Death of the Swami Schwartz (A Kate Kennedy Mystery Book 2)

Praise for Noreen Wald

THE KATE KENNEDY MYSTERIES

“Sparkles like the South Florida sunshine...Kate Kennedy is a warm and funny heroine.”

– Nancy Martin, Author of the Blackbird Sisters Mysteries

“Miss Marple with a modern twist...[Wald] is a very funny lady!”

– Donna Andrews, Author of the Meg Langslow Mysteries

“A stylish and sophisticated Miss Marple, seeking justice in sunny South Florida instead of a rainy English Village, and meeting the most delightfully eccentric suspects in the process.”

– Victoria Thompson, Author of the Gaslight Mysteries

“Kate Kennedy’s wry wit, genuine kindness, and openness to adventure make her a sleuth to cherish.
Death is a Bargain
is another top-notch entry in a great series.”

– Carolyn Hart, Author of the Death on Demand Mysteries

THE JAKE O’HARA MYSTERIES

“Murders multiply, but Jake proves up to the challenge. She sees through all the subterfuge and chicanery, solving a mind-boggling mystery in a burst of insight. All the characters are charmingly kooky and fun…a good beginning for a new series.”

–
TheMysteryReader.com

“[Wald] writes with a light touch.”

–
New York Daily News

“The author keeps the plot airy and the characters outlandish.”

– South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Mysteries by Noreen Wald

The Kate Kennedy Series

DEATH WITH AN OCEAN VIEW (#1)

DEATH OF THE SWAMI SCHWARTZ (#2)

DEATH IS A BARGAIN (#3)

DEATH STORMS THE SHORE (#4)

DEATH RIDES THE SURF (#5)

The Jake O’Hara Series

GHOSTWRITER ANONYMOUS (#1)

THE LUCK OF THE GHOSTWRITER (#2)

A GHOSTWRITER TO DIE FOR (#3)

REMEMBRANCE OF GHOSTWRITERS PAST (#4)

GHOSTWRITER FOR HIRE (#5)

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Copyright

DEATH OF THE SWAMI SCHWARTZ

A Kate Kennedy Mystery

Part of the Henery Press Mystery Collection

Second Edition | March 2016

Henery Press, LLC

www.henerypress.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including internet usage, without written permission from Henery Press, LLC, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Copyright © 2016 by Noreen Wald

Author photograph by Matthew Holler

This is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Trade Paperback ISBN-13: 978-1-943390-89-2

Digital epub ISBN-13: 978-1-943390-90-8

Kindle ISBN-13: 978-1-943390-91-5

Hardcover ISBN-13: 978-1-943390-92-2

Printed in the United States of America

Dedication

To Peggy Hanson and Cordelia Benedict,

with thanks

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

Many thanks to Pat Sanders who read, edited, and critiqued as I wrote. And to my other Sunday walking pal. Dr. Diane Shrier, for answering my medical questions. Any wrong diagnosis is mine, not Diane’s.

I am so grateful to the Rector Lane Irregulars: Donna Andrews, Carla Coupe, Ellen Crosby, Peggy Hanson, Valerie Patterson, Laura Weatherly, and Sandi Wilson.

I thank Susan Kavanagh for listening to my writing woes and cheering my small successes.

IN SOUTH FLORIDA

I couldn’t have researched this book without Gloria and Paul Stuart who keep my room ready in their beautiful Boca Raton home, and keep me in a South Florida state of mind.

Thanks to Diane and Dave Dufour for fifteen years of friendship and support.

And thanks to Joyce Sweeney, my writing workshop teacher and mentor.

IN NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY

Thanks to Professor Tom Johnson for his medical knowledge and amusing, on-target observations.

Thanks to Doris Holland, my dear friend for over forty years, and Billy Reckdenwald, my dear son for over forty years.

And many thanks to my agent, Peter Rubie.

Thanks to the Henery Press team for putting new life into Jake and Kate. A special thanks to my lead editor, Rachel Jackson. The new covers designed by Kendel Lynn are great.

One

“If I
subtract
ten years and thirty pounds, do you think I’ll hear from a few good men?”

Marlene pushed her airbrushed glamour shots toward Kate for her scrutiny. The best would be posted on LastRomance.com, an online dating site for seniors.

Kate answered her former sister-in-law gingerly. “You might get more responses, but if you lie about your age and weight, what happens when you meet Mr. Right in person?”

Marlene laughed, that raucous, infectious laughter that Kate had enjoyed for almost sixty years. Ballou, Kate’s West Highland Terrier, nestled against Marlene’s left ankle.

They were sitting on Kate’s balcony, watching surfers struggle in a rough-for-South-Florida sea and creating a brief biography to accompany Marlene’s picture.

The warm winter wind seemed to temper the mid-morning sun’s rays, but Kate, so fair-skinned she burned, peeled, and freckled in a matter of minutes, had swathed her face and arms in SPF 40 sunscreen and plopped a huge straw hat over her short silver hair. Old gray sweatpants covered her long legs.

Marlene wore a red and orange print tankini, its matching chiffon caftan crumpled up on a nearby chaise, her tanned-to-whole-wheat-toast body begging for more.

“You think the guys aren’t lying too?” Marlene spread light strawberry cream cheese on a poppy seed bagel.

Kate’s eyes followed the trail of tiny black seeds as they slithered down to the floor, leaving miniature polka dots on the ivory tile. She’d earned her “June Cleaver” nickname the hard way: Terminal Tidiness. But as she’d done so often during decades of marriage and motherhood, she bit her tongue. She’d mop the tile after Marlene left.

“Mary Frances had a lively email exchange with a ‘sixty-three-year-old’ who bragged about what great shape he was in, then turned out to be over ninety and on a walker.” Marlene sipped her tea, frowned, then added another spoonful of sugar.

Since Mary Frances Costello, their Ocean Vista condo neighbor and an ex-nun, was the reigning Broward County Tango Champion, Kate knew that guy would never have been a match for her.

While Marlene pecked at her laptop’s keyboard, Kate, too recently widowed to have any interest in romance, stood and stretched. Her classes at the Palmetto Beach Yoga Institute, complete with meditation techniques, were keeping her mind occupied and her body flexible—she was almost ready to solo on a headstand. Kate’s attempts to master that position while her instructor or another student held her legs up straight had been exhilarating.

Tonight the institute’s founder, Yogi Swami Schwartz, would be honored by the board of directors at Mancini’s, Kate’s favorite Italian restaurant. Her late husband, Charlie, had loved their baked ziti, saying it was every bit as good as Angelo’s in Little Italy. Kate had been invited to the party as board member Mary Frances’ guest and was looking forward to toasting Swami with champagne. Or maybe not…the yogi probably didn’t drink.

Kate smiled as she pictured Swami—the man who had changed her life—then easily reached and touched her toes ten times and sat down.

“The Last Romance passion prompt is asking me to pick the category that best describes my body type.”

Appraising Marlene, most certainly overweight but with remnants of a former Olympic swimmer’s body, still rather firm and strong, Kate weighed her answer. “What are the choices?”

“Slim. Toned and Terrific. Athletic. Pleasingly Plump. Starting a Diet Today.”

Feeling like Solomon, Kate nodded. “Well…can you select more than one?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Marlene groaned, then shrugged. “Which ones?”

“Athletic and Pleasingly Plump. You’re an appealing combination of those two categories.”

Marlene grinned and swung around to her keyboard, causing Ballou to yelp indignantly. “Kate, say that again, slowly. You’re talking faster than I can type.”