Indian Creek, Houston, and Arlington, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee – Present Day

Solving the death of Anna Davis has given Kelly McWinter more confidence in his life and work than he has had in a long time, and he has decided to take a job as an investigator with American Mutual Indemnity in Sugar Land, Texas. On the way to his interview, Kelly stops in Houston to see Anna’s sister-in-law, Stella Davis. Shortly after his arrival, Stella gets a call from her niece, Mikki. Mikki is pregnant, and her married lover, Alex Wyatt, insists that she have an abortion. Stella tells her to come to her, and a grateful Mikki leaves Nashville for Houston that same night. But what starts out as a simple break-up on Mikki’s part becomes terribly involved when Alex is found dead and Mikki is the number one suspect.

Stella turns to Kelly for help, and he agrees, never dreaming the depths of the complications surrounding the life and death of Alex Wyatt. When he goes to visit Lorena Wyatt, Alex’s widow, she tells him that she is being blackmailed by someone who knows her secret sexual preferences. She thought it was Alex, but the threatening demands for money have continued…and Alex is dead. Are the blackmail and murder connected?

There are many twists and turns in this well-written mystery. Many people hated or actively disliked Alex. His partner in the Wyatt Recording Company, Winn Gordon, knows that Alex slept with his wife, Theresa. Mike Langley, company manager, also was at odds with Alex, and Mikki is a singer under contract to Wyatt Recording. Mark Fischer is a Nashville lawyer hired to represent Mikki, and Chris Thorne, a Nashville private investigator, is very helpful in uncovering evidence that will help Mikki. Jim Forbes of the Dallas Police Department goes out of his jurisdiction to help Kelly. And Gillian, Kelly’s new lady friend, is understanding and helpful in her own way. Tanya Leone, Lorena’s friend, wants the whole mystery over so she and Lorena can get on with their lives. Even Cameron Belsher who runs the Hideaway Bar in Indian Creek gets in on the action.

BETRAYING MIKKI is full of surprises. Author Jude Atkins knows how to handle characters and build drama and suspense. Will there be another death, or will all survive? I was almost to the end before I figured out who murdered Alex. Pick up BETRAYING MIKKI, then sit back and enjoy a tightly plotted whodunit.

Vi Janaway