"Braking Points"

Tammy Kaehler’s career in marketing and technical writing landed her in the world of automobile racing, which inspired her with its blend of drama, competition, and welcoming people. Her debut, Dead Man’s Switch, was praised by mystery fans as well as racing insiders, and she takes readers back behind the wheel in Braking Points, the second Kate Reilly Racing Mystery.

Kaehler applied the Page 69 Test to Braking Points and reported the following:

At the start of Chapter 13 (page 69) of Braking Points, racecar driver (and sometime amateur sleuth) Kate Reilly goes through a typical cycle: a bright spot or bit of relief quickly counteracted by bad news.

I finally thought to check voicemail on my new smartphone after thirty minutes of sitting on the edge of the bathtub watching Holly play with the products I’d been given. My new outgoing greeting referred all media inquiries to Matt and Lily Diaz, so I had only five messages to listen to.

The first one nearly made me drop the phone: Miles Hanson, telling me he was fine, agreeing about shared blame, and hoping we’d meet again in better circumstances. “You stay out of the walls, now, hear?” was how he signed off. I felt giddy.

I returned Stuart’s call first, only to be shocked by the news he had for me: he hadn’t left Elkhart Lake on Tuesday because he’d returned to the police station to answer more questions, including some about his prior relationship with Ellie.

“Your what?”

“We were engaged a number of years ago.”

Kate has finally given in and joined the world of smartphones and social media (follow her on Twitter! @katereilly28). She’s also hired a pair of crisis public relations experts to help her cope with bad press and negative fan sentiment after a wreck that sent NASCAR’s most popular driver to the hospital—a wreck most people think she caused.

But she finds out here that the driver in question, Miles Hanson, doesn't hold a grudge, which gives Kate a few moments of peace. Until her next phone call. Her boyfriend Stuart, who found Kate’s friend Ellie Prescott dead four days earlier, reveals he not only knew Ellie, but was engaged to her … which is news to Kate. It’s not the first or last time in Braking Points that Kate wonders exactly who she can trust….

Learn more about the book and author at Tammy Kaehler's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: Dead Man’s Switch.

My Book, The Movie: Dead Man's Switch.

Writers Read: Tammy Kaehler (August 2011).

--Marshal Zeringue