Frozen Ground

A frozen house. A hidden past. And a retired mystery novelist who sees the pattern everyone else missed.

Claire Hartley has settled into her quiet life in Ridgeline, Colorado—morning coffee at the dog park with her golden retriever Boone and her suspicious rescue Pepper, evenings at The Buzz with the enigmatic bartender Mick. She's done with mysteries. At least, that's what she keeps telling herself.

But when retired teacher Patricia Donovan is found dead in her home after a brutal winter storm—her heating system mysteriously failed—Claire's novelist brain refuses to believe it was an accident. Especially when her friend Owen, who inspected that heating system weeks ago, swears it was working perfectly.

Now Claire is drawn into a web of decades-old grudges, buried secrets, and carefully constructed lies. A colleague whose career Patricia destroyed. A neighbor locked in a bitter property dispute. An estranged son with gambling debts. And a caregiver with a past she's desperate to hide.

As the evidence mounts, Claire discovers that Patricia Donovan wasn't just a beloved teacher—she was a woman who collected secrets and wielded them like weapons. Someone in this tight-knit mountain community finally decided to stop her.

With suspects everywhere and the truth buried under layers of small-town history, Claire must untangle a lifetime of resentments before the killer realizes she's getting too close.

Perfect for fans of cozy mysteries with smart sleuths, loyal dogs, and small-town secrets.

Frozen Ground is the second book in the Ridgeline Dog Park Mysteries series. Each book features a standalone mystery with no cliffhangers.