Murder Unleashed

CHAPTER ONE

Waiting for spring in Reno, Nevada, is like playing weather roulette. Just when you think the ball will drop on your lucky number, the winds pick up, the mercury plunges, and the odds turn against you one more time.

Tuesday, March 15, dawned promising, but that promise was soon dashed as low clouds rolled over the Peterson Mountains. Babs Gallagher--late forties, owner and chief broker of Benjamin Realty--drove past the Aces baseball park toward one of Reno's modest working-class neighborhoods. She noticed the darkening skies, flicked on the SUV's radio for a weather report, and instead heard an ad for a used-car dealer.

Like many other real estate agents, Babs had computer files chock-full of old, possibly expired listings. She had printed some out, and decided today to visit a neighborhood especially rife with them. As she was the listing agent, she wanted to see firsthand if there remained any hope of future sales. She could have sent out another agent from Benjamin Realty, but one of the reasons Babs had succeeded over the years was that she did her own homework.

Street after street of abandoned homes signaled the hard economic times assaulting her state. Nevada led the nation in foreclosures and unemployment, although sometimes it shared the dubious distinction of the highest unemployment statistics with other benighted states, such as Michigan.

While not a political partisan, Babs kept up with newsworthy events. Unlike the government in Washington, D.C., the state government of Nevada couldn't print more money. Nevada would need to be resourceful and make unpopular, unpleasant decisions if it was to crawl out of this economic morass.

She pulled over on Spring Street. Keeping her motor running to ward off the cold, she propped her folder onto the steering wheel and flipped it open to the first page: 267 Spring Street. There were a number of expired listings on this one block alone.

Buttoning her coat, and taking her folder of

Rita Mae Brown is the bestselling author of the Sneaky Pie Brown series; the Sister Jane series; A Nose for Justice and Murder Unleashed; Rubyfruit Jungle; In Her Day; and Six of One, as well as several other novels. An Emmy-nominated screenwriter and a poet, Brown lives in Afton, Virginia.

Praise for Muder Unleashed

"I love how she incorporates the animals and their particular way of thinking into the story and the line drawings that accompany the story are just delightful. Full of fast-moving action, a healthy dose of humor and well-written intrigue, Murder Unleashed is sure to satisfy both the mystery and animal lovers." --Ventura County Star

"Brown, who lives near Greenfield in Nelson County, is adept at fashioning a clever and relevant plot and filling it with amiable people and animals. Murder Unleashed is no exception and adds to the author's large, entertaining body of work." --Richmond Times Dispatch

"This book will keep your attention riveted to see what happens next. From murder to loveable canines, this book has it all!" --Suspense Magazine
 
Praise for Rita Mae Brown s A Nose for Justice, the first book in her thrilling new canine mystery series
 
A hotbed of mystery and suspense . . . a humor-filled story that is loaded with quirky but lovable characters. Wichita Falls Times Record News
 
Brown creates well-drawn characters (human and quadruped), fashions a nifty plot and mixes in enough local color and history to make the read as educational as it is entertaining. Richmond Times-Dispatch
 
The human and canine cast is strong and the whodunit exciting. The Mystery Gazette
 
Praise for the Mrs. Murphy Mysteries by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown
 
Charming . . . Ms. Brown writes with wise, disarming wit. The New York Times Book Review
 
Nobody can put words in the mouths of animals better than Rita Mae Brown. Abilene Reporter-News
 
[A] keen-eyed take on human misdeeds and animal shenanigans. Publishers Weekly