Böcker av J C Wing

Sometimes climbing the corporate ladder can be deadly ... Autumn comes to visit the small mountain town of Whisper Creek, Colorado, and finds the Murphy sisters hard at work. Theodora is nearly ready to open the doors of her new law firm, and Cleopatra has added to her already full schedule by returning to school to get her business degree. As the women continue to build their respective businesses, they are forced to make an array of decisions. Theodora has taken on a somewhat unlikely woman to run her front desk, while Cleopatra has decided to promote her receptionist, Hailey St. James, to be her new business manager. One evening, as Cleopatra drives home from class, an early blizzard blows in, covering SH 96, a twisty two-lane highway, in snow and ice. When Sheriff Ames knocks on Theodora's door later that night, it's to inform her that her sister has been involved in a horrible car accident and has been taken to a hospital sixty miles away. While Cleopatra fights for her life, another tragedy occurs. Hailey is found dead at the Madeleine Hotel. As the days pass, Cleopatra shows no signs of improvement, and Theodora starts hearing things from the hotel staff that make her think that one of them might have wanted the receptionist gone for good. The question is, why?

It's just a normal weekend in Whisper Creek.A tenacious border collie, a gorgeous rodeo queen ... and murder. The three-day celebration marking the seventieth annual Cloud County Rodeo promises to be one of the most exciting yet. Theodora Murphy and her handsome escort, Jordan Reilly, show up to the Jubilee dance, which kicks off the event. When the reigning Miss Rodeo U.S.A. is announced, and Jordan takes Paisley Shaw for a spin around the dance floor, Theo is surprised to learn that the lovely rodeo queen ruled his heart once upon a not so long ago. Theo, busy with a houseful of new pets, including a tenacious border collie who takes his child protection responsibilities quite seriously, decides it might be best to skip the rest of the festivities, but her friends and family aren't about to let her miss a Whisper Creek tradition. During the day, she attends roping competitions, bronc and bull riding and barrel racing events. Rodeo clowns perform and the kids take part in mutton busting competitions and stick horse races. At night, Theo gets to see her sister, Cleopatra Murphy, take to the stage and perform the songs that made her a country star years before. Residents agree that this is the best rodeo in the county's history. That is until a cowboy is killed during one of the last bronc riding events of the weekend. When local law enforcement rules the unfortunate incident an accident, the once happy celebration comes to a sad end. Theo thinks she's seen the last of the rodeo until she's asked to do some more digging around. The dead man just happens to be the rodeo queen's younger brother, and she's not at all convinced his death was an accident.

Be careful what you wish for ... Louis had exhausted the long list of babysitters his parents had compiled. At first, it was easy to get someone to come to the house. There were plenty of high school-aged kids in the neighborhood eager to make a buck, and the Millers paid their sitters well. But they lived in a small town, and word spread quickly. Louis was a likable kid, but he was a challenge. Even Louis had to admit the validity of such a claim. There was that time he set fire to the playhouse, and his mom would never let him forget the morning he boarded a bus and crossed the state line just to see if they'd actually let a seven-year-old do that sort of thing. He never set out to cause trouble, he was just so easily bored, and most teenage girls were much more interested in social media than hanging out with a little kid. He needed adventure. He needed excitement. Heck, he'd even take a good old-fashioned game of chess, but he had yet to find a teen interested in entertainment that wasn't found on a phone. And then one night, Jillian came to sit for him.

Ten years ago, Theodora Murphy packed her bags and left Colorado, saying goodbye to the drama of her sister's failed musical career, her mother's long-suffering disappointment and the grief of her father's death. She'd placed a distance of 2,000 miles between her and her small-town past. She thought she was far enough away, but nothing is ever quiet in Whisper Creek. When Theodora receives a phone call from her sister announcing the death of a prominent resident of the town, she's tempted to ignore the news. When she learns that her mother's fingerprints were found all over the murder weapon, she finds herself headed west, out of the anonymity of her large, populated city and back to the small town, the people and the memories she left behind her years before. While investigating the murder, Theodora uncovers clues to not only the crime that took place at Fireweed Farm, but she learns things she never knew about her mother's past. Every answer she discovers brings with it even more questions.Her sister is determined that Theodora owes it to the family she abandoned to clear their mother of this heinous crime. Theodora wants more than anything to do that, but one thing is standing in the way. What if Mamie isn't innocent?