The Abridged Query Letter: A.K.A. “The Hook”

Dear [Agent],

"Girls' night out" takes on new meaning when three thirty-something mothers turn to vigilantism to escape the pain of their lives.

Childhood friends Karin, Alaina, and Trisha struggle with guilt and grief until they get swept up in a newfound sense of control and power while they plot an act of vigilantism against a complete stranger. When their so-called “perfect plan” goes awry during execution and they inadvertently become suspects in a separate murder investigation of a police informant, the women find out how tenuous their beliefs—and their relationships with one another—have been. Only when it’s too late do they discover that they didn’t know all the facts about the stranger before they took the law in their own hands but, in the end, the man at the center of their misguided plot has a history and identity that no one could have ever imagined.

THE GRACES OF MERCY & CIRCUMSTANCE, complete at 84,500 words, is commercial women's fiction set within small towns in British Columbia, Canada.

Although I am an unpublished novelist, I spent several years writing investigative reports on the professional and personal misconduct of lawyers. I also have a degree in English literature from the University of Victoria.

I'd be more than happy to send you my complete manuscript for your review. Thank you for your time and consideration.