Perry - Stacked To Death

The Jamie Brodie Mysteries:

Cited to Death

Hoarded to Death

Burdened to Death

Researched to Death

Encountered to Death

Psyched to Death

Stacked to Death

Stacks : storage space in a library consisting of an extensive arrangement of bookshelves where most of the books are stored.

-The Free Dictionary

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products

of the authors imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or

individuals - living or dead - is entirely coincidental.

2014 Meg Perry. All rights reserved .

As the story begins :

Jamie Brodie UCLA librarian who two weeks ago watched as a young man he knew, Hunter Mitchell, was shot to death in a suicide-by-cop hostage situation. Jamie isnt sleeping much. Hes also noticed that his boyfriend Pete doesnt reciprocate Jamies sexual advances as often as he used to.

Pete Ferguson Jamies boyfriend, ex-cop, assistant professor of psychology at Santa Monica College. Teaching an extra class for his assistant chair, Elliott Conklin, who was accused of murder and had to take a leave of absence earlier in the semester.

Kevin Brodie Jamies brother, LAPD homicide detective, currently partnered with Tim Garcia. Kevin was the cop forced to kill Hunter Mitchell. He is still on paid administrative leave pending finalization of the Internal Affairs investigation.

Liz Nguyen UCLA librarian, Jamies best friend at work. Shares the 1:00 3:00 reference desk shift with Jamie.

Jon Eckhoff Lizs boyfriend, LAPD homicide detective, in process of transfer from Pacific Division to West LA Division.

Tim Garcia LAPD homicide detective, being promoted to supervisor by the end of the year.

Abby Glenn Kevins girlfriend, master carpenter. Currently remodeling Pete and Jamies home office/spare bedroom.

Austin Sharp openly gay work-study student at UCLAs Young Research Library (YRL). An incorrigible flirt. Hit on Jamie the day they met.

Grace Cavender work-study student at UCLAs College Library (Powell). Transferred there from YRL after her heavy perfume caused Jamie to have an asthma attack.

Alicia Kwan graduate student employee at East Asian Library, located within YRL.

James Wygant access services director at YRL.

Justin Como new librarian at YRL. Formerly worked at UC-Davis.

Tania Bibbins Pete and Jamies counselor. Has been seeing them for nearly four months now.

Madeline Loomis head of research and instruction at YRL. Jamies boss.

Olga Koval Dr. Loomiss administrative assistant.

Roberta Seifert Olgas assistant.

Connie Bright, Nancy Cassidy, and Andy Narahashi longtime circulation techs at YRL.

Jessie Gaither and Erin Parks interlibrary loan techs at YRL.

Carolina Arambula cataloging tech at YRL.

George Scherer acquisitions tech at YRL.

Clinton Kenneally retired Benedictine monk who comes to YRL daily at 1:30 pm to give Liz and Jamie a word of the day. Has an uncanny knack for choosing words related to events in Liz and Jamies lives.

Alison Fortner Jamies childhood friend from their hometown of Oceanside, now owns a xeriscaping business in LA.

Melanie Hayes another of Jamies childhood friends from Oceanside, married to Ali Fortner. An attorney specializing in LGBTQ issues.

UCLA Young Research Library

Librarian Meeting Minutes

Monday, October 28

Present: Dr. Madeline Loomis, Head of Research and Instruction; Dr. Conrad Huffstetler, Director of Special Collections; James Wygant, Director of Access Services; Lesley Cabot, Director of Interlibrary Loan

Librarians, Research and Instruction: Liz Nguyen, Katrina Johnson, Kristen Beach, Gerald OBrien, Ruth Brown, Justin Como, Isabel Gutierrez, Patricia Lin, Lola Mack, Dolores Lopes, George Morgan, Frank Villarreal, Jamie Brodie

Librarians, Special Collections: Silvia Molina, Henry Alderman, Lisa Bello, Marjorie Combs, Anne Miller, Demetrius Garmon

Graduate Assistants: Alicia Kwan, East Asian Library; Michael Kennedy, Center for Oral History Research; Lucy Gonzalez, Special Collections

Personnel :

Justin Como will be taking over the Mythology subject specialty in addition to Religion.

Please report any issues with undergraduate work-study students to James Wygant. Austin Sharp and April Cunningham are in Access Services, and Heidi Pittman and Kellie Garza are in ILL.

Congratulations to Liz and Jamie, who have had their paper on librarian/law enforcement interaction accepted by The Journal of Academic Librarianship .

Congratulations to Jamie, who has had his conference proposal accepted to the Special Libraries Association meeting in Vancouver in June.

Liz, Patricia, and Alicia will be presenting next week at CLA as part of the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association.

Conrad, Silvia, and Demetrius will be presenting at CLA as well.

Budget :

Budget realities have resulted in cuts to graduate assistant staff in all campus libraries. Positions that become vacant will no longer be filled. Please find ways to economize.

We were able to maintain our collections budget at last years levels but not to increase it. Purchases will be prioritized to faculty requests and replacement of outdated editions. Other recommendations for purchase will require documentation of support for specific courses/programs. Please have your prioritized recommendations for purchase to George in Tech Services by Friday.

Academic department liaisons :

Subject specialists will attend subject department meetings. Specialists will integrate into their respective departments as much as possible.

Respectfully submitted,

Jamie Brodie

I sat back and read over my handiwork. All the YRL librarians took year-long turns acting as secretary for our weekly librarians meetings, and this was my year. Fortunately, Dr. Loomis ran an efficient meeting.

For years, YRL had operated with twelve reference and instruction librarians. The number was ideal, balanced. Our current group had been together for five years, since Liz had been hired.

Now we had an extra. Justin Como, librarian number thirteen. With the budget cuts, wed been lucky to hire him. We were glad to have a religion subject specialist, but we were apprehensive about how the new guy would fit in to our well-oiled machine.

Justin had been here for six weeks. So far I didnt have a well-formed opinion of him. Hed shadowed Liz and me at the reference desk during his second week and had barely spoken. Maybe hed been busy absorbing information. It was hard to tell.

I emailed the minutes to Dr. Loomis for approval just as she knocked on my door. Jamie, I havent had a chance to speak to you for a few days. How are you doing?

Two weeks before, Id watched as a young guy I knew slightly, Hunter Mitchell, committed suicide by cop while holding a bar full of people at gunpoint. Id talked to Hunter during the standoff and was afraid Id made the situation worse. The incident had shaken me badly. I hadnt been sleeping much.

I didnt want Dr. Loomis to concern herself or order me to take time off. My counselor had recommended that I go right back to work to stay busy and distracted. I smiled at Dr. Loomis, hoping that I seemed fine to her. Im okay. Ive been doing some relaxation exercises.

Im glad to hear that. Is your brother back to work yet?

No, maam. Itll be another couple of weeks.

Youll tell me if you need to take some time off, right?

Yes, maam. That reminds me would it be possible to take four weeks off next summer?

She raised her eyebrows. Youre planning a mega-vacation?

Yes, maam. Pete and I are going to England and Scotland.

Do you have that much vacation time saved?

Nearly twice that much.