The Enforcer Enigma - G. L. Carriger Page 0,122

their heads, and that was not exactly hair by human standards.

Galoi hair was a living thing, thick and tubular (like noodles) and quite sensitive to touch. Tristol’s own hair was considered very attractive by his species, or so he had been told before he left Gal. It was long and lush and a rich lavender color, only a shade darker than his skin and a shade lighter than his eyes. He was so vain about his hair, he had chosen his advocate partly because her hair color almost perfectly matched his. That strand of advocacy was gone now, sadly, but Tris was still vain about his hair.

Detective Hastion, much to Tristol’s sadness, was totally immune to every last purple piece of Tristol’s noodley lavender hair.

Read the rest in The 5th Gender!

Author’s Note

Thank you so much for picking up The Enforcer Enigma. Kettle and Trick are next up in The Dratsie Dilemma. If you would like more from the San Andreas Shifters, please say so in a review. I’m grateful for the time you take to do so.

Even more welcome are donations to your local LBGTQ centers (time, attention, money, whatever you can give). Mine is the San Francisco LGBT Center. Find them at sfcenter.org or @SFLGBTCenter on Twitter. Everyone needs a pack to come home to.

I have a silly gossipy newsletter called the Chirrup. I promise: no spam, no fowl. (Well, maybe a little wicker fowl and lots of giveaways and sneak peeks.) Find it and more at…

gailcarriger.com

Acknowledgments

Lexi Blanc and some of her lyrics began with the creative genius of author Alex White. I must apologize for turning their fictional alter ego into a raving bitch. I tried to save her, but the needs of the plot outweighed the duties of friendship in this matter. I am ashamed.

I owe a writer’s debt to Hugh’s husband, who knew not one, not two, but three words for that “sharp manmade rubble stuff that is used as retainer along shorelines in Sausalito” (riprap, shot rock, and rock armor). Also my darling other Smokeys, who had to listen to me sing country as part of our readings, not once but twice (MK summarily serenaded me with fangs, fangs, fangs every time we met in the hallway – thank goodness her voice is better than mine). I love making my fans giggle, but making my friends giggle? There’s no greater pleasure.

Thanks to a certain sensitivity reader (you know who you are) who agreed to read for me, even though this was “totally not his thing.” To Starla who got this cover finished well before I’d written the book, because I found the perfect model and I wanted the three covers to “look pretty together.” And thanks to Sue and Flo for their excellent editing. Without my team, everything would take a lot longer and be a lot less tidy.

Finally, thanks to Olivia Wylie and the Parasol Protectorate Fan Group for the dratsie tip. I had no idea otter shifters were a thing, and my world is now better for having Trick in it. I hope you love Trick too, ‘cause he’s up next − poor Deputy Kettil.

More G. L. Carriger?

You’ve just read something set in Gail’s sprawling universe of shifters and more. Characters cross over a lot!

Marine Biology: San Andreas Shifters Prequel

Short story, geeky werewolf meets hot merman

FREE with Gail’s newsletter, the Chirrup

The San Andreas Shifters Series

Stand alone novels in which every werewolf is fabulous - full of blue jokes, raunchy sex, and gentle hearts

The Tinkered Stars Series

SciFi stories of excitable aliens and the humans who love them

STEAMPUNK AS GAIL CARRIGER

The Delightfully Deadly Stories

Polite lady spies

The Supernatural Society Stories

LGBTQ+ proper subversive activities

The Claw & Courtship Stories

Werewolves in cravats and the ladies who romance them

The Finishing School Series

(young adult novels, begins with Etiquette & Espionage)

Spies, girl power, and flying food

The Parasol Protectorate Series

(five novels, one short story, begins with Soulless)

Adventure, love, and silly hats

The Custard Protocol Series

(four novels, begins with Prudence)

World travel, cat shifters, and stolen tea

The Curious Case of the Werewolf That Wasn’t

(short story set in steampunk Egypt)

One sexy and rather unpleasant Italian

About the Writerbeast

New York Times bestselling author Gail Carriger (AKA G. L. Carriger) writes to cope with being raised in obscurity by an expatriate Brit and an incurable curmudgeon. She escaped small-town life and inadvertently acquired several degrees in higher learning, a fondness for cephalopods, and a chronic tea habit. She then traveled the historic cities of Europe, subsisting entirely on biscuits secreted in her handbag. She resides in the Colonies, surrounded by fantastic shoes, where she insists on tea imported from London.

G A I L C A R R I G E R, L L C

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination, used in a fictitious manner, or in the public domain. Any resemblance to actual events or actual persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

WARNING

This work of fiction may contain sexually explicit situations of a romantic and carnal nature between members of the same sex, opposite sex, or both. If love (in its many forms) and love’s consequences (in even more varied forms) are likely to offend, please do not read this book. Miss Carriger has a young adult quartet, the Finishing School series, that may be more to your taste. Thank you for your understanding, self-awareness, and self-control.

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

This book is for your personal enjoyment only. If you are reading this book and it was not purchased for your use, then please purchase your own copy.

In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the uploading, torrenting, or electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting [email protected]

The author strives to ensure her self-published works are available as widely as possible and at a price commensurate with her ability to earn a living. Thank you for respecting her hard work.

Version 1.0

ISBN 978-1-944751-18-0

The Enforcer Enigma - G. L. Carriger Page 0,122

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