Framed and Burning by Lisa Brunette Excerpt

Lisa Brunette is gearing up for her new release of Framed and Burning: Book Two in the Dreamslippers Series.

Framed and Burning, Book Two in the Dreamslippers Series

Published by Sky Harbor LLC
November 27, 2015 pub date
Genre: Mystery

Book Synopsis:

The Dreamslippers are a family of private investigators who have the ability to "slip" into your dreams. The first book in the series, Cat in the Flock, was published to critical acclaim and is trending at 4.5 stars on Amazon with 35 reviews. In Framed and Burning, someone sets fire to Mick Travers’s art studio, killing his assistant, and Mick won't give an alibi. His dreamslipping sister--the eccentric Amazing Grace--is convinced he's innocent, but her granddaughter and the police aren't so sure. Was it Mick, or is something darker behind the fire?

ADVANCED PRAISE

"Framed and Burning is the second book in the Dreamslippers series. It’s easy to follow and hard to put down, making readers who may not have read the first book race back to give it a try!"  - InD'tale Magazine

"Lisa Brunette continues to develop vibrant characters in a stunning story that will keep you reading well past your bedtime!" - On My Kindle

PRE-ORDER ON EBOOK NOW FOR $1 OFF!

Only $2.99 if you order before November 27, 2015 - price goes to $3.99 afterward.

In the U.S. - Amazon - Apple iBookstore - for all iOS devices - Barnes & Noble - for the Nook - Kobo - numerous devices - Smashwords - for Kindle, Android, and most other formats

Outside the U.S. - pricing and discount varies - Amazon Australia - Amazon Canada - Amazon UK - Nook UK - Kobo International 

About the Author: 

Lisa Brunette is the author of the Dreamslippers mystery series. Book One, Cat in the Flock, is an indieBRAG honoree title that has been praised by Kirkus Reviews, Midwest Book Review, Readers Lane, and others.

Brunette is a career writer/editor whose work has appeared in major daily newspapers and magazines, including the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle Woman, and Poets & Writers. She's interviewed a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, a sex expert, homeless women, and the designer of the Batmobile, among others.

She has story design and writing credits in hundreds of bestselling video games, including the Mystery Case Files, Mystery Trackers, and Dark Tales series for Big Fish and AAA games for Nintendo and Microsoft platforms.

She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from University of Miami, where she was a Michener Fellow. Her short stories and poetry have appeared in Bellingham Review, The Comstock Review, Icarus International, and elsewhere.

She's also received many honors for her writing, including a major grant from the Tacoma Arts Commission, the William Stafford Award, and the Associated Writing Programs Intro Journals Project Award.

She blogs at www.catintheflock.com and has been a guest-blogger for Author magazine and Dr. Chris Michaels's blog.

Brunette is a member of Mystery Writers of America and the Pacific Northwest Writers Association.

Connect: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Google+ | Instagram |

Excerpt:

That night Grace did not have any strength left to prepare her mind properly against slipping into Cat’s dreams, and slip she did.

Grace at first was fused with Cat’s consciousness in the dream. As Cat she walked into a room where the girl from the painting they’d seen that afternoon sat on the arm of a chair, as she had been in the painting. A fire blazed behind her, crackling and spitting and threatening to engulf the girl, but she seemed unable to move. On the floor next to her was Donnie Hines’s burnt corpse. The girl stared at Cat and then began to mouth something, her lips moving but no sound coming out. Cat moved closer, and Grace let Cat break away from her so she could observe her granddaughter from outside. The girl’s lips kept moving, but what she said was unintelligible.

“Tell me how to help you,” said Cat. “Say it. Out loud.”

But the girl kept moving her lips soundlessly. The fire raged on, close but remaining in the background.

“I want to help you,” Cat insisted.

The girl shook her head as if in slow motion: No-o-o-o-o-o. Then the girl began to shiver as if suddenly chilled. Cat took off her jacket and went to the girl to put it over her shoulders.

“They’re hurting me,” the girl whispered.

“Who’s hurting you?” Cat said. “Tell me.”

Then the girl’s voice sounded like a man’s. “You’re hurting me,” she said, and her eyes went black.

“No,” Cat insisted. “I wouldn’t hurt you.”

“You are,” the girl said.

“No!” Cat screamed, stepping away from the girl.

Grace couldn’t hang back any longer. She went to Cat and said, “It’s just a dream, Cat. And you didn’t hurt that girl.”

“Granny Grace,” Cat said, grabbing onto her frantically. “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. I’m dangerous. Cursed.” “You are not,” Grace said. “Now wake up.”

It must have worked, as Grace popped out of Cat’s dream. She drew on her robe and knocked on the door adjoining their hotel rooms. “Cat? You all right?”

“Yes, Gran,” she heard Cat say, and then the door opened.

They sat, and Cat began to talk about St. Louis, Cat’s first case, in a way they hadn’t before. Cat was upset about a girl named Wendy she’d met when undercover in the Plantation Church.

“She felt so betrayed by me,” Cat explained. “And she didn’t even know the half of it. She had no idea I was using her dreams in my investigation.”

Grace felt Cat’s pain acutely. “All you can do is try. You weren’t trying to hurt Wendy. You were trying to save that little girl. You were focused on Ruthie, Cat. So you missed what Wendy needed. You’re only human.”

“But I’m afraid, Granny Grace. I’m afraid I’ll hurt someone again.”

Grace chuckled softly. “Well, you probably will, Granddaughter. We all hurt each other some of the time. It’s unavoidable. Unless you want to live in a bubble.”

Then she held Cat’s face in her chin. “And you’ll get hurt, too. That’s part of what you’re feeling here, isn’t it? Your own strength, yes, and you have to be responsible about it. But you’re feeling your own vulnerability, too. You’re still hurting because you miss Lee.”

Cat began to cry, and Grace held her.