Death at the Cafe
Authors: Alison Golden
DEATH AT THE CAFÉ
ALISON GOLDEN
&
Jamie Vougeot
ALSO BY ALISON GOLDEN
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Text copyright © 2015 Alison Golden
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Published by Mesa Verde Publishing
P.O. Box 1002
San Carlos, CA 94070
Edited by
Marjorie Kramer
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
The events in this book take place a few years before
Murder in the Mansion
, the first in the Reverend Annabelle Dixon series of cozy mysteries. It is set in London.
Death at the Café is a classic prequel to the other books, all of which are complete mysteries. They can be read and enjoyed in any order. I’ve made sure not to include any spoilers for those of you who are new to the characters. Any existing fans of Annabelle’s escapades will still find plenty of fresh action and mystery, as well as a little background detail on some of the major players in the Reverend Annabelle universe. All in all, there is something for everyone.
I had an absolute blast creating this book – I hope you have a blast reading it too.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
REVEREND ANNABELLE DIXON WILL RETURN…
DEATH AT THE CAFÉ
A Reverend Annabelle Dixon Cozy Mystery
Assigned to St. Clement’s Church in an inner-city borough just outside Hackney in London, Reverend Annabelle Dixon brings an enthusiasm and drive to her clerical position that baffles her mentor, Father John, but which soon gains her fans and admiration. Annabelle is not your typical vicar, but her strengths prove to serve her, and those around her, very well.
When Annabelle plans to meet her longtime friend, Sister Mary, a Catholic nun visiting from West Africa, at a local café, little does she know that she will soon find herself embroiled in a mystery of deadly design. Their meeting place is awash with horror, with Sister Mary standing in the middle, shaking, her hand over her mouth and a dead woman at her feet.
Armed only with a note, a disappearing dart, vague hints, and a love of cake, this quick-thinking, quick-footed holy woman must gather the clues, pacify a detective, and find the real perpetrator before both she and her friend wind up in jail.
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CHAPTER 1
NOTHING BROUGHT REVEREND Annabelle closer to blasphemy than using the London public transport system during rush hour. Since being ordained and sent to St. Clement’s Church, an impressive, centuries-old building among the tower blocks and new developments of London’s East End, she had come across every sin known to man – and a few new ones too. She had counseled wayward youths, presided over family disputes, heard astonishingly sad tales from the homeless, and retained her solid, optimistic dependability through it all. None of these challenges made her blood boil and her round, soft face curl up into a mixture of disgust, frustration, and exasperation. Yet sitting on the number forty-three bus to Islington, as it moved along at a snail’s pace, was enough to almost make her take her beloved Lord’s name in vain.
On this particular occasion, she had managed to nab her favorite seat: top deck, front left. It gave her the perfect position to view the different kinds of streets and the even more varied types of people. Today, however, her viewpoint afforded her only an even more teeth-clenchingly irritating perspective of a traffic jam that extended as far as the eye could see down Upper Street.