Happy New Year from all of us at Spyglass Lane!
 | Fog Over Finny's Nose By Dana Mentink / Heartsong Presents Mysteries The worm business is thriving for vermi-culturist Ruth Budge. . . until a disembodied toe turns up on the golf course, and members of a strange cult begin to infiltrate the quiet seaside town of Finny, California. Life is already crazy for forty-seven-year-old Ruth, juggling the needs of her worm farm, her new spouse, and a platoon of crippled seabirds bequeathed to her by her dead husband. Then there's the insanity swirling around the first ever Finny Fog Festival and the discovery of a bizarre diary from one of the town's seediest ancestors. Things go from misty to murderous as a man plummets to his death from an exploding hot air balloon. Is the craziness a byproduct of the festival or a decades-old curse unearthed in the antique diary? Ruth had better find out fast or her worms won't be the only things six feet under. |
 | For Whom The Wedding Bell Tolls By Nancy Mehl / Heartsong Presents Mysteries Ivy Towers is getting married to the love of her life. . .But she finds that trying to run a rare bookstore and plan her upcoming nuptials is more than she can handle. In steps Delaphine Shackleford, a new and unwilling resident in the small town of Winter Break, Kansas. Delaphine offers to be Ivy's wedding planner, and Ivy jumps at her offer. But hiring the eccentric woman will not only drive Ivy to the brink of madness, it will also propel her into the middle of a bizarre murder mystery! |
 | Fudge Laced Felonies By Cynthia Hickey / Heartsong Presents Mysteries While transplanting the rosebush her church's handsome greeter, Ethan Banning, inadvertently killed, Summer and Ethan discover a hidden stash of diamonds, a rusty can full of cash, and a bloody gardening. glove. This discovery sets Summer and her candy-making aunt on a search for a killer. |
 | George Washington Stepped Here By KD Hays / Heartsong Presents Mysteries Karen Maxwell, a divorced mother of two, is struggling to balance her life as a soccer mom with her need to have a life of her own. After working as a bookkeeper in her brother's private investigation firm for years, she finally gets the chance to go undercover and handle a case on her own. Her first assignment is to find out who has stolen the local historical society's greatest treasure. Along the way she makes some new friends, one of whom is very attractive, unmarried, and unfortunately a prime suspect in the case. |
 | Gunfight at Grace Gulch By Darlene Franklin / Heartsong Presents Mysteries The feud between the Graces and the Gaynors is still going strong more than a century after its inception in the 1891 Oklahoma land run. Newspaper editor Penn Hardy is murdered during the reenactment of the most famous gunfight in the history of Grace Gulch, Oklahoma. Cici Wilde, owner of a vintage clothing store, feels compelled to investigate when police suspect people close to her. She soon discovers her talent for sleuthing equals her flare for wearing period clothing. Theater director Audie Howe never expected the reenactment to end in a real murder. He cares too much for the future of the Magda Grace Mallory Theater - and the charming Cici Wilde - to let her face danger alone. Cici and Audie take a dangerous gamble to nail the killer - and lay their lives on the line. |
 | Homicide at Blue Heron Lake By Susan Page Davis and Megan Elaine Davis / Heartsong Presents Mysteries Emily Grant returns to the lakeside community of Baxter, Maine, expecting a peaceful week in her family's island cottage. Instead, she and her high school crush, Nate Holman, discover the body of Henry Derbin, an elderly island resident. Later, Emily finds another body, buried more than a decade earlier, on Mr. Derbin's land. Can Emily and Nate overcome past hindrances to their romance long enough to dig up clues that will help solve both murders? |
 | In The Dead of Winter By Nancy Mehl / Heartsong Presents Mysteries Samantha "Ivy" Towers returns to Winter Break, Kansas, where she spent her summers as a child, to make funeral arrangements for her Aunt Bitty. While there, she begins to suspect her aunt's death, which resulted from a fall in her bookshop, wasn't an accident after all. Childhood friend, Amos Parker, now sheriff of Winter Break, seems anxious to get Ivy out of town. A missing book, a message scrawled by an unknown person, and an extra coffee cup leaves Ivy with more questions than answers. |
