Heaven Preserve Us

*A finalist for the 2007 ForeWord Magazine Book of the
Year Award*

"Say good-bye to whatever stereotypes of home crafters you may
have, and welcome boutique soap-maker Sophie Mae Reynolds,
the amateur sleuth-heroine in McRae's debuting Home Crafting
Mystery series. The author, herself a soap maker, gives readers a
new tweak on the cozy, complete with credibly written characters possessing enough appealing eccentricities to keep readers
happy... many readers will cheer McRae's addition to the growing
category of woman-centered mystery series."

-Booklist

"Lye in Wait is a wonderful start to a mystery series by a first-time
author whose writing demonstrates a fluidity and polish more
often seen in veteran authors. The pacing is perfect, so the story
never gets bogged down. The characters are well developed; the
plot stays focused on the investigation; the story threads are resolved nicely at the end. There's lots to like in Lye in Wait."

-Cozy Library

"McRae crafts strong characters [and] spins a credible, enjoyable
plot."

-Library journal

"Lye in Wait is a fun addition to a popular genre... This enjoyable
mystery contains plenty of twists and turns.. .The main characters are likeable, funny, and have believable lives."

-Jaimie Bell, Curled up with a Good Book.com

"Sophie is a breath of fresh air as a lovable amateur sleuth. She is
so much fun as she works her way through her investigation. I look
forward to reading many more adventures with Sophie ...I highly
recommend this book."

-Dawn Dowdle, Mysteryloverscorner.com

"Ms. McRae has a unique talent for turning phrases in her wording, and Lye in Wait is a promising start to a new series."

-Romance Reviews Today

"From the moment Sophie Mae Reynolds discovers the body to
the moment Detective Ambrose discovers hers, McRae's soapmaking sleuth kept me flipping pages and marveling at her tart
tongue and gumption."

-Jane Isenberg, author of the Bel Barrett Mystery Series

"A fresh new voice, wry and cheeky, speaks in Cricket McRae's Lye
in Wait, a clever mystery with a romantic twist and an ingenious
resolution. Key characters... are drawn with impressive depth and
humanity."

-Larry Karp, author of First Do No Harm and the
Thomas Purdue Mystery Series

Lye in Wait

Midnight Ink, 2007

Spin a Wicked Web

Midnight Ink, 2009

Cricket McRae

MIDNIGHT INK
WOODBURY, MINNESOTA

Heaven Preserve Us: A Home Crafting Mystery (c) 2008 by Cricket McRae. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Midnight Ink except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First Edition First Printing, 2008 Book design and format by Donna Burch Cover design by Lisa Novak Cover photograph (c) 2007 Lisa Novak Editing by Connie Hill Midnight Ink, an imprint of Llewellyn Publications Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McRae, Cricket. Heaven preserve us : a home crafting mystery / Cricket McRae. - I st ed. P. cm. ISBN 978-0-7387-1122-5 1. Women artisans-Fiction. 2. Soap trade-Fiction. 3. Washington (State)Fiction. I. Title. PS3613.C58755H43 2008 813'.6-dc22 2008005188

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either 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. Midnight Ink Llewellyn Publications 2143 Wooddale Drive, Dept. 978-0-7387-1122-5 Woodbury, MN 55125-2989 USA www.midnightinkbooks.com Printed in the United States of America

For Kevin

I'm grateful to so many people for their aid and support as I wrote
this book: Jacky Sach, agent extraordinaire; all the fabulously helpful and efficient folks at Midnight Ink, including Barbara Moore,
Connie Hill, Courtney Kish, Lisa Novak, and Donna Burch; my
writing buddies Bob and Mark; Kevin for encouraging me even
when I got snarky; my parents; and Mindy and Jody and everyone
else, too many to name, who wanted to know what happens next.

"You DON'T HAVE TO fix any of the callers' problems; you just pass
them on to someone else who can."

I nodded. "Got it."

"Okay, babe. I'll leave you to it. I'm going out back to have a
smoke."

Smiling through gritted teeth, I tried to ignore the acrid stench
of cigarettes that permeated his clothes. Philip Heaven could
spend the whole evening toasting his lungs in the alley if it meant
I wouldn't have to listen to him call me "babe" one more time in
that gravelly, know-it-all voice. I'd handle every incoming call to
the Heaven House Helpline if I had to. I mean, how hard could it
be?

"Take your time," I said, aligning my list of referral numbers
with the edge of the blotter and lacing my fingers together on top
of the cheap laminate desktop. I glanced hopefully at the multiline phone.

"Thanks, babe." He pointed his finger at me and made a guncocking sound with his tongue.

Yuck. Thank God, the phone rang. I reached to answer it.

After I referred a nice-but-scared-sounding lady to the next AA
meeting in the basement of the Cadyville Catholic Church, the
phone was silent for several minutes. The whooshing of tires
across wet pavement on the street outside filtered into the spacious old building where I sat, a comfortable, lulling sound. I'd
worked my way to forty-two across on the Seattle Times Tuesday
crossword only to puzzle over a six-letter word for an exclamation
of annoyance when the phone rang again. This time I gave a runaway boy an 800 number he could use to find a safe place to stay
down in Seattle. I was pretty satisfied with the whole volunteer gig
after that one and picked up the next call, feeling helpful as all getout.

"I have the knife against my wrist. It shines in the light. And
it's cold. I bet this thing is so sharp I won't even feel it slice through
my skin."

Uh oh.

I struggled to remember what I was supposed to say, but Philip's meager training hadn't prepared me for anything like this.
Where was he? He couldn't still be working on that cigarette, could
he? After all, I hadn't really meant that about him hanging out in
the alley all night. It was my first night manning the Helpline at
Heaven House, and Philip Heaven was supposed to be mentoring
me. Sheesh.

So I said the only thing I could think of. "Wait!"

"Why should I wait? I've been waiting my whole life to die."

Oh, brother. A philosopher. And a melodramatic one at that.
"So have I," I said.

"What?"

I looked at the caller ID, so I could jot it down on the call sheet.
It read Private Call. Great.

"I've been waiting my whole life to die, too," I said.

"You have?"

Yeah. Right along with all us other mortals.

Hush, Sophie Mae. He may be a moron, but he sounds pretty
serious.

"But I'm not going to die today. And not tomorrow, either, at
least not if I get a vote in the matter," I said.

Silence.

"And neither should you. What's your name?"

"It's ... just call me Allen."

"Okay, Allen, listen, I'm going to-"

"What's yours?"

"What's my what?"

"Your name."

"Allen, I need you to write down a number. This is someone
who knows how to help you."
"

I don't want another number. I want to talk to you. Tell me
your name.

"Sorry, it's against-"

"I told you mine."

No, you didn't, I thought, but stopped myself before I said it
out loud. Just call me Allen? That's not how you tell someone your
name, for Pete's sake.

"Call me Jane."

"No! I want your real name. Tell me."

An icky feeling crawled up my spine. I put some steel in my
voice. "Allen, take down this number: 555-2962. There's someone
there who's trained in how to help you deal with your suicidal
thoughts."

"You're trying to foist me off on someone else? All I want to
know is who I'm dealing with."

My resolve wavered. It was against the rules of Heaven House
to give out our names to the people who called the Helpline. For
that matter, I shouldn't still be talking to this guy. Volunteers were
armed with a long list of experts who dealt with all sorts of different problems, from teenaged runaways to unplanned pregnancy,
depression to spousal abuse, alcoholism to ... suicide. If Philip had
been honest enough to list Heaven House as a Help Referral Line
in the phone book maybe this guy wouldn't be so angry about
having to call someone else.