Darcy Sweet Mystery Box 1 Read online

  A Darcy Sweet Cozy Mystery

  Books 1 to 6

  K. J. Emrick

  Contents

  DARCY SWEET MYSTERIES COMPILATION – BOOKS ONE TO SIX

  FREE Book!!

  Volume 1

  BOOK ONE – Death Comes to Town

  Description

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Smudge the Cat

  Acknowledgments

  Volume 2

  BOOK TWO – Mists of the Past

  Description

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Volume 3

  BOOK THREE – From the Ashes

  Description

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Volume 4

  BOOK FOUR – The Ghost of Christmas

  Description

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Volume 5

  BOOK FIVE – The Stolen Valentine

  Description

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Volume 6

  BOOK SIX – Hiding from Death

  Description

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  More Info

  About the Author

  DARCY SWEET MYSTERIES COMPILATION – BOOKS ONE TO SIX

  First published in Australia by South Coast Publishing, December 2013. Copyright K.J. Emrick (2012-2017)

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and locations portrayed in this book and the names herein are fictitious. Any similarity to or identification

  with the locations, names, characters or history of any person, product or entity is entirely coincidental and unintentional.

  - From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  No responsibility or liability is assumed by the Publisher for any injury, damage or financial loss sustained to persons or property from the use of this information, personal or otherwise, either directly or indirectly. While every effort has been made to ensure reliability and accuracy of the information within, all liability, negligence or otherwise, from any use, misuse or abuse of the operation of any methods, strategies, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein, is the sole responsibility of the reader. Any copyrights not held by publisher are owned by their respective authors.

  All information is generalized, presented for informational purposes only and presented "as is" without warranty or guarantee of any kind.

  All trademarks and brands referred to in this book are for illustrative purposes only, are the property of their respective owners and not affiliated with this publication in any way. Any trademarks are being used without permission, and the publication of the trademark is not authorized by, associated with or sponsored by the trademark owner.

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  Volume One

  BOOK ONE – Death Comes to Town

  First published in Australia by South Coast Publishing, December 2013. Copyright K.J. Emrick (2012-2017). Second Edition Published (May 2016).

  Description

  Darcy Sweet would like to think that she is just an ordinary woman, happy in her life running the Sweet Read bookstore. But she isn't ordinary. She has a connection to the other side that seems to draw her into mysterious situations more often than not. Add to the mix the antics of a rather naughty, slightly psychic cat and the eccentric ghost of her great-aunt Millie, and you have a recipe for anything but the ordinary.

  When Darcy's neighbor is murdered she is drawn into the mystery against her will when she finds the body. She tries to leave the investigation to the police, one of which is her sister, but an overheard conversation and a small nudge from the other side has her investigating the murder. The stakes are raised when the murderer strikes again. Who was killing the people in her life?

  Things are complicated even more by her building attraction to her sister's new cop partner, who makes it clear he does not appreciate Darcy's interference in the investigation. Sparks fly between the two of them as they get further into the mystery surrounding the deaths.

  With a town full of suspects how will Darcy work out who the murderer is? None of the pieces to the puzzle fit. Things become more complicated and dangerous as Darcy's own life is threatened. Will she survive to see justice served?

  Chapter 1

  Something wasn’t right.

  As Darcy Sweet approached the front porch of the small, neat as a pin house she could feel a dark presence surrounding it. Even the cheerful window flower boxes that were brimming with an assortment of brightly colored flowers couldn’t detract from the oppressive feeling emanating from the house.

  Unable to stop herself from continuing she stepped carefully up onto the porch. Advancing slowly and cautiously toward the front door she could see it was open slightly, left carelessly ajar in the darkened night. Alarm jabbed her sharply in the chest. Darcy knew that it should have, would have, been closed at this time of the night. Something bad had happened here. She was certain of it.r />
  She laid a shaky hand carefully upon the door. Feeling the cool surface of the wood beneath her palm she gently pushed on it, letting it swing inward on its own. Afraid of what she might see, Darcy cautiously peered around the edge of the door. Inside the room it was almost completely dark and she couldn’t see a thing.

  Nothing stirred. It was like the house was waiting for her to enter. All she could hear was the almost deafening ticking of the clock.

  Tick tock, tick tock.

  Why was it so loud?

  Darcy could feel her heart pounding at a rapid rate as, against her better judgement, she moved through the doorway and further into the room. It felt like the house was swallowing her up whole. Something evil was here. She could feel it as it skittered down the length of her spine.

  Tick tock, tick tock.

  She wanted to run but she couldn’t. Her feet seemed to have a mind of their own as they carried her further into the darkness. Sweat formed in little beads across her forehead and she blotted the moisture with the sleeve of her shirt. Wiping uncomfortably damp palms against her jean clad thighs Darcy took a deep breath to try and calm herself down. It didn’t help.

  Where was she? How did she get here? No answers came to her as she carefully navigated the darkened room.

  Tick tock, tick tock.

  What was with that clock? It seemed to reverberate inside of her head making it pound in pain. Where were a pair of ear plugs when you needed them?

  Her eyes were beginning to adapt to the darkness and she could make out the shapes of the furniture. The room looked a little familiar but she couldn’t quite place it. There was a faint hint of perfume in the air. The scent was also familiar but Darcy couldn’t place where she’d smelled it before. Something was tugging at her memory. What was trying to get through to her?