 | Kitty Litter Killer By Candice Miller Speare / Heartsong Presents Mysteries TRISH CUNNINGHAM IS PUSSYFOOTING WITH A MURDERER. Amateur sleuth Trish has retired from her short-lived crime- solving foray. No more walking deliberately into danger. Her short-term goal is to see her best friend, Abbie, marry fiancé, Eric Scott, in three weeks. But the brutal murder of Abbie's ex-husband could ruin the nuptials, especially since Abbie was the last one seen with him-when they had a hostile argument at the local convenience store. With evidence pointing at Abbie and the possibility of jail looming in her best friend's future, Trish comes out of her self-imposed sleuth retirement. And as the clock ticks down to the wedding date, Trish once again puts herself in reach of a murderer's claws-this time to protect her best friend. |
 | Misfortune Cookies by Linda Kozar / Heartsong Presents Mysteries WHEN EVEN THE FORTUNE COOKIES HINT AT CALAMITY AHEAD, WATCH OUT! Best friends Sue Jan and Lovita run a beauty shop/boutique in the little West Texas town of Wachita. They share a passion for food and fun. But one day, over lunch in a Chinese restaurant, Lovita opens a fortune cookie with a sinister message: "Your father was murdered. . ." a clue that leads them to God, an international spy ring, and several devastatingly handsome strangers. A most unlikely pair of detectives, these girlfriends "comb" the countryside with style, sarcasm, and lots of Szechwan. This tale is like good take-out food-definitely worth bringing home. |
 | Miss Aggie's Gone Missing By Frances Devine/ Heartsong Presents Mysteries When Aggie Pennington-Brown mysteriously disappears on the same day the Cedar Chapel bank is robbed, the sheriff assumes she was kidnapped by the robbers, and the whole town seems to agree. Victoria Storm, owner of Cedar Lodge Boarding House and her elderly boarders reluctantly come to the same conclusion. But when secrets from their missing friend's past begin to unfold, a horrible possibility arises. Could someone they know and love have harmed Miss Aggie? Could it be one of them? As Victoria and her elderly friends attempt to solve the mystery and locate Miss Aggie, more secrets are revealed until Victoria begins to wonder if there is anyone she can trust. |
 | Murder In The Milk Case By Candice Miller Speare / Heartsong Presents Mysteries When mommy and wife Trish Cunningham finds the body of pharmacist Jim Bob Jenkins behind the two-percent milk, she knows she's having a bad day. Worse, she's a suspect in the case. Sleuthing to exonerate herself from murder charges, she shakes up a murderer who has nothing to lose by killing anyone in the way including Trish. |
 | Murder On The Ol Bunions By S. Dionne Moore / Heartsong Presents Mysteries LaTisha Barnhart's bunions tell her something's afoot as she delves deeper into the murder of her former employer, Marion Peters. When LaTisha becomes a suspect, the ante is upped, and she is determined to clear her name and find the real culprit. |
Merry Christmas from all of us at Spyglass Lane.
 | A Suspicion of Strawberries By Lynette Sowell / Heartsong Presents Mysteries When Charla Rae Thacker and her bridesmaids show up at Andi's soap shop in Greenburg, Tennessee, for a morning of pre-wedding pampering, Andi bends over backwards to make it a pleasant experience for them all. But then Charla keels over and dies from anaphylactic shock after she uses Andi's personally blended cherries jubilee facial scrub. Andi suspects sabotage and murder when she discovers strawberries - a lethal allergen for Charla - in the scrub. Now, Andi must save her business and her reputation. |
 | Another Hour to Kill By Anita Higman / Heartsong Presents Mysteries WHERE BAILEY WALKER LIVES, BEING NEIGHBORLY TAKES ON A WHOLE NEW MEANING. . . . Bailey has survived the mysteries of Volstead Manor, but her latest threats are more ominous than ever. Did her neighbor B.J. die of natural causes? Or was he murdered? And why does the new neighbor, Vlad Tepes, seem to always be watching her?While searching for a lost treasure and planning a wedding the size of an amusement park, Bailey must discover what monster is still lurking in the neighborhood. Will she unravel the puzzle in time, or will Bailey merely provide the villain with Another Hour to Kill? |
