COUNTRY COUSIN MYSTERIES Series

She's just a country girl who loves her dog. But her life is about to get less countrified and more...erm...homicide. Deer Hollow is a small community built in a verdant, rolling countryside. The nearest big city is over an hour away and big city ways are rejected at the Hollow. Unfortunately, the big city isn't the only place where bad things can happen. Things like murder…which has a funny way of messin' up a debutante's day and turning a sunny Sunday in June right over onto its bucolic head.

A dead Realtor, a cranky cat, an adorable, depressed pibl, and a boyfriend who hasn't been...shall we say...totally honest recently. Joey's got bigger problems than figuring out when she'll get her next slice of banana cream pie. Though that certainly ranks high on her list of concerns. Murder is sinking its hooks into the quiet countryside and dredging up ugly secrets. Deer Hollow is still a quiet little town steeped in Americana and known for its delicious country fare. But being named a top ten place to live just might have inspired an assassin to make the quaint country spot home. As Joey searches for a killer, her past is dragged from the murky darkness where she's hidden it. And secrets she never wanted to discover are rising like the stink of manure on a freshly fertilized field.

In a small country town, justice might be swift…but rumor is swifter! My name is Joey and I'm just a simple country girl. Nothing special at all. Well, except for the fact that I tend to find bodies all over the place. But aside from that I'm just like everybody else. Oh, then there's that really big secret in my past. The one that involves my parents dying in a fiery crash and me finding out that the person who caused their deaths might be after me too. But none of that matters right now. What matters is that I have a problem. My friend, Deputy Arno Willager just arrested his mom for murder. He's devastated. And to make his problems worse, his mom's beloved elderly dog is in bad shape. Yeah, long story, we'll get into that later. Arno's mom…well…unfortunately she can't remember a thing. So Hal and I─oh, Hal's my boyfriend and he's a PI─are trying to help Arno figure out who killed the troublemaker his mom was standing over with a bloody knife. Yeah, it's quite a mess. But with the help of my best friend Caphy (my Pitbull) and Hal, I'm pretty sure we can suss out a killer. After all, we've done it a few times already!

She's just a country girl who loves her dog…and her cat…and her pig. But a cold-blooded killer might suck the sweet right out of her bucolic little world.   Pence Lucklin has always had the luck of the Irish, though he's about as far from Irish as you can get. It is, after all, how he got his nickname, Lucky Lucklin. But it appears that his luck has run out in a big way. That's putting it mildly, I guess. Since Lucky just turned up dead, hanging from a tool hook at my family's auction business.   Was Lucky's death meant as a warning for me? Could this mean the return of an old villain? Will Hal and I be called on to help the local Deer Hollow police find a killer?   In the end, luck probably won't have much to do with the outcome. Luck can be made. And as death stalks the people I love, I'm fully prepared to force the hand of fate and create my own luck. Or die trying.

Rudy-Bob Hortmann has never quite gotten the hang of making friends. He doesn't much like peopling, mostly preferring the company of his pot-bellied pig, Ethel Squeaks to humanoid types. But there's one exception. Rudy-Bob loves kids. So for Christmas every year he gives himself a present. He plays Santa at the annual Deer Hollow Christmas party. Only this year, Rudy-Bob doesn't make it out of the Santa suit when the Pageant is done. Instead, Deputy Sheriff Arno Willager finds Rudy-Bob literally chillin' in a snow bank, his bulbous nose flashing red through the snow. That's where I come into the picture. I'm Joey Fulle and I'm pretty good at finding bodies around my place on the outskirts of Deer Hollow. I didn't actually find this one, of course. But I'm fully invested in locating his killer. 'Cause, with the help of my handsome PI boyfriend Hal, my sweet and goofy Pitbull Caphy, and my opinionated Siamese cat, LaLee, I'm also pretty good at finding killers. Sometimes, even before they find me…  

