Live and Let Diet (Australian Amateur Sleuth Book 1)

by Morgana Best

  He pulled out a card. A look of horror crossed his face.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked with alarm.

  “There’s some dust on it!” he said. “How did that happen?” He rubbed furiously at the card before placing it back in the deck. “Fine,” he sighed. “That obviously wasn’t for the best anyway.” He placed the deck back into his pocket, much to the mutual relief of Cressida and myself.

  “I think we’ve earned more than a little bit of peace and quiet, Mr. Buttons. I’d rather not push fate, if you catch my meaning.” I gave him the sternest look I could muster. He responded with a small defeated nod, and I hoped he wouldn’t bring up the tarot cards again.

  “Everything’s happened so quickly,” I added. “It was bad enough before I moved here, but at least people weren’t actively trying to murder me.” I didn’t know what had come over me, but thought perhaps the shock of the last few days was catching up. I dropped my head into my hands and sighed.

  “Sibyl, I don’t think Little Tatterford is full of people trying to murder you.” Cressida spoke with a tone that suggested she thought she was being helpful. “I don’t think there are going to be any more murders.” She smiled at me as she said it.

  I suspected she was probably right. Little Tatterford was hardly a violent town. Still, I’d come here to escape all the stress of my past, and it had caught up in an extreme way. “Everything that’s happened, it’s just, I don’t know...” My voice trailed away. Mr. Buttons and Cressida both looked at me intently, so I continued. “It’s as though the town is somehow tainted. For me, at least. I’m not sure I can completely relax as long as I’m here,” I admitted.

  Cressida looked upset, but Mr. Buttons maintained his composure. “You’re not leaving, are you, Sibyl?” Cressida asked desperately.

  “No, no, don’t worry.” I managed a little laugh. “Just thinking out loud, and I’m still a bit shocked, I suppose.” I sighed again and took a long sip of my tea. “Then again, who knows? Maybe this town just isn’t for me.” After I spoke we sat in silence for what was probably only a few minutes, but felt like several.

  “If I may be completely honest, Sibyl,” Mr. Buttons began, and I knew I wouldn’t like what he had to say. Nobody begins something nice with a request to be honest. “I think that feeling will follow you wherever you go. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the town. You had a horrible experience, of course, but it was the people in this town who helped you out of it. Blake in particular.” He smiled warmly at me, and if I didn’t know better I’d think he was suggesting something.

  Still, I had to admit that he was right, though I would’ve liked a little credit for saving myself through my iPhone ingenuity—vision induced or not.

  I couldn’t see myself being in a relationship, though. At least not for a while. My ex-husband had only just tried to have me killed, so I wasn’t in the most loving or trusting mood. Just then, panic threatened to overtake me as I worried that this feeling would never pass, but I managed to calm myself down a bit.

  “Would you like another tea?” Cressida asked warmly.

  I really did appreciate them helping me so much. I smiled back. “Yes, please.”

  Cressida nodded and looked at Mr. Buttons expectantly. “Oh, very well.” He gathered the cups and walked to the kitchen. I heard the electric tea kettle turn on, and stifled a laugh.

  “He’s right, you know,” Cressida said. “This town is good for you. These awful things would have happened anywhere you went. It’s over, Sibyl, and we’re here for you.” Cressida leaned over to pat my knee reassuringly.

  I smiled, and held back the tears. It was all too much too quickly. It was great to have people looking out for me, but it was all still such a shock. Still, it was hard to argue with their logic. Who knows what would have happened if I’d moved anywhere else?

  Mr. Buttons returned shortly with three cups of tea and placed one in front of each of us. I thanked him and took a long sip, which settled my nerves considerably.

  “Thank you.” I smiled at both of them.

  “You’re quite welcome,” Cressida replied, to which remark Mr. Buttons shot the dirtiest look he could manage.

  “Quite welcome,” he all but spat.

  I tried not to laugh. “I didn’t mean for the tea, but yes, thank you, Mr. Buttons.” As I said it he shot a smug look at Cressida, though she pretended not to notice. “I mean thank you both for your help. It really means a lot.”

  “Well, Lord Farringdon is rooting for you, so what choice did we have?” Cressida asked quite seriously. “He’s typically a good judge of character, you know.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m sure he is. He’s always struck me as wise.” As I spoke, Lord Farringdon busied himself by trying to kill a small spot of light that was coming from the window and hitting the carpet.