 | Another Stab At Life By Anita Higman / Heartsong Presents Mysteries She has nowhere to go, except the dilapidated mansion she's just inherited from her Granny Minna. Unfortunately, Bailey discovers the house has a history as shadowy as its hidden passages and finds the neighborhood overflowing with some rather quirky folks. Bailey suddenly feels like she's trapped inside the pages of a gothic novel - but with a comedic twist. In order to honor her grandmother's wishes and stay at Volstead Manor Bailey must unravel a string of mysteries and secrets, which all seem determined to stay happily ever buried. |
 | Baker's Fatal Dozen By Lisa Harris / Heartsong Presents Mysteries Get ready to cook up a second helping of Pricilla Crumb and her hilarious schemes to serve up justice.When Reggie Pierce, who runs Pricilla Crumb's favorite bakery, is found dead, Pricilla finds herself hot on the trail of another sticky scandal that begins with murder. But as Pricilla chases after clues to catch a killer, will the road to her long-distance romance with Max hit a permanent detour? |
 | Band Room Bash By Candice Miller Speare / Heartsong Presents Mysteries None of the kids at Four Oaks High School like cold, beautiful Ms. Georgia Winters, the new English teacher. But that shouldn't be a reason to murder her, right? Or is it. . . Trish Cunningham and oldest stepson, Tommy, find Georgia dead in the band room with her head bashed in. The suspect list grows and the charges might be assault with a deadly. . .bassoon. Then again, maybe not. Once again, Trish pulls out her notebook to collect clues. But Detective Eric Scott, who is suffering his own personal issues with Trish's best friend, Abbie, pointedly asks Trish to butt out. Despite Detective Scott's warnings, she jumps in as usual and finds herself embroiled in a mystery that has its roots in thwarted love and revenge. The finale could be Trish's swan song. |
 | Bye Bye Bertie By Nancy Mehl / Heartsong Presents Mysteries Ivy Towers lives in the tiny town of Winter Break, Kansas. While working hard to get her late aunt's rare bookstore, Miss Bitty's Bygone Bookstore, on its feet, she accidentally discovers a map hidden inside an old music box. Could it be the map to the Lost Gambler's Gold? The legend of the ill-fated gambler, who hid his fortune somewhere in Winter Break before an Indian raid in the 1860s, has circulated among residents ever since Ivy can remember. Unbeknownst to her boyfriend, Deputy Sheriff Amos Parker, Ivy follows the directions to the place where "X" marks the spot. What she digs up will uncover a mystery that leads to much more than she ever imagined. Lives will be changed, old secrets will be revealed, and Ivy will learn that sometimes, lost treasure can turn out to be much more valuable than a chest full of gold. |
 | Death on a Deadline By Christine Lynxwiler, Jan Reynolds, & Sandy Gaskin / Heartsong Presents Mysteries Headline News; Jenna Stafford's nephew is accused of killing his boss, the newspaper editor. But stop the presses! Jenna recruits her sister, Carly, and they go undercover to get the scoop on the murder. Will the next headline proclaim: Jenna and Carly Expose Killer? Or will the sleuthing sisters end up the featured subjects in tomorrow's obit column? |
 | Dog Gone By Eileen Key / Heartsong Presents Mysteries Cleaning lady Belle Blevins dusts off her sleuthing skills when a rash of missing dogs jeopardizes her best friend's boarding business. Why would anyone go to such extremes to steal a family pet? When Belle learns the missing animals could possibly be in the hands of dognappers, she trades her vacuum for a detective kit and enters the world of valuable show dogs. Will she win a blue ribbon in the romance category? Or will her curiosity put her on the no-show list for the next round of competition? |
 | Down Home and Deadly by Christine Lynxwiler, Jan Reynolds & Sandy Gaskin / Heartsong Presents Mysteries DEATH FOR DESSERT-When Jenna Stafford quits her dead-end job to help her sister Carly open a diner, she may have jumped from the frying pan into the fire. Even though business is really cooking, last time the sisters checked, murder was NOT on the menu. So who's the dead guy out back? And why are there more police officers on the scene than there are paying customers? Can Jenna and Carly sort out their scrambled love lives and still find the missing ingredient in time to solve the crime before their goose is cooked? |
