Mariachi Meddler

Book 1: An Andy Veracruz Mystery

by D.R. Ransdell

Genres: Mystery; humorous mystery

Synopsis

“Andy, would you come up to my office for a minute?”

What can you say when your boss makes a direct request?

“Take a load off,” Rolando said as I joined him. “Want a brandy?”

“All right,” I said cautiously. For small favors he bribed me with beer.

“How did things go tonight?” he asked.

“You mean until that drunk insisted on singing with us?” Volunteer singers were a common nuisance. When they approached the stage while clutching a shot of tequila, we braced ourselves.

“The crowd loved him.”

“His friends loved him. Everyone else tuned out.”

“Lighten up, Andy. You take everything too seriously.”

He was right. I cared about details such as intonation and accurate lyrics. I couldn't help it. “You didn't call me up here to ask questions about tonight's performance.”

“You're right, Andy. I need to ask you a favor. I want you to keep an eye on my wife.”

Andy Veracruz leads a mariachi band in Southern California, but when the owner leaves town and asks Andy to take charge, the restaurant turns to chaos. Andy sidesteps Rolando's flirtatious wife, but when Yiolanda is implicated in a colleague's death, the musician isn't sure whether to help her or turn her in. He pops up to Vegas to learn more about her past but returns with a longer list of suspects than before. He asks his look-alike brother to cover for him at the restaurant while he snoops around, but can he outwit a murderer before it's too late?

Join amateur sleuth Andy on his quest to save the restaurant and his band members too!

D.R. Ransdell plays the violin in mariachi band in Tucson, Arizona. Between scheming colleagues and curious customers, her night job gives her plenty of ideas for fictional plots. For her day job, she teaches composition at the University of Arizona.

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Release date: March 1, 2023

Print pages: 234

Content advisory: some violence, mild sexual content