A billionaire’s grandson and the housekeeper’s daughter square off in this cat-and-mouse holiday romance-mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year.
Intrigued? Read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder by Ally Carter, which is out now.
Ella Chambers didn’t kill Liam Montgomery.
If she had, she certainly wouldn’t have done it outside his family’s mansion during the Christmas party of the year. She definitely wouldn’t have loaded his body into the trunk of her car. And she absolutely would not have announced to the town that the boy who ruined her life ten years ago was “so dead to her.”
But now Liam is missing—nothing but a bloody spot on the drive and a host of unanswered questions—and Ella is the only person who knows he’s still alive.
So it’s up to her to prove it.
Liam Montgomery didn’t want to die.
But, it turns out, when you’re the sole heir to a billionaire, someone might want you dead. Luckily for Liam, being dead works for him.
Now he’s on the hunt for a killer. Unfortunately, Ella is on the hunt for him.
She’ll have to prove he’s still alive to clear her name, but that’s easier said than done in a quaint mountain town where everyone knows your story but no one knows the truth. Can the billionaire’s grandson and the housekeeper’s daughter join forces to catch a killer? Or is their past too steeped in secrets and lies?
As the storm of the century blows in, every step will bring these two childhood rivals closer to a killer—and each other.
Because, this Christmas, only one thing is certain: it’s beginning to look a lot like murder.
EXCERPT
LIAM
The light was flickering on before Liam even realized what was happening. There were voices in the break room. Movement on the other side of the frosted glass that stood between Grady’s private office and the rest of the station. Ella opened her mouth to scream, but Liam was already pressing a hand against her lips and lifting her off her feet—carrying her to the closet before pressing in behind her and closing the door.
It was dark and tight inside there, with Ella and Liam and a handful of winter coats and clean uniforms hanging from a rod. There were slats in the closet door, though, and Liam could see out—slightly. The interior office lights were still off and voices were coming from the main room, but in the closet, all was dark and silent.
Well . . . almost.
“Letmego.” Ella’s words were hot and wet against his palm.
“Shhh. Come on, Chambers. Seven minutes in heaven. Let’s go.”
“Let me—”
There was something in his face, tickling his lips, and Liam blew out a frustrated breath as he realized—“Has your hair gotten bigger?”
She pried off his fingers and snapped, “I will yell,” but her voice was too soft and low to be heard beyond the inner office, and Liam couldn’t help but laugh because he knew he was holding all the aces.
“You could.” He didn’t even try to bite back his grin. “But it might make for awkward questions. What was Ella the Saint doing in the sheriff’s office with a flashlight? Wasn’t Ella recently arrested?”
“Brought in for questioning,” she corrected, but he went on as if she hadn’t spoken at all.
“Was Ella supposed to be working tonight? Maybe we should take away her key? Her job?”
Ella went suddenly still.
“Are you overcome with feminine emotions?” Liam whispered.
“I’ve been told my natural pheromones have that effect.”
“Your natural pheromones smell like someone who’s been sleeping in a van,” she whispered back and Liam shuddered.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You take that back.”
“No.” Then Ella was turning and squeezing, maneuvering between Liam and the wall as the voices grew closer, coming from the other room.
“Come now, Sheriff, is that any way to talk to a concerned citizen?” For a moment, Ella froze. It was almost ridiculous how easily Liam read her mind as she looked up at him through the shadows and mouthed, Violet.
“Not the words I’d use to describe you, Ms. Ridgeway,” Grady was saying as their footsteps got louder—closer to the office. And the closet. And the place where Ella and Liam were crammed together, too close in the dark.
“Has anyone ever told you you’re cute when you want to kill me?” Violet asked, and Liam could practically feel the pounding of Ella’s pulse.
“Ms. Ridgeway—”
“I like it when you call me that,” Violet teased, but Grady gave a sigh that sounded frustrated and flustered and fatigued. “When did you get so tall?”
“As I told your parents and the Montgomerys, our search for Liam is ongoing.”
“Well, maybe it should go a little harder,” Violet said.
“We’ve searched the house and the woods. We have alerts set for his passport, credit cards, and bank accounts. Every hospital in the state is on alert, and, weather permitting, we will soon drag the lake. It’s not that we’re not trying to find Liam, Ms. Ridgeway. It’s that . . .”
“What?” Violet said it like a dare.
“The thing is, Violet, I think you need to brace yourself for two possibilities.”
“And they are . . .”
“Either Liam is already dead and we are never going to find the body.”
“Or?” For once, Violet Ridgeway sounded afraid.
“Or Liam doesn’t want to be found.”
