SAY GOODBYE TO ARCHIE: A Rex Graves Mini-Mystery by C.S. Challinor

removed the note from its envelope, which he carried in his jacket pocket. “A sample of your hair is stuck behind one of the letters on this note.” He peeled back the “G” so she could see. “I don’t know anyone else with hair that colour. Not that is doesn’t become you,” he lied.
    Felicity’s cheeks looked as though they could melt wax, her mouth frozen in the shape of an “O.” Although no words came out, her reaction spoke louder than words.
    “In any case, the hair can be forensically proved to belong to you.”
    “You’re going to the police?” she asked in shock.
    “That will be up to Patricia. I would think a very public firing at least would be in order. I don’t think many authors would want to be represented by an animal killer, do you? Good day to you.”
    Rex let himself out of the flat.
    *
    Once he was settled on the train to Edinburgh, he called Patricia on his mobile. “It’s her,” he confirmed. “She as good as confessed and fell for the false evidence. I recorded the whole conversation on my phone.”
    “Oh, goodness. You came through for me, Reginald! I’m so very grateful.”
    “You can thank Roger. Your illustrator was a fount of information.”
    “Village life makes gossips of us all.”
    They discussed suitable retribution for Archie’s murder. Nothing was too severe in Patricia’s view. “But I think today may be the turning point,” she said. “Dr. Strange came by shortly after you left, and you’ll never guess what he brought.”
    “A kitten?”
    “You knew!”
    “He mentioned it in passing yesterday.”
    “A little ginger tom. His mother was hit by a car. Dr. Strange was able to save her, but she won’t regain her strength for a while. The litter is just about weaned. At first I refused. I thought it would be too soon, but he said the kittens urgently needed homes, so I let him persuade me.”
    “I think it’s a splendid idea.”
    “Yes, perhaps now that I have some closure, thanks to you… And I’ve decided to call him Reginald, Reggie for short, in your honour.”
    Rex found himself speechless for a moment. But perhaps Reggie wasn’t such a bad name for a cat. Rex would suit a dog better. “It is an honour, Patricia,” he said. “I’m so glad I could be of help.”
    After he ended the call, he took out the picture of Archie that she had given him, and smiled. This cat had made an old lady both happy and rich, and was responsible for making long words a hit with short people. How many humans could claim to have achieved more? Aside from the satisfaction of solving the case, he now had a whole new respect for pets of the feline persuasion.
     
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    www.amazon.com/SAY-GOODBYE-TO-ARCHIE-Mini-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00EFE6JVQ

 
     

    BOOKS IN THE REX GRAVES MYSTERY SERIES:
     

    Christmas Is Murder

    *Starred* Review from Booklist:

The first installment in this new mystery series is a winner. The amateur detective is Rex Graves, a Scottish barrister, fond of Sudoku puzzles and Latin quotations. In an old-fashioned conceit, Challinor begins with a cast of characters, along with hints of possible motives for each. Although set firmly in the present, this tale reads like a classic country-house mystery. Rex and the others are snowed in at the Swanmere Manor hotel in East Sussex, England. Being the last to arrive, Rex immediately hears of the unexpected demise of one of the other guests. By the time the police arrive days later, additional bodies have piled up and motives are rampant, but Rex has identified the murderer. At times, it seems we are playing Clue or perhaps enjoying a contemporary retelling of a classic Agatha Christie tale (And Then There Were None, or At Bertram’s Hotel) with a charming new sleuth. A must for cozy fans.

 
     

    Murder in the Raw

    Mystery Scene Magazine:

In Murder in the Raw , Scottish barrister Rex Graves must expose—and I do mean expose—the killer of Sabine Durand, a French actress who goes