Death in the Canyon: A Novella

By Pamela Dunmire

About the Book
In this timely crime thriller set in the snoozy Bradshaw Mountains in Arizona, a group of retirees sets out to discover the truth behind their friend’s mysterious death.
Delilah Benson is a passionate environmentalist and beloved member of the book club Novellas, founded by her and her friends more as an excuse to chat and catch up than to discuss literature. After retiring from the county sheriff’s department, Delilah is looking forward to hiking trips with her friends and husband, David. However, Delilah’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic, culminating in a rash solo-drive to the Grand Canyon. David recruits the Novellas members to help search for Delilah, but as the details of her disappearance become clearer, the group is at a loss for an answer.
Tackling urgent themes such as climate change, corruption, and the danger of unchecked human consumption, Death in the Canyon takes the reader on a journey of uncovering the sinister unpinning of this quiet Southwestern town.
About the Author
Pamela Dunmire has a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Chapman University, and she spent twenty years working with families to make them whole again. After retiring as a counselor in child welfare and adoptions, she moved to the mountains of Arizona and became a full-time writer and visual artist, which led her to also become a retreat leader and public speaker.
Pamela and her husband live in Prescott, Arizona. Together they have three children and five grandchildren.

You can find out more about the author at
www.pameladunmirefineart.com

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Company
• Release date: Nov 29, 2023
• ISBN: 9798889258797

Book preview

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The contents of this work, including, but not limited to, the accuracy of events, people, and places depicted; opinions expressed; permission to use previously published materials included; and any advice given or actions advocated are solely the responsibility of the author, who assumes all liability for said work and indemnifies the publisher against any claims stemming from publication of the work.

All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2023 by Pamela Dunmire

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted, downloaded, distributed, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented without permission in writing from the publisher.

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The Book Club Girls

Jo Nash

It had been dry and hot that summer as the clouds built, beckoning the monsoon to come. Jo felt parched sitting on her studio deck, she just couldn’t seem to get enough water; Arizona had been in an extreme drought along with all the Southwestern United States. And yet many people still were in denial over climate change. It made her so angry! Where are we going to get our water in ten years, Jo thought? She saw all the buildings and new subdivisions going up on the north side of town, and she blamed the city council for letting the developers take the water for their economic gain.  Jo would continue to fight for the environmentalists, and walk in the demonstrations along with her friends Erin and Delilah; since then they had become dear friends. In fact, Jo invited Delilah to join Novellas. Delilah and Jo had been members for sixteen years.  Erin was one of the founding members of Novellas; it was hard to believe that Novellas has been going for twenty years.  

Jo and Bennett Nash loved living in their little town near to their family and grandkids. Bennett and Jo first moved from California to Phoenix to be near the family but soon found out that the summers were deadly, they could not stand the heat.  After living a summer in the Valley of the sun, Bennett suggested they live in the higher elevations of Northern Arizona in a small town in the Bradshaw Mountains. Snuggled into the perfect forest setting, Bennett and Jo found the home of their dreams on the west side of town. The only thing that worried Jo was the constant threat of wildfires.

Jo had many transformations in her identity as a creative: When she retired from her social work job in California, she wanted to become a full-time artist, so she and Bennett had a studio with a deck built off the front of their home. Jo spent every day in her studio and on the deck. She loved nature, and Jo had a beautiful streambed running fast and furious during the monsoons. While sitting on the deck, she enjoyed the seasonal flowing water, but it was hard to breathe today because of the mugginess of the morning air. ‘I don’t mind,’ she thought, because it was a sign that the monsoons were about to start.

When the monsoons came, she would be at her drafting table sketching her favorite time of year. I love every monsoon season, when the rains come and the lakes and rivers fill up, she said to the little hummingbird flitting through the huge Alligator Juniper that shaded her deck. She loved having water in her environment. When she was not sketching, Jo loved to sit on her deck and listen to the rushing water and watch the stream as she journaled and contemplated her next project. I am thinking of writing another book, Mr. Hummingbird. But Jo needed to find an environmental publisher, especially one who would sponsor authors that believed in climate change. Jo had a million ideas floating around in her brain. She needed to start her book, but which direction to take? She felt muddled and unable to start until the rains came.

Jo heard the sound of thunder. Bennett was a meteorologist and said if the clouds formed before noon, that was a good sign that it would rain in the afternoon.  Jo hoped that the rain would come this afternoon.  Lightning storms were the enemy without the rain.  A forest fire had popped up in the Bradshaws this last week.  Some of the outlying areas around the town were evacuated. No lives were lost, but a few buildings were.  Jo looked