The discovery of human bones near a remote New Mexico mountain village sets a worried sister on a treacherous path to solve a murder.
Wild Women Authors focus on The First Fiancée, book 1 in the Bethany Jarviss Mysteries series, written by Rita A. Popp and released by the Wild Rose Press.
About the Book: Bethany Jarviss heads to the mountains of New Mexico to support her frantic sister, Joni, whose fiancé, Matt, might be a murderer. The bones of a long-missing young woman, Krystal Decker, have been found by hikers. Matt, who was engaged to Krystal in the past, swears he thought Krystal left him to pursue a singing career.
Now, as news of the murder swirls, the newly engaged
couple get set to open their bed-and-breakfast inn in time for Christmas. As Bethany
meets the village locals, she finds that plenty of people besides her future
brother-in-law had motive for killing his beautiful, thieving, secretive first
fiancée.
For her sister’s sake, Bethany turns amateur detective
and won’t stop asking questions until she discovers the killer’s identity!
An Excerpt:
Alone with Matt, Bethany said, “It
must be hard, the situation you’re facing, finding out about the death of
someone you loved so many years after it happened. I’m sorry to say it so
awkwardly.”
He acknowledged her apology with a
nod. “It’s been a shock. I thought Krystal left me and didn’t want to be
found.”
“Joni told me someone killed her. Is
that possible? Couldn’t it have been an accident?”
“At first, that’s what I assumed, but
apparently somebody hit her on the head and left her in a gully. In the
national forest beyond the lodge. The police seem to think I could be capable
of doing that.” He cleared his throat. “It’s good you came, but I don’t want
you burdened with my problem.”
“It’s Joni’s problem too. She sounded
frantic when she called.”
“That’s because of the rumors that I’m
some sort of monster.”
He put his hands on her shoulders, locking
eyes with her. His grip felt so tight she winced. “Look, I didn’t kill Krystal.
Joni believes me. But we can kiss goodbye to paying guests if people worry
they’re not safe under this roof.”
She stepped back to free herself from
those hands.
****
Bethany found Joni
in a second-floor room, rolling pale cream semi-gloss on a wall with fast,
steady strokes. She had changed into old clothes and was humming along to a
tune on her audio device. Bethany tapped her sister’s shoulder to get her
attention. Joni set the roller in a pan on the floor and took out her earbuds.
… “If you’ve got another roller, I can help paint,” Bethany offered.
Joni gave her a serious look. “Sure,
but there’s something I’d rather have you do.” She hesitated, then went on.
“Matt and I have been avoiding Sorrel. People started giving us funny looks
right after the gruesome discovery three weeks ago. But nobody knows you. You
could go into town and find out all the gossip.”
The idea of being a snoop did not
appeal to her. “Joni, I don’t think—”
“Listen, okay? You’re good at talking
to people and finding out things. Dad’s always bragging about how well you
investigate all those organizations in line for grants. I bet you could hear
some interesting things about Krystal that Matt never knew. After all, you—not
the cops—found out that girl in Albuquerque didn’t trip on the stairs.”
Suddenly, Bethany got it. “You want me
to get involved in this murder? That’s why you begged me to come?” Her jaw
clenched at the thought of her one brush with crime a few months before. What
started out as a favor to the dead student’s mother—to clean out the college
girl’s room in the house where she had boarded—ended with discovering the girl
had been pushed to her death.
Joni planted her hands on her narrow
hips. “You helped that mother. She didn’t have to go on thinking her daughter
accidentally caused her own death. That woman isn’t even your friend. She’s
Mom’s. Can’t you talk to a few people in town for me, your sister? I’m dying to
find out what they’re saying about Krystal. And about Matt.”
Matt
had said people called him a monster. Had he been exaggerating, or could people
really believe that? And assuming Matt hadn’t killed his first fiancée, who had? Someone long gone or who
still lived in Sorrel?
Gnawing on a cuticle, Joni watched with hope in those huge
blue eyes.
“Tell you what,” Bethany said. “Tomorrow, I’ll go into
town. I drove straight through it on the way here and barely got a look at it.
Today, let me help you paint this room. But first, I’d better call the folks so
they know I made it here safely.”
Rita A. Popp writes light and twisty mysteries and
other entertaining fiction. Her debut novel, The First Fiancée: A Bethany
Jarviss Mystery, was released in 2022, followed by the second in the
series, The End of Promise, in 2024. Both are published by The Wild Rose
Press as well as her novelette, Passing on the Farm.
Her mystery short stories have appeared in online
magazines and two Sisters in Crime Guppy anthologies. In 2022, she won the
Six-Word Mystery Contest sponsored by the Mystery Writers of America Rocky
Mountain Chapter. Her entries in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine’s
Mysterious Photograph Contest have earned several honorable mentions. She and
her husband divide their time between their home in Colorado and cabin in the
New Mexico mountains.
https://www.facebook.com/rita.popp
https://www.instagram.com/ritapopp72/?hl=en
The First
Fiancée: A Bethany Jarviss Mystery can be found at:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/First-Fianc%C3%A9e-Bethany-Jarviss-Mystery/dp/1509245421/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NZ7G3U-47VDZMSHoP7ntw.Xi3bOPP7LPxDDRi6v1gSZWIyQbWed9WaEPEUmBigCoY&qid=1761252444&sr=8-1
Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/ip/The-First-Fianc-e-1-A-Bethany-Jarviss-Mystery-Paperback/3919979038?conditionGroupCode=3&classType=VARIANT&from=/search
BooksAMillion: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/First-Fiance/Rita-A-Popp/9781509245420
Indie Bound: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-first-fiancee/18896102?ean=9781509245420&next=t&source=IndieBound&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwildrosepress.com%2F
ITunes: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-first-fianc%C3%A9e/id6443753321
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