Hometown Mystery

Tessa Treslow never wanted a small-town life. As soon as she graduated high school, she happily escaped her tiny town to join the army, leaving New Oslo, Idaho, population 852, firmly behind her. Twenty years later, the hometown hero is finally ready to come back-even if she has just a visit in mind while her family is hoping to convince her to stay. With her boxer, Vince, in tow, Tessa falls into the unsettlingly familiar small-town life, helping out in her family's general store and her feisty Aunt Edna's auto body shop. But her peaceful homecoming is suddenly shattered when the dead body of a crooked con man turns up in her aunt's shop. To make matters worse, the sheriff in charge just happens to be Tessa's ex-boyfriend . . . And things did not end well between them all those years ago. When it comes out that the con man was trying to get his hands on the family business, Tessa knows they're in trouble. With her family in danger, Tessa becomes a woman on a mission to find the con man's killer. Between a slew of suspects, a meandering moose, and a handsome newcomer with his eye on Tessa, she has her work cut out for her. But when the killer changes tactics-putting everything her family holds dear in jeopardy-Tessa begins to realize what home really means to her. Can she be the hero for her hometown before it's too late?

Retired army officer Tessa Treslow has settled in with her Aunt Edna in her hometown of New Oslo, Idaho. After the disasters of the previous fall, Tessa and her family are back on their feet as they start a new dream venture: a vehicle restoration business. Tessa and the enticing local math teacher, Nick Hunt, are also working together to organize a charity run during the New Oslo Pioneer Days festival. All seems to be going well . . . until Tessa finds a dead body in the town park! The murder victim is a stranger to their small town, who claimed that she was the illegitimate cousin of Tessa's best friend, Deputy Petunia "Freddie" Frederickson. The victim's bloody finger is pointing to a mark on the veterans' honor roll sign, circling the names of Freddie and her grandfather. Complicating matters, Freddie was witnessed in an altercation with the woman just before her death, and it was Freddie's knife found at the scene. In order to help her best friend, Tessa and Aunt Edna search for the real identity of the victim. Was she actually a long-lost family member? Who would want her dead? Tessa is determined to find out . . . even if the answers lead her into the crosshairs of a killer!

From author Rosalie Spielman comes a quiet hometown suddenly invaded by TV celebrities . . . and a killer! Army retiree Tessa Treslow is as excited as the other residents of New Oslo, Idaho, when the cast and crew of the TV show Picks with Ricks comes to town! Tessa and her Aunt Edna put their car restoration business on hold to let the celebrity antique hunters pick through their old garage, hoping the trash contains a treasure that will help fund their new business. But it turns out that the pickers come with TV cameras, likeable stars, a stressed-out producer-and a murderer! The show's lead makes an insistent offer on one of Aunt Edna's renovation projects and won't take no for an answer. And when Tessa finds the show's cameraman dead in the restored 1965 Mustang, Tessa knows murder has come home yet again. And the mystery takes a very personal turn when the dead man is found with an antique inscribed pocket watch connected to the former owners of Aunt Edna's farmhouse. As Tessa digs into the history surrounding the pocket watch and the relationships of the TV crew, shocking details-both old and new-arise. Will Tessa be able to catch a killer . . . before they return for a repeat performance?