Murder by Artifact

Five Star Mystery, Book 2

A sweltering heat wave strikes the Smoky Mountains and combines with cold cases of murder, producing work Sheriff Tony Abernathy doesn't want. He discovers evil in his little county. No one is safe. As he and his tiny force dig into the facts, the pieces don't fit.

Lawn ornaments vanish each night.

An anonymous person mails Tony notes and newspaper clippings about people who vanished twenty years ago. Baffled, Tony finds himself pulled in many directions, including Ohio, searching for answers. His wife, Theo, takes time from designing a new mystery quilt (pattern included) to examine "the murder quilt", an antique donated to the new quilt museum.

Following the tangled threads of cold cases and new ones, Tony learns the power of history. A single quilt has links to two murdered women. Tony finds more questions than answers. Why was Queen Doreen, the mayor's unpopular wife, even at the museum after closing. Who used an antique flax hackle to kill her?

©2009 Barbara Graham (P)2014 Barbara Graham