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Book Details
The First to Die
Psychological Suspense
Setting – New Jersey
Publisher : Willow River Press
Publication date : November 18, 2025
Print length : 334 pages
ISBN-13 : 978-1965059661
ASIN : B0FQ4T189P
Connie Tucker, a free-spirited beach bartender, has been estranged from her family in New
Jersey ever since her actress mother, Simone, disappeared one night during a violent storm at the
theatre where she was rehearsing. Uncontrollable and in a rage at the loss of her parent, fifteen-
year-old Connie is exiled to California, due to her delinquent behavior, to live with an aunt she
doesn’t know.
Fifteen years later, Simone’s murdered remains are discovered at a construction site and Connie
returns to the east coast for the funeral—she owes it to her mother. The cold case unit will take
over now and solve the crime. But then she discovers a message her mother left behind. It feels
like a dispatch from the grave.
Connie must face her tortured past, the guilt of concealing a devastating secret, and the part she
played in her mother’s disappearance. Unearthing buried family history and childhood demons,
she confronts the agonizing reality that she doesn’t know where she belongs, where to call home.
Who to trust. When a second suspicious death occurs, Connie races to unravel the events of the
night Simone disappeared. Her mother was the first to die…but not the last.
Excerpt
“They found Mom. You need to come home.”
Her older sister Gaby wasn’t one to waste words.
Connie should have been relieved, comforted, something. Unfortunately, it was fifteen years too
late for that. And anguish she had buried deep in her body, and mind, erupted with a vengeance.
She cooled her heels in San Diego until the last possible moment to return for the funeral. The
less time spent there, the better. New Jersey triggered chilling images tethered to that night. To
the last time she saw her mother.
The plane thumped to earth, delivering Connie Tucker to the past with a bounce. Everything
about this state was a rude wake-up call. She couldn’t wait to board the return flight to
California. At fifteen, she left New Jersey in a rage, thrown out of the only home she’d known,
dumped thousands of miles away on a relative she’d never met. Nerves twitching, her insides
were a stew of anxiety and bitterness, wondering how people here would react to seeing her.
Connie shook her head to tamp down the unruly thoughts and scold herself. They were the ones
who should be nervous.
Character post: Connie Tucker
I’m Connie Tucker. Originally a Jersey girl, now I live in San Diego, have lived there for the
past fifteen years. My life felt settled: bunking in an old Victorian house with a single room and a
shared bath for the past six months; before that I had an efficiency apartment but I had to change
bartending jobs ’cause the owner claimed I had dipped into the til. Not true, but I had no choice.
The single room comes cheaper than the efficiency. It all turned out for the better since now I
sling drinks at The Shack on the beach. I love the smell of the ocean, the white light on the sand,
the sky when the sun sinks lower, and the strings of Christmas tree lights that outline the wooden
frame of The Shack at night.
The surfers who show up on the beach and lean their boards against the outside of the bar
while they flash their tanned muscles and order rounds of Stella aren’t too bad either… I turn the
tunes up and get people rocking…I love it. Singing and bopping to the music. To ABBA, my
favorite music. I’ve got a bunch of regulars who sit on stools, drink beer, ogle anything in a
bikini, and laugh at my bad jokes. For a bunch of older guys, they’re not too bad. It’s an okay
life, for a thirty-year-old like me who isn’t sure where she’s going, what’s next in her life. Like
limbo.
At least it was until I got the call. They found Mom, my sister Gaby said. Mom… who
disappeared fifteen years ago. The lump in my throat has been stuck there for a week. What
could I do? I turned my back on The Shack, packed a few clothes and boarded the red eye for
Newark airport. For the funeral, to bury the remains. I did it for Mom, not for my father and
sister, who I haven’t seen for fifteen years. That’s how I find myself in a rental car headed to
Hallison, New Jersey, a middle-class town on the outskirts of Newark.
Down the parkway, exit onto Lenox, right on Mercer, left on Third Street. Past Antonio’s
Pizza where my sister and I bought slices on our way home from school because who knew what
Mom would cook for dinner. Fifteen years but I could have done this in my sleep. You can take
the girl out of Jersey, but not Jersey out of the girl… I pull up to 42 Third Street. My heart feels
like a ping pong ball, thumping in my chest. Just the sight of my father’s ancient Lincoln in the
driveway sends my pulse into my throat. The house looks the same, same collection of
mismatched porch furniture, the siding could use a good cleaning. But the pots of hanging
flowers—red, yellow, and blue blooms falling to the porch railing—that had to be Gaby’s doing.
Certainly not my father’s.
I close my eyes and see my parents on the porch on summer nights with Uncle Charlie. He
was the best. Wonder what’s going on with him now? Down the street there’s Porter’s Bar and
Grill where Dad hung out along with his cop buddies…sometime Gaby and I sat at the bar and
drank Cokes. Old Man Porter seemed ancient to me back then. Wonder how old he is now? If he
is even alive…
The driver’s side door of the rental car creaks open and Hallison, New Jersey hits me with the
force of a sledge hammer. Heat, humidity, the smell of exhaust and melting tar. Urban odors.
Nothing like the beach and The Shack. Even the sun seems different in New Jersey. But here I
am. Facing my past, about to face the people I haven’t seen for fifteen years. Years I spent on the
west coast, unhappy, angry, hurt. Not completely understanding why I ended up there. So
resentful of my life with an aunt I didn’t really know that I beat it out of her house when I turned
eighteen. Barely making it on my own. Ending up on the beach serving up drinks, banter, and
dancing tunes.
Can I go back to that? I have to. New Jersey is too painful, though that thought stays with me.
I’d never admit that to anyone. I breathe in the hot and clammy air, pull out my wheelie bag from
the back seat, and slam the car door shut. I march to the front door and try the handle. Locked. I
ring the bell. No answer. No one here to welcome me home. Never mind. I won’t be here that
long.
I glance next door and see Mrs. Delano at the window. She waves and I smile and wave back.
Like a second mother to me. I love her. I walk to her house and she greets me on the porch, hugs
and kisses me. Tears spill down my cheeks. Now this feels like home.
About Suzanne Trauth
Suzanne Trauth is a novelist and playwright. Her novels include What Remains of Love(a first-
place winner in Women’s Fiction, Firebird Book Awards; a finalist in General Fiction, American
Book Festival; and a finalist for the Hemingway Prize) and the Dodie O’Dell mystery
series–Show Time, Time Out, Running Out of Time, Just in Time, No More Time, and Killing
Time. Her most recent novel, The First to Die, a domestic suspense, will be released in
November 2025. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the
Dramatists Guild, and the League of Professional Theatre Women.
Author Links
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/suzannetrauth/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SuzanneTrauth
Website https://suzannetrauth.com/
GoodReads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6187623.Suzanne_M_Trauth
Purchase Link
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
November 10 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT
November 10 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
November 11 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR GUEST POST
November 11 – Wine Cellar Library – SPOTLIGHT
November 12 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – SPOTLIGHT
November 12 – Infinite House of Books – SPOTLIGHT
November 12 – Sarandipity’s – CHARACTER GUEST POST
November 13 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
November 13 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT
November 14 – Deal Sharing Aunt – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
November 14 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
November 15 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT
November 16 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – SPOTLIGHT
November 17 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
November 17 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
Giveaway
Prize – 3 – Copies of The First to Die by Suzanne Trauth
