Trail of Lies

A dead developer. A trail of secrets. And a retired mystery novelist who can't stop seeing the clues everyone else misses. Claire Hartley moved to Ridgeline, Colorado, for one thing: peace. After twenty years of writing bestselling mysteries and a divorce that left her questioning everything, she's ready to trade plot twists for morning coffee at the dog park with her golden retriever, Boone, and her suspicious little rescue, Pepper. But when real estate developer Donald Kemper is found dead on a mountain trail—supposedly from a hiking accident—Claire's novelist brain refuses to stay retired. Her friend Finn saw people on that trail at dawn. People dressed wrong. Moving with purpose. Now Claire is drawn into a web of secrets involving a bitter environmental activist, a business partner with something to hide, an estranged son who came home too late, and a widow who doesn't seem particularly sorry her husband is dead. As Claire digs deeper, she uncovers financial crimes, decades of buried resentments, and motives everywhere she looks. Someone in this tight-knit mountain community is a killer—and they know Claire is getting close. With a threatening message on her phone and a town full of suspects, Claire must piece together the truth before the killer decides she's the next loose end to tie up. Perfect for fans of cozy mysteries with smart sleuths, loyal dogs, and small-town secrets. Trail of Lies is the first book in the Ridgeline Dog Park Mysteries series. Each book features a standalone mystery with no cliffhangers.