Life Without Parole: A Kate Conway Mystery
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Authors: Clare O'Donohue
Tags: #General, #Women Sleuths, #Mystery & Detective, #Fiction
A PLUME BOOK
LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE
CLARE O’DONOHUE
is a freelance television writer and producer. She has worked worldwide on a variety of shows for Food Network, the History Channel, and truTV, among others. She is also the author of the Someday Quilts Mystery series.
Praise for
Missing Persons
“O’Donohue puts her real-life expertise as a freelance TV writer and producer to good use in this sharp first in a new series. An absorbing read.”
—Publishers Weekly
(starred review)
“This is going to be a great series. Fans of Sue Grafton and V. I. Warshawski, and even Nancy Pickard’s Truth trilogy, should try
Missing Persons
.”
“Kate is funny and sarcastic . . . which makes her good company. This reader would welcome another appearance by the all-too-real Kate.”
—The Cleveland Plain-Dealer
“Well written, with fascinating characters, multifaceted story lines, and plenty of action. A heroine readers can embrace.”
—Midwest Book Review
“A rollicking good start. O’Donohue exhibits a masterful approach with her classic red herrings and carefully placed foreshadowing as she drags us through the muckraking of yellow journalism. This will be a series worth collecting.”
—Suspense
magazine
“Kate makes a great and sympathetic detective. Here’s hoping there’s more to come from her.”
—The Parkersburg News and Sentinel
“[4.5 stars.] It didn’t take long for me to develop a girl crush on Kate Conway. With a fresh, sophisticated plot, snappy dialogue, cleverly placed red herrings, and a brisk pace, there isn’t a single sentence in this novel that isn’t thoroughly enjoyable.”
—RT Book Reviews
(top pick)
Also by Clare O’Donohue
Someday Quilts Mystery Series
The Lover’s Knot
A Drunkard’s Path
The Double Cross
The Devil’s Puzzle
Kate Conway Mystery Series
Missing Persons
L
IFE
WITHOUT
P
AROLE
A KATE CONWAY MYSTERY
Clare O’Donohue
A PLUME BOOK
PLUME
Published by Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A. • Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England • Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) • Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) • Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi – 110 017, India • Penguin Books (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) • Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
First published by Plume, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
First Printing, May 2012
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Copyright © Clare O’Donohue, 2012
All rights reserved
 | REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA |
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
O’Donohue, Clare.
Life without parole : a Kate Conway mystery / Clare O’Donohue.
p. cm.
ISBN: 978-1-101-58047-9
1. Women television producers and directors—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3615.D665L54 2012
813’.6—dc23
2011045703
Printed in the United States of America
Set in Adobe Garamond Pro
Designed by Eve L. Kirch
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
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.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
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ALWAYS LEARNING
PEARSON
To Jack O’Donohue,
a gentleman and a scholar—and a darn fine brother.
You still owe me a quarter for each of the thousands of shirts
I ironed for you when we were growing up.
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
T
hese last few years have been a whirlwind of new experiences and new friendships. I am truly grateful to all the people who have e-mailed me, come to book signings, and help spread the word about my books. I’m thankful, too, to all of the talented people in the Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, without whose friendship, advice, and support, I would have felt completely alone. A special thanks to crime writer Libby Fischer Hellmann, for her generosity and kindness. As always, this book owes its life to my agent, Sharon Bowers, and my editor, Becky Cole, both of whom have an uncommon faith in my writing, or are just crazy optimists. In either case, I thank them both for helping me move forward on the series. Also Mary Pomponio, who does everything but kill to get publicity for my books, I owe you. To Liz Keenan, and the marketing and publicity teams at Plume, thanks once again for the efforts on my behalf. To Karen Meier and Tom Carroll, both of whom saw this book in early stages, thank you for tasting the cake when it was half baked. To Maura Sweeney, who always reads the acknowledgments, I thought it was about time you saw your name. To Kevin, for knowing the truth about me and keeping it to himself. To my mom, for helping with the final stages of the manuscript. To V, and my family, for always being there. And to my aunt Mary, I miss you.
L
IFE
WITHOUT
P
AROLE
One
I
stayed by the window, hidden from view. The street was quiet and dark, but I kept watch. I’d been in this house, this stranger’s house, for hours, waiting for the man who owned the place to come home. I was doing what had to be done. If I hadn’t agreed to it, someone else would have. No one would get hurt. That’s what I kept saying. But inside I died a little every time I had to do what I was doing today.
I waited another twenty minutes. Finally, I saw it. A car was pulling up. I nodded toward Jim, who was standing outside between two vans so no one could see. He lifted his camera and waited.
I watched the man get out of his car and walk toward the house. This was it.
Within seconds the door opened and the man walked in.
“Oh my God.” He looked around the living room. “This is amazing.”
His wife ran toward him and squealed with delight. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, it’s great,” he said. “It’s really…different. I wasn’t expecting it at all.” His wife kissed him, then looked around, beaming. The man looked toward me. “Is that enough or do you want more?”
“It’s perfect,” I said. “But, if we could just do it one more time. And this time, if you could be a little more surprised. You come home after a golf weekend with your buddies to a whole new living room. Completely redecorated. Your wife brought in a design team and a television crew. They’ve remade the place to be exactly what you’ve dreamed of and you had no idea this was happening.”
“So I shouldn’t mention the photos she e-mailed me last night?”