Hi! I’m Izzy. I’m a 40-year-old widow who just went on this crazy adventure revolving around my grandma’s death. If you haven’t yet read my story in Murder, Mystery & Dating Mayhem then I won’t spoil the fun by telling you what happens. But I may be tempted to give you a couple clues, just because I’m an awesome investigator now. That’s my boyfriend Noel snorting in the background. Just ignore him.

So what’s my life like when I’m not running around having fun-filled yet frustrating adventures? I’m a freelance graphic designer so no two days look alike for me. Because I’m a freelancer and I still have to pay my mortgage and fuel my Ben & Jerry’s addiction, I need to take all the assignments that come my way. This means that I’m sometimes working around the clock and at other times have nothing to do.

When I don’t have any graphic design projects, I’ll often help my BFF Jack out at his store. Jack has a clothing store downtown, which is unique as unique can get. He and his business partner (an ex-boyfriend – how the two of them manage to work together is beyond me) started up a clothing store for cross-dressers. Then one day a tall woman stepped into the store and went bananas because she could finally find clothes that fit.

The guys decided to expand their store from clothes for only cross-dressers to clothes for cross-dressers and women who have difficult sizes from the overly tall to the overly curvy. The store took off like no-one’s business. Women come from all over Oklahoma to have a look. The guys have even been approached by investors asking them to consider starting up a chain. They’re not interested. They have a lot of fun with the store and make good money. What would I do with more money is how Jack tends to respond to the potential investors. I secretly think he’s just lazy because I could totally help him with the too much money problem.

There’s not a lot to be done for fun and excitement in a small town in Oklahoma, which means that Jack and I usually spend our evenings together watching movies and drinking wine. He has no qualms whatsoever about watching romantic comedies. I actually think he likes them more than I do.

Jack and I used to spend a lot of time with my grandma as well. We’d have lunch nearly every weekend together; followed by a drive out in the country, which was anything but leisurely. My grandma was a total speed addict. Gosh I miss that woman! Luckily, grandma’s friends are still around. They come over once a month to sit on the porch and pretend to knit. Mostly they gossip and drink adult lemonade like it’s going out of style.

Oh and I have a boyfriend now. I didn’t forget him, really I didn’t, but I’m still surprised that a man like Noel could be interested in a girl like me. It’s not like I’m ugly or anything, but I may be just a tiny bit klutzy and also have trouble keeping my mouth shut when there is a slight possibility that maybe I should have just kept it shut.

I started volunteering with this local environmental group as well. Except for what I learned about conservation during my recent adventures, I know next to nothing about the environment, so I usually stick to what I do know – graphic design. When I first met the group, they kinda freaked me out with how nice and enthusiastic they were. In the meantime I’ve grown to like the volunteers, although I still won’t be hugging any of them.

So that’s it. That’s a day in the life of Izzy Archer – when things are calm at least. It looks like things might be getting interesting again though. Jack is worried about some problems at the store and the members of the gray-haired lady gang are already stretching their Jessica Fletcher muscles. I can’t wait!

About D.E. Haggerty

I was born and raised in Wisconsin, but think I’m a European. After spending my senior year of high school in Germany, I developed a bad case of wanderlust that is yet to be cured. My flying Dutch husband and I have lived in Ohio, Virginia, the Netherlands, Germany and now Istanbul. We still haven’t decided if we want to settle down somewhere – let alone where. Although I’ve been a military policewoman, a commercial lawyer, and a B&B owner, I think with writing I may have finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up. That’s assuming I ever grow up, of course. Between tennis, running, traveling, singing off tune, drinking entirely too many adult beverages, and reading books like they are going out of style, I write articles for a local expat magazine and various websites, review other indie authors’ books, write a blog about whatever comes to mind and am working on my fifth book.

About Murder, Mystery, & Dating Mayhem

My name is Izzy. I drink too much, am clumsier than a newborn foal, and my brain-to-mouth filter often malfunctions. My daredevil husband killed himself in a parachuting accident five years ago and my best friend Jack has decided it’s time I jump back in the dating pool. He’s perfectly happy to throw me in if I don’t listen. Just when things in the dating world start to heat up, my grandma dies. Only her knitting group of Jessica Fletcher wannabes is sure it’s murder. I’m not convinced but I’m always up for a bit of excitement as long as it doesn’t lead to a night in jail. Well, more than one night anyway. Will I miss my chance at love because I’m chasing imaginary killers? Did someone really kill grandma or am I and my merry band of geriatric thieves imagining things?

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