WATCH ME DIE (ERICA SPINDLER)

Mira Gallier is a stained glass artist making beautiful stained glass windows and panels. She knows how to mix colours well and produces the most brilliant or serene coloured pieces depending on what her client requests. One of her most beautiful pieces of work was the twelve glass panels that measured twelve feet by five feet that depicted a scene from the life of Christ on each panel. These were installed at Sisters of Mercy Catholic church.

Mira's husband Jeff, was killed during hurricane Katrina in New Orleans where they lived. It had been six years since Jeff's death but Mira still had a hard time coping and she was fighting a drug addiction to Xanax that helped her mask the pain of losing the love of her life.

Father Girod was near seventy-years-old and had been the long-time Priest of Sisters of Mercy Catholic church, but sadly, he was found lying dead, his head bashed in, at the front of the church. Who would have done such a thing? Along with a dead Priest, the police found the twelve stained glass panels desecrated with graffiti. Mira was almost sick when she heard the news about Father Girod and the damaged panels. As soon as the crime scene was re-opened, Mira and her assistants, Deni and Chris were allowed in to clean the panels. It was a gruelling task but a successful one after thirty-six hours of hard work!

After finishing up at the church, Mira and her assistants decided to stop at their favourite watering hole, The Corner Bar, for one drink before heading home for the night. On their way out of the bar Mira noticed a man huddled on the sidewalk, one of the city's many homeless. Mira felt sorry for him and gave him $20 dollars. The man started reciting bible verses telling Mira: "The Lord protects his Lambs." Mira agreed with him and made him promise he'd get something to eat with the money she'd given him.

The following day Mira was in her studio early getting ready to work on some stained glass pieces for a client when she heard someone moving through the retail area. Of course, she immediately thought it was her assistant Deni, and called out to her. She heard the pocket door slide open, turned and realized it wasn't Deni. It was the homeless man from the night before! He took a step toward her and she saw what looked like a knife and he was spewing terrible things about the bible. As she began to move away from him she realized he wasn't holding a knife but instead a long thin shard of glass. Suddenly, from outside they could hear voices, it was Deni and Chris. The man heard them too and in the next instant he lunged at her going for her throat. Mira screamed and his fingers, slippery with blood, clawed at her neck. She fell backwards into the worktable while the man was running toward the fire escape to get away. Mira was shaking when Deni and Chris reached her. Once on her feet she realized all the blood on her shirt and neck weren't hers, but that of the man's. He had cut his hands with the shard of glass. But, Mira did notice one thing, he had ripped from her neck the cloisonne cross necklace that Jeff had bought for her on their honeymoon in Portugal.

After thinking about the Priest being killed, the damaged stained glass panels and now the attack on Mira, she thought it perhaps might be the same person, namely, the homeless man. Mira immediately called the Detective in charge of the Priest's death.

It continues, one-by-one, the people in Mira's life are targeted, until it's clear that the killer has been saving her for last...and that there's nowhere left to run.

This is one unbelievable story!! Get ready to stay up all night with this heart-pounder. You won't be able to turn the pages fast enough.

July 3, 2011