Showing results by author "Sophie Lyon" in All Categories

She came to the mountains to escape death. It followed her. Former Minneapolis paramedic Gemma Hartley thought she'd left tragedy behind when she fled to the remote mountain town of Elk Creek, Colorado. With her search-and-rescue dog Kira by her side, she's built a quiet life finding lost hikers and learning to breathe again. Then a routine search for a missing woman leads Gemma and Kira to a body and evidence of murder. The deeper she digs, the darker the secrets become. Someone in this picture-perfect town has been hiding the truth about what happened twenty-five years ago, when another ...

A thirteen-year-old secret is buried in the Colorado mountains. A K-9 handler and her aging German Shepherd are about to dig it up. When skeletal remains surface on a remote trail outside Elk Creek, newlywed SAR handler Gemma Hartley-Reyes and her veteran air-scent dog Kira are pulled into a cold case that no one in town wanted reopened. As Gemma trains a new recruit and navigates married life, the investigation uncovers a web of silence stretching back over a decade. Someone in Elk Creek knows exactly what happened. And they're watching Gemma get closer. Perfect for fans of Margaret ...

SOME FALLS AREN'T ACCIDENTS. Carrie Ashford thought she'd left murder behind. Two months after solving the Worthington case, she's settling into Charleston life, pet-sitting for the wealthy, navigating her growing feelings for Detective Marcus Hale, and trying to convince her cat Margot that greyhounds aren't actually the enemy. Then Garrett Whitfield falls from a rooftop terrace during a party at one of Charleston's most exclusive homes. The police call it an accident. But Phantom, the terrified racing greyhound who was Garrett's constant companion, knows something. And so does Carrie. ...

A fresh start. A dead body. A dog who knows more than he's telling. Animal behaviorist Wren Calloway thought she knew what rock bottom looked like. Divorce papers signed. Career in shambles. A one-way ticket to her grandmother's cottage in coastal Maine. She was wrong. Rock bottom is finding a dead body on the cliffs behind her new home and realizing the charming town of Tidal Cove has been keeping deadly secrets for decades. Everyone says it was an accident. The police chief wants her to drop it. But Biscuit, her rescue golden retriever, won't stop alerting to danger. And Wren has learned ...

She's kept the secret for twenty-five years. Tonight, she's going to tell it. The night Brianna Hartley vanished, Dot was working the front desk of the Elk Creek hostel. She saw Brianna come in. She saw the man who came for her. And she saw them leave together, Brianna walking into the darkness with someone who wasn't the boyfriend everyone blamed. For twenty-five years, Dot kept silent. Took the money. Looked the other way. Watched an innocent man carry the weight of suspicion while the real killer walked free. Now she's dying, and she can't take the secret with her. When Dot's confession ...

Winter in Elk Creek hides more than snow. Four months ago, Nathan Cross told everyone he was leaving town for a job in Utah. His truck was found at a rest stop near the border. His apartment was cleared out. His goodbyes were said. He never made it. When Gemma Hartley and her search-and-rescue dog Kira are called to investigate an avalanche debris field, they discover what the mountain has been hiding: Nathan's frozen body, buried since October, preserved by the cold—along with evidence that his death was no accident. Someone in Elk Creek is a murderer. And with the roads closed and the ...

SHE WANTED PEACE. SHE GOT MURDER. Forty-two-year-old Carrie Ashford thought she had her life figured out. Eighteen years as an event planner. Fifteen years of marriage. A beautiful home in Atlanta. Then her husband left her for his CrossFit instructor named Brittany. Now Carrie's starting over in Charleston, armed with nothing but her late aunt's cottage, a disapproving cat named Margot, and a fledgling pet-sitting business that's supposed to be stress-free. Supposed to be. WHAT YOU'LL FIND INSIDE: A charming Charleston setting dripping with Southern atmosphere A relatable protagonist ...

Spring thaw has come to the Colorado mountains. So have the secrets buried beneath the snow. When a social media influencer with two million followers vanishes on the mountain trails, K-9 handler Gemma and her partner Kira are called to search. What looks like a straightforward missing persons case quickly becomes something darker, a web of obsession, followers who crossed the line from fan to stalker, and secrets hidden behind a carefully curated online life But Gemma is fighting a battle she can't win. Kira is slowing down. Eight years old, six years of partnership, hundreds of searches, ...

She finds the lost. But this time, she's become the hunted. Twenty-five years ago, thru-hiker Brianna Hartley vanished on the Colorado Trail. Her body was never found. Her killer was never caught. And her sister never stopped waiting. When true-crime podcaster Megan Yates arrives in Elk Creek determined to solve the cold case, SAR handler Gemma Hartley expects complications. What she doesn't expect is to find Megan's body on a mountain trail, strangled, just like the woman she was investigating. Megan's research reveals a terrifying pattern: settlements paid to silence women, a whisper ...

Twenty-five years of waiting. One trial to end it all. And a wildfire that's about to change everything. Warren Haskell is finally on trial for the murder of Brianna Hartley. The evidence is overwhelming—a recorded confession, a body recovered from his family's mine, witnesses who saw him with the victim the night she disappeared. After everything Gemma and her allies have sacrificed, justice seems inevitable. But Warren Haskell didn't build an empire by losing. His defense team is ruthless. The evidence is being picked apart. And Gemma watches helplessly as the case she helped build ...

