Under A Mulberry Moon


Book Description

Booklist calls the Ben Pecos mysteries, from award-winning author Susan Slater, “A series to watch.” Psychologist Ben Pecos takes a transfer to Florida in his job with the Indian Health Service. His first assignment in St. Augustine puts him right in the middle of a terrifying case where a student has brought a gun to school and threatened his teacher. Ben works with both the troubled eight-year-old and the traumatized teacher, Maureen Beltzer. When Mo is offered a new job with the botanical garden at the prestigious Whitney Labs, she jumps at the chance to get out of teaching, little knowing that cataloging and photographing rare orchids may actually involve more danger than her pint-sized adversary ever dreamed of inflicting. Praise for the Ben Pecos mystery series: “This is a wonderful book with loveable heroes.” – Library Journal, (on The Pumpkin Seed Massacre) “Susan Slater’s Thunderbird is a witty, absorbing tale.” —Publishers Weekly “Slater effectively combines an appealing mix of new and existing characters … dry humor; crackling suspense; and a surprise ending.” —Booklist “Take a great plot idea and Susan Slater’s skill with language, combine them with her understanding of the religion and culture of a proud and ancient people, and you have a gripping novel. The Pumpkin Seed Massacre is her first novel. We mystery lovers hope it’s the first of many.” – Tony Hillerman “A solid, suspenseful narrative and colorful glimpses of Native American life strongly recommend this …” – Library Journal (on Thunderbird) “… Ben Pecos—raised far from New Mexico’s Tewa Pueblo—could become as lasting a fictional presence as Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee.” – Chicago Tribune




Mulberry Moon


Book Description

The New York Times bestselling author of New Leaf returns to Mystic Creek, Oregon, where a wounded heart finds a place to call home. . . . After a career on the rodeo circuit, Ben Sterling longs to settle down on his farm and start a family like his brothers. He’s searched all over for the woman of his dreams. Yet the only one to spark his interest is the new owner of the local café. Getting her attention, however, won’t be easy. Sissy Sue Bentley has worked hard to make it on her own, and she doesn’t need another man in her life. From her alcoholic father to the men she’s dated, who were after only one thing, they are nothing but trouble. Except Ben keeps showing up whenever she really needs help. Sissy struggles to deny her growing feelings for him—but soon Ben’s tender concern has her hoping for a happier future. Then her past comes barreling back into her life, and it will take more than the love in Ben’s heart to hold them together. NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED




Mulberry Moon


Book Description

The New York Times bestselling author of New Leaf returns to Mystic Creek, Oregon, where a wounded heart finds a place to call home. . . . After a career on the rodeo circuit, Ben Sterling longs to settle down on his farm and start a family like his brothers. He’s searched all over for the woman of his dreams. Yet the only one to spark his interest is the new owner of the local café. Getting her attention, however, won’t be easy. Sissy Sue Bentley has worked hard to make it on her own, and she doesn’t need another man in her life. From her alcoholic father to the men she’s dated, who were after only one thing, they are nothing but trouble. Except Ben keeps showing up whenever she really needs help. Sissy struggles to deny her growing feelings for him—but soon Ben’s tender concern has her hoping for a happier future. Then her past comes barreling back into her life, and it will take more than the love in Ben’s heart to hold them together. NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED




