A Fatal Stain — Sarah A. Hoyt

TABLE FOR HOMICIDESome antiques have history. This one has a body count.When furniture refinisher Dyce Dare picks up a bargain table at a garage sale, she expects the usual suspects: water rings, cheap veneer, and questionable taste in stain colors. What she doesn't expect? Human blood hiding beneath layers of amateur polyurethane.Now Dyce has questions. Inconvenient, potentially life-threatening questions. Whose blood decorated this dining set? Is the previous owner currently occupying a grave or just really bad at DIY first aid? And most pressingly-does the person responsible know she's discovered their crimson calling card?With her wedding to Cas Wolfe on the horizon, her son E insisting his imaginary llama named Ccelly can solve the case, and her friend Ben offering help that mostly involves creating more problems, Dyce's plate is already full. But when strange incidents suggest someone is watching her workshop, she realizes she needs to find both victim and killer before she becomes the next stain on someone's furniture.A Fatal Stain - Sometimes what's under the surface is murder.(Note: No actual llamas were consulted during this investigation. Ccelly tried, but let's be honest-imaginary camelids make terrible detectives.)Originally Published by Prime Crime