Three cases. One body. Zero chance of staying out of trouble.
Something Prowling in Paradise Park comes out March 2.
Former international war correspondent Kate Tessler never imagined she’d become an amateur sleuth, much less be pursuing her PI license with her sister. But now that she’s home in Arizona, she can’t resist employing her investigative skills to untangle the next small-town mystery with an unusual cast of friends.
This time, her senior pals introduce her to the Standishes, snowbirds who came home early only to find strangers living in their house—with forged lease papers and a lot to hide. With legal eviction requiring months and money, Kate and her found family start digging into the squatters’ pasts to find any dirt they can use.
Meanwhile, her boyfriend’s teenage sons bring her a case of their own: a rash of dog thefts sweeping the neighborhood. Then a late-night stakeout ends in a shocking discovery—a dead body. Was it a freak accident… or a murder?
Filled with twists, humor, and heart, Something Prowling in Paradise Park delivers the perfect blend of cozy mystery, female sleuth suspense, and found-family crime solving. Fans of J.A. Jance, Elly Griffiths, and Ann Cleeves will love this page-turner set against Arizona’s sunbaked secrets.
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Readers say: “This is a remarkably enjoyable start to a brand new cozy mystery series.” ~Books a Plenty Book Reviews
“Readers will enjoy this new cozy mystery and eagerly wait for more sleuthing with Kate and the Coffee Shop Irregulars!” ~Reading is my Superpower
“This
is a fast-paced book that keeps you thinking. It’s a great jump start for this
new series. I will anxiously await the second book.” ~Socrates’ Book
Reviews
Chapter 1 Excerpt:
I answered the phone. Without so much as a greeting, my sister said, “Clarence wants a team meeting this evening.”
“I have plans.” At Jen’s disappointed sound, I added, “But there’s no reason you can’t get started without me.” In fact, the best thing about having enthusiastic assistants was getting them to do tedious research while I focused on other things.
“What do you have to do tonight that’s so important?” Jen asked.
“Dinner at Todd’s.” Some people called Todd Paradise “Mayor.” I occasionally called him “sweetie,” though never in front of Jen.
“Ooh, dinner with your boyfriend tonight. Did you get permission from Dad to stay out all night? Are you packing your sexy undies?” Yeah, that’s why we kept the endearments private. She was one breath away from making kissing noises.
“I’m really looking forward to it.” I waited just long enough for her to come up with another teasing comment but not long enough for her to speak. “Because Finn and Alec invited me.”
“His boys invited you? Is that … does that mean …?”
I rarely get Jen stumbling over her words that way. I never get her speechless. I savored that for a moment, but not so long that she got her brain and mouth working again.
“They want to consult with me.”
“Huh.” She paused. “Like, consult with you about becoming their new mom?”
“No!” I laughed. “Todd and I aren’t there yet. And even if we get there, I don’t think we’d do anything about it until the boys graduate high school.” They were fifteen and seventeen now, so it wouldn’t be too long. Well, depending on how long you considered three years. Until recently, I’d moved multiple times per year. Now three years seemed like a safe distance before having to make big decisions about our relationship.
Jen gave a little gasp. “Like, consult with you about something mysterious and criminal?”
“I think so. They didn’t specify, but they know what I do.”
I’d first met Finn and Alec when I was investigating an anonymous claim that Todd was taking bribes. I’d told Todd, because I’d suspected a political enemy of his was trying to make him look bad, and I was right. Alec and Finn had admitted they’d been getting bullied via email, which turned out to be related. We’d seen each other quite a few times in the five months since then, but they’d never invited me to dinner before.
I sure hoped they wanted advice on something criminal, or at least journalism help, and weren’t planning to ask about my intentions with their father. I’d much rather deal with a good crime.
Being in a real relationship was still new to me and a little unnerving. Previously, I’d traveled the world as a war correspondent, often moving every few months. Anyone I dated assumed, as I did, that it was temporary, until one or both of us headed to our next assignment. Now I was trying to embrace a new lifestyle, one with a permanent residence and family nearby. Living with my father in the house where I’d spent my childhood might not make me feel especially grown-up, but I had plenty of adult stuff to deal with, what with menopause and retirement planning.
And now, apparently, a relationship that could actually lead somewhere. We were too busy to see each other more than a couple of times a week and had yet to talk about The Future, but things were going well, as far as I could judge with my limited experience.
Jen sighed. “Are you sure I can’t come?”
“What about Clarence? Don’t you want to know what he has for us? You even get to be in charge.”
“You just don’t want to deal with Clarence and Arnold.” She wasn’t entirely wrong. Dad’s friends might be around eighty, but they were as destructive as unsupervised toddlers on a sugar high.
“You’re just so good with them,” I said sweetly. “It must be all those years of mothering.”
She grunted. “They’re way more trouble than my teenagers though.”
She sounded a little sad. Her oldest had just graduated high school. Both her kids had summer jobs. Soon they wouldn’t need her much anymore. As a good sister, the least I could do was provide some troublesome seniors as a distraction.
“It’s exciting that we might have two cases at once,” I said. “Complain and you shall receive, I guess.” A couple of days ago, Jen had whined about being bored. I had articles to write, though I’ll admit that wasn’t quite as exciting as investigating.
“Yeah, but don’t try to foist all of Clarence’s stuff off on me.”
“I won’t.”
Good thing I like to be busy. Some people (cough my therapist cough) might suggest that’s because I don’t want too much time to think about the future. I disagree. I don’t want too much time to think about the present. I spent thirty years chasing stories and desperately trying to get them written and filed on time. It wasn’t fun waking up in the hospital with a damaged body and nothing to do but think about how I’d gotten there and how little I was prepared for the realities of aging and injury.
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In the Reluctant Psychic Mystery series, a quirky loner who can read the history of any object with her touch gets drawn into mysteries at the museum of oddities where she works. In the Accidental Detective humorous mystery series, a witty journalist solves mysteries in Arizona and tackles the challenges of turning fifty. Kris’s romantic suspense novels include treasure hunting, archaeology, and intrigue. Readers have called these novels “Smart romance with an Indiana Jones feel.” She is also the author of the Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series and the Accidental Billionaire Cowboys series.
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