Darker Than Any Shadow: A Tai Randolph Mystery (Tai Randolph Mysteries)

The dog days of summer have arrived, and Tai Randolph is feeling the heat. Running her uncle's gun shop is more demanding than she ever imagined. Her best friend Rico is competing for a national slam poetry title. And Atlanta is overrun with hundreds of fame-hungry performance poets clogging all the good bars. She's also got her brand-new relationship with corporate security agent Trey Seaver to deal with. SWAT-trained and rule-obsessed, Trey has a brain geared for statistics and flow charts, not romance. And while Tai finds him irresistibly fascinating, dating a human lie detector who can kill with his bare hands is a somewhat precarious endeavor. And then just when she thinks she might get a handle on things, one of Rico's fellow poets is murdered ... and Rico becomes the prime suspect. Tai pushes up her sleeves and comes to his defense with every trick in her book a little lying here, a little snooping there. Trey wants her off the case immediately. So does Rico. Every poet in Atlanta has a secret, it seems, and one of them is willing to kill to keep theirs quiet. But someone else wants her on the job, someone dropping anonymous clues and clandestine tip-offs her way. Someone with an agenda that's looking either positively heroic ... or downright deadly. Will Tai's relationship with Trey survive another foray into amateur sleuthing? And even more importantly, will she? The dog days of summer have arrived, and Tai Randolph is feeling the heat. Running her uncle's gun shop is more demanding than she imagined. Her best friend from childhood, Rico, is competing for a national slam poetry title worth a bundle. And Atlanta is overrun with fame-hungry performance poets clogging all the good bars. Tai is also handling her new relationship with corporate security agent Trey Seaver. SWAT-trained and rule-obsessed, his brain rewired by a devastating car crash, Trey is geared for statistics and flow charts, not romance. And while Tai finds him fascinating, dating a human lie detector who can kill with his bare hands is a precarious endeavor. Then one of Rico's fellow poets is murdered...and Rico becomes the prime suspect. Tai, springing to his defense with every trick in her book - a little lying here, some snooping there - quickly learns all the poets harbor secrets. And someone has an agenda that's either positively heroic or downright deadly.... He will take seventeen to the match - how many will he bring back? In Cibola football is a matter of life and death. Sir Tristram must reunite his Blood City teammates - Knights, Pirates and Westerners - to win the prestigious Seskie tournament against their oldest rivals. Behind the match is a bigger power play, a king's mission to bring down his greatest rival by persuasion, trickery or force. Needing a squad of soldiers as well as footballers, Sir Tristram must also find a place on tour and in his heart for the teenage child he has not addressed by name since infancy...