In the Dead of Winter

by: Nancy Mehl

Published by: Heartsong Mysteries

When Ivy Towers comes to Winter Break, Kansas to settle her Great Aunt Bitty’s estate, she is overwhelmed with memories and overcome with emotions. Although she hasn’t been back to Winter Break for three years, she spent some of the happiest times of her childhood visiting her aunt and her bookstore. But childhood is over and Ivy has moved on. She goes by Sam now, short for Samantha her middle name. Using her semester break from college, her plan is to quickly settle her aunt’s affairs, sell the bookstore and find a new home for her aunt’s cat and get back to school before Christmas.

As is often the case with the best of plans, Sam’s soon go awry. Almost immediately Sam senses something is wrong. Sam can’t quite come to terms with the way her aunt’s accidental fall happened. And her childhood friend, Amos Parker now the deputy sheriff, awfully anxious to get Sam out of town. Plus, she keeps having the feeling that she is being watched. Before long, Sam decides to stay until she has figured out what actually happened the morning her aunt fell.

In the Dead of Winter is the first in a new series by author Nancy Mehl. The book, part of the Heartsong Mystery Club, has all of the elements to please the cozy mystery reader.

While the amateur sleuth solves the crime, there is no violence, sex or foul language in this book. There is both a touch of romance and a Christian element included in the plot. All of these things feel just right in this book. The small town Kansas setting, complete with church suppers and a friendly diner, feels comfortable. That the story is centered around a bookstore and its resident cat could not be more perfect.

Armchair Interviews says: This book is obviously aimed at the cozy market and readers who like their mysteries filled with books, cats and food will be pleased.

Author’s Web site: http://www.NancyMehl.com