Hot As A Firecracker

Lexie Royce, Fort Wayne's richest and most famous woman, has a secret stalker who leaves sappy poems about her in public places. Lexie is more worried about losing her baby weight and keeping the sexy new nanny from seducing her husband than identifying a cowardly admirer.

Then the murders begin. Very strange murders, seemingly unconnected to the poems. The victims have no connection to each other -- except that each wanted to destroy Lexie. And at each murder scene, a clue about motive is left behind -- a menacing Tarot card.

With the help of Mama Bee, a Tarot card reader intimate with dark spirits, Detective Dave Powers gradually connects the deaths -- to his old friend, Lexie. Has she hired someone from her entourage to carry out a diabolical scheme to rid her universe of enemies? And is she writing the poems herself to mislead the police?

On the Fourth of July, Dave finally connects the poems and Tarot cards to the killer -- but not in time to prevent the explosive ending Mama Bee warned him about.