Blind Dates Can Be Murder
HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION
®
. NIV
®
. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Cover by Terry Dugan Design, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Cover photo © Rubberball Productions/PictureQuest
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to events or locales, is entirely coincidental.
BLIND DATES CAN BE MURDER
Copyright © 2006 by Mindy Starns Clark
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Clark, Mindy Starns.
Blind dates can be murder / Mindy Starns Clark.
p. cm.—(A smart chick mystery ; bk. 2)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7369-1486-4 (pbk.)
ISBN-10: 0-7369-1486-2 (pbk.)
1. Dating services—Fiction. 2. Identity theft—Fiction. 3. Women detectives—Fiction. I. Title II. Series:
Clark, Mindy Starns. Smart chick mystery ; bk. 2.
PS3603.L366B58 2006
813'.6—dc22
2005032216
All rights reserved
. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 / BP-MS / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is dedicated to
my brother,
David Robert Starns.
Your talents, wit, and wisdom have rescued me
more times than I can count.
Thanks for always giving so selflessly and
for being such a joy in my life.
And to David’s wife,
Amy Hanson Starns.
Had I searched the world over, I couldn’t have found
a dearer sister-in-law—or friend.
And to David and Amy’s children,
Andrew and Sarah,
for bringing me love, insight,
and an enormous amount of laughter.
I love you all more than you can imagine!
Many special thanks to…
My precious husband, John Clark, who has gone above and beyond, yet again, to make this book a reality. You are my hero, my helpmate, and my very best friend.
Lissa Halls Johnson, Dan Higgins, and Tom Morrissey, for invaluable information and insight in helping to shape the characters of Lettie and Chuck.
Fran Severn, for giving me Chewie.
Robert M. Starns, M.D., for medical information.
Jackie Starns, for fabulous proofreading.
Russ Bishop, for teaching me about the wide world of professional stock photography.
Kim Moore and all of the amazing folks at Harvest House Publishers.
Pastor Dave Sharpes and the ministerial staff of FVCN.
Technical advisors in a variety of areas: Major Mark Schneider, Leslie Budewitz, Anne Tomlin, Lois Foster Hirt, Joyce Yale, Deborah Raney, and all the members of Murder Must Advertise and DorothyL.
ChiLibris, for unwavering support, ideas, suggestions, information, and brainstorming. Your wisdom and kindness astound me daily.
My sweet daughters, Emily and Lauren Clark, for suggestions, contributions, brainstorming, and infinite patience.
Finally, to Ned and Marie Scannell, whose generosity and hospitality helped to make this book a reality. God bless you both.
Welcome to www.TipsfromTulip.com
Discover The First Smart Chick Mystery
J
o Tulip didn’t know if she was ready for this or not. Still, she pulled open the heavy wooden door of Tenderloin Town and stepped inside, letting it fall into place behind her. She had come early so that she could get settled at the table and collect her thoughts—and still have enough time to make a last-minute escape if she lost her nerve.
She approached the hostess and asked for the reservation for Dentyne, party of two. Sounded like a chewing gum to her, but that was the name Dates&Mates had given her: Brock Dentyne. Jo would have canceled the blind date based solely on the name, but she didn’t want to seem shallow.
The bouncy blonde checked something off her list, grabbed two brown leather menus, and led Jo through the noisy room to a table for two near the back. Once Jo was seated, the hostess disappeared, only to be replaced by a deeply tanned young man wearing the steakhouse uniform of Western wear complete with hat and bandanna.
“Something to drink while you’re waiting for your party?” he asked, flashing an unnaturally bright smile.
“Iced tea, please,” Jo replied, resisting the urge to tell him he ought to back off on the tooth whitener—not to mention the self-tanning lotion. “With lemon.”
“You got it.”
Jo watched him walk away, wondering where waiters went on dates. Did they go to restaurants? Or was that just too much like going back to work?
Jo opened the menu and scanned the choices, but her mind was too scattered to focus. Absently, she reached up and ran a hand over her flyaway blond hair, wondering what Brock Dentyne was going to think of her. Would he be pleased? Disappointed?
Did it matter?
The one fact she hadn’t admitted on her blog was her main motivation for doing this: Her agent wanted her to explore the current dating scene for publicity purposes. Jo’s posts online frequently discussed relationships, and her words seemed to resonate with many of her readers. Apparently, there was always a sharp spike of activity on her website when she wrote about her love life (or lack thereof). According to her agent, the dating angle seemed to be such an effective tool that he wanted her to expand upon it greatly.