Years before Hannah Swensen unlocked the back door at The Cookie Jar, I went to visit a friend and her newborn daughter in Las Vegas. I flew out of Minneapolis in the middle of a snowstorm, happy to be escaping the cold Minnesota winter. When we landed in Vegas, I met my friend and switched to sandals for the drive to her place. As I stuffed my snow boots in my suitcase, I thought of how wonderful it was to breathe warm air that hadn’t come out of a furnace vent!

We drove out of town and took the road to Mount Charleston. Soon there was snow on the ground and it got deeper and icier as we climbed higher. I thought I’d be relaxing by a pool in the warm sun, but it seemed that I was returning to cold weather much sooner than I’d expected!

We walked in to their log cabin near the mountain top. Their access road wasn’t plowed and residents had to park on the shoulder of the highway. It wasn’t far and I marveled at the breathtaking scenery. How gorgeous! And how glad I was that I had my snow boots!

By the time we turned in for the night, I was imagining what might happen if someone lived in an exclusive, high-rise condo in this beautiful but terrifyingly isolated place. What if there was a blizzard? And what if a killer terrorized the residents who were stranded with no help from the outside world? This was the moment I knew I had to write Dead Giveaway and set it high on Mount Charleston. I hope you enjoy reading it when it’s re-released in May 2014. Even though I know it’s fiction, I still can’t re-read it without shivering!

Prologue

The meeting took place in a high-rise office building, twenty stories above the Vegas Strip. The five men wore fashionably-cut business suits. There wasn’t a bodyguard in sight, the strains of Italian aria did not fill the air, and no one’s name was Guido.

The tanned blond man looked uncomfortable as he addressed the senior member of the group. “I’m sorry it has to be this way, but our only option is to take a hard line.”

Reluctantly, the older man nodded, perspiring heavily. “I know, I know. She thinks she’s in love and she won’t listen to reason. She doesn’t realize he’s playing her for a fool.”

“She’s already talked too much.” The short, thin man frowned. “We managed to take care of it this time, but we can’t take another chance.”

The older man peered into their faces for some sign of compassion, but no one would meet his eyes. “But she’s my daughter! There’s got to be some other way!”