Prequel to Rae Riley Mysteries : “A Rose from the Ashes” in Christmas fiction off the beaten path
Nineteen-year-old Rae Riley knows she needs to fulfill her late mother’s dying wish. But she needs even more to find her father. And the man who attacked her mother twenty years ago on Christmas Eve and left her to burn in an abandoned building. And if her father and the attacker are one and the same.
The paperback edition had my story plus five others. The hardcover edition has all six stories as well as recipes and additional material from all six authors.
Amazon buy link and Goodreads.
Rae Riley Mystery #1: A Shadow on the Snow
Nineteen-year-old Rae Riley can barely believe her gamble paid off. After spending seven months investigating the identity of her father and whether he tried to murder her mother, Rae has been accepted by her dad, Sheriff Walter “Mal” Malinowski IV, and his immediate family with open hearts. And for the first time in her life, Rae is making friends, jamming with three cute cops who play outlaw country music.
But someone is leaving Rae threatening notes, reminding her of her late mother’s notorious past when Bella Rydell wrecked homes and lives during the few years she lived in rural Marlin County, Ohio. Fearing the threats will make Mal and his family reject her, Rae investigates the mystery on her own. But her amateur sleuthing may cost her the father she’s always wanted when the stalker changes targets and takes dead aim at Mal.
Rae Riley Mystery #2: A Storm of Doubts
Her dad said nothing could change their relationship. But what if he wasn’t her dad?
Summer gets off to a rocky start for twenty-year-old Rae Riley when the ex-wife of family friend Jason Carlisle claims their youngest child isn’t his and Rae’s con man uncle Troy returns to Marlin County, Ohio. Rae is already at odds with her father, Sheriff Walter “Mal” Malinowski, over her desire to help people in trouble. When she extends that help to Uncle Troy and Jason’s ex-wife, she and Mal clash even more.
Then the ex-wife disappears, and Jason and his brother Rick are two of the main suspects. As Rae and her Aunt Carrie, a private investigator hired to protect Jason’s kids, work to discover what really happened, Rae wrestles with Troy’s insinuations that she may be calling the wrong Malinowski “Dad.”
Rae Riley Mystery #3: A Riddle in the Lonesome October
How do you survive a season of fear?
October is a hard month for Rae Riley’s family. Her dad, Sheriff Walter “Mal” Malinowski lost his wife and father then. He also has to manage the trouble Halloween brings to rural Marlin County, Ohio. But this year, Rae’s uncle fights for his life after a riding accident, and a family feud over a lost inheritance erupts at a local Halloween attraction. As Rae tries to support her family, she and her cousin Amber work to unravel the 70-year-old riddle that will reveal the location of the inheritance so their great aunt Lily and her kids can gain a fortune. And Rae must deal with the secretive behavior of the deputy she’s fallen for.
When a bogus medium conducts a séance to contact Cyrus Morley, the man who devised the riddle, the results stun everyone, and the aftermath is even more shocking. There’s only one way to survive a season of so much fear–and only one way to unmask a killer
Bonus Mystery: “Bovine” in Ohio Trail Mix
“Bovine” can be read at any time in the Rae Riley Mystery timeline. Rae only has a cameo appearance, but it features her dad and other members of her family. Here’s the blurb:
An elitist author comes to a backwater Ohio county, thinking he’s found the perfect setting for the perfect crime.
