Turn Key Condition by M.L. Ortega is a Mystery and Suspense Event pick #cozynoir #giveaway #freebie
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    • Aug 8, 2023
    • 2 min read

Turn Key Condition by M.L. Ortega is a Mystery and Suspense Event pick #cozynoir #giveaway #freebie



Title: Turn Key Condition (Book 1 in the Condition Series)


Author: M.L. Ortega


Genre: Cozy noir


Book Blurb:


Meet Maggie, a single mom, who moonlights with jobs involving ‘comb-over’ lawn care and wedding cakes named after fabrics. While cleaning a model home, she stumbles across a naked dead man with a donut over his genitals. Maggie’s trademark is her dark humor – a defense mechanism to cope with a traumatic event in her childhood.


Her unflappability starts to unravel as she begins to suspect this murder was prompted by abuse. Is her own past coloring her suspicions or did someone in the dead man’s family exact revenge with their own touch of gallows humor? She’s determined to find out.


The Conditions Series: Turn Key Condition, Shampoo & Condition, In Mint Condition.


"There's more fun than malice in this domestic murder mystery; readers will enjoy not only the sleuthing but following Orange County single mom, Maggie, as she goes about doing the many odd jobs that it takes to keep her family of three sons afloat...A wide range of zany secondary characters circle around Maggie and the plot, each adding something whacky to the mix. The repartee between Maggie and Jane is genuinely funny and the entire production is...an appealing mystery comedy." - Publishers Weekly Review


Excerpt:

The two women stood side by side at the doorway of the master bedroom looking in at the naked body resting on the floor. They recognized who it was. Mitch Thompson, the general contractor of the new tract.

The tall blonde, Jane, swayed and her petite brunette friend, Maggie, turned to steady her. “I’m going to be sick,” Jane groaned.

“You can’t throw up, I just cleaned the bathroom,” Maggie warned her. And, of course, this reason made perfect sense. Jane’s eyes remained riveted on Mitch’s body and Maggie’s were unavoidably drawn back to it.

For the truly horrific part of the tableaux before them wasn’t just the naked body but the adornment affixed to the corpse.

What is that thing? Maggie thought to herself, curiosity not enough to propel her into the room to find out.


Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):


August 8 and 9, Turn Key Condition is free!






What makes your featured book a must-read?


The Me-Too movement is personalized in this series.


Giveaway –

Enter to win a $35 Amazon gift card:

Open Internationally.

Runs August 8 – August 21, 2023. Winner will be drawn on August 22, 2023.



Author Biography:


M.L. Ortega is the author of The Conditions Series. Publisher Weekly said of the first book in the series, Turn Key Condition, "the entire production is . . an appealing mystery comedy."


A member of Sisters in Crime, she’s retired and lives in Southern California, enjoying her garden and spending time with her husband, children, grandchildren and two cats.

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