Bookmarked for Death

by Max Parrott

Genres: Cozy Mystery; Animal Cozy Mysteries; Paranormal Cozy Mysteries

Synopsis

"A wonderful quirky and unique cozy mystery that blends the playful tone of a cozy with the zaniness of a supernatural comedy with the love of dogs thrown into the mix."--5 Stars, Readers' Favorite

A puzzling murder and not a suspect in sight…

After a dead body is discovered in the dusty stacks of the old library, the quiet seaside town of Blackwood Cove is once again plunged into a seemingly unsolvable case.

College student Jasmine Moore wanted nothing more than to relax with a good book after a stressful and tumultuous semester. But it seems like fate has other plans. Surrounded by familiar faces and accompanied by her trusted dog Luffy, this amateur sleuth must once again put her wits to the test against a baffling murder with not a suspect in sight.

If Jasmine wants to fight her way to the bottom of this mystery, she’ll need more than just luck this time. With a sea of conflicting clues and contradictory information, it seems like Jasmine and Luffy are up against their toughest case yet. Only a few subtle connections hold the secret to finding the killer – if she’s quick-thinking enough to spot them…

If you love head-scratching paranormal mysteries steeped in strange occurrences and conflicting clues, then you won’t want to miss Bookmarked for Death. Jasmine’s last cases are about to look like footnotes in comparison. Grab your copy today!

Release date: September 15, 2020

Print pages: 171

Sample

Chapter 1

Jasmine had called Blackwood Cove home for most of her life, but something about the little town felt different as she returned. The cold air felt harsher and the smell of seawater felt stronger, as if everything she remembered about the town had been turned up to the max. She had only been away at college for a single semester, and it surprised her it felt this strange.

"Come on, Jasmine," she heard her dog Luffy say. He was already on the front porch of her parents’ house, waiting for Jasmine to knock on the door. "Your mom always has the best treats!"

"I know, I'm coming," Jasmine promised, rolling her suitcase along with her. She had left most of her things at her apartment, but she had wanted to see her parents again over winter break. She liked college, but no one could completely avoid homesickness. After a semester as eventful as hers, it would be nice to be home for a while and relax.

She knocked on the door, and it was open in an instant, as if her parents had been waiting for her to arrive. Her mom pulled her in for a hug instantly, and her dad gave her a squeeze on the shoulder. They started talking about how much they had missed her, but Jasmine found it hard to focus on what they were saying. Something was going on with Luffy.

Her dog would normally have cuddled right up to her parents, looking for that treat he had mentioned before. He wasn't doing that now, or even sitting to the side like he would when Jasmine was busy. He was pacing and smelling the floor as if he was on a mission.

"Do you smell something?" Jasmine asked, drawing her parents’ attention to her dog's strange behavior.

"Yes," Luffy said, sounding angry. "They've definitely had company."

Jasmine wanted to ask who Luffy was smelling and why he was so upset about it, but she couldn't think of any way to ask without alerting her parents to her unique connection with her dog. They couldn't hear him talking, and she didn't want them to think college had driven her insane. 

"Have you guys had a lot of visitors lately?" Jasmine asked, addressing her parents since she couldn't really talk to Luffy. "You know how Luffy gets about unfamiliar smells."

"I think I may know what he's got on his mind," Jasmine's father said, a smile on his face. Jasmine's mother was smiling too, and Jasmine looked between them, trying to figure out what surprise they were hiding.

"Should I go get her?" her father asked, looking to her mother.

"I think you should," her mother said. "Give her and Luffy a formal introduction."

"Give me a formal introduction to who?" Luffy demanded, lifting his head from the ground. "I'm telling you, Jasmine, I don't like this smell. Not one bit."

"Who are you introducing Luffy to?" Jasmine asked her mother, repeating Luffy's question in a format the woman could understand.

"You'll see," her mother said, a twinkle in her eye.

A few seconds later, her father re-emerged from the master bedroom, carrying with him a little black puppy. It squirmed a little in his arms, but seemed to calm down once he stopped moving.

"Jasmine, Luffy... I want you to meet the newest member of the Moore household," Jasmine's father said. "This is Lulu."

"Is that another dog?" Luffy asked, though Jasmine was sure he already knew the answer. Jasmine herself was too stunned to say anything at all.

"She's a black lab, and she's really the sweetest little thing," Jasmine's mom said excitedly. "We got her a month after you went off to college."

"Wow..." Jasmine said.

"Wow, indeed!" Luffy whined. "Was I not enough for them?"