Palms


Book Description




Widow's Walk


Book Description

Dan and Elaine Mahoney are finally settled in St. Augustine, Florida, and Elaine has her brand new private investigator’s license, plus a job offer with a prestigious law firm. So, it’s with some excitement that she talks to her first client, a young man whose mother recently died. Rick Elliston is convinced that her fall from the fourth floor widow’s walk of their luxurious home was not suicide, as the police seem to think. He's convinced that his step-father pushed her. There was a big insurance policy. Elaine’s challenge is to find the evidence, and the only problem is that there is none. Dan, meanwhile, has been sent out to look over a sailing schooner that his company, United Life & Casualty has insured, and it turns out the owner of the business that offers sunset tourist cruises, is none other than Hank Beaufort, step-father of Elaine’s client. And Dan really likes the guy—he just doesn’t seem like a man who would kill his wife. At first. As both of them dig into their cases, a whole new set of facts come out. There was marital straying, the luxury mansion was mortgaged to the hilt, and Hank needs money for his newest business scheme. It’s a tangled web indeed, complicated by the inescapable fact that a hurricane is bearing down on the Florida coast. Can Dan and Elaine figure it out before the storm makes their jobs that much harder? Praise for Susan Slater’s Dan Mahoney series: “Dan Mahoney is an appealingly resilient character, a welcome addition to the roster of sleuths that make the Southwest a hotbed of current mystery fiction.” —Publishers Weekly “Flash Flood is just what it sounds like—a fresh, surprising, adrenaline-rush whitewater ride. It’s also funny. Susan Slater can flat-out write.” —Don Winslow, New York Times bestselling author of The Cartel “There’ll be much, much more, with whispers of everything before Slater closes out this lively, surprising case, first of a series.” – Kirkus Reviews




Fire Dancer


Book Description

From award-winning author Susan Slater, the fourth installment in her critically acclaimed New Mexico Ben Pecos mysteries, which Booklist calls “a series to watch.” Ben Pecos has the opportunity to work in Albuquerque on a research project for the Indian Health Service, and his fiancée Julie Conlin decides to join him when she snags an invitation for the couple to stay at the lavish home of an old family friend, Connie CdeBaca, who is the head of a family of successful land developers. But Connie harbors a deep secret she has never told anyone. Ben and Julie are hardly settled when people begin dying, and they find themselves swept into the midst of another mystery. The twists and turns in this complex plot will keep readers guessing to the very end! Praise for Susan Slater and the Ben Pecos series: “Solid, suspenseful narrative and colorful glimpses of Native American life ... strongly recommend.” —Library Journal “A series to watch.” —Booklist “… Ben Pecos—raised far from New Mexico’s Tewa Pueblo—could become as lasting a fictional presence as Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee.” – Chicago Tribune “… a gripping, interesting tale.” –5 stars, online review




The Thaw


Book Description

Booklist calls the Ben Pecos mysteries, from award-winning author Susan Slater, “A series to watch.” Ben Pecos finds himself leaving his new home and new wife Julie in Florida, as he is sent on temporary assignment with the Indian Health Service to remote and frigid Moose Flats, Alaska. There, his job will be to help set up a new clinic to address the community’s problems. He soon discovers that alcoholism, drugs, and domestic violence aren’t the only issues in this tiny village. Almost before he has set up his office, there are three deaths under questionable circumstances. But what do a heart attack, a drug overdose, and frozen corpse out on the tundra have in common? Ben is shocked to learn it could all involve his ex-girlfriend, who has quite a few surprises in store, including a son Ben never knew about. And when Julie rearranges her work assignment to come and spend several months with Ben in Alaska, that’s when the tough questions must be answered—if they survive long enough to put together all the complex clues. Praise for Susan Slater and the Ben Pecos Mystery Series: “This is a wonderful book with loveable heroes.” – Library Journal, (on The Pumpkin Seed Massacre) “Susan Slater’s Thunderbird is a witty, absorbing tale.” —Publishers Weekly “Slater effectively combines an appealing mix of new and existing characters … dry humor; crackling suspense; and a surprise ending.” —Booklist “… a gripping novel. We mystery lovers hope it’s the first of many.” – Tony Hillerman “A solid, suspenseful narrative and colorful glimpses of Native American life strongly recommend this …” – Library Journal (on Thunderbird) “… Ben Pecos—raised far from New Mexico’s Tewa Pueblo—could become as lasting a fictional presence as Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee.” – Chicago Tribune




