Brief

After being ousted as a Special Agent with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, Emory Rome takes a job as a Private Investigator alongside his sometimes-lover, Jeff. But things escalate after the strange death of a man in a Knoxville high-rise, and the PIs find themselves buried in a sea of suspects, lies and mysteries that they must unravel before it’s too late.

What We Liked

The LGBT+ leads are a huge draw, and their relationship is compelling on the page without overshadowing the primary storyline. And although this isn't the first book in the series, besides a few small instances, the story does a decent job of standing on its own. Additionally, the storyline is riddled with twists and turns and quickly becomes a trendy whodunit, with YA crossover appeal and room for continuity.

Film: Although this isn't the first book in the series, the story does a decent job of standing on its own. That said, there is clearly franchise potential here. There is no definitive ending, and we're left with some questions and suspense that prime us for the next step in Emory and Jeff's journeys. As a standalone piece, it is a comfortably familiar whodunit with compelling LGBT+ leads and enough twists and turns to sustain a feature format.

TV: The source material could work quite well for a TV format. Without a definitive ending, there is room for expansion and continuity. It might even work well as an anthology series (a la American Horror Story), if each book in the series does a deep dive into a specific crime. The LGBT+ leads make an otherwise familiar whodunit series feel fresh and modern, while staying compelling, engaging and easy to root for on the page. Additionally, there is potential crossover appeal. While it is a crime series with adult leads, there is a pleasant lightheartedness to it that could attract a young adult audience, making the project feel approachable to many.

Key points:
Franchise potential.
LGBT+.
High-tension.
Crossover appeal.
Suspenseful.

Synopsis

A woman works at her desk in a high-rise. A man, COREY, crashes through the window and dies on the floor. EMORY ROME meets with a lawyer in hopes of suing the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations for wrongful termination. JEFF and his partner, VIRGINIA, prepare their Private Investigator firm for Emory’s arrival. On his first day, Virginia asks them to take on the dead man’s case.

The PIs travel to the crime scene. Emory meets LESTER from TBI, who lets them into the crime scene. Jeff notices red burn marks on the victim’s hand, and Emory notices his former partner, WAYNE, show up. Wayne and his new partner, STEVE, kick the PIs out of the crime scene. Emory and Jeff sneak up to the roof to look for evidence, and suspect foul play.

Jeff and Emory visit Corey’s employer, the Tennessee Valley Authority. Corey’s boss, DARREN GLEASON, allows them to look around. The interim manager, FRANK, is coerced into giving Jeff and Emory a copy of Corey’s files. We learn that Corey was working on a windfarm project, in which several homeowners were forced to leave their land.

Virginia learns that Corey was a wannabe bone taxidermist. Becky reveals that Corey was promoted over Frank, and that he was seeing a holistic therapist for a fear of heights. Virginia notices a large bruise on Becky’s shoulder, in the shape of four fingers.

Virginia argues to give up the case, but Jeff and Emory convince her that they have to keep working. They make plans to talk to Corey’s therapist and to visit the displaced landowners from the wind farm project. Emory approaches the new home of the elderly MARY BELLE HINTER. Her nephew, LUKE, tells Emory that his aunt is in an assisted living facility. There, Mary Belle tells him that she cursed Corey and urges Emory to help her get back her land. When he tells her that there’s nothing he can do, she curses him too.

Emory meets Jeff at a department store, where Jeff seeks out one of the landowners, PETER WEST. Peter becomes enraged when Jeff accuses him of killing Corey. The next morning, Emory discovers ANDERSON ALEXANDER of the TBI waiting outside of his apartment. He offers Emory the chance to lead his own division, if he drops his lawsuit. Emory promises to think about it. He and Jeff visit the Natural History Museum to question the curator about Corey’s taxidermy. Jeff enters a private section of the museum and overhears a man and woman speaking. The man, MONTY, holds a knife to him. Emory pulls out his gun, and the woman, the curator, CLAIRE, deescalates the situation.

Jeff and Emory visit CATHY, who has just finished performing Corey’s autopsy. They learn that he had rope burns on both of his hands. As they’re leaving the mortuary, discovers a chicken bone and twine doll under one of Jeff’s windshield wipers.

Jeff and Emory visit Corey’s therapist, RANDY GRAHAM, and on their way out of the therapy center, Jeff gets stuck behind a slow delivery truck. He illegally passes it and Emory notices that something is wrong with Jeff’s tire. The car spins out of the control and the wheel falls off.

Virginia reveals that Becky’s tire was tampered with a week before Corey died. On his laptop, she discovered that he was looking into home security systems. Jeff and Emory question Frank and learn that Peter West confronted Corey at the TVA office before his death. They rush back to question him, but the TBI agents arrive and arrest Peter for Corey’s murder.

Back at home, Emory notices an open window. He searches his apartment and discovers a man with a ski mask hiding in the closet. A fight ensues, but the intruder escapes through the window. At work, he tells Jeff about the intruder’s mask, and we learn that it’s the same person who caused Jeff’s accident weeks prior.

Jeff, Emory and Virginia attend Corey’s funeral and Virginia finds Darren and Becky embracing. She asks Becky if she is having an affair with Darren, and Becky gets testy. Jeff and Emory visit Corey’s office, and Emory finds a holistic crystal. The men notice that the flagpole rope has been cut and find it inside of gym bag in one of the air vents. Emory calls the TBI to report it, and Wayne and Steve appear. Wayne warns Emory to stay out of his investigation.

