Spring Fling: A Shelly Maypo Witch PI Cozy Mystery, #1

SPRING FLING

A SHELLY MAYPO WITCH PI COZY MYSTERY

C.D. GORRI

P. MATTERN

CONTENTS

Spring Fling

Note

Blurb

1. Monkey Business

2. Not My Monkeys

3. Monkey Shines

4. In The Midnight Hour

5. Predator

6. Breach

7. Squirrely

8. The Worst Monday Ever

9. The Clue

10. Remote Betrayal

Loose Ends

Afterword

Other Titles by C.D. Gorri

Other Titles by P. Mattern

About the Author

About the Author

SPRING FLING

A SHELLY MAYPO WITCH P.I. COZY MYSTERY

By C.D. Gorri & P. Mattern

Edited by L. Gauthier & BookNookNuts

Cover Art by C.D. Gorri

***

Just a quick and special THANK YOU to my co-author P. Mattern for coming up with this incredible idea! Your imagination is limitless and your writing flawless. I am honored to be writing with you. Thank you for thinking of me.

Xoxo,

C.D. Gorri

COPYRIGHT

Copyright 2022 C.D. Gorri, P. Mattern, NJ

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, places, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either part of the author’s imagination and/or used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to person, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental. This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights are reserved. No part of this book is to be reproduced, scanned, downloaded, printed, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of any materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

NOTE

Hello Beautiful Readers,

Thank you for joining USA Today Bestselling authors C.D. Gorri & P. Mattern for a scintillating springtime murder mystery with a magical twist.

What do monkeys in a Zoo, a lady’s red high heel shoe and a serial killer have in common?

---You might be surprised!

Happy reading!

Xoxo,

C.D. Gorri & P. Mattern

BLURB

Spring is in the air—

and so is monkey poo, when fated mates connect at the Zoo.

Since her graduation with two degrees from a tony university, Michelle Margaret Maypo, a curvy and quick-witted young woman approaching her thirties, has been at loose ends. Lovingly known as Shelly to her friends and family, she writes feature articles for the local paper the ‘Cape Coast Crier’ but yearns for more excitement in her life.

Mixing business and pleasure, Shelly agrees to a date to the City Zoo where she is to cover the grand reopening. While perusing the grounds, she encounters the incredibly handsome Dr. Gabriel Ramos, zoologist, and Cape Coast Zoo Director.

Her date pales in comparison to the virile male. And something about him seems to call to her. Is it Shelly’s imagination or does the smexy veterinarian have a secret?

That mystery would just have to wait after she meets some rowdy and precocious apes who set her on a path to her true destiny as an ace PI.

Can Shelly trust her natural intuition and fledgling practicing witch skills to take on a very clever killer who has local Police completely stumped?

Find out in this hilarious witch PI cozy mystery!

CHAPTER 1

MONKEY BUSINESS

Opening day at the Zoo turned out to be the first truly beautiful spring day that the small town of Cape Coast had had that year.

After a lingering winter that refused to let go with torrential, and sometimes freezing rains, Mother Nature stopped being a bitch and granted a string of days that encouraged the trees to blossom and the early spring flowers to start blooming.

Shelly felt nervous but excited for her first date with a fellow reporter at the Cape Coast Crier. Brandon Grant had asked her out, and she’d decided to combine her coverage of the local Zoo’s opening day assignment with her first date with the tall, dark haired, and handsome fellow journalist.

It hadn’t gone exactly as planned.

When he’d arrived at her apartment, she had answered the door in her most comfortable strategically torn at the knee jeans that fit her like a glove and clung to her voluptuous curves, a cute peasant blouse and a light sweater. Anticipating a lot of walking, she had chosen a pair of trendy sneakers for footwear.

She was taken aback when she realized that her date, Brandon, was wearing a suit, and an expensive looking one at that.