"We realized once you left that we missed having a dog in the house. Luffy was always your dog, but a pet changes the dynamic of the house. We didn't want to lose that at the same time as we were losing you."

"You weren't losing me," Jasmine reminded him. "I was just off to college. It's not like Luffy and I would never visit again."

"We know that," her mom said. "But we thought a dog might help us feel a little less lonely when you aren't around."

"We even sort of named her after Luffy," her dad pointed out. "If you take the Lu off the front of Luffy's name and repeat it, you get Lulu."

"Unbelievable," Luffy shook his head.

Jasmine understood where Luffy was coming from. This was a big change in the living dynamic, but it wasn't an insurmountable one. Luffy was good with other dogs — in fact, that had been a tenant of her dog-sitting side job before she left for college. She was sure they could all get along.

"Well, if he's been here a while, it's probably about time to get him trained," she said, trying to stay on the positive side. "Luffy and I could help with that."

Her mother pursed her lips and glanced at her father. Jasmine could tell in an instant that there was something they weren't telling her. She was good at reading people, but she didn't need to be talented to see the guilt behind their eyes.

Her father was the first to look at her again. "Well, like you said, we've had Lulu for quite a while now."

"Right," her mother agreed. "And we absolutely would have loved your help training her, but you were off at Wildwood."

"It was getting to be an actual necessity, or we would have waited for you," her father continued.

Jasmine thought she could tell where this was going.

"We hired a trainer to work with Lulu," her mom admitted at last.

The admission stung Jasmine, but she tried not to show it. She didn't really have any right to be upset — her parents were right; she had been at college, and with everything that had happened while she was away, she couldn't have come down every week to help train a puppy. It made sense for them to hire someone else, even if it hurt her pride a bit.

"Who did you hire?" she asked, trying to keep her tone friendly and bright.

"A man named Barry Brock," her father said. "He's good."

He might have kept talking, but Luffy cut him off by growling. 

"Now I know what that awful smell is," he said. "Your parents have been hanging around Barry Brock."

Jasmine's reaction was not so dramatic as Luffy's, but she wasn't happy. Barry Brock had not only been her biggest business competitor but also a personal enemy. In between attempts to steal back whatever business she got, Barry Brock had made a habit of belittling her and her up-and-coming dog-sitting business.

"I told you guys how mean he was to me before, right?" she reminded them. "Why did you pick him?"

"He's the best dog trainer in the state," her father said with pride. "Maybe even in the nation."

"Honey, what about your daughter?"

"Right," her father corrected himself. "The best other than you."

Her mother sighed. "Really, your father just got a bit too invested in Barry's new reality show. He couldn't resist having a celebrity train Lulu."

"He's a superb dog trainer," her father said, putting Lulu down. "Here, watch, I'll show you. Lulu, sit."

Lulu sat obediently. 

"Any twelve-year-old could have taught her that," Luffy pointed out, still sulking over not being the only dog in the house.

Luffy was right, but Jasmine didn't want to get into it. She didn't like Barry Brock with his smug smile and fancy facilities. She much preferred the more hands-on method she used with all her clients — with Luffy there to act as a translator, she could do more than train the dogs like circus show freaks. But no matter her personal opinions on the man, her parents still had a right to hire whoever they wanted.

"Looks like she's doing great," Jasmine said. "Why don't we let her and Luffy get to know each other for a while, and we can catch up."

"You're leaving me with her?" Luffy whined. "She's been brainwashed by Brock."

"That sounds great," Jasmine's father said. "We can get you unpacked and talk about how your first semester at college went. I know all about what happened with Lyle Bridges, but I want to hear about the rest of your school experience — the classes, the friendships, the apartment... Are you settling in well?"

Jasmine looked back at Luffy apologetically. She knew he didn't want to spend time with the new dog, but it would be good for him. It seemed like Lulu was here to stay, and the better the two of them got along, the easier things would be.

She spent the next couple of hours talking with her parents about how school had been and who all her new friends were. Luffy joined them after only about fifteen minutes of playing with Lulu, and he chimed in when he thought he had something important to add. Jasmine probably should have insisted he spend more time with the new dog, but they had passed a few minutes together, which was a start. Besides, she enjoyed having Luffy around, even when she was just talking to her parents. 

It was still early when her parents went off to bed, though it was dark outside. Jasmine was used to an intense college schedule and still had a few hours of energy left in her. Unfortunately, Luffy was just as aware of that as she was.

"You know, we didn't really have time to go for a walk today," Luffy pointed out. "Between getting here and your super long talk with your parents, I've been cooped up inside all day."

"You really want to go out there?" Jasmine asked, leaning back in her chair. "It's like -20 degrees out there."

