Please
welcome Mike Lord to Books, Chocolate
and Wine. He’s used a box of chocolate as a weapon and in the
process created murder and intrigue across the continents. He constructed a
fascinating story with wrongful deaths, murder, mayhem and a few red herrings!
Back Cover Copy Chocolates and Cyanide
A box of milk
chocolates is delivered to a man just before he leaves to fly to work in Botswana. He does not open it and just tucks it into
his packed suitcase. His suitcase is
delivered in error to a lady passenger in Johannesburg, who helps herself to
one of the chocolates and dies of acute cyanide poisoning!
A concerted
effort by the police in South Africa and England have to determine who was the
intended victim, and who placed the cyanide in the chocolates, but the
identities keep them mystified until they find who purchased the chocolates,
and who stole the cyanide. The
activities of a string quartet throws up several red herrings…
Buy Links for Chocolates and Cyanide Amazon Smashwords
Excerpt from Chocolates and Cyanide
Aziza
made her way from the plane to the baggage hall, via the Immigration department
at Oliver R Tambo Airport in Johannesburg.
The flight had made her tired, and she looked forward to getting back to
her small flat in Sandton.
She
had enjoyed her few days in London on the way back from Liege, which made up
for the disappointment of zero response from Lars.
She
had hoped that Lars would ask her to marry him, although he was ten years older
than her, and she had also made sure that he enjoyed her body for the few days
they spent together in his flat just outside Liege.
Lars
had Netherlands nationality and had a German mother and a Dutch father, but he
worked for a security company in Belgium.
He was a well built man, and an ex-marine in the Netherlands armed
services, their navy. They had met a few
months earlier when Lars came to South Africa on a security research mission
for the company that employed him.
Lars
had initially been attracted to Aziza by the blonde hair, blue eyes and
lithesome figure, although just a bit overweight, but with a ready smile. They had met at a restaurant in the Nelson
Mandela Square, close to the travel agency where she worked.
By
coincidence they had met again the next evening, and she tempted him to her
small apartment just behind the new tower block near Sandton Square, and then
made him breakfast before he left in the morning.
She
put her thoughts aside as she saw her dark blue suitcase approaching her on the
carousel. The wheels and extendable
handle made taking it out to the taxi rank easy. She had to wait a bit for a taxi, but the
taxi driver knew Sandton well and took her straight to the door of the
apartment block.
She
took her suitcase up two flights of stairs, and left it unopened in her small
bedroom, whilst she luxuriated in a hot shower, and then she dressed in very
casual clothes before her planned return to work in the morning.
She
looked around and began to tidy her apartment, but avoided opening her
suitcase. That could wait until tomorrow
she decided, just dirty clothes, nothing exciting! She did not have a washing machine, so she
decided to drop off the worst of the washing at a launderette on her way to
work in the morning.
She
called her parents who lived in Pretoria, just to say she was home and well,
and then decided to stroll around Sandton, and maybe meet some friends. To her parents she spoke in Afrikaans, but in
the travel agency she and all the others only spoke English.
She
met two friends and the three enjoyed a pizza in a local restaurant just off
Sandton Square, and chatted and gossiped together until late in the
evening. She walked back by herself and
was pleased for the security regulations in force in the Sandton vicinity;
whereas she was aware some other areas of the capitol city had serious
problems.
Just
she was getting into bed she decided to open her suitcase. The heavy duty plastic zip fastener was easy,
and the top folded back.
The
brown paper parcel immediately attracted her, and she didn’t really look at the
other items on the top of the suitcase.
She didn’t bother to read the name on the label and just opened the
brown paper parcel, only to find a box of milk chocolates, wondering who would
have given her such a present.
She
just had to open the box, and cut the cellophane seal around the edge with a
knife from her kitchen. She knew that
the chocolates would be laid out nicely, but was surprised to find one slightly
larger than the others in the centre of the tray, almost winking at her.
There
was no foil wrapping just the chocolate with a design on the top. She could not help herself but picked it up
and put it whole into her mouth.
As
she bit into it the taste was a bit strange;
“Apples,” she thought, and then “almonds,” came to her mind.
She
lay back on her bed to sleep.
About
the author
Mike Lord has written three historical novels,
three thrillers and his autobiography, all of which have been self-published at
Smashwords and Amazon Kindle. Two of
Mike’s books have been awarded prizes.
Under his pen
name Adam Mann Mike has written over twenty romance novels; ten of which have
been published as ebooks by Blushing Books 1, Phaze Books 4, eXtasy Books 1,
and Global Publishing 4. Twelve have been
self published at Smashwords and Amazon Kindle, and he has several more drafted
and complete in the pipeline, and others currently with several publishers for
consideration.
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