Showing results by author "Jess Lourey" in All Categories

After more than a decade away, Mira James isn’t keen on returning to her Minnesota hometown for the holidays. Her childhood memories aren’t particularly jolly. Even less festive is the news of a serial killer on the loose. With only ten shopping days till Christmas, the Candy Cane Killer has been very busy slashing through the snow. Eager to earn her official PI stripes, Mira is anxious to track him down. But when the latest victim is a woman from her high school graduating class, the investigation hits a little too close to home.

Mira James has had it up to here with Battle Lake, Minnesota. After her latest romantic prospects go bust, she’s ready to move back to the Twin Cities and get a lapful of cats. Funny how murder can stall the best-laid plans. Days before the August Moon Festival, high school cheerleader Lucy Lebowski, Mira’s library assistant and an all-around sweetheart, is murdered.

Cue the accordions: Battle Lake, Minnesota, is kicking off October Fest with polka, sausage, and cold suds. The big inaugural event? A debate between two congressional hopefuls. One, stultifyingly sincere. The other, a foot-in-mouth tippler. Reporter Mira James is roped into covering their fighting words…and then a murder, when a relentless pit bull of a blogger is found dead at a motor lodge filled to capacity with fellow pundits, campaign entourages, and tourists—all of whom have just become suspects.

It’s cold enough to freeze a shadow when Battle Lake local Tom Kicker braves the killer temps to bag a deer—only to get shot to death by his best buddy, Clive, in a hunting accident. Tragic, yes. Accident? Mira James, just a few weeks into working toward her PI license, isn’t so convinced.

The Minnesota State Fair wows again with 4-H exhibits, rides, a Neil Diamond concert, and deep-fried everything on a stick. Covering it is a breezy assignment as fluffy as cotton candy for reporter Mira James, until the main attraction becomes murder.

Cold case expert Evangeline Reed and forensics legend Harry Steinbeck are on their way from Minneapolis to Costa Rica. They’ve been ordered to keep close watch on a protective mother and her daughter, both of whom have troubling connections to a Minnesota serial killer. Are they on holiday? In hiding? Or on the run? It’s time for Van and Harry to close in on the truth. And there’s more at risk than anyone can imagine.