Kate Reilly Mystery

Does Kate have the drive needed to track down the killer? Aspiring race-car driver Kate Reilly goes looking for a full-time ride in the American Le Mans Series—and stumbles over a dead driver. When she takes that driver's job just hours later, she also takes pole position on the list of suspects in his murder. Suddenly she's in the hot seat with little time to clear her name and get ready to race a Corvette at Lime Rock Park. Amidst suspicion, Kate buckles down, quickly getting to know the race car and team, bumping into plenty of suspects who might have committed murder. Clues fly at her as fast as the turns on the track, including a cryptic list of blackmail victims, unexplainable car performance at racing speed, a jealous husband with an adulterous wife, and drivers and crew who are openly happy that her predecessor is dead. Kate finds exhilaration and hazards exist on the track and off as she throttles up both the Corvette's V8 engine and a murder investigation. The green-flag countdown ticks away, and Kate must decide who she can trust to help probe alibis, untangle rumors of team breakups and personal betrayals, and determine whose drive to win could also constitute a willingness to kill. What's at stake in Kate's race to the truth is her career—only by uncovering a murderer can Kate restore her reputation and prove she belongs in the racing world.

Kate Reilly can't remember a worse time in her life, on track or off. She wrecks her race car at Road America in Wisconsin, sending a visiting NASCAR star to the hospital, and loses her cool on camera, only to end the day by discovering her boyfriend with a friend of hers - a now-dead friend. With little time to grieve, Kate finds herself the pariah of the racing world and the target of vicious e-mail messages, death threats, and a frenzy of blame on racing sites and blogs, including that of an influential, anonymous blogger who's trying to get her fired. But nothing is as bad as knowing her friend's killer is still out there-and now aiming at her. She's riding a roller coaster of emotion, juggling an exciting new sponsor, a boyfriend she's not sure she can trust, and newfound family she doesn't want to claim. Dodging unfavorable media attention and a pit reporter with a bias against women in racing, Kate redeems herself at the next race by delivering stunning performances behind the wheel at Petit Le Mans, the ten-hour endurance classic. During the championship race weekend, undercurrents of threats from all sides rev Kate's nerves to their limits. From races to sponsor parties and awards banquet, she stays on top of the action-and a step ahead of the murderer-seeking motives, uncovering secrets, and pinpointing powerful ambitions. Ultimately she learns that no one can escape the past-but only a murderer is driven by it.

Racer Kate Reilly is suited up and ready for the start of the legendary 24 Hours of Daytona. But what lies ahead is not just a racing challenge but a harrowing test of her will and nerve off the course. Even before the green flag waves over Daytona International Speedway, Kate receives word that her boyfriend, Stuart, is hospitalized nearby in a coma, fighting for his life after a hit-and-run. Stunned by the news, Kate can do nothing better for Stuart than complete her scheduled laps driving her team's car. But more shocks follow as Daytona's clock starts ticking: An on-track accident ends tragically. Some of her complicated family is spotted with other teams-why? And an eyewitness claims Stuart was run down deliberately by someone from the race paddock. Alternating stints behind the wheel of the team's Corvette with stretches of quizzing colleagues and searching for clues, Kate circles the police and taps every possible source-friend, foe, and family-to find out who's after Stuart and why. As the race clock counts down to zero hour, Kate must come to terms with her own fears rising from her past and decide who she's willing to trust. Only then can she identify who's willing to kill to keep a secret buried.

When Kate Reilly arrives in Long Beach, California, a week ahead of the Grand Prix, she is immediately plunged into a new social scene-as well as a murder investigation. Her cousin Billy is found dead, with Kate's card in his pocket. The cops want to know why, and sponsors and race organizers-anxious to keep racing's image clean-want Kate to investigate. Doubting she can solve another murder, especially that of a relative she despised, Kate reluctantly agrees. At the same time, coaching a gorgeous and talented actress for a celebrity race brings Kate into the orbit of Hollywood's hottest bachelor. And then a local FBI agent takes notice of more than her driving and sleuthing skills. She goes from Sony Studios to Venice Beach and from Rodeo Drive to the Hollywood Hills, attending parties, power shopping, and dodging unwelcome paparazzi. Kate's ballooning media exposure generates national commentary, testing her composure and forcing her to get ahead of the stories-whether critical or flattering. Kate's professional dreams are also coming true. The upcoming Grand Prix is her first race with a new sponsor that is also funding an IndyCar test drive and a ride in next year's Indy 500-along with future possibilities in NASCAR. The downside? New sponsor Frame Savings is owned by her family, and its management, outside of her long-estranged father, is unfriendly to her-even rivalrous. Kate must stay on her toes as the Long Beach race weekend begins. She's negotiating the next steps in her career, driving two race cars and coaching a third, discovering more about the disreputable members of her father's family than she wanted to know, and juggling questions and murder suspects. On the track, red flags fly to warn her of danger. Off track, Kate struggles to interpret warning signs and stay out of a killer's grasp.

At the end of the first practice session for the iconic Indianapolis 500 race, Kate Reilly is stunned to discover she was the fastest driver on the track. She's even more surprised to learn she wasn't the first woman to top the speed charts in the race's 106-year history. That feat was accomplished in 1987 by PJ Rodriguez-steady, dedicated, immensely promising-who shocked the racing world and the wider one by committing suicide ten days later. When the press, bloggers, and social media go crazy over the connection between PJ and Kate, Kate begins to lose her identity-suddenly everyone's comparing Kate and PJ, calling Kate PJ, and wondering if Kate will kill herself, too. Under siege from various trolls live and digital, Kate feel PJ's story deeply. So she's impelled to listen to PJ's family-which claims PJ did not jump, but was murdered. And she agrees to help them find PJ's killer and restore her reputation...30 years after the fact. PJ's death was a great tragedy; Kate feels it in her bones and believes she is the best person, perhaps the only person, to investigate PJ's story.