smiling house publishing co.

Screams without explanation. A dead boarder. An investigator knows something is off about the case…

When beautiful and mysterious Rebecca is found murdered in her extended-stay suite, the Rockport police are baffled by the apparent senseless brutality of the crime. The only clue to what happened to the young woman appears to be the way she died—a blow to the back of her head, with a baseball bat or golf club.

Detective Inspector Richard Watson must now follow a confusing trail of clues that seem to lead in every direction, even when exhaustion sets in and his mind plays tricks on him. Like the great Sherlock Holmes, he must entice the clues out of thin air!

What the detective and his assistant find is shocking, but the most shocking thing of all is what happens when a detective finally puts together the unlikeliest of clues. Only his long-suffering assistant can help him now.

What happened to Rebecca Jones—was she a victim of an abusive ex-husband or was something more sinister the cause for her death?

Can the detective find a way to put together the seemingly senseless clues in time to solve the case once and for all?

The Case of the Hated Body is a spine-tingling race through multiple suspects, each with a motive for killing the young woman. As each is cleared, join the detective as he searches for the truth of what happened that dreadful night…but don’t read it alone in the dark!

This is a standalone cozy mystery novella.