Young Olivia travels to the Virgin Islands to settle affairs after receiving word her mother, a highly acclaimed photographer on St. Thomas, has perished in a boating accident, but island police have no record of her death or even the accident. Could her mother still be alive? Olivia desperately needs the truth, if she has to find it herself.
A bar brawl. A break-in and robbery. Her mother's Caribbean bungalow ransacked. Can things get any worse at picturesque Magens Bay? Olivia's search takes a sinister turn when a charming man, claiming to be her mother's lover, is murdered and she's the prime suspect.
Entangled in the same dark web of crime that may have ensnared her mother, Olivia is low on cash, high on mistrust, yet must rely on the ruggedly handsome stranger who seems to surface when she most needs saving, but is he her rescuer-turned-lover or her deadly foe?
"Penny Goetien uses the idyllic setting and island culture so effectively, the reader is tempted to savor ocean views from The Empty Chair, but don't pause too long-danger is never far away."
KATHRYN ORZECH, AUTHOR OF PREMONITION OF TERROR, A PARANORMAL THRILLER, AND ASYLUM, A DARK SUSPENSE SAGA.
National award-winning author Penny Goetjen writes murder mysteries where the milieus play as prominent a role as the engaging characters. A self-proclaimed eccentric known for writing late into the night, transfixed by the allure of flickering candlelight, Ms. Goetjen embraces the writing process, unaware what will confront her at the next turn. She rides the journey with her characters, often as surprised as her readers to see how the story unfolds. Fascinated with the paranormal, she usually weaves a subtle, unexpected twist into her stories. When her husband is asked how he feels about his wife writing murder mysteries, he answers with a wink, "I sleep with one eye open."
