For seven inmates, their luxury weekend prison sentence comes with concierge service—and complimentary homicide.

Welcome to Pay to Stay, Los Angeles’s premier minimum-security facility where the privileged serve time Friday to Monday only.

But this New Year’s weekend, seven inmates—including a driven campaign manager, a disgraced nurse, a party girl, and one mysterious male transfer—discover their abusive guard dead, wrapped in an ironic “Community Payback” vest. Now they must solve his murder before their cushy arrangement becomes a permanent stay in maximum security.

As a storm rages outside and the power fails, alliances shift within. With police knocking at their door and an emotional support iguana named Nacho as their witness, these inmates hustle to collect evidence and plan a killer party—all while dodging suspicion. Because someone in this concrete block is a murderer. And everyone is a suspect. But as New Year’s Eve approaches and bodies pile up, these unlikely allies discover that in Pay to Stay, some debts can only be paid in blood.

Elizabeth Rose Quinn is a novelist and screenwriter. She graduated with a BA in English from UC Berkeley and a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy. Born and raised in Berkeley, California, Elizabeth lived in Los Angeles for fifteen years while working in production and writing for television. Her novel Follow Me was optioned by Amazon MGM Studios and is currently in production as a feature film. She is married with two children and lives in New Mexico. In addition to traveling and exploring nature with her family, Elizabeth loves rolling fresh pasta, swimming in the Pacific Ocean, and looking for rainbows in the desert sunsets. For more information, visit www.elizabethrosequinn.com.