 | Drop Dead Diva by Christine Lynxwiler, Jan Reynolds & Sandy Gaskin / Heartsong Presents Mysteries Free Branson vacation…in exchange for a little elbow grease and moral support. Jenna Stafford and her sister, Carly, dust off their cowboy boots, herd the kids into the SUV, and hightail it up to Branson, Missouri, to help with the grand opening of a friend's theater. To their amazement, the glittering lights and twanging tunes make a perfect backdrop for…murder! The high-maintenance star of the show gets on everyone's nerves. Until someone puts a permanent end to the diva's demands. Carly and Jenna's leading men are waiting in the wings. But with a whole band of suspects, can the sleuthing sisters make the killer play a different tune before their own song is silenced forever? |
 | Everybody Called Her a Saint By Cecil Murphey / Heartsong Presents Mysteries Who would want to kill the sainted Twila Belk?. . .Especially since she had footed the bill for an Antarctica cruise with 48 of her "closest friends?" But when a search team discovers the body of the murdered benefactress on Brown Bluff Island, an unlikely duo joins forces to solve the heinous crime. Though once engaged, Reverend James Burton and Psychologists Julie West are no longer even on speaking terms. Can their mutual love and admiration for a dear, departed friend allow them to set aside their animosities long enough to bring Twila's killer to justice? |
 | Everybody Loved Roger Harden By Cecil Murphey / Heartsong Presents Mysteries Psychologist Julie West and Reverend James Burton arrive late for dinner on Palm Island-but just in time to discover their host, millionaire Roger Harden, murdered. Ten possible suspects share close quarters on the secluded island, all of them with deep secrets and sufficient motive to have wanted the wealthy "benefactor" dead. Can Julie and Burton ignore the mysterious attraction developing between them long enough to discover who among them didn't love Roger Harden enough to let him live? |
 | Everybody Wanted Room 623 By Cecil Murphey / Heartsong Presents Mysteries When psychologist Julie West arrives at Cartledge Inn in response to an urgent call from Stefan Lauber, a supposedly reformed criminal recently released from prision, a near-hysterical desk clerk tells her that Lauber has been murdered in his room-room 623.. |
Part 3
Detective Dho pointed to the person closest to Cho Hee’s still body, an elderly woman whose sharp eyes said she missed nothing.
“You! Did you see what happened?”
“I saw only when Cho Hee fell,” the woman replied, her thick accent rolling the words heavily. “She screamed. When I turned to see why, she was already on the ground.”
Interesting, Detective Dho thought, stroking the fine hair growing on his chin. “And did you see from which direction she came?”
The woman lifted her gnarled hand to point. “She comes every Tuesday and stops there, at the vendor on the end, to buy meat for her guests.”
Dho’s eyes narrowed. Of course. That explained so much. But just to be sure. . .
Dho carefully lifted the basket. As he suspected, it was empty.
Ignoring the surprised stares of the throng, Dho whirled and strode to the vendor. “Are you the merchant who sold Cho Hee the snake for her dinner?”
The vendor’s wrinkled face paled. “Cho Hee comes every Tuesday.”
“But on this day in particular, you had something special for her, did you not?” Dho demanded. “A poisonous snake that you sedated until Cho Hee was far enough from your booth?”
“I. . .I. . .”
“Tell me,” Dho said, “what grudge did you hold against Cho Hee, that you would murder her in cold blood!”
A gasp went up from the crowd. Suddenly, the vendor’s face flushed with rage and he pounded both fists against the wooden counter until the jars and baskets on its surface rattled. “It is true! I killed her, but her death was necessary. The crimes of her regime must not go unpunished!”
“Indeed,” Dho said quietly. He signaled to a couple of men who promptly took the old vendor by the arms. “But it is your crimes that will be punished this day, old man, for no one who chooses to cast his lot with a serpent will ever live to see his deeds prosper.”
Stay tuned next week for a brand new Short Story Mystery!
A TREASURE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN. A MURDERER ROAMING THE QUIET STREETS OF FINNY. WILL RUTH FIND THE STRENGTH TO WITHSTAND MURDER, MAYHEM. . .AND MOMMYHOOD?
It’s the 150th anniversary of the wreck of the Triton, a ship that foundered off the coast of Finny, California. A team of college students arrives to fi lm a documentary, and a pregnant Ruth is pressed into service. She must reenact the life of survivor Indigo
Orson, a woman who managed the perils of gold rush California by disguising herself as a man. Indigo’s writing reveals there was treasure aboard the Triton, a treasure shrouded in secrecy.