Emory invites Jeff over for dinner, and things escalate. As they head for the bedroom, neither of them notices the red light blinking outside of Emory’s window. Jeff books the PIs on a local TV broadcast, and Emory comes clean about his offer from the TBI. Emory and Jeff argue, and Emory walks off the set. He visits Mary Belle about removing the curse and drives her to her former home to say a proper goodbye. She tells Emory that the only way to remove the curse is to die. Meanwhile, Jeff visits Peter West in prison and begins to believe that Peter is innocent.

Mary Belle gathers the potions and charms that Luke forgot to take when she moved out. He learns that she had a female lover who disappeared after her parents discovered their relationship. Mary Belle begins to feel ill back at the facility and Luke informs Emory that she has liver cancer.

Jeff arrives to question Randy again. Meanwhile, Virginia goes to Becky’s to apologize. Through the curtains, she sees a man in a ski mask holding a knife to Becky’s side. After calling the police and Jeff, she discovers that it’s Becky and Randy role playing. They have been having an affair.

Emory discovers that the TVA is auctioning off the land, and Jeff learns that Frank never agreed with Corey’s decision. Virginia learns that Corey usurped Claire’s husband, Monty, as the taxidermist for the museum. She approaches Monty and when he threatens her, she dislocates his finger. Jeff and Virginia make plans to meet at a bar. Meanwhile, someone breaks into Emory’s parents’ house.

Jeff drunk texts Emory after Virginia doesn’t show, and Emory arrives at the bar to take him home. A homophobic man elbows Emory and chaos ensues. The police arrive and threaten to take both parties to jail. A man informs Emory that the officer told the aggressor to lie about Emory touching him inappropriately. He offers to serve as a witness, but Emory wants to drop the matter.

Virginia wakes up in a hole in the ground and comes face to face with a skeleton. The next morning, Emory discovers a bug in his apartment. He decides that it was placed there by the TBI.

Mary Belle arrives at Jeff’s office looking for Emory. She convinces Jeff to drive her back to the property so she can put a spell on it that ensures she’ll win it back at auction. Emory goes out to breakfast with his parents, and his father offers him a job. Emory turns it down.

Emory tells his parents that his apartment has been bugged by the TBI and his father tells him about the break in. Emory presents his father with a picture of himself as a child and asks him to dust it for fingerprints. Meanwhile, Jeff hears a noise from his apartment and enters to find the masked man. Chaos ensues, and the man slips out the window. Downstairs, Jeff asks the local homeless man, PHINEAS, whether he’s seen anyone. As Jeff walks back into the building, we see Phineas pull out the ski mask and smile.

Emory arrives and tends to Jeff. They try to discover the masked man’s identity. We learn that Frank deposited $9,000 in his account after Corey’s death. Emory arrives at his office to question him, and Frank tells him that his wife handles the finances. Jeff sneaks into Frank’s apartment and scrambles onto the balcony when he hears the front door.

Frank arrives home and asks his wife, LETTIE, about the money. Lettie begins abusing him. Lettie finds Jeff on the balcony and calls the police. From jail, Jeff asks Emory to bail him out. Emory visits the Belchers and coerces them to drop the charges. Jeff is pleased with what Emory did for him, and they ride away from the police station holding hands.

Emory’s father finds a single fingerprint in the middle of the photograph and identifies it as Emory’s birth father. He identifies the envelope from the desk of his wife, meaning that his house was broken into twice.

Emory and Jeff try to track down Virginia’s car, but they need Wayne’s authority at the TBI. They follow Wayne to the wind farm project and find Virginia in a hole with a dying surveyor, CLAYTON, next to her. Virginia reveals that she saw a drone on her way down to help Clayton. When she mentions the skeleton, Emory realizes that it is Mary Belle’s missing lover.

The land auction begins, and Jeff and Emory are surprised to see Peter West, who was released after the TBI failed to produce enough evidence to charge him. They are even more surprised to see Randy Graham, who informs them that the is going to buy all of the land to build a new holistic retreat. The men hurry to find Luke and save Mary Belle’s property. Jeff calls Emory’s father and has him fake an arrest warrant for Randy. Randy is arrested, and two lots remain. Luke wins Mary Belle’s property back, and Darren outbids Peter West on the other.

Emory tells Mary Belle about the remains. Mary Belle cries. In Clayton’s hospital room, FRANK LEAKEY tells the men that the sink hole is actually a zinc mine.

Darren prepares the land deeds for Randy, and Mary Belle’s property. Jeff calls Frank to get a hold of Emory and insists that he’s put on speaker. To the room, he reveals that Corey’s cell phone has been missing since his murder. Emory goes up to the rooftop to catch the killer. Luke appears. Chaos ensues and Emory is thrust over the side of the building, holding the rope of the flagpole. He catapults into the office, next to where Corey died. Luke and Jeff struggle on a billboard. Luke slips and falls to his death.

Emory arrives at the hospital to take Mary Belle home. He shows her the new burial site for her lover. Emory tells the TBI that he’s going to stick it out with Jeff, but Anderson Alexander hands him a file that proves that Jeff isn’t who he claims to be. Jeff digs in the basement. He pulls open a coffin and we see a decomposing body. Later, he takes the case file and marks it closed.

About The Author

Mikel J. Wilson draws on his Southern roots for the international bestselling Mourning Dove Mysteries, a series of novels featuring bizarre murders in the Smoky Mountains region of Tennessee. The series adheres to a “no guns or knives” policy and includes Murder on the Lake of Fire, Death Opens a Window and A Light to Kill By. Wilson is also the author of Sedona: The Lost Vortex, a modern science-fiction novel centered on the unique mythology of this mystical Northern Arizona town, known for energy vortexes and alien encounters.