How far would you go to protect your name and reputation?

Six people are summoned to a solicitor’s office. Each person expects to benefit from a will. But not all is as it seems.

Three people are disappointed and are shown the way out. They are not at all happy and each seethes with resentment and – possibly – vengeance.

Three remain and each is given a letter, not to be opened until later. The solicitor expects to see one of them again just before Christmas Day if all goes to plan. He has no idea who that will be.

As each beneficiary reads the letter they were given, terror, and shock fill their hearts as the words sink in. It must be a joke, a cruel joke. It has to be.

How did the deceased know so much? How could they possibly imagine that such fine, upstanding residents of the village, pillars of their community, do something so terrible, so wicked, so unbelievable….?

Yet, what was the alternative? Eternal shame? Could they live with that?

But then again, there was the money. More money than each could imagine or dream of having. The chance of a new life, away from the familiar, a chance to reinvent themselves…

How far would they, could they go, to satisfy the terms of the will?

How far do you think you would go to inherit a small fortune, to protect your reputation, and good name?

Not for the faint-hearted.

Murder by Christmas is one of the short stories included in Undercover: Crime Shorts.

Undercover: Crime Shorts is on the global author network, The Authors Show, once more and I am chatting to my lovely host, Linda, about murder, crime, and the inspiration behind my stories in my crime collection.

Join me and discover more about my stories.

I read from Apartment 206c as well. Find out what happens when noisy neighbours lead someone to a grim discovery.

Linda and I have lots to discuss and lots to laugh about, so do join us on channel 4 on The Authors Show. My podcast interview is available 24/7 on a loop today, and thereafter in their archives for channel 4; just look for my name and Undercover: Crime Shorts and you can listen at will.

Let me know if you tune in. Let me know if I have sparked your interest enough to purchase Undercover: Crime Shorts. What do you think? I’d love to know.

A collection of short stories with more twists and turns than Spaghetti Junction and written to fill you with ‘edge-of-the-cliff,’ tension.

https://wnbnetworkwest.com/channel/4

Undercover: Crime Shorts is available in Paperback from Waterstones and Blackwell’s book stores and in Paperback and for Kindle/eBook from Amazon, Kobo, iTunes, Barnes & Nobles, and most other digital platforms.