Uzi in the Urn


Book Description

Riches to rags. ... Hidden guns, ... old but not forgotten wounds, ... and a buried treasure! Finding an Uzi in the urn at the shattered mausoleum is exciting and frustrating. Yet Doreen can’t delve into the case, and Mack has been firm about that. She struggles to focus on other cases from her journalist files, in particular the Bob Small file. Only her plan goes off the rails when Nan and her cronies show up at her door, with the Rosemoor bus, intent on heading to the excitement happening at the cemetery. When a grave is opened to reveal its shocking contents, the city is on high alert, as gang members arrive, circling around, looking for a rumored buried treasure, all connected to a man who died six months ago. Between crooked lawyers, greedy family members, changes of heart, and everyone else out looking for a buried treasure, Corporal Mack Moreau is on his toes. Especially as Doreen and her animal cohorts are in the middle once again. But no one could possibly envision where this case ends up—right back in the cemetery where it all started …




Toes up in the Tulips


Book Description

Riches to rags. ... Time heals all wounds, ... but old deeds still haunt, ... even for the innocent! After helping the captain solve his long overdue case, Doreen’s reputation is well and truly cemented in Kelowna. That’s proven out when a young woman is murdered in her own apartment, and the police start looking at the boyfriend. With the town on edge, this young man seeks out Doreen’s help to prove his innocence. Corporal Mack Moreau is back to light duty work—mostly keeping an eye on Doreen, if the captain has any say in it. It’s hardly a hardship, as he loves being around her, when she’s not dipping her toes in his active cases. And yet somehow she manages to find old cases that dovetail with his ongoing ones, giving her an exaggerated opinion of where her boundaries are. What seems simple on the surface goes back into history to a case that was done and dusted, with the killer now out free, looking for revenge. But, of course, it’s not that simple or that easy; and, by the time Doreen and her animal crew are done, the world has shifted for more than just one person in this case.




Yowls in the Yarrow


Book Description

Riches to rags. ... Marriage is wonderful. … Divorce can be ugly. … Chaos surrounds both … Doreen has had enough of her estranged husband’s antics, but, when he shows up dead in the garden outside her favorite Chinese food restaurant, she’s horrified and anxious. And, of course, in the eyes of the rest of the world, … guilty. There’s no Doreen for her to call to help out this time, … but she knows Mack has her back, although he’s being questioned too. The police force rallies around her, as their history rips apart her former life and finds out that all her suspicions about Mathew were correct, and he’d been in deep trouble. The trick now is to make sure that said trouble died with him and won’t carry over to Doreen. Good luck with that. Between her animals, the police, and every other well-meaning resident trying to help, Doreen knows she could be in bigger trouble than ever …




Zapped in the Zinnias


Book Description

Riches to rags. ... When endings happen, … new beginnings start. ... Chaos fills the middle! With Mathew’s murder done and dusted, and her future now wide open, Doreen turns to sorting out her financial world, particularly as her antiques are sold. And helping others is moving up her list of things she wants to do. Especially after finding a young woman who wants to get out of the streetwalker world and to move back home. Of course a decision like that doesn’t come without strings, and Doreen and her animals are soon embroiled in pimps and madams. A world she knows nothing about but is quickly learning. Mix that up with Nan getting kidnapped, only to bail her kidnapper out of jail, and Doreen’s world is chaos as usual. Corporal Mack Moreau has a plan, but implementing that plan requires a special moment—the right moment. And trying to figure out when and what that moment looks like is a challenge. Especially as it involves Doreen …




X'd in the Xeriscape


Book Description

Riches to rags. ... Some things stay buried. ... Some things don’t, ... and it’s chaos once again! Doreen loves gardens, all kinds of them. In the Okanagan, situated at the tip of the desert, water-frugal gardening makes sense. When Doreen sees a lovely xeriscaped garden from a drone video, she’s fascinated. When Mack mentions a mystery surrounding the property, she is mesmerized. Getting the details, however, is no easy feat. That’s because there aren’t many. But digging in and asking questions is something Doreen and her clan are good at, and it doesn’t take long to delve into the mystery in a big way, … much to Corporal Mack Moreau’s disgust. Making a nuisance of herself might work sometimes, but too often it backfires. This time is no exception, … and no way, once Doreen is on this case, can she ever let go …




Corpse in the Carnations


Book Description

Riches to rags. … Chaos calms. … Crime quiets. … But does it really? After getting involved in two murder cases in the short time she’s lived in picturesque Kelowna, divorcee and gardener Doreen Montgomery has developed a reputation almost as notorious as her Nan’s. The only way to stop people from speculating, is to live a life of unrelieved boredom until the media and the neighbors forget about her. And Doreen aims to do just that with a tour of Kelowna’s famed Carnation Gardens. Plants, more plants, and nothing whatsoever that anyone could object to. But when she sees a fight between a beautiful young woman and her boyfriend, she can’t help but be concerned. Concerned enough that she follows the couple out of the parking lot and through town. And when gunshots interrupt the placid afternoon, it’s too late to worry about how her nemesis, Corporal Mack Moreau, will feel about her getting involved in yet another of his cases. With bodies turning up in the carnations, and a connection to a cold case of a missing child from long ago, Doreen has her hands full, not least with trying to keep her involvement in the investigations a secret from her Nan, Mack Moreau, and especially the media. But someone’s keeping up with Doreen’s doings… and that someone can’t afford for her to find the answers to the questions she’s asking. cozy mystery; riches to rags; clean romance; animal mystery; cat and dog; mystery; Female sleuth; back yard mystery; Mystery; Animals; Parrots; Birds; Fun; amateur sleuths; mysteries with dogs; mysteries with Cats; Clean and wholesome;




