Marva Dale is the pen name for author Debra McReynolds.  Retired from the public relations field, Debra now spends her free time indulging in her passion for writing.  "I used to fill my school notebooks with stories," Debra relates, "and then add artwork to go along with them.  My second grade teacher, Mrs. Daley, predicted that I would be a writer one day."
A fan of the mystery genre, she enjoys crafting tales with a twist of suspense, a touch of romance, and a bit of humor. 
Debra and her husband, Dale, make their home in El Paso, Texas, with their dog, cats and rabbits.

Sexy, black lawyer, Liberty Sloane is asked to defend a deaf public relations executive accused of killing a well-known physician. Dr. Daniel Baumgard, known for his philanthropy, just opened a new shelter for abused women, although he also ran a women’s healthcare clinic that offers abortions. Madeline Kime promoted the doctor’s endeavors through her PR agency while harboring deep secrets concerning the Baumgard family, including the doctor’s son, Rhett, a congressman, and his socialite wife, Savannah. So who hated the doctor enough to stab him in the foyer of his own home? Liberty has a number of suspects on her list, including a pro-life group, not to mention the additional crimes of stolen clinic files and a blackmail scheme. To complicate matters, she has to fend off the advances of one-time boyfriend Preston Durrell, a private detective, while entertaining a new romance with the officer on the case, Sergeant Byron Keats. Worse, Liberty planned a Caribbean vacation with her BFFs, but has to postpone it in order to defend her client for murder one.

Not at Liberty

Everything had gone as planned, simple yet stately, a funeral fit for a king.For many people who knew the doctor, Daniel Baumgard deserved the title, even though in life he wore his crown of achievements with an air of humility.Now it was time to shed some of the formality and memorialize the doctor as a man who turned his big dreams into a philanthropic legacy.A few mourners who attended the funeral barely knew Daniel Baumgard but professed they knew him well enough to add their opinions and memories.After the funeral, the crowd converged on the Rhett and Savannah Baumgard mansion where a lavish buffet and an open bar awaited them. The downstairs rooms soon filled with both somber talk and drink-infused laughter.


For Maddy Kime the memorial get-together offered an opportunity of a different sort.It gave her and her lover time to slip away from the crowd and find a secluded place upstairs.When he led her into the master bedroom, he shut and locked the door behind them.


Chapter 33