The Tolling of Mercedes Bell

A Novel

Jennifer Dwight

• Publisher: She Writes Press
• eBook ISBN:
  9781631520716
• Year: 2016

"Full of surprises with impressive twists…” —Suspense Magazine
"The Tolling of Mercedes Bell is an unforgettable page-turner—a must read by all!” —San Francisco Book Review
Recently widowed and adapting to the challenges of single motherhood, Mercedes Bell is a paralegal at Crenshaw, Slayne & McDonough when she meets Jack Soutane, a dashing San Francisco lawyer who has recently begun leasing office space from the firm. It’s the 1980s. The crack epidemic, homelessness, and AIDS explode on the scene, Jack’s law practice booms—and the Crenshaw firm eagerly shares his bounty. Meanwhile, despite all the warning signs, Mercedes falls under Jack’s spell. When calamity strikes and Jack succumbs to his own dark surprise, Mercedes finds herself in a race to survive and to protect her daughter. In order to do so, she must make sense of wildly inconsistent information—and face the truths that emerge. Compelling and full of suspense, The Tolling of Mercedes Bell is a story about honesty in the face of deception, courage in the pursuit of happiness, and the unexpected places that quest can lead.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• One: A Kind of Tarot
• Two: The Pink Palace
• Three: The Fredericks Case
• Four: In the Company of Wolves
• Five: Captive Audience
• Six: Rand Taylor
• Seven: A Tisket, a Tasket
• Eight: Belvedere
• Nine: Hidden in Plain Sight
• Ten: One more Night
• Eleven: Coming to Terms
• Twelve: Feet in the Water
• Thirteen: Two Worlds
• Fourteen: Eleanor
• Fifteen: Sealed with a Kiss
• Sixteen: The Door Closes Behind
• Seventeen: Take me Down
• Eighteen: The Announcement
• Nineteen: Breaking the Code
• Twenty: Thief in the Night
• Twenty-One: Florence
• Twenty-Two: Fissures
• Twenty-Three: Getting Away
• Twenty-Four: Rain
• Twenty-Five: New Friends
• Twenty-Six: The New Regime
• Twenty-Seven: Epiphanies
• Twenty-Eight: Putting Two and Two Together
• Twenty-Nine: The New Math
• Thirty The: Mystery Theater
• Thirty-One: Unmasked
• Thirty-Two: The Dark Star Shineth
• Thirty-Three: War and Roses
• Thirty-Four: One Last Wish
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author