"I don't think it's really that cold," Luffy said. 

It probably wasn't -20 degrees, but it was definitely cold. Winters were bitter in Blackwood Cove, and Jasmine would have to put on three coats just for a fifteen-minute walk. If it was anyone other than Luffy asking, she wouldn't even have considered it. Since his life was turned upside down by the recent addition to the family, she felt like she owed him a walk at the very least.

"All right," she said, shaking her head. "Let's get this over with."

"Yes!" Luffy exclaimed, wagging his tail in excitement. He paced back and forth in front of the door, waiting for Jasmine to put on all her layers. She didn't pay any attention to how she looked and piled on as many coats as she could. She didn't cherish being out in the cold, especially after dark. Winter was even rougher after the sun went down.

When she was finally ready, Jasmine opened the door to let Luffy outside. Luffy was out in a flash, but Jasmine had forgotten her gloves on the entryway table. She paused in the doorway to grab them, and in that moment, Lulu darted out the door and into the street.

So much for already being trained.

"Catch her Luffy!" Jasmine urged. "Get her back here."

She slammed the door shut behind her, probably too loudly, and ran after the dogs. Both of them were faster than her, and she lost sight of them before she made it to the end of the street. She assumed they had kept running, and tore ahead, putting her head down to trade her vision for speed. 

If she lived in a busier town, her reckless abandon may have gotten her run over or looked at disapprovingly by passersby. In Blackwood Cove at night, she figures she was safe, and she was mostly right.

"Whoa!" came a voice out of the darkness. "Slow down there."

As she looked up, a figure stepped out of her way. She hurried to stop, but the ground was slick with ice from a long-forgotten storm. The figure reached out and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, steadying her. Her first instinct was to pull away from the touch and back away entirely. She had been around one murder too many to trust a stranger on a dark street.

But when Jasmine got a better look at the figure, it wasn't a stranger at all. In fact, it was an old friend.

"Brandon!" she exclaimed, surprised and delighted to see him again.

"Jasmine Moore," Brandon said, a smile taking over his face. "I guess you got a new dog?"

He nodded down at his arms, and Jasmine noticed for the first time that he was holding Lulu. He must have gotten to her before Jasmine could and calmed her down. She looked happy in Brandon's arms, rubbing her head against his coat.

"Actually, Lulu is my parent's," Jasmine said. "Luffy is--"

"Right here," Luffy said, running up beside them. "I got distracted by the stench of Barry Brock off the road."

"Right there, huh?" Brandon said, nodding at Luffy. "That's much more like the Jasmine I remember. You two still as inseparable as always?"

Jasmine nodded and reached down to scratch behind Luffy's ears. "We've got a kind of special connection."

"One you don't have with this little runaway?" Brandon asked, smiling as he held Lulu out. Jasmine took the puppy herself, holding her to her chest.

"Right. Not yet at least," Jasmine said. In reality, probably never. Luffy was the only dog she had ever communicated with in this way, and he would probably always be the only one.

"It's good to see you again," Brandon said. He seemed awkward now that he wasn't holding the dog, as if he didn't know what to do with his hands. "Do you want to grab lunch sometime or something?"

"Is he asking you out again?" Luffy asked, poking his head up from the snow. "I can bite him if he didn't get the message the first time."

Jasmine couldn't tell if he was asking her out. They had a bit of a complicated history, but for most of it they had been friends and nothing more. If it wasn't for Brandon's perpetual crush on her and his brief attempt to ask her out before she went to college, she would have assumed the request was innocent. She didn't think this one was anything more than that, but there was enough doubt in her mind that she wanted to make her position explicitly clear.

"Look, Brandon--"

It was as if he could read her mind, and he immediately cut her off. "Don't worry, I'm not trying to ask you out or anything. You made it clear that you weren't interested, and I've moved on. I just want to get lunch as friends. Can we do that?"

Jasmine grinned. "We can."

Lulu was squirming, and Jasmine had no choice but to pay her some attention. Once she had the dog mostly calmed down, she looked back up at Brandon.

"Lulu looks to be getting restless," she said. "I should probably get her home. I'll see you at that lunch, okay?"

"Sounds perfect," Brandon said, shoving his hands into his pockets. He walked away then, down the street towards his house. Jasmine lingered for a moment, watching him go. It was weird to see him again after being so long apart. Things felt different.

She shook off the feeling, then looked down at Luffy.

"You ready to be done with this walk?" she asked, holding Lulu a little tighter. 

"Do I have a choice?" Luffy asked. 

