A Whispering Pines Mystery

If you like twisting, turning mysteries set in villages you’ll never want to leave (despite the dead bodies), get ready to fall in love with Jayne O’Shea. She called off her engagement, quit the job she loved, and escaped to the Northwoods. Now she's in a quirky village full of witches and her dog just found a dead body in the backyard. Will life ever be normal again?

Sixteen years after a family feud drove her from the cozy Northwoods village of Whispering Pines, Wisconsin, former detective Jayne O’Shea returns to prepare her grandparents’ lake house for sale. Once there, not only does she find that the house has been trashed, her dog discovers a dead body in the backyard. Jayne intends to stay out of it, but when it becomes obvious the sheriff isn't interested in investigating the death, Jayne can't stop herself. Her list of suspects grows faster than the plants in the commons’ pentacle garden.

One month after arriving in the Northwoods, former detective Jayne O'Shea has settled comfortably into small-town life and is making good progress with her task of getting her grandparents' house ready for sale. Then the shocking death of one of the carnies rocks the community, and the villagers look to Jayne for help, placing her in an impossible middle ground of not wanting to get involved and needing to ensure justice is served.

Exhausted from being the only law enforcement official on duty, while also trying to open a bed-and-breakfast, Jayne O’Shea welcomes the escape she finds in her grandmother’s journals. Each entry gives her a deeper understanding of why her grandparents moved to the secluded spot so long ago. But as questions are answered, deeply hidden secrets are unearthed. If Jayne can put all the pieces of this puzzle together, she’ll not only learn the truth behind her grandmother’s death, she’ll catch a killer whose been wandering the village for forty years.

In the village where “all are welcome and those in need may stay” long-buried secrets keep rising to the surface. With renovations on the house finally complete, Jayne and Tripp are ready to open their B&B. Villagers and tourists gather for their grand opening barbecue. Close friends check in as their first guests. Aside from a minor glitch or two, everything is going to plan … and then someone turns up dead on the side of the road. Unsure if she’s looking for a murderer or a hit-and-run driver, Jayne jumps headlong into figuring out what happened.

As the weather turns crisp, Jayne O'Shea and the other villagers prepare for the last big tourist draw of the season: the autumn equinox festival. It's a time to enjoy a bounty of food, the company of others, and the ever-popular cooking competition. Events in the baking division, however, turn from friendly to fatal when one of the contestants, a beloved nationally known chef, is found dead in the woods.

With only a smattering of tourists visiting the village for the Samhain feast, Jayne is excited…no. She's looking forward to…no. Jayne is guardedly optimistic about spending a few days with her demanding sister. Then a boy goes missing during trick-or-treating and everything changes.

In Whispering Pines, even downtime can be deadly. The quiet time of year as settled over Whispering Pines. For months, Sheriff Jayne O’Shea had been looking forward to a little R&R but now she’s not so sure. What’s she supposed to do with herself? Take up knitting? When a brawl breaks out at the local pub during the Thanksgiving gathering, a patron is critically wounded. Not the kind of distraction Jayne was looking for.

Celebrate the season in Whispering Pines with snow, mistletoe, and murder. Preparations for the Yuletide festival are in full swing, and so is the gossip about a blackmailing villager. Sheriff Jayne O’Shea doesn’t have time or patience for small-town rumors. After two long years overseas, her father is coming for a visit and everything has to be perfect. Then, just as things start falling into place, the blackmailer is found dead. As if that wasn't enough, strange packages start showing up on doorsteps around the village, each containing a clue as to how the receiver will die.

A monster of a blizzard is on the way, but the hardy folks of Whispering Pines aren’t bothered by the weather. Not when there are supplies to gather and neighbors to catch up with. As everyone finally settles in to ride out the storm, Sheriff Jayne O’Shea gets a phone call. A stranger has stumbled into the village. She’s covered in bruises and mumbling about a car crash. Determined to figure out what happened to her, and to rescue any other potential victims still out there, Jayne braves the howling winds and arctic temperatures. Then another call comes in....

As the vernal equinox brings welcome warmth and the promise of the coming tourist season to Wisconsin's Northwoods, it also brings an invading Wiccan coven. Sheriff Jayne O’Shea isn’t worried about the witches. It’s the fact that her mother is coming for her first visit in nearly 20 years that has her on edge. Their reunion goes well, better than expected, and then a coven member disappears.

Things are heating up in Whispering Pines, and it’s not just the weather. Sheriff Jayne O’Shea is on edge. Hopeful applicants have taken over the commons area, all of them begging to become residents. Villagers who left long ago have returned, causing an uproar among the locals. The slow burn feud between the sister witches has reached the boiling point. And her parents are acting just plain weird. Fortunately, it’s time for the annual Beltane celebration, the last opportunity for everyone to gather before tourists invade the village for the summer.

Sometimes, what’s needed most is hiding in plain sight. It’s been almost a year since Sheriff Jayne O’Shea arrived in Whispering Pines. Deciding to stay was the best decision she ever made, but the closer the anniversary gets, the gloomier she feels. It doesn’t help that she and Tripp have been arguing. Neither does the dense fog blanketing the village. Or the group of cranky wedding planners staying at the B&B.

The new tourist season is about to start. The witches, carnies, fortune tellers, and other lovable outcasts of Whispering Pines are abuzz with excitement. Sheriff Jayne O’Shea, however, is nervous. After their tragic last season, the lakeside hamlet became known as the Murder Capital of Wisconsin, and she would love to redeem their reputation. Everyone has assured her they’re ready and that it’s going to be a great opening weekend, but Jayne can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong.

Visitors claim they feel summoned to Whispering Pines, Wisconsin, but can’t explain why. Residents say the same thing. Kitchen witch Reeva Long tried to leave many times, only to have fate call her back. Most recently, a year ago to settle her estranged late husband’s estate.

It’s time for the annual Whispering Pines Tour of Gardens, and plant lovers are arriving by the busload. Discussions of raised beds, fertilizers, and proper amounts of water and sunlight can be heard all around the village. Then just as the tours begin, chaos erupts. Someone has vandalized the gardens. Between running her successful shop, Hearth & Cauldron, and dealing with her new teenage boarder who has turned her orderly homelife into the female Wiccan version of The Odd Couple, hearth witch Reeva Long doesn’t have time to track down suspects.

When a tourist is found dead and a villager is accused of murder, Reeva knows the village has bigger problems than icky ice cream. It’s time for Long and McLaughlin Private Investigators (a.k.a. Reeva and Ruby) to put their sleuthing skills into action and catch the real killer.

As Whispering Pines’ busiest tourist season ever draws to a close, Reeva Long, Ruby McLaughlin, and the other villagers are ready for things to quiet down. Instead, a break-in and a small fire set near Hearth & Cauldron puts everyone on edge. The only clue, a melted candle stub, gives the amateur sleuths little to work with. Soon other fires flare up, threatening the entire village, so Deputy Jayne O’Shea takes charge of the investigation. Can Jayne, with Reeva’s and Ruby’s help, catch the firestarter before someone gets hurt or worse?

Deputy Jayne O’Shea has long believed the village of Whispering Pines to be the perfect, peaceful Northwoods retreat. This season, however, serenity is in short supply. With unruly tourists disrespecting the villagers’ Wiccan ways, and a flock of crows wreaking havoc by tearing up gardens and dropping pinecones on people’s heads, the sheriff’s department is stretched to its limits. Fortunately, there is a bright spot in the midst of the chaos. Jayne’s sister, Rosalyn, is about to host her first big event at Pine Time Bed-and-Breakfast – a cozy lakeside wedding.