Jemma Chase works as a trail leader on her parents’ ranch, the Blue Falls, where she is also an accomplished photographer, carpenter and fixer-upper. Jemma has returned home in an effort to find some stability in her life, but things become tumultuous when someone begins poisoning dogs in Watauga County. Jemma is called in for an interview with Detective Tucker and bristles at his subtly accusing manner. A forensics fan, Jemma sets out to try to solve the riddle herself and keep Detective Tucker at bay. But when she stumbles upon the dead body of a neighbor, Jemma finds herself involved in a much more serious investigation and at odds with Tucker once again. An established must-read romance author, Maggie Bishop has crossed into the mystery genre with finesse. Her latest novel is packed with suspense around a tightly-woven plot which begins with the poisoning of dogs and escalates to the murder of a local man. Throughout, she deliciously teases the reader with the bristly attraction between the investigating detective and the woman who found the man’s body and who just might be a suspect. Set against the beautiful backdrop of Boone, North Carolina, with engaging characters, red herrings at every turn, and a galvanizing story line, this is a must-have, must-read. Highly recommended. Christy Tillery French, Midwest Book Review Review for Carolina Mountain Living by schuyler kaufman Maggie Bishop’s latest romance is also a murder mystery. Bishop has chosen a new kind of setting-a dude ranch in the western Carolina mountains-and all of her real-life characters are in attendance. Five years before, Jemma Chase had come back to Blue Falls Ranch, the dude ranch her parents had set up in the Carolina mountains. Now, dogs around the Watauga County community are being poisoned. Almost immediately, we discover an unorthodox side to Bishop’s engaging heroine: on the way into the sheriff’s office to answer questions about the case, she thinks,”It’s one thing to poison a person – but a dog?” Standing six feet tall, Jemma intrigues Detective Tucker when he finds that he can look straight into her eyes. During her interview, Jemma reveals that, years before, she was arrested in Colorado on a drunk driving charge. Bishop loses no time in providing the conflict between these two well-matched protagonists: Tucker’s pet abomination is drunk drivers.The dog-poisonings quickly fade to the background, when, during a ride up a steep trail, leading a passel of guests, Jemma’s horse reacts to a peculiar stench. Jemma, not one of those shrinking-violet heroines, immediately ties her horse and goes into the bushes to investigate. You guessed it-a body. Now Tucker is a part of Jemma’s daily life, and Jemma finds herself enthusiastically (and somewhat to Tucker’s dismay) finding a CSI side to her make-up. As they combine their assets to investigate, Tucker (whose first name appears to be Detective) and Jemma find that their styles are not so incompatible after all. In a rip-snorting action scene, the murderer is discovered and bagged, the remaining dogs in the valley are safe, and Tucker and Jemma join Bishop’s endearing circle of interrelated romance protagonists in Bishop’s loosely linked series of Appalachian adventure-romance novels. Paperback book http://dld.bz/bookmurderatbluefalls Kindle http://dld.bz/kindlemurderatbluefalls.
