My name is Bella Bree MacGowan.  I’m a typesetter and paste-up tech at a local weekly paper in small town Vermont.  I’ve heard people say that nothing ever happens out here in the boonies, but there’s no shortage of excitement in my life.  For example recently when my boss, Vera Post, was murdered I was the lucky one who found the body.  Maybe that was more nauseating than exciting, but you get the point.
 

The officer in charge of the case, sexy Lt. Brooks, gets the crazy idea that I killed Vera.  A rumor got started that I was after Vera’s job, and there was that little detail of my fingerprints being all over the murder scene.  But as Vera’s death caused me no end of trouble and I didn’t really benefit at all I thought it fairly short sighted of him to target me.  Of course my thoughts don’t interest Lt. Brooks and he called me into his office not once, but three times. I spent two nights at the State Police Barracks.  Let me tell you, sleeping in your clothes is highly overrated.
 

Meanwhile, my archenemy, reporter Lucy Howe, wrote a story in the local paper informing the entire world that I was a suspect in Vera’s murder.  I got the dubious pleasure of typesetting her article and placing it in the paper.  More proof that life can really suck.  People I’ve known my entire life started looking at me sideways, my boyfriend broke up with me and the two people I count on most in the world, my best friend Meg and her husband Tom, were tainted by association, risking Tom’s position.
 

It became pretty clear to me that Lt. Brooks wasn’t going to change his mind about me so I decided I’d better take matters into my own hands.  But how the heck do you figure out who murdered somebody?  It’s not like I’m a police dog or anything.  I don’t know how to sniff them out.  So I decided to make a list.
 

Meanwhile, Meg and I spent a day celebrating in honor of me having been dumped.  Margaritas seemed more appropriate than cake and we got tanked.  Not such a bad thing, Meg’s got a spare room and I didn’t have to drive home.  But what I didn’t realize was that Tom’s brother Beaux had been planning on using that room.  Long ago I vowed never to get involved with Beaux.  I don’t have the greatest track record with men and I didn’t want a split to ruin my friendship with Meg and Tom.  
 

Well Beaux turned out to be quite the charmer and not at all put off by my state of inebriation.  I broke my vow.  Jeez.  So I vowed never to do it again.  Another promise I probably couldn't keep!
 

Back to my list of suspects.  I discovered Vera at my second job as a housekeeper at an exclusive resort.  She died in a closet in a hotel room occupied by a handsome and popular soap star named Gunnar Ericson.  I thought he was creepy and he seemed a likely suspect.  I discovered that he was guilty of a few rather nasty things, but none of them turned out to be illegal.  That was until he tried to kill Meg and me.  That was clearly against the law, but he had an airtight alibi for the time of Vera’s death.  He was no help in getting me off the hook.
 

My list includes precious few suspects and none that seem to have a motive.  About this time I’m getting desperate….   Ack!  If I tell you anymore I'll ruin the ending of the story.  So you'll just have to wait.

Works in Progress

    Tank and Maggie Meet the Mob (working title)