SOME FLOWERS ARE DEADLIER THAN THEY LOOK. The Whitmore Inn has survived two centuries of Charleston history. Its gardens are legendary, its antiques are priceless, and its guest list reads like a who's who of Southern society. Carrie Ashford is just there to pet-sit, until art dealer Julian Ashworth dies at a dinner party with foxglove in his wine. The Ashworth family has more enemies than allies, more secrets than antiques, and absolutely no intention of cooperating with the investigation. The only witnesses are a collection of pampered pets who can't talk and a pet sitter who notices ...

SOME SECRETS ARE TOO BIG TO DROWN. Serena Hartwell seemed to have it all, wealth, beauty, a stunning home on Daniel Island, and a Maine Coon who weighed more than most toddlers. Then she was found floating in her infinity pool, and Carrie Ashford's quiet pet-sitting job became another murder investigation. The Hartwell family insists it was a tragic accident. The police seem inclined to agree. But Goliath, twenty-two pounds of orange-and-white fur with unsettlingly knowing eyes, saw what happened. And Carrie has learned to trust animals more than people. WHAT YOU'LL FIND INSIDE: A gentle ...

HEEL: A Paws & Probable Cause Mystery 'Tis the season for secrets, suspicion, and a dog who saw everything. Margot Bancroft was the queen of Tidal Cove society. Her Christmas gala was the invitation everyone wanted. Her smile could open doors or destroy reputations. By morning, she was dead in her study. And the only witness isn't talking. Duchess, Margot's prized Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, was in the room when it happened. Now she's traumatized, aggressive, and won't let anyone near the body. Anyone except Wren Calloway. Called in to help the frightened dog, Wren quickly realizes ...

Forty years ago, a sailor died at the regatta. Everyone called it an accident. Everyone was lying. Summer in Tidal Cove means sunshine, lobster rolls, and the annual sailing race. It's supposed to be Wren's first carefree season in her new home. Instead, she receives an anonymous letter that changes everything. Her grandmother was there the day David Ashworth died. And according to the letter, she helped cover up his murder. Now the prestigious Calloway Cup is missing, the retired Commodore who knew the truth is dead, and someone is warning Wren to stop asking questions. She can't. This ...

The killer has been hiding in plain sight. For the entire series. Two days until her wedding. Wren should be thinking about flowers and vows and the man waiting at the end of the aisle. Instead, she's staring at a dead federal investigator. And every piece of evidence points to someone in her inner circle. Someone she's trusted from the beginning. Someone who's been in her home, shared her meals, earned her love. Someone who's been playing a very long game. Justice, the murdered agent's German Shepherd, guards the evidence with fierce loyalty. He knows who the killer is. And he's not ...

One year ago, she came to Tidal Cove with nothing. Now someone wants to take everything. Wren Calloway has finally built the life she always wanted. A thriving practice. Friends who feel like family. Jonah, the man who makes her believe in second chances. This should be a celebration. Then the note arrives: STOP DIGGING OR YOU'RE NEXT. The Beacon Society has operated in the shadows for a century. The founding families. The real power behind Tidal Cove. They've controlled elections, buried scandals, and eliminated threats. Wren just became a threat. When their patriarch is murdered and his ...

TILL DEATH DO THEY PART, SOONER THAN EXPECTED. The Crawford-Laurent wedding at Magnolia Grove Plantation promised to be Charleston's most glamorous event of the year. Historic grounds, champion horses, a bride with impeccable taste and a guest list full of enemies. Carrie Ashford was just there to manage the animals. Then Genevieve Laurent, the estate's equestrian trainer, was found dead in the stables, and Carrie's simple pet-sitting job became her fifth murder investigation. WHAT YOU'LL FIND INSIDE: A plantation wedding murder mystery Champion horses who might have witnessed everything A ...

SOME CASES DEMAND EVERYTHING. Nearly two years. Six murders. A menagerie of rescued animals. And one engagement ring that Carrie Ashford still can't quite believe she's wearing. When law clerk Cameron Reyes is poisoned while investigating corruption in Charleston's judiciary, Carrie finds herself drawn into her most dangerous case yet. The conspiracy runs deep. The threats are personal. And for the first time, solving the murder might cost her everything she's built. WHAT YOU'LL FIND INSIDE: A judicial corruption conspiracy with explosive revelations Gavel, an enthusiastic mutt who ...

In the war between progress and preservation, someone just committed murder. Spring has finally arrived in Tidal Cove. The snow is melting. The tourists are returning. And real estate developer Raymond Cross is face-down at his controversial construction site. Cross had enemies everywhere. Environmentalists who'd chained themselves to his bulldozers. Locals who didn't want their town turned into a resort playground. Business partners with secrets in the contracts. Even Wren has been fighting him. The feral cat colony she's been caring for lives on the land he planned to destroy. Now she's a...

Sophie Lyons was a “thief from the cradle”, as one Chief of Police said; at the early age of six years she had already been trained by her stepmother to be a pickpocket and a shoplifter. A beautiful child with engaging manners, she was sent out every day into the stores and among the crowds of shoppers, and was soundly whipped if she came out of a shop with less than three pocketbooks. “I did not know it was wrong to steal; nobody ever taught me that,” Sophie Lyons writes.