The River Bend Chronicles Series

Jason is a victim of a fight in the park and is thrown into a fishing boat and set adrift on the river. Dusty organizes a search for the youngster. Blaming himself, Dusty begins interviewing friends and family about parenting. During this hectic period, Sean Hennessey returns to River Bend to claim his inheritance. His father died before he and Sean could heal the breach in their relationship. As he spends time in town trying to learn more about the man his father really was, Sean becomes a suspect in Dusty’s investigation. Lynn is injured in a truck accident. Sean inherits a fortune. And sons reconcile with their parents. A typical happenstance in the little town of River Bend.

In this third book in the River Bend Chronicles, Lynn Powers, a fortyish widow with a teenage son, continues to build her new life in River Bend. It’s two weeks before Christmas and the holiday season is going full tilt -- except for Lynn and her son. In an effort to rekindle their slow starting romance, chief detective Dusty Reid pays a visit and finds Lynn’s household untouched by holiday cheer. Dusty takes Jason on a routine call and starts a series of events that mirrors the death of Lynn’s husband two years ago. In addition to grieving on the anniversary of her husband’s death, Lynn has been advised by one of the board members of the River Bend Philanthropies that his review of a local nonprofit, River Bend Reads, has revealed embezzlement. This story weaves through the Christmas holidays, with Lynn and Dusty’s big New Year’s Eve date spent in the morgue identifying the body of a staff member of River Bend Reads. And then another body turns up.

Sonny Bosco, one of the actors who came to River Bend for a community project last spring, stayed to die. She is a friend of a local physician. Dr. Rita Rutledge, and the River Bend gang, led by Lynn Powers and her family, have rallied to help with Sonny’s care. A sick child is also facing death as his mother, an environmental attorney, and her team investigate water quality issues on the river. One of the environmentalists is murdered at the same time detectives find another body. The inhabitants of this small town explore love and loss while learning from Sonny to celebrate life well lived.

An introduction to the River Bend Chronicles series, you will encounter fascinating characters, three murders, a marriage, and the beginning of a romance between Lynn and a detective known as Dusty. The story takes place over several weeks from May to August. Lynn learns from her father that she has a half -brother, a man whom she has known all of her life. She learns of this relationship on the eve of their 25th high school reunion. As she deals with this new wrinkle in her life, two classmates are murdered, then the sister of a benefactor of the River Bend Philanthropies, her employer, is kidnapped and murdered. New family relationships thread through this mystery, as Lynn works with a local detective to provide moral support to families of the murder victims.

This second entry in the popular River Bend Chronicles gives us a growing relationship between Lynn Powers and police detective Dusty Reid -- along with two murders. It begins with a battered woman being taken to the local woman’s shelter, and Lynn recognizing her as a potential donor to the River Bend Philanthropies. What’s going on in this peaceful little town?

In this fourth book in the River Bend Chronicles, Lynn Powers and Dusty Reid have broken off their engagement to the consternation of both families. But Lynn gets drawn into a murder that requires Dusty’s intervention. An actor who has come to town to help with the production of an Arts Council play is found murdered. Two days later another actor is also found dead. During the investigation, Dusty pleads with Lynn to elope, but the killer has other plans for Lynn. Murder and marriage – what a combination!

This holiday season in River Bend includes family gatherings, snowmobile races, and a little romance. And murder. Lynn Powers and her family begin celebrations for Christmas with the first big party, Dusty’s birthday. However, on Christmas Day Dusty is called to a murder scene where a young man is found dead in his bathtub. And returning from a school administrators Christmas gathering Pam finds a hit-and-run victim in the icy road. Is she under suspicion of the crime?

Renee Kumor enthralls readers of her popular romance series -- The River Bend Chronicles -- drawing them into the lives and loves of the inhabitants of this all-too-familiar small town. In the first book -- Small Town Secrets -- Kumor introduced us to Lynn Powers, a newcomer to town, and local police detective Dusty Reid. Then she tossed in some more fascinating characters, three murders, and a marriage. In the second entry -- Taking A Chance -- we followed the beginnings of the romance between Lynn and Dusty. In the third book -- ‘Tis the Season -- we celebrated the holidays with Lynn and her teenage son, as Dusty uncovered a series of events that mirrored the death of Lynn’s husband two years earlier. And in the fourth book -- An Act of Charity -- Lynn Powers and Dusty Reid have broken off their engagement to the consternation of both families. But then Lynn gets drawn into a murder that requires Dusty's intervention. Now you can get all four at once in this new anthology The River Bend Quartet. This special bundle is a huge savings of 37% off the individual ebooks price (making them less than $2.50 each).