When local photographer Carly Keene snaps a few photos of the town’s Christmas lights, she gets more than she bargained for. Tangled up in a strand of lights and wrapped up in mystery is one Renae Boggs, town Grinch and possibly one of the most hated women on Main Street.
As Carly digs to uncover the truth behind who killed Renae, she uncovers the woman’s tragic past, and begins to realize that maybe she wasn’t that horrible of a person after all. Can Carly bring the killer to justice in time for a Merry Christmas?
Family drama, mysterious ‘secret’ Santas and lots of good Southern food fill the pages of this festive cozy mystery set in the sleepy little town of Parker’s Mill, GA.
Targeted Age Group:: 16-65
What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
I have always loved books that have a good mix of fun characters and ‘feel-good’ factor. I wanted people to know the good side of small town living because it’s more than just good old boys and girls eating grits and cornbread; it’s also family, friendship, honor and love.
How Did You Come up With Your Characters?
Well, don’t you know I just know somebody who reminds me of every single one of my characters! I took the best bits of the people I know and grew up with and put them all in the story.
Book Sample
Brandon shrugged his shoulders. “He’s a grown man, he went out of town and probably didn’t want his weird mama calling him to pester him, so he probably turned his phone off. But, Mr. Grainger did say he thought that Daniel might have had a drug problem, so who knows. He could be lying dead in a ditch somewhere, or he could be sitting in some crappy drug dealer’s house getting out of his skull.”
“Or, he could just be taking some time to get clean or doing some charity work or something.” Carly, ever the optimist, couldn’t help but hope Daniel Jenkins was doing one of these two things, and not lying in a ditch somewhere, as her cousin suggested.
A buzzing sound pulled Brandon’s attention to his phone. He unlocked the screen and read a message, then typed one back and quickly sent it. “That was Bubba, you know, Officer Watkins? He told me he’s gonna eat my pack of candy bars if I don’t get back to the office.”
“What candy bars?” Carly asked, confused about Brandon’s explanation.
“Well, it’s the strangest thing. You know how we got the ice rink here in town, right?” Carly shook her head. “You don’t? Man, it’s been in your newspaper, I guess you ought to read it a little more often.” Carly shot him a mean look, which he ignored, and continued. “Well, just after Thanksgiving, the mayor received an anonymous letter, typed up, with a receipt for the ice skating rink inside. The letter said that an anonymous citizen wanted to give something back to the community for Christmas, and the rink was the gift. These things cost thousands of dollars, but somebody just donated one to the city of Parker’s Mill.”
Carly was surprised, and she rolled through the list of all the wealthy people she knew that lived in her hometown, trying to think of who might have been so generous. “That’s so bizarre,” she said, looking at the rink once again. “That must have cost a lot of money.”
Brandon continued. “That’s not all. Last week, the animal shelter got the same kind of letter, only this one had a gift card in it for five thousand dollars. The letter said it was so they could buy food and toys for the dogs and cats in there for the next few months. No signature, no stamp, no return address. It was just shoved under their door.”
Carly shivered, not from the cold, but from the creepiness of the kind gesture. “That’s both awesome and terrifying,” she said. “I mean, some rich person is going around giving out gifts, but nobody knows who it is. That sounds like a Hollywood movie to me.”
“Well, how about this? I got into work this morning, and Bubba tells me we got a letter. And a package. Our letter said that a citizen of the town who wished to remain anonymous wanted to thank the police department for all of our hard work. The package was a gift for us.” He paused for dramatic effect. “It was huge, and unmarked, had nothing written on it, just a plain cardboard box. Nobody wanted to open it, on account of someone saying it could be a bomb. We brought the K9 unit out and he went crazy over it.”
Carly giggled. Parker’s Mill’s K9 unit was really just the sheriff’s lazy old bulldog who slept under his owner’s desk and ate donuts that people brought by for the cops. “Well, don’t keep me waiting…what was in it?”
“Food.” Brandon crossed his arms. “A ton of food. Some of it was canned and boxed stuff, so we just put it in the food drive. But the rest of it, man! There was every kind of candy and snack cake you could think of, plus beef jerky and meat sticks. Our break room looks like somebody robbed a gas station and brought all the junk food to us.”
“That is so weird,” Carly replied. “But appropriate. Whoever left that gift, knows at least some of you too well.”
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