The mercury was in the mid-thirties yesterday, which for a lily-skinned Brit like me is definitely Too Hot. On the other hand, though, it did make me feel like I was in Italy, which is where the book I’m currently working on, the 6th Plumber’s Mate Mystery, is set.

So this week I’m snippetting from Heat Trap, my 3rd Plumber’s Mate Mystery, which is set during a very hot summer:

Making a slightly embarrassing contrast with my slobbing-around-the-house-in-a-heat-wave gear of shorts and a crumpled T-shirt, Phil was freshly shaved and wearing a crisply ironed short-sleeved shirt loose over a pair of chinos. The outfit did a very nice job of showing off his broad chest and shoulders and trim hips. You’d think a big bloke like him would feel the heat more—would show it, even, him being a blond and all—but he always managed to look cool whatever the weather. Maybe he kept ice cubes in his undies.

Nah, I’d have noticed. I mean, I don’t like to brag, but I reckon I was pretty well acquainted with the contents of Phil’s undies.

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Heat Trap – #3 in the Plumber’s Mate Mystery series

Old flames can leave a nasty burn.

It’s been six months since plumber Tom Paretski was hit by a shocking revelation about his family, and he’s been avoiding dealing with it ever since. His lover, PI Phil Morrison, wants Tom to dig deeper into his history and try to develop his psychic talent for finding things, but Tom’s not nearly so keen. Just as he decides to bite the bullet, though, worse problems crawl out of the woodwork.

Young Devil’s Dyke barmaid Marianne has an ex, Grant Carey, who won’t accept that things are over between them, and he’s ruthless in dealing with anyone who gets in his way.  When Carey threatens an old friend of theirs, Phil and Tom step in to help—but that makes them targets themselves.

What with his uncertainty about Phil’s motives, Tom’s family doing their best to drive a wedge between them, and the uncovering of an ugly incident in Phil’s past, Tom’s not sure who he can trust—and the body he finds in the pub cellar isn’t the only thing that stinks.

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