By JORDAN WOMPIERSKI

Staff Writer

When part-time author Kathy Davis and her husband were traveling south on Route 9 to Woodbine one day, they came across an old, abandoned farmhouse. Intrigued, they decided to get out of their car and check it out.

“All around the yard were these trash bags that said ‘Danger’ on them,” Davis recalled.

Davis – a Brigantine resident formerly of Ocean City and Egg Harbor Township – had stumbled across the idea for her second full-length novel, “Murderous Portrayal.”

The book hit stores online last month, and Davis (who goes by the pen name Kay Moretz) hopes to have it for sale in brick-and-mortar locations soon. She described her latest work as “a story about the human spirit and individual reactions to various traumas.”

When the main character of the book, Shelley, loses her husband, Ryan, a police detective killed in a car bomb attack, the reader is taken into the mind of the murderer as he weaves a deadly path through the lives of three female friends. Shelley begins a new career as a real estate agent while Ryan's partner, Nick, is determined to find the murderer and keep Shelley and Ryan's family safe. Nick’s own wife has been killed by a paid assassin, and Nick and Shelley walk a fine line of intimacy while attempting to bring the monster to his knees.

“My husband has always said I had a vivid imagination,” Davis said with a laugh.

Davis works as a real estate agent herself, much like her latest main character, Shelley. She said she got started with her part-time writing career when she entered a Reader’s Digest short story contest in the early ’90s.

“That’s what started me off,” Davis said. “I loved reading, and I thought, ‘You know what? I can do this.’ So I thought I’d give it a try, and I’ve been writing ever since then.”

Her first book, “Feather Kisses,” was released in 2005 through PublishAmerica, a small Maryland-based company. “Murderous Portrayal,” also through PublishAmerica, debuted for sale online through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Borders on July 18.

“Right now you can go online and find it,” she said. “My hope is that it gets into local bookstores. I’ve been talking to some of them and might do a book signing.”

Davis said the key to her books is her curiosity, and she often gets compliments about her books and manuscripts as a result.

“Haven’t you ever been on the highway and seen all of those cars?” she asked. “And then you wonder where they’re all going, and then wonder what their lives are like? It’s that inquisitiveness where I get my ideas.”

Besides her two published books, Davis said she has a handful of other works in various stages of completion. Next, she plans to revisit an original manuscript which was never published, and revamp it for publication. She is also planning a follow-up to “Murderous Portrayal.”

“It’s a good hobby, but I would love for it to be a full-time thing,” Davis said.