It Had to Be You

Book Three in the Music Mystery Series

“Find out what evil really lurks inside all of us...just when you think a character is likable…”
-Skinny Leopard Media

“A complex, interesting web. You could never be sure who to trust.” -Reedsy Discovery

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Forensic Scientist Penelope Washburn has the bad habit of finding herself in the middle of other people’s messes. Unfortunately, she’s too nice to say anything about it. She also has an Achilles heel, ex-boss Detective Jose Ortega, who also happens to be an ex-love interest. When Ortega gets tangled in a multinational crime involving COIL, a powerful cult, along with the dangerous Westport family known for their high-profile grifts, Penelope insists on accompanying her old flame to Ireland to help.

Meanwhile, the church’s former Elders, the Vandenberg family, enlist the help of longtime lawyer, Mr. Lundy, who conceives of a plan that would successfully create a new figurehead for COIL, one that distances the family name from the church except for distant cousin, and playboy, Baxter Baker.

Bernie Forger, now at the helm, not only runs the church, but handles re-opening the nutraceutical factory in Dublin, and spinning up COIL’s newest money-making scheme, an educational institution for the church’s youth. He places Baxter in charge of the factory, distracting him by hiring a beautiful assistant named Moira Dodd.

Meanwhile, ex-cult member and journalist-turned detective, Rue Brennan, knows the people involved more than anyone, and agrees to go with them, even though it means coming face-to-face with an old nemesis…and her past.

Dark secrets, tangled loyalties, and a twisted web of crime collide in this gripping mystery that will keep you guessing to the last page.