Title	A Deadly Deception
Author	J.P. Bowie
ISBN#	978-1-60820-144-0 (print) $14.99
	978-1-60820-145-7 (ebook) $6.99
Release Date	July 2010
Cover Artist	Deana C. Jamroz
Paperback:	300 pages
Available At:	MlrBooks (ebook)

Some things are not always what they appear to be. So Nick Fallon discovers when he is hired to investigate the death of a young man whose body is found buried in a wooded canyon area of Los Angeles. Not that he’s surprised. After ten years in law enforcement, Nick is pretty much used to the unexpected. However, he soon becomes frustrated by the bizarre behavior of his client, John Hammond, and the apparent indiscretion of his business partner, Jeff Stevens.

Nick’s investigation leads him to a gay bar in LA, and from there to the still recovering city of New Orleans where he finds what appear to be the answers to the mystery. But what he has unraveled is only a small part of the truth. What remains is even more terrible—a trap, where the price of pleasure is death.

Along the way, Nick is reminded of the often-high cost of friendship, and that trust and honesty are essential elements in any relationship—be it friend, or lover.

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Chapter One

Nick Fallon looked up from the paperwork he was working on when his partner Jeff Stevens strode into the office they shared. He grinned as Jeff flung himself into his chair, glaring moodily across the office at him, his handsome face unusually glum.
“Bad start to the day?” Nick asked.
“You could say that. Don’t ever live with an artist!”
“Oh, oh.” Nick leaned his long frame back in his chair, and waited.
“Now he wants to open a gallery in San Diego,” Jeff growled. “Like the one here in town isn’t enough to keep him busy, night and day.”
“San Diego, that’s not so far.”
“Nick, Peter and I hardly see each other anymore as it is.” Jeff gave his chestnut brown hair an impatient swipe. “What with his schedule and mine, it seems like every hour of every day is filled with stuff that keeps us away from each other. You have it easy. Eric has regular hours at the gallery. He’s at home every night when you get there’s candles lit, cocktails poured, dinner in the oven. Don’t deny it.”
“I’m not denying…”
“But me,” Jeff continued to rant, “I get home to a dark and empty house and maybe, just maybe, there’s a note saying something to the effect that he’s in conference or got a sitting, or…”
“Well, he’s a successful…”
“Or, he’s having dinner with some high-powered business people that want him to design a mural for their fucking office.”
“You should be proud of…”
“And that’s not all. The other night–get this, he told me he might go to Europe for three months!”
“What for?”
“Some school in Paris wants him to coach their more gifted students.”
“But surely that’s quite an honor, Jeff. You should be proud of him, buddy.”
“I am proud of him!” Jeff slumped back in his chair with a heavy sigh. “I’m behaving badly, aren’t I?”
Nick nodded. “Yeah, something like that.”
“Well, don’t be so quick to agree, partner mine. You won’t like it when he asks Eric to manage the gallery in San Diego.”
“He’s going to do that?”
“Of course he is. You know he thinks the world of Eric’s management skills. Never stops telling me what a great choice he made in hiring your sweetie.”
“Well, San Diego’s hardly at the ends of the earth.”
“Yeah, but he’s going to be driving back and forth till they get it up and running,” Jeff told him. “And then,” he added with a degree of triumph, “He won’t be at home ready with your pipe and slippers!”
“I don’t smoke a pipe.” (continue reading)