Nine Ways to Die

Praise for Nine Ways to Die“Kate Hallock has written, in Nine Ways to Die, an old-fashioned, who-done-it novel. A murder mystery, a sex trafficking ring, a ticking clock on saving a kidnapped girl, and an Enneagram subplot to entice and entertain would-be sleuths all combine to make for a great read and a satisfying ending with a twist. Nine Ways to Die is good fun and impossible to put down. A well-told story with dysfunctional family dynamics from hell. Buy this book, but don’t put it on your bedside table, unless you don’t mind reading all night.”—Randy Sanders, Author of Mighty Peculiar Elections: New South Gubernatorial Campaigns of 1970 and the Changing Politics of Race“I loved reading Nine Ways to Die, a combo thriller/locked-door mystery—so clever! It is a fun puzzle for the readers to figure out. I loved making an Enneagram attempt and getting a response with the correct answer, causing me to analyze my understanding of each number.” —Michelle Krueger, SWContent“What sets the Enneagram apart from other personality tools is that it identifies someone’s core motivation. It provides insight into the ‘why’ behind the ‘what.’ In Kate Hallock’s Nine Ways to Die, she cleverly depicts the motivations of all nine types in a way that captures the importance of motivational differences and the impact they have on one’s actions. Whether you’re an Enneagram enthusiast or just like a good mystery, Nine Ways to Die is a fun read that keeps you intrigued and allows you to explore different personalities with an interesting and fun approach!”—Hilarie Kay, Enneagram Coach, Trainer, and Author of Unlock Your Potential at Work: A Beginner’s Guide to Using the Enneagram“Kate Hallock’s murder mystery, Nine Ways to Die, is one of those novels that begs to be read in one sitting. The author’s overlay of an Enneagram puzzle onto a traditional murder mystery is imaginative and wonderfully engaging. Who is which Enneagram personality type? Who is the killer? Through action and dialogue, characters reveal their essential natures and at one time or other each person seems to be the possible murderer. Twists in the narrative lead the reader to false conclusions up until the final reveal—a final reveal that unlocks whole new insights into most of the characters.”—R. Barbara Gitenstein, President Emerita, The College of New Jersey, Author of Experience is the Angled Road: Memoir of an Academic“Kate Hallock’s Nine Ways to Die: An Enneagram Murder Mystery is reminiscent of a good ole Agatha Christie novel where there is a dead body, and everyone present in a large, stately home has a motive. It is a fun whodunit that keeps you guessing as you quickly turn the pages. Hallock addresses a real problem—human trafficking—with knowledge and concern but adds twists and turns. This literary mind got lost in the Nine Ways to Die: An Enneagram Murder Mysteryby Kate Hallock© Copyright 2023 Kate HallockISBN 978-1-64663-965-6All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior written permission of the author.This is a work of fiction. All the characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The names, incidents, dialogue, and opinions expressed are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.Published by3705 Shore DriveVirginia Beach, VA 23455800-435-4811www.koehlerbooks.com To Adam AUTHOR’S NOTEDear Reader,Before you dive in, I’d like to address the Enneagram in the room. That is to say, the Enneagram in the book. For those unfamiliar with the term, an Enneagram is a geometric figure with nine points, each classifying a personality type. In Nine Ways to Die, you will come across nine suspects, each a different number on the Enneagram. It is your job to figure out which suspect is which number on the Enneagram. The characters are listed in the back of the book with room to keep notes to SATURDAY MORNINGMICHAEL HIGGINSIt was the first sunrise in sixty-one years in which the heart of Michael Higgins did not beat. Not that he ever paid attention to sunrises or other things of such frivolity. Michael Higgins was a businessman, the cold, hard, driven type, consumed more with the nuances of his various companies’ stock price openings than of the colors in the rising sun outside his window. On the Saturday morning after his son’s twenty-fifth birthday party, Michael’s cold blank eyes reflected the pink, wispy clouds of a cotton candy sunrise as his