PW #406: Adult Mystery: LAST CALL

Manuscript Status: Finished

Mentor Name: Kellye Garrett
Mentee Name: Kristen Valentine
Title: LAST CALL
Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery
Word Count: 92,000

Pitch:

Since her cop father died in the line of duty, PI Roxane Weary’s only active investigation is the bottom shelf of her liquor cabinet. When she becomes a death row inmate’s last shot at proving his innocence, she uncovers a string of missing teenaged girls. Lives depend on Roxane cracking this case—hers included.

Excerpt: 

“Matt said you find things. For a living,” the woman said on the phone.

I was lying on the carpet underneath my desk. I’d only answered the call to make the shrill ringing stop. The inside of my mouth tasted like whipped cream and whiskey and the sound of my breathing was like a roaring thunderstorm in my head, but at least I was alone and in my own apartment. “That’s right,” I said.

“What kind of things?” Her tone was suspicious, like her main objective was to debunk whatever my brother had told her.

“Objects. People. Answers. Whatever needs to be found.”

“You good at it?”

I hadn’t worked much in the last nine months and didn’t want to start now. But my bank balance had other ideas. “Yeah. Matt doesn’t like me much, so it’s a vote of confidence he gave you my number in the first place.”

That was the best sales pitch I could manage.

The woman chuckled. “He said you’d say that. Can you help?”

I thought it over. People give the worst advice about lost things. Retrace your steps. Pray to St. Anthony. Think about where you saw it last. But that doesn’t apply to the things that matter. Those are right in front of you, except they can’t be found by looking for them. Only by looking at everything else. “What do you need to find?” I said, finally.

“The girl who can get my brother off death row.”