LaLee is a typical cat. She's snooty, hostile, and opinionated. She's also been kittynapped. Heaven help the idiots who thought that was a good idea. The good news is that they'll probably be so sick of her antics by the time we find them that they'll be happy to give her back!   My name is Joey Fulle and my superpower is solving mysteries with my handsome PI boyfriend. We also get a little help from my sweet Pitbull Caphy and her sisters in crime, LaLee the Siamese cat and Ethel Squeaks the miniature potbelly pig. Fortunately, we've been in a mystery dry spell for a few weeks and I'll admit, I've been a little bored. A condition I immediately regretted when LaLee was kittynapped. Now my posse and I need to discover why they took the crotchety cat, figure out how to save her, and then solve a murder. Just another day in Bumpkinville!

Meanwhile, in a local support group for people with control issues…   Hi! I'm Joey, and I'm learning to cope with not having control over any aspect of my life. Really, I am. So what if my boyfriend's parents are here for a visit. I can deal with that, right? They probably won't completely hate me. I'm sure they won't judge me for being an unrepentant bumpkin. Oh, and somebody's trying to kill my mom. There's no way that can end badly.  But, surely I can find the villain before he accomplishes his deadly task, right? Right??? At least Hal's parents are here to watch me completely meltdown and lose my mind. Sooo, that's cool. Sigh… Stick a pitchfork in me. I'm dung.

She's just a girl with a dog, a cat, and a pig. And since she's been drafted into helping her boyfriend scare his younger brother straight, she's a girl who's suddenly glad she's an only child.   Hal's younger brother has been banished to Deer Hollow because of his proclivity for getting into trouble. Hal's parents are hoping he'll take the kid under his wing and straighten him out. But Asher Amity has a knack for finding trouble, and it doesn't take him long to find it in Deer Hollow. When Asher steps into a steaming pile of murder and treachery, Hal and Joey are destined to get dragged into the mess with him. Who knew how dangerous babysitting could be?

Not since the days when Vlad the Impaler rampaged the quaint countryside of Wallachia Romania, has anyone deserved to go to prison more than George Shulz. Unfortunately, we have to prove he did something wrong first.   Self-proclaimed sociopathic lawyer George Shulz is a cross between a "get off my lawn" guy and Hannibal Lecter. A less likeable individual would be hard to find in Deer Hollow. So, when he's arrested at the site of a recent murder involving a missing deer, Shulz's car, and a body with a clear set of tire tracks painting his backside, there doesn't seem to be much question whether he's guilty. Everybody wants him to be. Unfortunately, for everybody, Shulz keeps insisting he didn't do it. And worse, he wants me, Joey Fulle, and my boyfriend Hal, the PI, to prove his innocence. I really just have a hankerin' to grab a pitchfork and join the lynch mob. Unfortunately for me, Hal and his brother Cal are on the job, intending to prove the horrible man's innocence. Dangit! On the plus side, I get to spend some quality time with my bestie, Felicity, from the big city. But, I'm thinkin' I might occasionally drift over to the torch and pitchfork side, just for fun.

Deer Hollow's new mayor has a past. He portrays himself as a distinguished member of the community. But Joey isn't buying what he's selling. It might have something to do with the dead body draped over his breakfast table.   Lord Acton once said, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." I wouldn't know. I have no power. My name is Joey and I'm an unabashed bumpkin. I live in a quaint and quirky country town named Deer Hollow. We're pretty simple and laid back in the Hollow. But that doesn't mean the occasional murder can't happen here. It's just that when it does, it seems more surprising somehow. Especially when a corpse turns up in the mayor's kitchen. (Psst! If you're keeping track, he does have power.) But don't worry, we're on it. By "we" I mean me, the Greek deity (my boyfriend Hal), and my sweet Pitbull Caphy. Yeah, I didn't include my snooty Siamese cat, LaLee or our adorable pot-bellied pig Ethel Squeaks. Not because I love them any less. But let's face it, the cat isn't going to get her paws dirty delving into a messy murder, and the pig…well…she tends to hoard all the evidence in her little tent in my kitchen, so…