While her beloved husband, Monk, is away, Ruth stumbles on the body of one of the film crew. His death turns out to be the furthest thing from an accident. Adding to the chaos, Ruth’s estranged son arrives and Monk’s niece faces heartbreak at the hands of Finny’s police detective. Faced with murder, mayhem, and mommyhood, Ruth had better find some answers fast.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dana Mentink lives in California with her husband and two children. Her first love is the classroom, having taught children from preschool through fifth grade for over a decade.
Dana is perpetually in search of a great story, either through painfully expensive trips to the book store or in her own labors in front of the computer. She enjoys writing cozies for Heartsong Presents Mysteries and suspense for Harlequin's Steeple Hill division. Her book Killer Cargo releases in June through Harlequin's Love Inspired Suspense line.
Dana enjoys mentoring other writers and finding new vehicles to provide her readers with a hefty dose of mystery, merriment and make-believe.
For more information about
AND NOW AN EXCERPT FROM . . .TREASURE UNDER FINNY'S NOSE
The birds swarmed back and forth, playing tag with the waves. They kept away from the few able bodied birds that poked in the sand. It made her sad, that her birds knew instinctively that they were not part of that wild flock anymore. She wondered if they felt a pang when they saw their able bodied brothers fly away on graceful wings. Did they realize they were forever earth bound?
She walked carefully around the slick boulders, keeping an eye on Franklin. He was her delicate bird, after losing an eye and a foot to a cat. The vet had fashioned him a little plastic tube that slipped on his leg to protect his stump and help with balance. He despised having the contraption put on, but it helped him keep up or at least out of the way of the others.
Looking back she saw Alva with his plastic shovel, digging for treasure. The image brought back the words of Isabel Ortiz. As she watched the gray waves scour the sand, she wondered what it had been like for the servant woman to cling to the wreckage and watch the people die all around her. All those people and their possessions, lost to the arms of an angry ocean.
Franklin hobbled ahead and disappeared around yet another jagged rock.
"Don't go too far," Ruth scolded. "I'm in no position to attempt a water rescue."
She edged around the obstruction.
Franklin poked his slender beak in a pile of slippery black kelp.
Ruth took another glance at the oddly shaped mound of seaweed.
Her mouth went dry.
"Alva," she called in a shaky voice. "Can you come here for a second?"
He trotted over, still holding onto the bucket. "Good news. I found a can opener. Ain't that handy? You just never know when you're gonna need a can opener. It don't seem hardly rusted at all. Wonder why someone threw it away?"
She pointed. "Take a look over there, Alva. Is that what I think it is?"
The old man squinted, mashing a fist into his eyes before he peered again. "Well, would you look at that. It ain't no sea monster." He patted his pockets.
Ruth fought hard against the bile that rose in her throat. It took all her strength of will to contain the scream that coalesced inside her. After a moment, she got her vocal chords to cooperate. "Alva, I think you better call the police."
"Who me? I ain't got a phone, Sweet Cheeks." He found the pencil and notebook. "I gotta add this to my report." He licked the pencil point and began to write with relish. "Saturday. Seven fifty- five. We found ourselves a body."
To read more of TREASURE UNDER FINNY'S NOSE be sure to subscribe to:
Heartsong Presents: Mysteries!
OTHER HEARTSONG PRESENTS MYSTERIES BY DANA MENTINK
TROUBLE UP FINNY'S NOSE
Dead bodies in the fountain? The discovery of her
late husband's secret novel? Come join Ruth
Budge in the not so quiet town of Finny, California
where trouble doesn't stay buried for long.
FOG OVER FINNY'S NOSE
The worm business is thriving for vermi-culturist Ruth Budge. . . until a disembodied toe turns up on the golf course, and members of a strange cult begin to infiltrate the quiet seaside town of Finny, California.
Life is already crazy for forty-seven-year-old Ruth, juggling the needs of her worm farm, her new spouse, and a platoon of crippled seabirds bequeathed to her by her dead husband. Then there’s the insanity swirling around the first ever Finny Fog Festival and the discovery of a bizarre diary from one of the town’s seediest ancestors.
Things go from misty to murderous as a man plummets to his death from an exploding hot air balloon. Is the craziness a byproduct of the festival or a decades-old curse unearthed in the antique diary? Ruth had better find out fast or her worms won’t be the only things six feet under.
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