LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO HUNDRED PINES AND “THE TOURIST TOWN MYSTERIES”
It is a small, quaint town high up on a pine covered mountain with a breathtaking lake that offers year-round sports. Its charm, shopping, dining and fun is a magnet for tourists as well as a peaceful home for its residents and, like all towns that attract visitors, the greatest part of their economy depends on its comfortable, safe reputation. So when crimes occur, in a place where nothing dangerous ever happens, Hundred Pines and its citizens face destruction of all they hold dear.
While an eclectic mix of town folk — from a grizzled old sheriff, pompous mayor, bullying billionaire to a peace keeping pastor — are all eager to protect the town, it falls on the determination of two women to find the answers.
There is Laurel Franklin who, still grieving and angry with God over her husband’s sudden death two years ago, has just taken the big job of managing the city’s tourism to try to start living again. All she thought she would have to do is keep Hundred Pines a favored tourist attraction. But murders and mayhem soon turn her into a sleuth who ignores her own safety to catch the culprits.
Helping her is her sassy and flamboyant aunt, Margaret “Maggie” Bergstrom, who has been a fixture in the town for thirty-five years. She knows everybody and isn’t afraid to use her knowledge to solve the crimes — even if it means she and her niece become victims.
THERE ARE SEVEN BOOKS IN THE SERIES:
#1 TOO OLD TO LIVE
Just starting her new job, Laurel is faced with saving the town’s reputation when suddenly four prominent senior citizens are gunned down. With the help of her Aunt Maggie and defying the sheriff, she starts hunting for the killer. But the crimes escalate when her twenty-year old son Gregory is affected. Then it becomes personal when the gun is pointed at them!
#2 TOO BAD TO LIVE
Hordes of media descend on the town because young Vanessa Vane, famous movie and television star, chose her hometown for her wedding. As friends of the family, Laurel and Maggie are celebrating with them. But they soon turn into detectives when the bridegroom is murdered and their friend is the chief suspect.
#3 TOO SWEET TO LIVE
When Maggie’s dear friend is found hanging from a rafter in her bakery, it is immediately considered a suicide. But Laurel and Maggie don’t believe it and set out, with their brave determination, to learn the truth. One thing worse for them than the long list of surprising suspects is a killer who has them on a special “to die” list.
#4 TOO BRAVE TO LIVE
The rodeo comes to town and tourists and residents are enjoying the excitement. But when the bull riders start dying, Laurel and Maggie soon discover that its not just bulls that are dangerous.
#5 TOO RICH TO LIVE
There is a secret club of multi-millionaires in Hundred Pines and their greed for more money and power has them doing whatever it takes to fulfill their wicked agenda. But when one of them is murdered and Laurel accidentally learns about them and their covert operation, she and her aunt are targeted to become “collateral damage”.
#6 TOO HOLY TO LIVE
When a friend of Laurel’s boyfriend, the popular Pastor Alan, takes a bullet that was meant for him, the two women start digging into Alan’s life to try to find the killer. What they discover is a past that involves a dangerous cult who has finally found him. And this time, they’ll not only murder him but anyone else he holds dear.
#7 TOO SMART TO LIVE
When controversial commentator on politics, Grant Carlyle, comes to Hundred Pines to announce his run for the presidency while giving the key note speech at a prestigious writer’s conference, he becomes reunited with Maggie and Laurel. He also brings with him a secret so shocking that it will change their lives. When he is suddenly murdered before telling them. the women search not only for his information but also for his killer. And both might prove a great threat to them and the men they love.
I hope you will allow Laurel, Maggie and Hundred Pines into your home. And now, here is an excerpt from TOO OLD TO LIVE: