Rotten Dates

Carol Sabala Mystery #3

by Vinnie Hansen

Newly divorced and vulnerable, baker/sleuth Carol Sabala resists her friend's pressure to use a personal ad to enter the dating scene. Two weeks later a woman's body is found strangled on a riverbank in Santa Cruz. Did the killer use the ads to lure his victim? Hired to investigate by the deceased's cousin, Carol sees the amateur photographer who discovered the body as a likely suspect. He's handsome, charming, and definitely on the prowl. Is it for a date with Carol or for his next prey? As Carol digs deeper into the case, she uncovers one dangerous-but-appealing man after another. Longing for companionship and adventure in her own life, Carol learns the hard way that combining the two can be a risky business.

190 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Two-time Claymore Award Finalist Vinnie Hansen is the author of the Carol Sabala mystery series (misterio press) as well as literary works and over 40 short stories, appearing in such diverse collections as Fault Lines, Fishy Business, Santa Cruz Noir, Catamaran Literary Reader, Destination: Mystery!, Fish or Cut Bait, Lake Region Review, Porter Gulch Review, Mystery Weekly, Transfer Literary Magazine, Mysterical-E, Crime & Suspense, and Web Mystery Magazine. She won the Golden Donut Award from the Writers' Police Academy, and a B.R.A.G. Medallion for her mystery, Black Beans & Venom. Award-winning crime writer Allen Eskens says of Black Beans & Venom: "It is the mark of true talent for a writer to be able to deliver her readers completely and believablyto another world, and in Black Beans and Venom Vinnie Hansen has done just that. Set in the vibrant and gritty back streets of Cuba, this cat-and-mouse hunt for a missing woman is full of intrigue, suspense and authenticity."