Cinderella and the Vampire // Cinderella and the Wolf — J. Lee Taylor

Cinderella and the Vampire, A Cindy Nesbit MysteryHow could Mr. Straight Arrow Harvard MBA financial wizard Ty Rhodes be mixed up with vampires? When he disappears, his worried sister contacts Finders Inc. owner Cindy Nesbit. Cindy doesn't believe in vampires but for her best friend and ex-college roommate, she reluctantly agrees to locate the missing brother, Ty, the man who took Cindy's virginity and never called again.Cindy doesn't consider herself an amateur sleuth - she is a professional who locates deadbeat dads, missing birth and death certificates and lost dogs. Vertically challenged with an overcompensating attitude, Cindy follows Ty's trail to north central California and a rustic Club Med for vampire wannabes.Ty appears to be best friend and confidant to Devlin, head vampire and real estate entrepreneur. Or con man? When Cindy is nearly run off the road and later finds a rattlesnake in her bed, she wonders if Ty is involved in the attempts to scare her off, or does he have his own agenda? Is he still the man she used to love? She finds the answers at the bottom of a mine shaft, facing the wrong end of a gun. Cinderella and the Wolf, A Cindy Nesbit MysteryDogs are disappearing the week before the San Francisco Dog Show. Cindy Nesbit, hired by Ch. Monarch Rusty Rustler's owner for added protection, discovers an attitude problem - Dane Wolf, the golden retriever's handler - who doesn't want help from some outside security expert, but the owner prevails. When the dognappers attempt to steal Rusty, Cindy senses something about the scenario isn't right but can't figure what it is. As different breeds continue to disappear, no ransom notes are received. What's the motive? During the next theft, an owner is killed. Death, accidental or otherwise have increased the stakes; the dognappers have nothing to lose. Cindy and Wolf combine forces to find the stolen dogs and the killers. A disreputable kennel owned by a shady handler goes to the top of Cindy's suspect list, but when she visits the kennel at night, her snooping ends in disaster: she has found the missing dogs, but is caught and imprisoned in a dog crate. After a phone call to the boss, her captor leaves to collect a fee for taking care of the little problem. Wolf arrives in time to release Cindy, the police are notified and the dogs are returned to their owners. Despite assurances that the police will catch the perpetrators, Cindy uses her computer skills to trace the phone number of the boss - who turns out to be Rusty's owner. As part of the plea bargain, Cindy convinces the courts to turn over custody of Rusty to Dane Wolf. A proud Cindy watches the pair win the big prize at Westminster in New York.