Days before Halloween, the vacant house across the street from Pepper is sold. The new homeowner moves in. Distrust rises. Jealousy festers.About the same time, a disturbing young man becomes obsessed with Pepper. But he's not the only one obsessed with her.A prominent woman in the community disappears without a trace, foul play suspected. Police have no leads. But Pepper believes she does, driving her to investigate.As Halloween day approaches, more women disappear and gruesome discoveries are made.Pepper's curiosity draws her deeper and deeper into danger. Life or death danger. Just when she thinks she's triumphed, a violent encounter she never saw coming changes everything. Perhaps forever. Will Pepper survive Halloween or become another victim in the countdown to murder? An animal lover, fitness instructor, and author of dark and chilling thrillers...Shirley strives for what she calls, "plausible realism" in her books and garners critical details from her "police ride along" experiences as well as educating herself by attending and graduating from the West Jordan Citizen's Police Academy and receiving training as a CERT member (Community Emergency Response Team). She is currently a West Jordan Police Department VIPS (Volunteer In Police Service).When researching Ultimate Trust (book 2 in the Jewels Trust M.U.R.D.E.R. series) her antagonist built a bomb and consequently blew up a house. To ensure the scene was "plausible" she met with the fire chief and a SWAT arson investigator who helped her "build a better bomb" for her story!"Thinking up and plotting the dastardly deeds of demented killers is a challenge," Shirley says. "However the real fun begins when figuring out how my heroine--and her studly hero, of course--will turn the tables, outsmart the twisted murderer, and survive."In real life, Shirley has been a victim of human predators more than once, yet lives by the motto: No matter what horrible circumstance life hurls at you, choose to survive and become stronger because of it. She uses that maxim as a guide when writing her novels.Shirley often wrangles friends into "role playing" when researching scenes and admits she "experiments" on herself and has done so with some of the tools her bad guys use, including duct tape, a variety of rope, and handcuffs. She even locked herself in the trunk of her car and attempted to escape. Hmmm. Knowing this, you may wonder how many of the stunts described in her books she tried on herself ... but she'll never tell! Smart. Sexy. Single. And a knack for trouble, either finding it or it finding her.Introducing Pepper Jackson. In her mid-forties and recently divorced, she's every bit as tough as she is drop-dead gorgeous.A Neighborhood Watch patroller, member of the Crime Busters book club, and advocate for finding forever homes for shelter pets, Pepper is an active, outspoken member of the community. Although adored by many, some abhor her, eager to see her fail. Or dead.Join Pepper in her hair-raising adventures as she and her sidekick, Myrna, unwittingly cross paths with serial killers.
