Query Letter:
Dear agent,
Crawling under her neighbor’s front porch, cat
rescuer Kayla Maloney discovers a dead body - the human kind.
With the arrest of grumpy Mrs. Willoughby, Kayla
finds herself stuck with her neighbor’s cat hating Chihuahua.
Eager to restore peace and quiet to her happy home
while facing possible unemployment and eviction thanks to the antics of her
lovable but absentminded grandmother, Kayla agrees to help Mrs. Willoughby. She
may wish she had nine lives when her search leads to a clever killer purrfectly
content to arrange a permanent catnap for Kayla.
MEOWING FOR MURDER: A Cat Rescuer Mystery is a
75,000 word cozy mystery available upon request.
Sincerely,
Violet I.
First 250 words:
I
glanced at the alarm clock and did the math in my head calculating just how
many hours of sleep I’d get if I miraculously fell asleep right that very
second. Unfortunately the answer was not nearly enough.
With
the air conditioner broken and my landlord in no particular rush to fix it, I’d
been sleeping with the windows open, desperate for even the slightest breeze. Tonight
it was so danged miserable even the crickets had had the good sense to go to
sleep. Lucky them.
I
adjusted my pillows and for my effort I was rewarded with a glare from my
bedmate Max, a seal point Siamese. We’d begun cohabitating since last year when
I’d rescued him from a trash can behind the town’s only laundromat. I closed my
eyes and once again attempted sleep.
*
I
held my breath trying to figure out what had woken me. Max was no longer on his
pillow. As I sat up I heard the meow of one determined and ticked off Siamese.
I raced through the house calling for him silently chiding myself for expecting
him to respond.
I
found him staring at the front door. The hairs on my arms stood up. Had he
sensed a prowler? I looked around for something to use as a weapon. Sadly, my options
were limited to a coat rack, an umbrella, and a pair of muddy gym shoes.
Grabbing
the umbrella, I glanced down at Max and for just a moment wished I’d rescued a Doberman.