Out of Control


Book Description

AGAINST THE FANATICAL ENEMIES OF LIBERTY THEY WERE AMERICAS FIGHTING TICKET.As the race for Metro mayor heats up, the city explodes in a new wave of brutal violence. The radical FLNA has a simple strategy to insure their candidate's victory: bombings, kidnappings, and cold-blooded murder. One way or another, the terrorists are heavily favored to make a killing. Only David Holden and his Patriots refuse to run scared. Outlawed and outcast, the Defender joins forces with a top-secret team of FBI special agents on a blood-soaked campaign to beat the enemy at his own savage game... to cast their vote for freedom with ballots-and bullets.About the SeriesTHE DEFENDERA patriot in the truest sense, David Holden was a law-abiding citizen-until the laws proved powerless to protect the innocent, to stop an invader hell-bent on America's destruction. With an army of renegade cops and ex-vets, he's fighting back with all the cunning, expertise, and brute force at his command. Anytime, any place, Holden and his warriors are ready to defend their country from the enemy-the enemy outside and the enemy within.




Survival Math


Book Description

“A vibrant memoir of race, violence, family, and manhood…a virtuosic wail of a book” (The Boston Globe), Survival Math calculates how award-winning author Mitchell S. Jackson survived the Portland, Oregon, of his youth. This “spellbinding” (NPR) book explores gangs and guns, near-death experiences, sex work, masculinity, composite fathers, the concept of “hustle,” and the destructive power of addiction—all framed within the story of Mitchell Jackson, his family, and his community. Lauded for its breathtaking pace, its tender portrayals, its stark candor, and its luminous style, Survival Math reveals on every page the searching intellect and originality of its author. The primary narrative, focused on understanding the antecedents of Jackson’s family’s experience, is complemented by survivor files, which feature photographs and riveting short narratives of several of Jackson’s male relatives. “A vulnerable, sobering look at Jackson’s life and beyond, in all its tragedies, burdens, and faults” (San Francisco Chronicle), the sum of Survival Math’s parts is a highly original whole, one that reflects on the exigencies—over generations—that have shaped the lives of so many disenfranchised Americans. “Both poetic and brutally honest” (Salon), Mitchell S. Jackson’s nonfiction debut is as essential as it is beautiful, as real as it is artful, a singular achievement, not to be missed.




Bones in the Begonias


Book Description

Riches to rags. … Chaos continues. … Murders abound. … Honestly? Doreen Montgomery’s new life in Kelowna was supposed to be a fresh start after a nasty split from her husband of fourteen years, plus a chance to get her bearings and her life back on track. Instead her first week in her new hometown was spent digging up dead bodies, chasing clues, and getting in Corporal Mack Moreau’s way. But now that the old cold case has been solved, and the murderer brought to justice, Doreen believes things might go her way this week. When Mack hires her to whip his mother’s garden into shape, it seems like a second chance, both for Doreen’s new beginning in Kelowna and for her budding relationship with Mack. But, instead of digging up Mrs. Moreau’s struggling begonias and planting them in a better location, Doreen discovers another set of bones … and another mystery to solve. As the clues pile up, Mack makes it abundantly clear that he doesn’t want or need her help, but Doreen can’t resist the lure of another whodunit. As she and Mack butt heads and chase red herrings, Doreen’s grandmother, Nan, sets odds and places bets on who solves the crime first. All while a murderer is watching … cozy mystery; riches to rags; clean romance; animal mystery; cat and dog; mystery; Female sleuth; back yard mystery; Mystery; Animals; Parrots; Birds; Fun; amateur sleuths; mysteries with dogs; mysteries with Cats; Clean and wholesome;




My Body Is Not a Prayer Request


Book Description

"With humorous prose and wry wit, Kenny makes a convincing case for all Christians to do more to meet access needs and embrace disabilities as part of God's kingdom. . . . Inclusivity-minded Christians will cheer the lessons laid out here."--Publishers Weekly Much of the church has forgotten that we worship a disabled God whose wounds survived resurrection, says Amy Kenny. It is time for the church to start treating disabled people as full members of the body of Christ who have much more to offer than a miraculous cure narrative and to learn from their embodied experiences. Written by a disabled Christian, this book shows that the church is missing out on the prophetic witness and blessing of disability. Kenny reflects on her experiences inside the church to expose unintentional ableism and cast a new vision for Christian communities to engage disability justice. She shows that until we cultivate church spaces where people with disabilities can fully belong, flourish, and lead, we are not valuing the diverse members of the body of Christ. Offering a unique blend of personal storytelling, fresh and compelling writing, biblical exegesis, and practical application, this book invites readers to participate in disability justice and create a more inclusive community in church and parachurch spaces. Engaging content such as reflection questions and top-ten lists are included.