Death by Marriage (Book #3 in the Caribbean Murder series)

Death by Marriage (Book #3 in the Caribbean Murder series)

Jaden Skye · Completed · 51.1k Words

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Introduction

DEATH BY MARRIAGE is Book #3 in the Bestselling CARIBBEAN MURDER series, following DEATH BY HONEYMOON (#1) and DEATH BY DIVORCE (#2). A well-known criminal lawyer is found dead in a back alley in St. Thomas, and Cindy and Mattheus are called in to investigate by the grieving widow. The local police have pinned her for the murder, and Cindy and Mattheus are her last hope in vindication. As Cindy and Mattheus dig deeper into the victim’s past, they learn that all was not as rosy as it seemed. They discover mistresses, gambling debts, vendettas, and a number of people who had motivation to want him dead. Most shocking of all, as they dig even deeper, they discover a whole secret life that he lead, one so lurid that the people who knew him best can hardly even conceive it. As a hurricane closes in and the police are insistent, despite all evidence, to arrest the widow, Cindy and Mattheus find themselves in a race against time to find the killer. When another body turns up, all involved realize the stakes may be even higher than they seem. And as Cindy and Mattheus develop feelings for each other, each grieving from the death of their own spouse, Cindy comes to realize there is even more at stake than she thinks. Books #4--#16 in the series are now also available.

Chapter 1

PROLOGUE

He lay there alone, along the back alley of a narrow street that wound through the marketplace in St. Thomas, dipped in a pool of red blood. For a long while, no one noticed. The street he lay on was not well traveled, and the few people who passed through it walked around him.

As the sun rose, bringing the heat of the day, merchants began opening their shops, and shoppers taking their first tentative steps. Suddenly, a shriek broke through the quiet. The shriek sounded fiercely, like the call of a bugle, for a long, long time.

People came running. An island woman, walking through the alley, had stepped on the man. Hands over her eyes, she could not stop shrieking. The dead man’s bulging eyes stared back out at her, only adding to her terror.

“Why me? Why did I have to find this? Lord, Lord!” she screamed, “Have mercy! Mercy!”

The crowd closed in, peering.

“Who is it? Who is it?” they demanded.

But by now his face was so distorted, it was almost impossible to say.

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