An Early Death: A Right Royal Cozy Investigation Prequel

AN EARLY DEATH A RIGHT ROYAL COZY INVESTIGATION PREQUEL HELEN GOLDEN CONTENTS Books by Helen Golden Note from the Author Introduction 1. 10:30 pm, Tuesday 3 January 2. Two weeks earlier. Evening, Sunday 18 December 3. Meanwhile. Evening, Sunday 18 December 4. Early morning, Friday 23 December 5. Lunchtime, Friday 23 December 6. Midday, Saturday 24 December 7. Evening, Sunday 25 December 8. Late evening, Saturday 31 December 9. Meanwhile, Saturday 31 December 10. Mid-afternoon, Sunday 1 January 11. Late afternoon, Tuesday 3 January 12. 12:30 am, Wednesday 4 January 13. 3:30 am, Wednesday 4 January 14. 6:55 am, Wednesday 4 January 15. Mid-morning, Wednesday 4 January 16. Mid-morning, Wednesday 4 January 17. Midday, Wednesday 4 January 18. Also mid-day, Wednesday 4 January 19. Late afternoon, Wednesday 4 January 20. 8:00 am, Thursday 5 January 21. 8:35 am, Thursday 5 January 22. 8:45 am, Thursday 5 January 23. Morning, Thursday 5 January 24. Also morning, Thursday 5 January 25. About the same time, Thursday 5 January 26. 10:02 am, Thursday 5 January 27. Shorty after, Thursday 5 January 28. Meanwhile, still morning, Thursday 5 January 29. Late-afternoon, Thursday 5 January 30. Early evening, Thursday 5 January 31. Late evening, Thursday 5 January 32. Mid-Morning, Friday 6 January 33. Late-Morning, Friday 6 January 34. Mid-afternoon, Saturday 7 January 35. First thing, Sunday 8 January 36. Later afternoon, Sunday 8 January 37. Early evening, Sunday 8 January 38. Morning, Tuesday 10 January 39. Twenty minutes later, Tuesday 10 January 40. Evening, Tuesday 10 January 41. Morning, Monday 30 January 42. Late afternoon, Tuesday 7 February Nine years later… A Big Thank You To… Characters In Order Of Appearance Also by Helen Golden Also by Helen Golden Also by Helen Golden Also by Helen Golden BOOKS BY HELEN GOLDEN A Right Royal Cozy Investigation Series Tick, Tock, Mystery Clock Spruced Up For Murder For Richer, For Deader Not Mushroom For Death An Early Death COPYRIGHT This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental. Copyright © 2022 by Helen Golden. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photography, recording or any information storage or retrieval system or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. The moral right of the author has been asserted. ISBN (E) 978-1-915747-05-1 Edited by Marina Grout at Writing Evolution Published by Drew Bradley Press Cover by Helen Drew-Bradley First edition January 2023 DEDICATION To my friend Steve. Thank you for your friendship for all of these years. Thank you for listening to me when I try to fix things for you. Thank you for being my stately-home-visiting buddy. Thank you for being so supportive of my writing dreams. Sorry CID Steve didn’t make it into this one. But one day he’ll play a bigger role… NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR I am a British author and this book has been written using British English. So if you are from somewhere other than the UK, you may find some words spelt differently to how you would spell them. In most cases this is British English, not a spelling mistake. We also have different punctuation rules in the UK. However if you find any other errors I would be grateful if you would please contact me [email protected] and let me know so I can correct them. Thank you. For your reference I have included a list of characters in the order they appear and you can find this at the back of the book. INTRODUCTION An Early Death takes place fourteen years before Spruced Up For Murder, the first in the A Right Royal Cozy Investigation (ARRCI) series. It covers the investigation into the death of James Wiltshire, the Earl of Rossex, and introduces Lady Beatrice, the Countess of Rossex (as a grieving widow), Perry Juke (as a nineteen-year-old tour guide), Simon Lattimore (working for Fenshire CID at the time) and Richard Fitzwilliam (only recently arrived at the Protection and Investigation (Royal) Services, PaIRS for short, and on secondment to the investigation team). At the time this book takes place, the king is Lady Beatrice’s grandfather, His Royal Highness King Henry. I have released this edition after Not Mushroom For Death as I feel that is the best time to read this prequel. However, you can read it any time during the series, although I would recommend you read it before I Spy With My Little Die if possible. Please note that this novel is not intended to be read as a standalone book but as part of the ARRCI series. 1 10:30 PM, TUESDAY 3 JANUARY James Wiltshire, the Earl of Rossex and heir to the Earldom of Durrland, raced his beloved Audi RS4 through the winding country roads of Fenshire, the headlights picking out an occasional glimpse of trees and hedgerows in the otherwise pitch darkness. He loved hearing her roaring engine and feeling the smooth, yet powerful pulling force. Even though he’d had her for just over six months, he’d yet to tire of the exhilarating drive, and as he didn’t get to drive her very often, he was making the most of the quiet lanes to open her up. As he approached a sharp left-hand bend, he eased his foot off the accelerator pedal — then slammed it on the brake as he rounded the corner. In front of him were a dozen large black shapes blocking the road. He clung to the steering wheel, about to turn it hard right to avoid them, when the herd of deer all pivoted and ran right, leaping into the woods. Skidding to a halt, the car stopped just beyond where the deer had been standing only seconds before. Blimey, that was close! Slowly