Join me in welcoming Sherrie Todd Beshore to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, Fine Points Malice and Payback.

Fine Points Malice and Payback by Sherrie Todd Beshore presents a layered look at intersecting cold cases, rising departmental pressure, and a detective’s private search for identity.

Through a tense Tucson backdrop, the story follows how a pattern of murders emerges just as personal questions long buried begin to rise to the surface.

Rookie Detective Andrew Coates identifies striking links among three long-stalled murder cases, a discovery that unexpectedly places him at the center of a fresh homicide investigation.

When a fourth victim is found under similarly disturbing circumstances, Andrew is tasked with pulling together threads that refuse to align neatly. His work takes on new urgency when a fifth victim survives, offering the first sliver of a lead—and an emotional complication involving the victim’s sister.

While sorting through interviews, evidence gaps, and shifting motives, Andrew must also face the unresolved mystery of his own beginnings. Abandoned as an infant and raised in foster care, he finds that the search for answers professionally mirrors the questions he’s avoided personally. In a case where every detail matters, the collision of past and present shapes the path forward.

Sherrie Todd Beshore has shared an extract from Fine Points Malice and Payback with us today. 

*****beginning of extract*****

CHAPTER 4

Hospital security towed Detective Coates’ Bronco.

From the hospital emergency parking lot he was able to flag down a patrol car for a ride back to the Stone Avenue police station. As tempted as he was to take the wise advice of Dr. Lopez, he felt compelled to keep going.

Now was the time to interview Rosa Chavez’s landlord, her neighbors, friends, co-workers, and family even though the shock was still like an open wound.

Continue reading →

by