Death By Association: A Small Town Mystery (The Desert Pines Mystery Series Book One)

2024 Readers' Favorite Bronze Medal Winner Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner All she wants is a fresh start, a cup of joe, and zero bodies. Two out of three ain't bad… Barista Jane McLaren came to Desert Pines, Oregon to lie low and keep her past firmly in the rearview mirror. But in a sunbaked resort town where gossip travels faster than wildfire, blending in isn’t as easy as she hoped. When a local dies during the annual HOA meeting, whispers, grudges, and long-simmering rivalries bubble to the surface—and Jane finds herself pulled into the investigation, whether she likes it or not. As rumors swirl and secrets unravel, she must navigate a tangled web of neighbors, relatives, and buried skeletons. She’s no detective—but someone in this town is a killer. And they might be closer than she thinks. Death by Association is the entertaining and delightfully twisty kick-off to a mystery series full of small-town secrets, dry humor, and a reluctant sleuth with more to hide than most. "This is an excellent read for mystery lovers, and I highly recommend it." – Sherri Fulmer Moorer, for Readers' Favorite