Jasmine knew that if he had a choice, they would never go back inside. "Come on. Let's get you two home."

***

It had been months since Jasmine had walked into the Book Nook, and it felt as much coming home as returning to her actual house. She had spent countless hours in the little shop, working behind the register or helping Patrick Walker stuff the shelves with new books. Everything about the shop was familiar, including the lack of customers.

“Is that a door I just heard?” called a voice from the back of the shop.

The floor creaked as Patrick emerged from the seemingly endless stacks of books. He looked the same as he always had, his gray hair nicely combed, and his wrinkled hands filled with a book. Jasmine couldn’t help but smile.

“Hi, Mr. Walker,” Jasmine greeted.

“Jasmine,” Patrick beamed. “It’s good to see you again.”

“I could never resist a visit to Blackwood Cove’s Premier Bookshop,” she said, mimicking the sign outside that declared the Book Nook to be exactly that.

"Well, we've got a lot of new books to tempt you," Patrick said. "All those new TV programs about cleaning out your closet are sending more books than ever these days."

"Doesn't look any different to me," Luffy said. "There's always been a million books around here."

Luffy was wrong about the number, but right about the idea. There were too many books in the shop to notice even a few dozen new copies being added to the stacks. Patrick was probably the only one to notice a significant change, and that was only because he stocked the shelves himself and kept a very exact inventory. 

"I'd better look around then," Jasmine said. "Any chance I can still get that employee discount?"

"We both know I'd go bankrupt if I let you take any more books for free," Patrick said. 

He was right, and Jasmine really didn't mind paying a few dollars for some fresh books. Back at Wildwood, the only bookshop in town was owned by a massive corporation. The shelves had been clean and easy to navigate, but they had also been stocked only by bestselling novels in shiny dust jackets. The prices hadn't exactly been friendly to a college student strapped for cash, so she had been woefully short on reading material for a while. If spending a few dollars was what it took to fill that void and keep a bookshop with actual personality alive, she was more than willing to do her part.

She wandered through the shelves with Luffy following close behind. While she looked for something new and exciting to fill her bookshelf, Luffy danced around her feet. When she had been working at the book nook, Luffy had passed the time by memorizing which of the old floorboards creaked, and he picked that habit up now.

After a lot of consideration, Jasmine dragged an armful of books with her to the front counter. Patrick beamed as he started tallying up her purchases, and Jasmine knew the shop could probably use the business. Winter months in the Cove were slow for any business, and the Book Nook had been in trouble before. Jasmine felt a twinge of pride for helping keep the little business alive.

There was a computer sitting there on the front counter, but Patrick had never really been comfortable with the technology, no matter how many times Brandon had walked him through it. He still tallied purchases by hand, which took longer and gave Luffy the chance to speak up.

"Is that you?" Luffy asked, walking up to the counter.

Jasmine couldn't exactly ask him what he was talking about without looking insane in front of Patrick, so she gave him her best inquisitive look.

"What kind of face is that?" Luffy asked, but he seemed to understand her enough to clarify what he meant. "Look at the frame on the counter. I think that's your article."

Jasmine scanned the counter and quickly found the frame that Luffy was looking at. She didn't know how she had missed it before — it must have blended into the background when she wasn't looking for it. An article had been clipped out of a newspaper, and Jasmine's face smiled out at them in black and white. A quick glance at the headline confirmed Luffy's conclusion that it was the article about Jasmine and the Jack Torres case. It had been the first time she had been involved in a murder investigation, and at the time she had thought it would be the only one.

"Why do you have that article framed?" she asked as Patrick finished with her books.

"I like to tell people all about the celebrity investigator used to work here," Patrick said. "You're getting to be mighty famous, you know. Helps bring in business."

Jasmine had never really thought of herself as famous, and it was weird for her to do so now. She shook off the feeling and paid for her books.

"Thanks, Mr. Walker," she said, bundling the books up in her arms again. "This should be enough for a while."

"Well, if it isn't, you're always welcome back," Patrick said. "The more readers like you we get through the front door, the better."

"This will be the first place I'll come to," Jasmine assured him.

It was back into the cold for her and Luffy. Somehow the wind made it feel even colder than it had been last night, and she gritted her teeth against the chill. Luffy didn't seem to mind it as much.

"Can you read outside today?" Luffy asked, bouncing through anything even resembling a snow drift.

