Murder Becomes Miami: A Dalton Lee Mystery (2) - Tapa dura

The winningest coach in all of college football is stabbed to death in his estate in Coral Gables. People assume someone on the coach’s long list of enemies is responsible for the murder. But a telltale calling card left on his corpse reveals a far more sinister truth: he was slain by an intimate who was secretly connected to a cult planning a horrific event in South Florida. What form of terror is The Organization concocting? And just how did the coach interfere with the group’s plans? Once again, authorities ask Dalton Lee and his team to help them solve those riddles before The Organization can launch its wave of treachery.

From the colorful Art Deco hotels of South Beach, to the vibrant street life of Little Havana, to the mysterious gardens of the Vizcaya Museum, Murder Becomes Miami is a chilling, haunted-house ride that keeps readers guessing to the very end who among the viper’s nest of suspects is the murderer in hiding. Unfortunately, it’s right when Lee and his team pinpoint the serpent that the cult’s hideous plot begins to unfold.

Jeffrey Eaton was born to parents who met in Los Angeles, where his father was dancing in the 1940 movie musical, "Too Many Girls". During the filming, his father cavorted on the set with the soon-to-be-discovered actor Van Johnson, and his mother chatted off the set with the soon-to-become famous Lucille Ball. Eaton was raised in Kansas. In first grade he and an artistic classmate wrote a letter to Dr. Seuss offering to help the renowned author create his next book, a book Eaton had already given the title, "There's A Moose on the Loose on the Chickanoose Trail." The author wrote the ambitious boys a kind rejection letter that encouraged them to keep reading and writing books. And that Jeffrey Eaton did. His favorite books as a child included The Hardy Boys Series, Agatha Christie novels and "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle, whom Eaton unexpectedly met once in New York when he was spontaneously asked to a dinner party by acquaintances. Growing up, he was a huge fan of the William Allen White Children's Book Award program in Kansas and he even urged librarians to let kids read during the summer months the books named to the award list for the coming year, something not allowed when he was in elementary school. Eaton was graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas with a degree in journalism. He instantly put it to use, becoming editor of the university's alumni magazine at age 23 and editor of the employee publications produced by an international oil company at age 25. He formed his own free-lance writing business at age 27 and by the age of 30, had been to 45 countries on five continents. Among his most memorable assignments were interviews with a prime minister, a world-renowned heart surgeon, and the CEO of one of South America's state-owned oil companies.