Epiphany


Book Description

“Susan Slater can flat-out write.” —Don Winslow, New York Times bestselling author of The Cartel It’s Christmas in St. Augustine, where Dan and Elaine Mahoney are taking an extended honeymoon. But not all is sunny in Florida when Dan’s company sends him to investigate the theft of 1.2 million dollars’ worth of religious relics from the famed Basilica. Immediately, he knows it won’t be easy to track down the missing items—far too many people had access to the safe where they were stored when not on display for the parishioners. And although the church and rectory were filled with people, when Dan questions them, it seems no one saw a thing. Adding another wrinkle to their newlywed life is the fact that Dan’s mother has moved to a small town up the road. Dragon’s Bend is known for the fact that everyone who lives there is involved in the spiritual realm—from seers to gurus. Most are sincere practitioners in their beliefs, but some … not so much. Is Maggie Mahoney’s new job giving tarot readings at the Center for Spiritual Learning a legit way for her to help those who want to find deeper meaning in their lives? Or is she becoming caught up in something far darker? A visit from Elaine’s son Jason brings the family together for a fun Mahoney Christmas, but not before there’s a murder in Dragon’s Bend. The clues finally come together and the scope of the crimes goes far beyond anything Dan could have imagined. Praise for Susan Slater’s Dan Mahoney series: “Dan Mahoney is an appealingly resilient character, a welcome addition to the roster of sleuths that make the Southwest a hotbed of current mystery fiction.” —Publishers Weekly “Flash Flood is just what it sounds like—a fresh, surprising, adrenaline-rush whitewater ride. It’s also funny. Susan Slater can flat-out write.” —Don Winslow, New York Times bestselling author of The Cartel “There’ll be much, much more, with whispers of everything before Slater closes out this lively, surprising case, first of a series.” – Kirkus Reviews




Thunderbird


Book Description

The fiery midnight crash of a Stealth fighter on a New Mexico reservation and the disappearance of a young Navajo woman put psychologist Ben Pecos and tribal police officer Tommy Spottedhorse on a sinister and mysterious trail. Tribal police lock horns with air force personnel over jurisdiction and the right to search for the missing woman. The murder of a local park ranger and several livestock mutilations complicate the whole picture and take the case from strange to downright bizarre. When it appears the missing Navajo woman, Brenda Begay, may have witnessed what happened that fateful night and might still be alive, Ben and Tommy Spottedhorse race to connect the pieces of the puzzle. Because, otherworldly or not, something evil is out there in the desert, awaiting a final showdown among the ruins of the Ancient Ones. Critical acclaim for Susan Slater’s Thunderbird: “Thunderbird is a witty, absorbing tale.” —Publishers Weekly “A solid, suspenseful narrative and colorful glimpses of Native American life strongly recommend this ...” —Library Journal




Flash Flood


Book Description

“A thriller with lots of southwestern atmosphere and a puzzler of a plot that’s calculated to keep a reader guessing through the last chapter.” –Thomas Perry, New York Times bestselling author Chicago insurance investigator Dan Mahoney is sent to the prosperous Double Horseshoe Ranch in southern New Mexico to investigate the deaths of several prized—and well-insured—cattle. The stakes are high, and Dan hasn’t counted on witnessing a murder or falling in love. But it’s the flash flood that changes everything, sweeping away a vintage Cadillac and its occupants in a torrent of raging water. Dan stays on at the ranch to continue his investigation, but suddenly, dead people aren’t really—and the list of suspects becomes completely convoluted in this mystery filled with twists and turns. Praise for Susan Slater’s Flash Flood: “Dan Mahoney is an appealingly resilient character, a welcome addition to the roster of sleuths that make the Southwest a hotbed of current mystery fiction.” —Publishers Weekly “Flash Flood is just what it sounds like—a fresh, surprising, adrenaline-rush whitewater ride. It’s also funny. Susan Slater can flat-out write.” —Don Winslow, New York Times bestselling author of The Cartel “There’ll be much, much more, with whispers of everything from alien experiments to voodoo, before Slater closes out this lively, surprising case, first of a series.” – Kirkus Reviews