He must have noticed her expression, and told her, Well, I guess maybe I made the wrong call, but I wanted to take you out to a nice restaurant after we do a tour of the Zoo. You look great! What you’re wearing is fine, but we can swing by your place after, and you can change for dinner then?

Oh sure! Shelly replied quickly, already starting to wonder if she and Brandon were a good match.

He already seemed to have different priorities.

Maybe he wasn’t even really an animal lover. She had always shared amusing stories about her own menagerie of pets, and he’d once confessed that the only pet he kept was a newt he’d named Bruce.

Nevertheless, she grabbed her Coach backpack, informing him she had two bottles of spring water in case they got thirsty on their tour of the city’s only Zoo, and they took off.

They arrived just as the Zoo Director gave a brief speech for the benefit of the local news, and of course, she got some quotes for the feature she was writing as well as an update on the new animals and attractions that had been added since the previous season.

After she felt she had enough material for the article (she would be taking her own photos as she and Brandon strolled through the Zoo) they took off.

Shelly was quietly giggling with anticipation.

The Zoo smells came filtering in on the breeze and she smiled to herself. She always loved that delightful combination of sunshine, trees, grass, mulch, animal, and, of course, fresh popcorn and ice cream from the various vendors. The Zoo was her happy place, and she’d been excited to go since the grand reopening had been announced.

I know people have objections to caging animals and putting them on display, she said, biting her lip before continuing. And I get their reasons, I really do. But then I come here, the Cape Coast Zoo, and feel all the excitement. I see the delight and wonder on the faces of all these kids, and I just--- Shelly stopped speaking for a moment and gestured around her.

I understand Shelly, and it is fine. I mean, it isn’t the Met, but it will do, Brandon replied.

There were plenty of adults walking the trail, but even more kids skipping along the path, stopping in front of attractions like the petting Zoo or lining up to ride the miniature Safari locomotive. One of her favorites! It was a twenty-minute ride across a fabricated Africa Savannah type terrain where lions and giraffes and other wildlife could be seen at a safe distance.

The Zoo also had a manmade rain forest exhibit that was a trail walking past lush rainforest botanicals and included an impressive aviary that was filled with the songs and squawks of brightly colored tropical birds. Her date seemed confused by her display of emotion, but she was willing to chalk it up to simple differences in experience.

Her inquisitive mind made learning new things a must in Shelly’s life. Not to mention her love for all things big and small in the animal kingdom. The world might not be perfect, but Shelly was smart enough to know she should stop and smell the roses while she could. In this case, that meant enjoying a sunny Spring day at the Cape Coast Zoo!

Deciding to share some with him, Shelly grabbed Brandon by the hand and tugged him forward. One of her favorite exhibits was the monkey attraction. A spacious, enclosed exhibition known as the Ape Palace that housed trees and ropes and swings and several species of primates including chimpanzees, gorillas, and others.

As they were standing there watching the antics of the primates, Shelly noticed a very tall, handsome man emerging from around the side of the attraction. She recognized the Chief zoologist Gabriel Ramos striding along a walkway to the side.

She’d only met him a few times, once at a Halloween fundraiser she’d covered at the end of the Season the previous year. She’d included him in her interview and found him both knowledgeable and intelligent. And he was certainly not hard on the eyes.

Wowza.

Her witchy senses hummed and buzzed whenever she was near him. Something she hadn’t really paid attention to before. But now that she was seeing him in his environment, there was definitely something extra about him.

Something elusive that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Even with all of her witchy instincts reacting, assuring her that she was not imagining it, Shelly was unable to discern that something indefinable, wild, and definitely sexy about the man.

He had thick wavy hair that was long on the top and shorter on the sides, and she’d noticed that sometimes he wore glasses. Underneath his white lab coat with the Cape Coast City Zoo logo emblazoned on the pocket, she could see his well-honed muscles bulging. She found herself fantasizing about how it might feel to be locked in those arms, secure in his embrace.

With all his broody good