Trust and Friendship - A Dreamed It Guest Post & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Baxley Powell to Cozy Up With Kathy today. You can find Bailey in the pages of the Dreamwalker Mystery series by Maggie Toussaint. DREAMED IT is the sixth book in the series and was released last week. 

Trust and Friendship

A character guest post by Baxley Powell in DREAMED IT by Maggie Toussaint

My name is Baxley Powell, and trust is important to me. I extend it readily to old friends and new friends, but if someone breaks trust with me, my instinct is to wipe the dust off my feet and move on. However, life paired me with people both trustworthy and liars, and I had to adjust my thinking.

Growing up in the Nesbitt family, I found most people avoided us. We were “those” people, the ones who wore hippy clothes and lived off the land, the ones that did mystical/magical/scary things out there in the woods. A few people weren’t put off by our differences. My parents had three close friends, and unexpectedly, I found true friendship with Charlotte Ambrose.

Charlotte never held my heritage against me, and I saw through the extra pounds she carried clear through to her big, caring heart. We stuck together through grade school and high school. Even when I married and moved away, she stayed in touch through calls and letters. Soon as I moved back home to Sinclair County, Ga., our friendship resumed as if I’d never left. I love her like a sister and trust her implicitly.

Sheriff Wayne Thompson employs me as a crime consultant. I’ve known him most of my life, and he is a chip off the old block when it comes to chasing women. However, he’s darn solid about police work and treats his staff fairly. I figured out right away that Wayne’s agenda is to promote Wayne, and as long as I honor that we have few problems. I trust him when it comes to work matters, but I don’t trust him outside of work.

Deputy Sam Mayes is a Native American I met on vacation in the mountains last year. He has a related psychic skill set, though our strengths are mostly complimentary. His friendship surprised me, as I wasn’t looking for a male friend, but we are good together. I’d trust Mayes with my life and have on several occasions.

And then there’s Rose. You may recall my Other World mentor named Rose. She came to my aid when my father went too far over the glass bridge on the Other Side. Daddy had gone in search of my missing husband. I begged Rose to find my father and she did, in exchange for an hour of my life. I thought nothing of that bargain or the next I made when Mom’s best friend’s appendix ruptured. Two hours of my life was nothing compared to the joy of having my inner circle intact. I also bartered another hour of my life away when Oliver, a ghost dog, inadvertently trapped me between worlds. An hour of my life seemed like a fair trade when I would’ve died without her help.

But…it worried me that Rose hadn’t collected on my debt. Would she use those three hours to commit crimes? When we first met, she claimed she was an angel working undercover for a demon. I took her at her word, but then, as our association grew, she wasn’t nice to me. In fact, once she roasted me over a fire like a rotisserie chicken! The soles of my feet hurt just thinking about it. Do I trust Rose? Not for a second, but we are bound by my indenture.

At the start of DREAMED IT, my latest case, Mayes and I awaken with no memory of where we’ve been or what we’ve done. My thoughts go to Rose as the culprit, but guess what? Rose is nowhere to be found, not in this world or the next.

I worry that something happened to her, and in an odd way, I miss her irritating, arrogant personality. But there’s no time to dwell on her absence, as Mayes and I are immediately plunged into a high profile homicide case.

For more of my latest adventure, check out DREAMED IT by Maggie Toussaint.

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Dreamed It (Dreamwalker Mystery) by Maggie Toussaint

About the Book

 

Dreamed It (Dreamwalker Mystery) 

Paranormal Cozy Mystery 6th in Series  

Camel Press (August 13, 2019) 

Paperback: 248 pages 

Justice for the dead and solace for the living is Baxley Powell’s creed, but she faces uncharted territory in this sixth book of the Dreamwalker Mystery Series. The Suitcase Killer has struck again, only this big city menace is now a problem for Baxley’s hometown. As that investigation heats up, a local woman is reported missing. The sheriff orders Baxley to work the missing person’s case.

Listening to the dead is familiar ground for Baxley but finding a missing young lady isn’t in her skill set. Besides, her dreams rarely follow a timeline. With the clock ticking, can this crime consultant discover a way to reach the living?

Her main source of help in the afterlife, a mentor named Rose, is unavailable. Instead, Baxley must rely on her wits and her Native American boyfriend, Deputy Sam Mayes, to find leads. Each shared dreamwalk and energy transfer binds them closer together, creating another issue. Mayes wants to marry Baxley but it isn’t that easy. They’re hampered by their community roles in opposite ends of the state.

Baxley juggles the pressure of two high-profile cases, a determined suitor, and expanding her limits. One thing is certain. Without her extrasensory sleuthing, the missing woman will die.

About Maggie Toussaint

Southern author Maggie Toussaint evolved into a mystery author after getting her feet damp in romantic suspense and dystopian fiction, with twenty fiction novels and two nonfiction novels to her credit. Her work won two Silver Falchions, the Readers’ Choice, and the EPIC Awards. She’s a past president of Southeast chapter of Mystery Writers of America and an officer of Lowcountry Sisters In Crime. She lives in coastal Georgia, where secrets, heritage, and ancient oaks cast long shadows. Visit her at https://maggietoussaint.com/

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