A young boy witnesses a kidnapping in a homeless encampment and flees for his life.
Single mom and private investigator Cameron Chandler works for Penny-wise Investigations, a discount detective agency located in a dying suburban shopping mall in Seattle. Cameron is exiting a mall restroom when she encounters a frightened boy and makes a snap decision to help by hiding him in the women’s restroom. When she learns that he was running from two men who he saw kidnap a woman from her tent in a homeless encampment, she and her partner Yuri become determined to find the woman and protect the boy.
Challenged by investigations that venture into a complex world of camaraderie and hardships where no one is safe, Cameron finds solace in her quirky but supportive family, her partner’s trivia rants, her dog’s obsession with stuffed endangered species toys, and a handsome detective who may or may not be interested in more than a professional relationship.
Although Unicorns Can Be Deadly is a humorous mystery, the plot has a serious theme related to the homeless problem in Seattle. As I explain in the Acknowledgments, I have a personal interest in the issue having worked as a strategic planning consultant for a consortium of concerned groups and companies trying to improve ways to provide resources and housing to the homeless.