THE HOT MESS CONTEST

Hey pallies, likes dudes all us Dino-philes are in for a really really special Dino-treat this very Dino-day. Our great pallie Miss Gayle Carline who has been scribin' a series of murder and mayhem tomes, The Peri Minneopa Mystery series, that has the coolest of cool Dino-holic character, Benny Needles, is 'bout to release numero tres in her series and is havin' a free book contest to celebrate.

Likes checks out the details below includin' a very very cool excerpt from the new volume, THE HOT MESS. And, likes you will want to checks out the other four blogs that also are accentin' excerpts from our Miss Gayle's newest book.

ilovedinomartin is delighted to be able to do our part to help promote Miss Gayle Carline's newest Dino-novel. Can't wait to gets my hands on THE HOT MESS 'cause I loves our Benny Needles and can't wait to read his newest Dino-antics. In our Dino, DMP btw, likes if you clicks on the tag of this here Dino-gram you will arrive at our dear pallie Miss Gayle Carline's blog.

First, let me thank Mr. Peters for giving me a little space on his very Dino-licious blog to run a contest for my new book, THE HOT MESS. If you’ve been following the other blogs in the contest, you’ve come to the right place.

It’s the third book in my Peri Minneopa Mystery series. Peri is a housecleaner-turned-detective, who traded in her dustmop for a PI license. Surveillance and background checks are easy money, unless you’re getting chased, beaten, or shot. Peri’s part-time assistant is Benny Needles, a Dean Martin fan who is filling his house with Dino memorabilia that he buys on eBay. Like so many of us, he loves Dino, although he might take his worship a little further than most.

In THE HOT MESS, Peri is asked to investigate a case of arson and murder at Benny’s house. It’s not exactly on her menu of services, but she agrees to help her friend. What she uncovers are family secrets… and danger.

Here are the rules: There are excerpts from the book on this and four other blogs (see below). Visit my blog on Monday, November 26th, and I’ll ask five questions, the answers to which can be found in these five excerpts. The first person who answers all five correctly gets a free copy of THE HOT MESS, either e-book or paperback. I’m feeling so good about everything right now, I might even give out more free copies.

EXCERPT:

Two days later, Benny stood on the sidewalk, looking at the boarded-up remnants of his house, jerking and wide-eyed as he scanned the damage. In his hands, he clutched the Some Came Running ashtray, rubbing it as if he expected a genie to appear.

“Benny?” Peri put her hand on his arm.

“No.” Life popped into his face as he pulled away. “No no no no no—” Nancy Nickels rushed to embrace him. Petite to the point of birdlike, she could barely get her slender arms around his shoulders, but she still held him tightly. “Benny, dear, calm down.”

He shook his head, although he didn’t try to avoid her touch. Phil, Nancy’s husband, also moved closer to him. A stout man who stood a few inches taller than Benny, Phil leaned over him in a concerned, paternal way.

Peri watched the trio. It was an odd combination. The Nickelses looked like a typical retired couple who might be headed to the golf course in their tailored shorts and polo shirts, Phil’s thinning hair was hidden under a Lakers ball cap and Nancy’s silver locks were in a short, stylish coif. Between them stood a short, round man in slacks and a bowling shirt, having a nervous breakdown. They huddled together for a few moments.

She looked to her right, where Skip stood, looking at his notebook. He had agreed to interview Benny here, instead of asking him to come to the station. Benny didn’t do well in formal settings. He had been known to hyperventilate during routine traffic stops.

Phil looked at Skip. “Do they know what caused the fire?” “No. Their first guess is that faulty wiring caused a spark that lit some of the paint cans in the living room.”

“Paint cans?” Benny’s voice squeaked his denial. “Paint cans? Why would I have paint cans? They’re liars. They’re all liars. I would never let my house catch fire.” He slumped forward, cradling his ashtray.

Peri tried to get his attention by touching his arm, but he shied away. “Benny? Listen to me. It’s going to be okay. Not right away, but eventually, it’s going to be okay. Skip grabbed the first thing he saw, but there may be more things in there that survived the fire.”

Benny looked up at her, his eyes glassy. “Can we go see?” “Not right now. Once the firefighters say it’s safe to go in the house, we’ll go look through it all, okay? It should only be a couple of days.” He nodded. “What time?”

Nancy chuckled and Peri glanced at her, wondering how she and her husband had handled Benny for an entire week, two thousand miles from home. “As soon as we get permission, we’ll set up the time. Now, I’ve talked with your Aunt Esmy. She said you can stay with her.”

“Her house is so creepy, Miss Peri.” Benny’s dear aunt had a penchant for taxidermy and had filled her home with as many stuffed creatures as he had Dino memorabilia.

“I know, but hopefully it will only be for a few days.” She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Benny, there’s one more thing we need to tell you.” His face had that same puppy-dog look of expectancy as when he worked as her assistant. It was the innocence in his eyes that kept her from killing him most of the time. “They found a body in the house.”

Innocence erupted into anger and fear. “Someone was in my house? Going through my things? Who? Who was in my house?”

“I don’t know who it was. He was a young man, and he was in your mom’s room. Do you know why anyone would be in your mom’s room?” He didn’t appear to hear the question. “Why were they in my house? Maybe they were painting. Did they ruin any of my stuff? We need to go look inside.” It took all four of them to restrain him from breaking the police tape and barging through the door. After a few moments, he withdrew again and rubbed his ashtray.

* * *

The other blog sites are:

The mostly adorable Andrew Kaufman, http://www.andrewekaufman.blogspot.com/

The lovely and talented Jenny Hilborne, http://jfhilborne.wordpress.com/

The fierce but friendly Michele Scott, http://adventuresnwriting.blogspot.com/

A sweet cozy writer Teresa Trent, http://teresatrent.wordpress.com/

When you’ve visited them, come on over on Monday and see me at http://gaylecarline.blogspot.com/