A Slash of Scarlet (Devon MacDonald Mysteries Book 2)

A month of shopping days ‘til Christmas, and Twin Cities’ private eye Devon MacDonald, a woman as intrepid as she is intelligent, has a hard case of the holiday blues. But her latest investigation may be just what the doctor ordered—a chance to give middle-aged gigolo Brentwood J. Peters a taste of his own medicine.

The victims of Brentwood’s romantic con game have asked Devon to help recover their money, and she’s uniquely qualified to answer the call, knowing from experience what it’s like to be betrayed and played for a sucker by the man you love. Her husband waltzed out of her life three years ago, and now he’s looking to cut back in. Healing old wounds is never easy, but catching Peters with his pants down promises to take the edge off the pain.

From Minneapolis to Monterey, Devon follows a trail of bitter women and cleaned-out bank accounts. Posing as a wealthy young widow, she hopes to lure Peters into a trap. But the seduction quickly turns sour, leaving her with two dead bodies and a damning body of evidence … pointing not only at her vengeful clients but at her own husband. It’s a case of deceptively simple arithmetic: greed, jealousy, and revenge all add up to one of the more powerful desires of all time—a passion for murder.