enthusiasts, which I'm introducing with this first Ripple Effect mystery. I hope my Lexie Starr readers will enjoy this crossover novel, and my new cozy mystery series, as well.

Acknowledgements

I'd like to thank my editors, Judy Beatty, of Madison, Alabama, and Alice Duncan, of Roswell, New Mexico, who help keep me from appearing as if I flunked out of my English classes fourteen years in a row. I'd also like to thank Nina and Brian Paules, of eBook Prep, and ePublishing Works, for their expert advice, and professional eBook services. They are truly a pleasure, and a blessing, to work with.

Cast of Characters

Rapella Ripple
- As Rapella, a full-time RVer, who has an unlimited number of clichés in her repertoire, would say, "You're only as old as you feel". At sixty-eight, she's a real pistol, ready to be fired. She'll do whatever it takes to help her friend, Lexie Starr, out of a rough spot.

Clyde Ripple, a.k.a. Rip
- Rapella's husband and the other half of the RVing couple. Having spent his entire career in law enforcement, he's a handy husband to have around when the you-know-what hits the fan.

Lexie Starr
- She's been sticking her nose into murder cases for several years, tracking down suspects and killers. When she ends up on the wrong end of a murder investigation, her friends, the Ripples, arrive in their travel trailer (affectionately known as the "Chartreuse Caboose") to rescue her.

Stone Van Patten
- Lexie's husband of just over a year. Together, he and Lexie own the Alexandria Inn, a bed and breakfast establishment in Rockdale, Missouri. His blood pressure has gone down significantly since Lexie gave up her part-time sleuthing habit.

Wendy Starr
- Lexie Starr's thirty-year-old daughter who works in the county coroner's lab. She's the guest of honor at her surprise birthday party. But when the party plans go awry, she gets a bigger surprise than anyone could have anticipated.

Andy Van Patten
- Stone's nephew, who moved to the Midwest after his uncle did, and fell in love with Wendy Starr. The rancher had planned to propose to her at the party, but a dead guest spoiled the special moment.

Mattie Hill
- Wendy's best friend, who helps Lexie plan the surprise birthday party, is in charge of making out the guest list. Did she have an ulterior motive in wanting the despicable victim to attend?

Detective Wyatt Johnston
- A Rockdale police officer, as well as a friend of the family. He's grown accustomed to pulling Lexie out of deep doo-doo. But this time, even
his
hands are tied.

Veronica Prescott
- Daughter of the first murder victim to land the Alexandria Inn on the front page of the
Rockdale Gazette
. As Detective Johnston's girlfriend, she has to cook a lot of food, even though she consumes very little of it.

Trotter Hayes
- A handsome piece of arm candy that left a sour taste in a lot of people's mouths. He finds out the hard way that his stepfather, Chief Smith, couldn't protect him from someone who thinks he's a pain in the neck.

Chief Leonard Smith
- The victim's stepfather, who also happens to be the Rockdale Chief of Police. He's had run-ins with Lexie before and is determined to see her behind bars for the murder of his stepson. Does he truly think she's guilty, or is he just fed up with her meddling into his murder cases?

Joy White
- The victim's date for the party. She's one of the "Three Musketeers", a tight knit trio of friends. Joy's an exercise instructor by day and something less reputable by night. Did she want to get back at the victim for forcing her to do something she'd later regret, in a tit-for-
tot
retaliation?

Alice Runcan
- As homecoming queen in her senior year in high school, she was stood up at the dance by the victim. Humiliated by his deliberate insensitivity, she's long had an ax to grind with him. She doubles as the second of the Three Musketeers and the owner of a health-food restaurant, called Zen's Diner. Was Trotter's murder a case of
revenge is a dish best served cold
?

Rayleen Waters
- This shrinking violet arrives at the party with business-owner Falcon Jons, but years ago the third Musketeer had shown up with a deceitful Trotter Hayes at the homecoming dance, after he'd stood up Alice Runcan at the last minute. The musketeers gradually disbanded following Joy's unintentional backstabbing of her good friend. Vengeance comes in many forms. Was murder her payback of choice?

Falcon Jons
- Owner of Midwest Aerospace, Inc. He's unimpressed when Rapella applies for a position at his firm. He takes Rayleen Waters to the birthday party, but is more interested in the victim's date, Joy White, whom he'd just broken up with when he learned she was cheating on him with the victim, Trotter Hayes. Did he find a clever way to eliminate the competition?

Georgia Piney
- As the caterer, she delivered the food to the surprise birthday party. Could she have served up some sweet revenge for dessert?

Lori Piney
- The caterer's daughter, who also had a motive to want to exact justice against the victim. But did she despise him enough to give him a taste of
her
own medicine?

Chapter 1