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Chapter 1: Minutes before yoga teacher Kate Davidson’s life changes forever.
I laid my body on the cool wood floor, covered up with a blanket, and prepared to die.
Metaphorically, that is.
Corpse
Pose’s ten-minute rest always soothed my stressed-out nerves, and for
once I didn’t feel guilty about the indulgence. My to-do list was blank,
Serenity Yoga’s phone was silent, and I had a whole blissful hour
between clients to do my favorite activity: practice yoga.
Even my eclectic Greenwood neighborhood seemed uncharacteristically quiet, lulled by
Seattle’s
rare afternoon sun. The residents of the apartments above the yoga
studio were off at their day jobs; the alcohol-addicted patrons of the
block’s two dive bars slept off their Jim Beam breakfasts; the soccer
moms shopping at next door’s upscale PhinneyWood Market purchased the
day’s supplies in unusual silence.
I
wiggled my toes under a Mexican blanket, covered my eyes with a blue
satin eye pillow, and inhaled deeply. The ooey-gooey smell of Mocha
Mia’s chocolate caramel cake wafted from across the street and filled my
nostrils with sweet toffee-scented bliss—my all-time favorite
aromatherapy.
Paradise. Simply paradise.
I released my weight into the earth and silently coached myself, exactly as I would one of my students. OK, Kate. Feel your body relax. Notice the random fluctuations of your mind and—
A
vicious snarl ripped through the silence, startling me out of my
catnap. I sat straight up, eye pillow falling to the floor with an
undignified thump.
What the heck?
When had a dog fighting ring moved into the neighborhood?
A
dog fight was the only plausible explanation for the commotion outside.
Bursts of deep, frantic barking were followed by high-pitched yelping,
all punctuated by the peace-shattering sounds of angry yelling. The
phrases I could make out confirmed my suspicions. This had to be a dog
fight, albeit one-sided.
“Control your dog!”
“Get that vicious beast out of here!”
And even a simple, “What the hell?”
I
closed the door between the yoga room and the studio’s lobby, hoping to
block out the intrusive sounds. Snarls, shouts, and an occasional
ear-piercing shriek continued to reverberate right through the wall.
Undaunted,
I imagined that the sounds were merely clouds floating across my mental
horizon. Most of those clouds were dark and ominous, like the deep
thunderclouds preceding a hailstorm. But every so often I heard a soft
voice, more like the fluffy clouds of childhood summers. I couldn’t
quite make out his words, but I could tell that the speaker was a man.
From his tone, I assumed he was trying to calm beasts both human and
animal.
It wasn’t working.
Neither, for that matter, was my attempted meditation.
I’d obviously have to shift tactics.
I
tried drowning out the clamor with low, soft chanting. Then I increased
the volume. But even as I belted out Om Santi, my favorite mantra for
peace, I felt my jaw start to tighten.
My fingernails bit deeply into my palms. My shoulders crept up to my ears.
An entirely different mantra began pounding through my head: Don’t get me angry; you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.
About Murder Strikes a Pose:
Seattle
yoga instructor Kate Davidson has unusually tight hamstrings encased in
Miss Piggy-like thighs, and she often acts more like a champion
fighting rooster than the Dalai Lama. When she’s not teaching yoga, she
spends her time hiding from her creepy landlord and dodging her best
friend’s relentless matchmaking attempts. Even though her father was a
cop, Kate has zero crime fighting aspirations. She has enough trouble
keeping her struggling yoga business afloat while trying to live up to
yoga’s Zen-like expectations.
Then she stumbles over a body in the studio’s parking lot.
The
police dismiss the murder as drug-related street crime, but Kate knows
that George—a homeless alcoholic she had befriended—was no drug dealer.
And if the police won’t take his murder seriously, she’ll just have to
solve the crime herself. After all, “Drunk Dies in Drug Deal Gone Bad at
Yoga Studio” isn’t exactly the free publicity she’s been hoping for.
Kate
stretches herself and takes on two new challenges. First, solve
George’s murder. Second, find someone—anyone—willing to adopt his
intimidating, horse-sized German shepherd, Bella, before Animal Control
sends her to the big dog park in the sky.
But
with Bella’s time almost up and the murderer hot on her trail, Kate
will have to work fast. Or the next time she practices Corpse Pose, it
may be for real.
"Weber's
debut, which launches the Downward Dog series, should appeal to anyone
who likes canines, yoga, and a determined sleuth. ... Cozy fans will
eagerly await the next installment."
Publishers Weekly
"What
a treat! A charming heroine, a cantankerous pooch, and a clever
page-turner of a mystery make for delightfully original entertainment.
You don't need to love yoga to love this series--its good karma makes it
an instant winner."
Hank Phillippi Ryan
THE WRONG GIRL (Forge)
THE WRONG GIRL (Forge)