  I leaned back into my chair and cradled my tea. It really was a lot more peaceful here, especially now that nobody was actively trying to murder me, though I supposed that was true of anywhere.

  Nobody could know what was going to happen next, but now I realized that I didn’t much care. I was perfectly happy to sit in comfort with my weird new friends—and don’t get me wrong, I loved that weirdness—and not to worry at all about the future.

  Visions were all well and good, but sometimes it was better just to nurse a tea and pretend nothing was wrong. Because at that time, nothing was. Everything was just perfect.

  Connect with Morgana

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  Next Book in this Series

  Book TWO in this series.

  Natural-born Grillers

  When one of the new boarders, an eminent professor of Socratic philosophy, is found poisoned by hemlock in a meal of grilled quail, eccentric boarding house owner Cressida Upthorpe soon becomes the main suspect. Sibyl Potts, with the help of Mr. Buttons, launches herself into the investigation, much to the consternation of stressed police officer Blake Wessley. As the body count mounts, will Sibyl be able to clear Cressida’s name and find the real killer?

  Other books by Morgana Best

  Miss Spelled (The Kitchen Witch Book 1)

  Amelia Spelled has had a bad week. Her boyfriend dumps her when she inadvertently gives him food poisoning; her workplace, a telecommunications center, fires all their staff as they are outsourcing offshore, and she is evicted due to smoke damage resulting from her failed attempts at baking. Amelia thinks her luck has changed when she inherits her aunt’s store and beautiful Victorian house.

  Yet has Amelia jumped out of the frying pan into the fire? The store is a cake store, and her aunt was a witch. To add to the mix, the house has secrets all of its own.

  When a man is murdered in the cake store, will Amelia be able to cook up a way to solve the crime? Will her spells prove as bad as her baking?

  A Ghost of a Chance (Witch Woods Funeral Home Book 1)

  Nobody knows that Laurel Bay can see and talk to ghosts. When she inherits a funeral home, she is forced to return from the city to the small town of Witch Woods to breathe life into the business. It is a grave responsibility, but Laurel is determined that this will be no dead-end job.

  There she has to contend with her manipulative and overly religious mother, more than one ghost, and a secretive but handsome accountant.

  When the murder of a local woman in the funeral home strangles the finances, can Laurel solve the murder?

  Or will this be the death of her business?

  Christmas Spirit (The Middle-aged Ghost Whisperer Book 1)

  Prudence Wallflower tours the country, making live appearances. She connects people with loved ones who have pa
ssed on. However, her reputation as a psychic medium is failing, and even Prudence has begun to doubt herself. She has never seen a ghost, but receives impressions from the dead. This all changes when the ghost of a detective appears to her and demands her help to solve a murder. Prudence finds herself out of her depth, and to make matters worse, she is more attracted to this ghost than any man she has ever met.

  And coming soon! Sweet Revenge (The Cocoa Narel Chocolate Shop Mysteries Book 1)

  Narel Myers was given the ironic name Cocoa Narel by the cruel popular girls at high school, as she was far from elegant and was obsessed with chocolate. The truth of the matter was that her love of eating chocolate had caused her to become excessively overweight. Some years later, a car wreck leads to her undergoing extensive plastic surgery on her face and body. Now that she is medically unable to gain weight, she decides to indulge her love for chocolate by opening a designer chocolate shop.

  When people who bullied her at high school are murdered one by one, she becomes the prime suspect. Will she be able to prove her innocence when the police think she’s out for revenge? Will Carl, her best friend, stop flirting with the police long enough to help her find the real killer?

  Bonus: Chocolate recipes at back of book!

  About Morgana Best

  #1 Best-selling Cozy Mystery author, Morgana Best, lives in a small, historic, former gold mining town in the middle of nowhere in Australia. She is owned by one highly demanding, rescued cat who is half Chinchilla, and two less demanding dogs, a chocolate Labrador and a rescued Dingo, as well as two rescued Dorper sheep, the ram, Herbert, and his wether friend, Bertie.

  Morgana is a former college professor who now writes full time.

  In her spare time, Morgana loves to read cozy mysteries, repurpose furniture, and renovate her old house.

  Note from the Author

  Thank you for reading this book. I hope you enjoyed it.

  All my books are edited by two separate editing firms, but no one is infallible. If you happen to find a typo, please email me at morganabest (at) ausi (dot) com. Thank you!