The Body in the Cattails: A Rose Creek Mystery, cartea 1

A burglar shatters big-city lawyer Drew Brauner's confidence in her rash move to a small Oklahoma town. The same night, a frightening visit from a prowler ruins IT expert Callie Garcia's romantic dinner with her cowboy husband. The women meet at the new Rose Creek Reads Book Club, seeking distraction from the unsettling events.

Shy chemist Makenzie Selkirk joins them. The hometown girl is a diehard fan of Rose Creek, nestled beside the Ozark foothills. The club is off to a great start... until the shop's cat makes a horrifying discovery. The book club flier promised readers the chance to discuss novels and make new friends. It didn't say anything about finding a body.

The autopsy implicates the historic factory where Makenzie works. She jumps into the investigation partly to stop protestors from shutting down Brieswell Pottery Works, and partly to spend time with a handsome deputy. Clues are sparse, until Callie discovers a peculiar number. She invites Shanice Hailey to the book club, hoping the university mathematician can break the code. When Callie introduces Shanice to a horse-whisperer, she learns match-making might be as tricky as solving a murder.

The new friends play at being detectives-until the mystery becomes deadly serious.