  A kind of shuffling noise just off to her left broke her out of her thoughts and set off a fresh feeling of alarm as she involuntarily turned toward it. She could see a dark figure bending over something. There was some sort of lump or pile that the figure was interested in. He was fussing about with it but Darcy couldn’t see what he was doing.

  Terror lanced through her as the figure moved out of the way and she could finally see what the lump was on the floor at his feet.

  A body!

  Who was it? She couldn’t see. Was it somebody she knew?

  An involuntary gasp escaped her lips and the dark figure swung around in her direction. Darcy couldn’t make out his features but there was a strong feeling of familiarity about him. Did she know him?

  There was no more time to worry about the dead body as the dark figure straightened and began to move. She could see he was tall and well-built but still his facial features remained a mystery to her. He moved toward Darcy in seemingly slow motion. Darcy needed to get out of here now but she was rooted to the spot. She tried desperately to move but her legs wouldn’t obey her.

  The edges of Darcy’s vision blurred as the dark figure moved slowly in her direction. He didn’t seem to be in a hurry. He moved like he had all the time in the world. Slowly and surely toward her.

  Then without seeming to move any faster the tall dark figure was looming over her blocking out what little light there was in the room. Quicker than a flash his hands were around her neck… squeezing, squeezing ever so tightly… his fingers biting into her soft flesh… she couldn’t breathe… she tried to claw at him but her arms flailed around missing her target. Her vision was beginning to fade… she was losing consciousness… she couldn’t… she couldn’t…

  Tick tock, tick tock.

  Gasping for breath, her whole body writhing in panic, Darcy Sweet tried in vain to remove the choking fingers from around her neck. It took a moment to register that she could actually breathe and the fingers were only phantom fingers, not real.

  Wait. What?

  Completely disoriented and not at all sure what had just happened she rubbed a still shaking hand over her face, and her neck, where the feeling of the phantom fingers choking her still lingered. She tried to relax her tense muscles and calm her breathing, hoping to clear her mind enough to work out what was going on here.

  Hadn’t there just been someone trying strangle her? Yes, or so she’d thought but actually no, obviously not, as she was in her bed in her own room. She flicked on the lamp that was situated on the bedside table. She felt a little better as warm light flooded the room. It had been a dream. Just a bad dream. That was all it was.

  But what did it mean?

  She squeaked a little as the bed dipped slightly and a blur of black and white fur passed before her, rubbing up against her in a feline hello.

  “Oh for Pete’s sake Smudge, you scared me half to death.” It was just her big, beautiful, black and white tom cat come to find out why she was awake so early. Maybe it was time for breakfast already. Not yet buddy boy. She smiled as he rubbed up against her once again, purring loudly as was often the case with him. She could always count on Smudge to make her feel better. He was more than just a cat to her. He was family. He was her best friend.

  “Hello boy.” She ruffled the fur around his neck and pulled him to her for a friendly hug. She sure could do with it after that awful dream. What had it meant? Hopefully it was just a dream but she knew from previous experience that wasn’t always the case.

  She had a very bad feeling about it.

  Chapter 2

  “Well ladies, what did you think of the book?” Darcy looked expectantly at the members of the book club she hosted twice a month in her shop. She was anxious to hear their views on the latest book they were reading.

  The Sweet Read book store was a quaint little shop located on the main street of Misty Hollow and every inch of it was filled with books. Old books and new books alike stood side by side on the shelves. An odd assortment of books lay around on every available surface and some were even stacked in corners. The whole shop looked like ordered chaos.

  There was always a vase of colorful fresh flowers on the counter, usually Darcy’s favorite combination of lilacs and daisies, and their fragrance would permeate all corners of the store. Pretty pale blue curtains with little flower motifs hung in the windows giving the store a real homey feel.

  It was late afternoon and the members of the book club, eight in all including Darcy, had just settled down to discuss their latest book choice. They were sitting in a circle of comfortable overstuffed armchairs on one side of the store, each with a cup of something warm to drink. As Darcy looked from one face to the next she felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach.

  The book club had been reading Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None.” Darcy had known that the other women probably wouldn’t enjoy it but she had been getting so sick of reading the usual sappy romances that the group favored and had decided that a change was in order.

  The ladies looked at each other, eyes darting anywhere but in Darcy’s direction. She sighed inwardly. Finally, Anna Louis, Darcy’s neighbor, was the first to speak up.

  “Honestly Darcy?” The small dark haired woman, who was older than Darcy by ten years or more, paused, her bright blue eyes wide and earnest. Darcy nodded for her to go on. “I didn’t love the book. A bit too suspenseful for me. Kept me up all night long.”

  As she spoke Anna fiddled nervously with the front cover of the book, which had a long crease worn down into it. Probably caused by the nervous worrying of Anna’s slim fingers, Darcy thought. Anna had always been a little on the skittish side for as long as Darcy had known her. The other women in the group murmured their agreement as Anna continued, “Sorry Darcy, I know you love mysteries and all those ghost tales. They’re just not for me.” She softened the remarks with a small smile.

  Darcy wasn’t offended. She had a reputation in the town of Misty Hollow as a bit of an odd duck because she was often involved in strange occurrences that sometimes happened about town. It wasn’t that she sought these odd events out, but ever since she was little she had been able
to tap into another world, the world beyond the grave. In this tiny town everything was gossip and Darcy was quite often at the center of it, even if no one but her sister knew the entirety of her secret.