Sunday is when we do #beginnings, taking a look at the start of a Peter Abrahams novel, including those written under the Spencer Quinn moniker™. I’ve been getting questions about the Chet and Bernie short stories. There are seven, all available in digital and audio, four individually – A CAT WAS INVOLVED, THE IGGY CHRONICLES, TAIL OF VENGEANCE, and SANTA 365, and three in the SHORT TAILS collection: UPPER STORY, THE IGGY PAPERS, and THE NUMBERS AFTER TWO. How about taking a peek at the beginning of UPPER STORY?

A window high up at the back of a warehouse in South Pedroia slid open and out climbed Chuckie Kindrachuk. Upper story dudes tend to be on the lean and nimble side, in my experience, but Chuckie was neither. He shifted his lumpy backpack, which seemed to prefer riding on Chuckie’s lumpy side instead of his lumpy back, and extended a hand for the nearest drainpipe. The moon shone on his moon-shaped face. Hey! Had Chuckie actually added a few pounds since the last time I’d seen him? He extended his hand a little more, the look in his eyes excited, hopeful, and a bit crazy, a look you often saw in perps at just such a moment. You had to like Chuckie, and I did.