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Tammy Kaehler

"Kaehler's clear explanations of technical jargon make the racing world come alive. An engaging debut; I can't wait to see where Kate and the crew go next." —Library Journal

Aspiring race car driver Kate Reilly goes looking for a full-time ride in the American Le Mans Series—and stumbles over a dead driver. When she takes that driver's job just hours later, she also takes pole position on the list of suspects in his murder. Suddenly she's in the hot seat with little time to clear her name and get ready to race a Corvette at Lime Rock Park.

Amid suspicion, Kate buckles down, quickly getting to know the race car and team, bumping into plenty of suspects who might have committed murder. Clues fly at her as fast as the turns on the track, including a cryptic list of blackmail victims, unexplainable car performance at racing speed, a jealous husband with an adulterous wife, and drivers and crew who are openly happy her predecessor is dead. Kate finds exhilaration and hazards exist on- and off-track as she throttles up both the Corvette's V8 and a murder investigation.

The green-flag countdown ticks away, and Kate must decide who she can trust to help probe alibis, untangle rumors of team breakups and personal betrayals, and determine whose drive to win also constitutes a willingness to kill. Because what's at stake in Kate's race to the truth is her career … only by uncovering a murderer can Kate restore her reputation and prove she belongs in the racing world.

Kate Reilly Mysteries:

Dead Man's Switch (Book 1)

Braking Points (Book 2)

Avoidable Contact (Book 3)

Red Flags (Book 4)

Kiss the Bricks (Book 5)

Praise for the Kate Reilly Mysteries:

"Read this book—but buckle in first. Believe me, you're in for a bumpy ride." —WILLIAM KENT KRUEGER, New York Times bestselling author for Braking Points

"This series always leaves me wanting more, so I cannot wait to keep reading and see what's next on the horizon for my fellow female racing driver!" —PIPPA MANN, IndyCar driver for Avoidable Contact

"As usual, Kaehler combines a credible group of suspects with some detailed racing lore. Even readers who don't care about cars may well be hooked by the feminist angle." —Kirkus Reviews for Kiss the Bricks

Poisoned Pen Press

Kate Reilly Mysteries

Dead Man's Switch

Racecar driver Kate Reilly is suited up and ready for the start of the legendary 24 Hours of Daytona. But what lies ahead is not just a racing challenge but a harrowing test of her will and nerve off the course.

Even before the green flag waves over Daytona International Speedway, Kate receives word her boyfriend Stuart is hospitalized nearby in a coma, fighting for his life after a hit-and-run. Stunned by the news, Kate can do nothing better for Stuart than complete her scheduled laps driving her team's car. But more shocks follow as Daytona's clock starts ticking. An on-track accident ends tragically. Some of her complicated family is spotted with other teams—why? And an eyewitness claims Stuart was run down deliberately by someone from the race paddock.

Alternating stints behind the wheel of the team's Corvette with stretches of quizzing colleagues and searching for clues, Kate circles the police and taps every possible source—friend, foe, and family—to find out who's after Stuart and why. As the race clock counts down to zero hour, Kate must come to terms with her own fears rising from her past and decide who she's willing to trust. Only then can she identify who's willing to kill to keep a secret buried.

Nicole Vilencia

Blackstone Publishing

Avoidable Contact

Kate Reilly can't remember a worse time in her life. She wrecks her racecar at Road America in Wisconsin, sending a visiting NASCAR star to the hospital, and loses her cool on-camera, only to end the day by discovering her boyfriend with a friend of hers. A dead friend.

With little time to grieve, Kate finds herself the pariah of the racing world, the target of vicious e-mail messages, death threats, and a frenzy of blame on racing sites and blogs. But nothing is as bad as knowing her friend's killer is still out there—and aiming at Kate. Riding a roller coaster of emotion and dodging a pit reporter with a bias against women in racing, Kate redeems herself by delivering stunning performances behind the wheel. Ultimately she learns no one can escape the past—but only a murderer is driven by it.

Braking Points

"As usual, Kaehler combines a credible group of suspects with some detailed racing lore. Even readers who don't care about cars may well be hooked by the feminist angle." —Kirkus Reviews

At the end of the first practice session for the iconic Indianapolis 500 race, Kate Reilly is stunned to discover she was the fastest driver on the track. She's even more surprised to learn she wasn't the first woman to top the speed charts in the race's 106-year history. That feat was accomplished in 1987 by PJ Rodriguez—steady, dedicated, immensely promising—who shocked the racing world and the wider one by committing suicide ten days later.

When the press, bloggers, and social media go crazy over the connection between PJ and Kate, Kate begins to lose her identity—suddenly everyone's comparing Kate and PJ, calling Kate PJ, and wondering if Kate will kill herself, too. Under siege from various trolls live and digital, Kate feel PJ's story deeply. So she's impelled to listen to PJ's family—which claims PJ did not jump, but was murdered. And she agrees to help them find PJ's killer and restore her reputation...30 years after the fact.

PJ's death was a great tragedy; Kate feels it in her bones and believes she is the best person, perhaps the only person, to investigate PJ's story. What evidence is there? She can interview people at the track who were there in 1987. She can consult the press coverage. And she can marshal up help from "Special Team Kate." They work in an atmosphere of prejudice and chauvinism, the same that surrounded PJ.

But Kate is at the Indy to run the biggest race of her career. To prepare she fills her days with driving on the track for practice, fulfilling sponsor obligations, promoting the IndyCar Series and as ever, playing peacemaker between the warring sides of her maternal and paternal families.

Before long one suspect in PJ's death turns up dead, all but confirming PJ was killed. So as Kate prepares to run the biggest race of her life she must narrow down the clues to not one but two murders, all while fighting for her own voice and identity through the storm of media attention. Will the past stay buried? Or will history repeat itself and leave Kate dead?

Kiss the Bricks is the 5th Kate Reilly mystery and takes its title from the Indy winner's tradition of kissing the track's Yard of Bricks in tribute to its legendary history.

Kate Reilly Mysteries:

Dead Man's Switch (Book 1)

Braking Points (Book 2)

Avoidable Contact (Book 3)

Red Flags (Book 4)

Kiss the Bricks (Book 5)

Praise for the Kate Reilly Mysteries:

"Read this book—but buckle in first. Believe me, you're in for a bumpy ride." —WILLIAM KENT KRUEGER, New York Times bestselling author for Braking Points

"This series always leaves me wanting more, so I cannot wait to keep reading and see what's next on the horizon for my fellow female racing driver!" —PIPPA MANN, IndyCar driver for Avoidable Contact