EXCERPT and GIVEAWAY
The Wedding Crasher
(A Sam Tate Mystery Book 1)
(A Sam Tate Mystery Book 1)
by Nikki Stern
The Wedding Crasher by Nikki Stern is currently on tour with Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours. The tour stops here today for an excerpt and a giveaway. Please be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.
Description
A brunette in a bridal gown turns up in Pickett County, Tennessee, throat slit and ring finger missing. She’s the latest victim of the Wedding Crasher, a serial killer who murders women just weeks before their weddings.
Samantha Tate is Picket County’s yoga-loving, poker-playing new sheriff, a former Nashville homicide detective who struggles with her inner demons. To catch the meticulous murderer, Sam will have to follow her instincts and ignore her worst impulses. Can she stop the Wedding Crasher before another bride-to-be dies?
Excerpt
The dead woman lay in the clearing like a macabre version of Sleeping Beauty. She was dressed in a long-sleeved, high-necked ivory gown, set off by luminescent pearl drop earrings and a matching necklace that almost hid the dried blood around her throat. Her head rested on a satin pillow, her silky walnut hair spread behind her like a fan. The right hand held a bouquet of wilted flowers and rested on her chest underneath the left, absent the fourth finger. The ring finger.
Sheriff Sam Tate stood to one side of the grim tableau, arms folded, and took it all in: the victim; the tall white-haired man who knelt by the body; the deputy who walked the scene in throwaway boots, snapping pictures; the pale young man in running gear sitting on a rock, head almost to his knees; the uniformed officer who squatted beside him.
Sam had dressed in her standard uniform of pressed black slacks and a spotless white shirt. A shaft of early-morning sun bounced off the polished badge at her left breast pocket. On her right wrist, she wore a utilitarian watch. Three small studs twinkled along one earlobe, her single visible concession to a rebellious streak. She’d pulled her unruly dark locks into a tight braid. Ray-Bans shielded her green eyes, though not the line that formed between her brows.
One of the victim’s low-heeled white pumps had dropped off to reveal a slim ankle in hosiery. Stockings, not pantyhose, held up by an old-fashioned garter. Sam didn’t need to look.
He’s back, she thought, adding a curse for good measure.
[Want more? Click below to read a longer excerpt.]
Praise for the Book
“Stern weaves a suspenseful and intriguing story, and surprising revelations will keep readers guessing about the murderer’s identity. An absorbing and surprising mystery tale.” ~ Kirkus Reviews
“An exceptionally well-done story ... lingers on the palate like a fine wine.” ~ D. Donovan, Midwest Book Review
“The Wedding Crasher possesses the claustrophobic menace that makes small-town crime so terrifying, with an ending you won’t forget.” ~ David Corbett, award-winning author, The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holloway
“The Wedding Crasher made me miss my commuter train stop twice this past week. The book kept me up and reading way past my bedtime.” ~ Roger W. Wright
“I really, really enjoyed The Wedding Crasher by Nikki Stern and was very happy this is the first in what I hope will be a long, satisfying series about Sam Tate. Stern is a master at telling a complicated story with multiple characters and plot lines across time and having it all make perfect sense and be easy to follow. There is enough detail about every character and event to fully engage you, and just enough left unsaid that you can’t wait for the next installment.” ~ Sally Schmidt
About the Author
Nikki Stern is the author of the inspirational Hope in Small Doses, a 2015 Eric Hoffer Montaigne Medal finalist, and the thriller The Former Assassin, a 2018 Kindle Book Review category finalist. Her essays are included in three anthologies and she co-authored the interactive Café Noir murder mystery series, published by Samuel French. Eight of her short stories have been published in various online journals and she was a Mark Twain Royal Nonesuch finalist for her short story “Long Away and Far Ago”.
Nikki is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America.
Giveaway
Enter the tour-wide giveaway for a chance to win one of two $15 Amazon gift cards.
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