"Not today, Luffy," Jasmine said. "It's--"

Luffy had stopped walking, and Jasmine paused then. She felt it coming before she could ask him why he had stopped, and she did what she could to prepare for it. She took a few deep breaths and looked around for something to hold on to. Her hands were full of books and the nearest lamppost was too far for her to get to. She wished for something she could do, but the darkness was there all too quickly. Her eyes glazed over, and for a moment she was not standing on the street with Luffy. She was somewhere else entirely, seeing things she knew must not have happened yet.

When she came back to reality, she was still on her feet. During her vision, she had dropped her books to the ground, and she hurried to rescue them from the snow before it ruined them.

"You know, if you were any good as a trainer, you could have gotten the mutt to do that," came a voice from behind her.

Jasmine looked up to see the intimidating figure of Barry Brock. He was dressed nicely, as he always seemed to be, and he wore sunglasses even though the day was overcast. He didn't offer Jasmine a hand up, and as she kneeled in the snow he seemed to loom over her.

"I'm not a mutt," Luffy argued, growling at the man.

"He also wouldn't growl like that," Barry Brock said. "If you will not have him attack me, you should be able to control him."

"Trust me, I'd do a lot worse than growl if it weren't for Jasmine," Luffy said.

"Calm down, Luffy," Jasmine said. "Mr. Brock was just saying hello."

Luffy stopped growling, but he still looked poised to attack at any moment.

"That's right," Barry said. "I don't normally spend much time in the more mundane part of town, but I needed to drop by your parents' house to get my payment. Speaking of that, it must sting a little that they picked a stranger over their own daughter."

"They would have picked me if I had been in town," Jasmine said, finally getting her last book out of the snow and standing up. Barry Brock was still taller than her, but things were at least a little more level now.

"But you weren't," Barry said. "Did you know that availability is one of the core tenants of running a successful business? Consistency, too. I talk all about it in my new reality show."

"Maybe if he did less talking and more training, he'd be good at what he does," Luffy said.

Jasmine didn't want to resort to petty insults, so she forced a smile in Barry's direction. "I'm sure you have more sage business advice to pass on, but I've got to get home. I have some reading to do."

"Right, your leisure time," Barry said. "You know, dedication is important too. That's why I don't waste my time on frivolous things like entertainment."

"Right, but he wastes his time insulting you," Luffy said. "And making some reality TV show."

Jasmine ignored them both and walked away. She didn't like Barry Brock, but she would not blow up in his face about a few arrogant comments. She didn't even really understand why he still considered her an enemy. Even at her best she had taken little of his business, and most of that had gone back to him when she left for college.  She should have been nothing more than a footnote in his story, maybe a sentence in his reality show. The only reasons he could think of for him to still be nasty to her was that it was in his nature. She hadn't met him all that many times, but it was a straightforward thing to believe.

"You know I could have taken him out for you," Luffy said as she walked home. "All his power comes from money, not strength, and money means nothing when you're getting tackled by a golden retriever."

"We will not hurt Barry Brock," Jasmine reminded Luffy. "He works with Lulu and my parents now, and even if we didn't, we don't hurt people."

"Can't we make an exception for him?" Luffy begged. "He's been nothing but mean to you."

"That doesn't mean we have to be mean back," Jasmine said. "We will go home, get you some treats and sit by the fireplace to read some of these books. That will be better for everyone than trying to get back at Barry Brock."

The mention of treats placated Luffy, and he made no more comments about Barry Brock. When they got back to the house, Jasmine laid her books out on her desk. As she was trying to pick, she noticed a notebook sitting on her shelf and she pulled it down. In all the chaos with Barry Brock, she had nearly forgotten all about the vision she had experienced. She needed to write it down before she forgot any more of it. The visions could be slippery like dreams if she didn't take careful note of them.

Luffy saw her writing and came to stand by her leg. "That's right, you had a vision. What was it about?"

"I don't know," Jasmine said as she jotted down what little she remembered. "There were books around, I think. Maybe the Book Nook, but it didn't look as chaotic. There was an old man leaning across a table, but I don't think I recognized him. I think he was angry about something."

"There aren't any tables in the Book Nook," Luffy said. 

"I know," Jasmine agreed. "Maybe it was the front desk. It's hard to remember."

Jasmine tried to focus, to make herself to remember even a few more details, but nothing came to mind. Everything felt like it was hidden behind the fog of her own mind, and the more she tried to focus on it, the more it seemed to slip away from her.

"Do you think it means that... something will happen?" Luffy asked, not even willing to put words to his concern.

Jasmine felt awful that it hadn't been her first thought. She had been through this too many times now, and the visions had felt normal. She had almost forgotten what they had always meant, and now that she remembered, she felt sick to her stomach.

"Someone will die," she said out loud. "There will be another murder in Blackwood Cove."