Striptease : A Claire Evergreen Mystery

By: Al Lamanda

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

After the death of David Kleinfeld, Claire Evergreen’s intended, Claire resigns her position as sheriff of Smoky Point and moves over to the state police as the chief homicide investigator for Long island, New York.

One year later, while not over his death, Claire has managed to look past it and resume her life. She remains close to Abby Kleinfeld, David’s father and former mob boss and also with her closest friend, Rose, now sheriff of Smoky Point.

On an October morning, Claire catches a bad one. A young woman is found floating at a boat launch by a group of boaters. The young woman was found naked and with dozens of bite marks on her body. However, the cause of death was a broken bone in her neck as if crushed from behind.

As Claire utilizes all her contacts, Artie Wang at the FBI and County Sheriff Bill Cruz, it is discovered that the body from the boat launch is just one of many such murders strung out across New York State.

After weeks of investigative work, Claire discovers several important things. One is the dead girl was an exotic dancer in a strip club as are all the other victims and all were killed the same way, with a broken neck.

Claire’s investigation leads her to the USMC to JAG in Washington. Colonel Gordon Tatum explains to Claire the combat training that Marines receive that can break a neck the way the dead girls were found.

Working closely with Claire, Tatum identifies the Marine committing the murders. A veteran of eight years and several tours in combat zones, the Marine’s wife left him for another man and this started a downward spiral into darkness that manifested into murder.

An FBI profile of the Marine tells Claire that he stalks and murders young, exotic dancers that remind him of his wife. Claire organizes a plan to catch the Marine in the act. She goes undercover as a barmaid in a strip club, hoping he pays the club a visit while she’s on duty.

What Claire isn’t aware of is that the Marine is actually stalking Claire until it is too late and his trap is sprung and Claire is caught up in a dangerous, life and death situation.

Great story

AI reading is less than stellar. Mispronounced words sprinkled throughout and the word “said” is way overused.