TEMPORARY DETECTIVE
by Joanne
Lessner
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Think breaking into show business is hard? Try landing a temp job
without office skills. That's the challenge facing aspiring actress Isobel
Spice when she arrives in New York City, fresh out of college and deficient in
PowerPoint. After being rejected by seven temp agencies for her lack of
experience, Isobel sweet-talks recruiter James Cooke into letting her cover a
last-minute vacancy at a bank. New to his own job, and recently sober, James
takes a chance on Isobel, despite his suspicion that she's a trouble-magnet.
His misgivings are borne out by lunchtime, when she stumbles across a dead
secretary in a bathroom stall. With her fingerprints on the murder weapon,
Isobel sets out to prove her innocence by investigating the crime herself.
While learning to juggle phone lines and auditions, she discovers an untapped
talent for detective work--a qualification few other office temps, let alone
actresses, can claim.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt:
James Cooke returned to his desk and picked up the completed
employment request form for InterBank Switzerland. He rattled the paper
nervously.
Half-day, phones and light typing. How hard could it be?
“James!”
He started guiltily. His boss, Ginger Wainwright, was
leaning against the doorframe. An officious, brassy redhead of a certain age
who dressed down in an effort to mask her obsessive personality, Ginger had a
habit of sneaking up on her staff. She always claimed to be “just passing by,”
but she passed by an awful lot. After a week, James still wasn’t used to it.
“How’s it going?” Ginger asked.
“Fine. It’s all good.”
“The young woman who was in here earlier. Potential
employee?”
He blinked away an image of Isobel’s long ponytail smacking
her in the face and nodded. “Could be.”
“Good. Okay. I was just passing by.”
“Uh, Ginger, just out of curiosity—I mean, for future
reference—what do we do with candidates who are smart and well-educated, but
have no practical experience?”
Ginger sniffed dismissively. “Send them to Temporama or
Sally Nelson and let them get some training. Then if they’re any good, we’ll
poach them.”
“We don’t ever take a chance and send them out? If they seem
to have a lot on the ball, I mean.”
She gave him a stern look. “We don’t take chances at Temp
Zone. That’s why we’re tops. Right?”
“Right,” James answered, forcing his mouth into a
deferential smile. “That’s what I thought.”
He listened as Ginger’s heels clacked away down the hall,
and her voice echoed into the office of another recruiter.
“Anna? How’s it going? I was just passing by.”
James got up and closed his door quietly. Then he returned
to his desk and looked at the request form again.
He had a feeling he’d just made a big mistake.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Joanne Sydney
Lessner is the author of BloodWrites Award-Winner and Awesome Indies Mystery
Pick The Temporary Detective, which introduces Isobel Spice, aspiring actress
and resourceful office temp turned amateur sleuth. Isobel’s adventures continue
in Bad Publicity. Joanne’s debut novel, Pandora's Bottle (Flint Mine Press),
which was inspired by the true story of the world’s most expensive bottle of
wine, was named one of the top five books of 2010 by Paperback Dolls. No
stranger to the theatrical world, Joanne enjoys an active performing career,
and with her husband, composer/conductor Joshua Rosenblum, has co-authored
several musicals, including the cult hit Fermat's Last Tango and Einstein's
Dreams, based on the celebrated novel by Alan Lightman. Her play, Critical
Mass, received its Off Broadway premiere in October 2010 as the winner of the
2009 Heiress Productions Playwriting Competition.
Website:
http://joannelessner.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/JoanneSydneyLessner
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/joannelessner
The Temporary
Detective
Paperback:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Temporary-Detective-Isobel-Volume/dp/0615605818/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1334166834&sr=8-14
Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/Temporary-Detective-Isobel-Spice-ebook/dp/B007SZRFXK/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1334166834&sr=8-14
Nook:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-temporary-detective-joanne-sydney-lessner/1110110847?ean=2940014166591&isbn=2940014166591
Kobo:
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/The-Temporary-Detective/book-NHF_zPyfJkOyrjas_Uj6rA/page1.html
Bad Publicity
Paperback:
TBD
Kindle: TBD
Nook: TBD
Kobo:
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Bad-Publicity/book-ahh6KvfspUqoFdzf8MQemQ/page1.html?s=eVC_5lZWAEGBnIxfaMy7UA&r=1
Joanne will be giving away the following prizes: At each stop, one ebook copy of her novel Pandora's Bottle, inspired by the world's most expensive bottle of wine. A grand prize of a $25 Amazon GC will be awarded to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour.
Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/04/virtual-tour-temporary-detective-and.html
thank you for hosting
ReplyDeleteIsobel is very determined and I like that. It seems that what she lacks in certain areas she make up for in others.
ReplyDeletemarypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Thanks for hosting me today! FYI, Bad Publicity is available in paperback and for Kindle and Nook. The links are on my website: http://joannelessner.com
ReplyDeleteGreat excerpt, I love his sinking feeling but I think it will all work out in the end
ReplyDeletefencingromein at hotmail dot com
Thank you for the excerpt, I enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteKit3247(at)aol(dot)com