Endurance Mysteries

book cover image with title and author with an image of a bird, and a fire burning an old barn.

Three May Keep a Secret

An Endurance Mystery

WHERE THERE’S SMOKE…

What’s a retired English teacher to do next? That’s the question on Grace Kimball’s mind as summer begins in the quiet town of Endurance, Illinois. Accepting an offer from the new editor of the local newspaper to write book reviews feels like a good start. Until Brenda Norris, the paper’s dirt-digging investigative reporter, is killed in a suspicious house fire.
Brenda was working on a hard-hitting expose of Endurance, including several cold-case files. Finishing Brenda’s project is the least Grace can do for her old friend. Digging into the town’s history might even help Grace come to terms with a tragedy from her past—or put her own life in danger. As she quickly learns, the notorious Brenda had no shortage of enemies. And Grace thought retirement would be relaxing…not deadly!

book cover image with title and author showing an old house and two profile pictures of two different women.

Marry in Haste

An Endurance Mystery

HISTORY REPEATS…

Life is falling into place for retired teacher Grace Kimball—she’s writing for the Endurance Register and dating its editor, Jeff Maitlin. But when Conrad Folger, the bank president, is murdered and his wife, Emily, becomes the prime suspect, Grace sets out to prove that her former student is innocent. After all, many people had a motive to kill Folger. A list of possible suspects emerges: spurned lovers, unhappy bank clients, and even family members. Then Grace and Jeff find a diary from 1893 in Jeff’s newly bought mansion. It was written by a naive seventeen-year-old who married a powerful judge—and what began as a joyous event quickly turned to terror. As Grace reads the diary, she sees parallels to Emily’s life. Can lessons from the past help Grace clear Emily’s name before the murderer strikes again?

Book cover of the Locket, showing a gold locket on the ground.

The Locket

An Endurance Mystery

The Big Band Era—Dancing on the Rooftop
Romance in the Air—and Murder in the Shadows

“The dispatcher called to tell her it was time to move the bones.”

After solving a double homicide in the hot Midwest summer, Endurance police detective TJ Sweeney isn’t given long to rest. A construction crew has found human bones while digging a building foundation on the outskirts of town.

Sweeney’s investigation soon concludes this is a murder victim, but from many decades earlier. Trying to identify the remains and put a name on the killer takes Sweeney through a maze of dead ends and openings, twists and turns.

And then it becomes personal …

Book cover of "Death Takes No Bribes"

Death Takes No Bribes

An Endurance Mystery

Retired teacher-turned sleuth, Grace Kimball, returns to her old high school to investigate the poisoning of Endurance High School Principal John Hardy.

Endurance detective, TJ Sweeney, asks Grace to help navigate these treacherous waters. The murderer is a cold-blooded killer who will not hesitate to kill again. They have no end of suspects. The chemistry teacher who has been teaching about poisons? A spurned lover or her betrayed husband? A soon-to-be-wealthy widow? To top that off, the drama teacher is producing “Arsenic and Old Lace.” Not the best timing.

Meanwhile, Grace’s boyfriend, Jeff Maitlin, has disappeared on some mysterious errand from his past. Then, Grace gets devastating news. Death is stalking the halls of Endurance High School, and Grace Kimball and TJ Sweeney are only a few steps ahead.

book cover with the title of the book, and the author and a pictuure of a grey cat and a cloudy sky.

The Witch’s Child

An Endurance Mystery

Retired teacher Grace Kimball is elated when former student Fiona Mackenzie returns to Endurance to make burial plans for her recently deceased mother, Sybil Mackenzie. But this will be no ordinary funeral because Fiona’s mother—a self-proclaimed witch—died in prison following a sensational Endurance murder trial ten years earlier. Detective TJ Sweeney doesn’t need witchcraft or visions to know Sybil Mackenzie’s presence—dead or alive—will rekindle anger in the residents of the small town.

When the judge from Sybil’s trial is poisoned, the evidence points toward Fiona, the witch’s child. Who else has a garden full of poisonous plants? Who else lost her mother to ten years in prison? Who knows the kind of dark magic the witch’s child can create? Her mother put a curse on all involved in her trial. Has Fiona returned to get revenge?

TJ finds other suspects ripe with motives to murder. Add vicious whispers and malicious rumors in the local coffee shops, pushy reporters looking for a story, and clashing opinions on social media. The town of Endurance is like a tinderbox just waiting for someone to light a match. Can Grace and TJ find the judge’s killer before that match is struck?

Book cover showing title and author with a still pond at sunset and a body floating face down in the water.

A Death At Tippitt Pond

A Sweet Iron Mystery

Everyone in the small town of Sweet Iron knew the teenage daughter of Judge Tippitt and his wife, Jolene. Melanie Tippitt’s exotic green eyes sprinkled with gold flecks only added to her haunting beauty. That is why her shocking murder in the summer of 1971 shattered the innocence of the town. Soon, the inhabitants sighed with relief when the murderer was sent to prison. Case closed.

Four decades later, Beth Russell, researcher and genealogist, challenges the truth about the shocking murder of Melanie Tippitt at Tippitt Pond. Long-buried secrets surround the crime.

Soon Beth suspects a ghostly presence haunts Melanie Tippitt’s childhood home. Even more disturbing is a sinister stranger watching the house.

Six people were at Tippitt Pond that sweltering day in 1971, and although the peace of the town has remained as tranquil as the waters of the pond for decades, Beth’s search for the truth sets in motion a chain of disturbing events that threatens her own life.

The town of Sweet Iron will soon discover a death at Tippitt Pond changed everything.