Blurb
Nicole
Graves finds herself in the crosshairs when she reluctantly agrees to
babysit a witness in a high-profile rape trial. Mary Ellen Barnes is
suing her university’s star quarterback for rape when the
authorities won’t act. In the court of public opinion, Mary Ellen
appears to be the quintessential, pious, good girl. But her lies and
mysterious comings and goings lead Nicole to suspect that she’s not
what she seems.
Excerpt
Nicole
heard a sound and came in from the balcony in time to see Mary Ellen, now
fully dressed, slip out the front door. Nicole ran after her. She
couldn’t allow the girl to run off after what she’d said about
the hopelessness of her predicament. By the time Nicole got to the
elevator bank, it was empty. The girl was already on her way down.
Nicole
couldn’t take the stairs; she was on the tenth floor. But the
elevator bank had four cars, and luck was with her. Moments later,
the door to another elevator opened. When she reached the lobby, she
caught sight of Mary Ellen through the window. She had just left the
building and was jaywalking across Ocean Avenue toward the beach.
Nicole
rushed after her. The wind was picking up, blowing through her
jacket. She was halfway across the street, when a car heading south
skidded to a stop a few feet away. The driver leaned on his horn and
opened his window to scream at her. She ignored him, trying to keep
Mary Ellen in sight. The girl seemed to be headed toward the
shoreline. When Nicole reached the sand, she started running. She was
in good shape, but running on the beach was completely different from
a morning jog around the neighborhood. Her shoes sank into the soft
surface, making it impossible to gain momentum. Meanwhile, sand
leaked into her shoes, chafing her sockless feet.
The
beach near the waterline was dark, and Mary Ellen was no longer in
sight. Nicole looked desperately around, trying to figure out which
way the girl had gone. All at once she stumbled over something lying
in her path. As she hit the sand, the figure she’d tripped over
slowly sat up, like a zombie in a horror film.
About
the Author
Before
turning to mysteries, Nancy coauthored Backroom Politics, a
New York Times notable book, with her husband, Bill Boyarsky. She has
written several textbooks on the justice system as well as articles
for publications including the Los Angeles Times, Forbes, and
McCall’s. She also contributed to political anthologies, including
In the Running, about women’s political campaigns. In addition
to her writing career, she was communications director for political
affairs for ARCO.
Liar
Liar is the third Nicole Graves novel, following The Swap and
The Bequest, each of which can be read as a stand alone.
Readers are invited to connect with Nancy through her website at
nancyboyarsky.com.
Nancy
Boyarsky will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn
winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
6 comments:
Thanks for hosting!
Interesting premise for your book... Did come from something happening in your or someone you know or is it just from all the news we have seen of late?
Exciting excerpt and a great way to pique interest. Thank you for sharing and good luck with the tour!
In answer to Michelle': Thank you for your question, The idea for my book came from a good friend of mine who is a private investigator. The book began way before #MeToo got rolling. Several years ago, my PI friend was assigned to investigate a messy he-said, she-said case at a local college. Her report (interviews of people with some knowledge of what had happened) was leaked online and caused quite a public outcry. This sounded like something I could hang a mystery on, and I went with it, changing the events so they'd fit my plot. I learned a lot along the way as I researched the topic. But the book has many other elements besides the rape case, which turns into a murder case.
Lisabet: Thanks so much for hosting this post and introducing my Nicole Graves mysteries to new readers.
Welcome to Beyond Romance, Nancy. I hope your tour brings you lots of new readers.
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