When a fellow writer's mail is returned marked "Temporarily Away" and she is unable to reach him, Henrietta Harcourt asks the local sheriff to investigate, and the man's mummified remains are discovered in his remote cabin on the edge of a national forest. After his death is dismissed as natural causes, a suspicious Henrietta prods the sheriff to look at someone with motive, means, and opportunity. When he does, "natural causes" begins to look as unlikely as "temporarily away."12,6...

Rick is looking forward to the next phase of his young life and sharing some exciting news with his girlfriend, Cassie. When she calls asking to meet at their favorite hangout near her home, he drives through the dark, rainy streets to the burger joint across town, wondering what could be on her mind. Probably just another of her dramatic fantasies; he's used to them by now. Surely nothing more than that…right?

Sid Langdon, a newly-licensed private investigator, gets his first case—complete with a corpse and a million dollars in missing jewels. And he is tapped to find the answers by the very man who may be responsible for both! So who done it? Sid wades through a sordid quagmire of blackmail, adultery, and betrayal to find the answers. It's Sid's first case—it might well be his last!This is where it all begins. Get in at the start of the Sid Langdon Mysteries as Sid, a seasoned insurance...

With his high-pressure career drawing to a close, Larry Layton was ready to leave it all behind. He and his wife, Marge, sold their Minnesota home and retreated to a secluded cabin near a remote mountain town in Colorado. As autumn crept in, it carried subtle warnings—brittle winds, early frost—but Larry dismissed them. He believed he was ready for whatever Colorado might throw his way.But he was wrong, and winter was already watching.

A collection of short stories previously published as E-books.

Two down-on-their-luck cowboys decide their lives need a change of plan.

A struggling private eye finally gets a client, an appraiser for a local art gallery. The woman appraised a valuable vase and the gallery sent it to a collector who agreed on a price based on her appraisal. When the package is received, instead of the valuable Ming rose jade vase it should have contained, there was a plastic replica. Our detective is hired to find out what happened and who engineered the switch.

The boy was just fifteen. The posse hesitated, but not for long, before whipping the horse out from under him; then they watched him swing with the others. When Charlie Cross learned of his kid brother's lynching, he set out to even the score. This time his gun would not go to the highest bidder—this time it was personal.56,000 words

Charlotte Beckford watched helplessly as the man she loved was gunned down in the middle of a dusty Kansas street. In another month, they would have married. Now, as she knelt and cradled Adam's broken body, she screamed hysterically at his murderer, swearing that she would see him hang. But Bowie Rayburn laughed at her threat, her words echoing behind him as he rode away unconcerned. After all, he thought, what could she do? She was just a girl.Shadow of the Rope is a tale of grie...

When aristocratic Karl, Graf von Abensberg, heir to a centuries-old title, married commoner Leda Devoe, he told her he needed her strength, her courage, and her love. Soon all three are tested when Karl is injured in an explosion that leaves him in a deep coma, and Leda is all that stands between him and those who would rob him of his property, his fortune, and his very life. Will her courage and determination be enough to save the man she loves? They will have to be, for in her heart of h...

Rick is looking forward to the next phase of his young life and sharing some exciting news with his girlfriend, Cassie. When she calls asking to meet at their favorite hangout near her home, he drives through the dark, rainy streets to the burger joint across town, wondering what could be on her mind. Probably just another of her dramatic fantasies; he's used to them by now. Surely nothing more than that…right?3,200 words

“Yes, yes,” Henrietta said impatiently, fingering the pince-nez that hung from her neck on a black braided cord, “but it’s really just too intriguing. It has all the ingredients of a first-rate crime novel, if you ask me. Think of it: a young heiress alone and grief stricken after the mysterious death of her aunt; a painting, a treasured legacy, missing; the police baffled.” Then she said solemnly, “You know, Joshua, it just struck me. What if there’s a connection between Mrs. Harper’s dea...