I’m Aaron Brubaker, chief of police here in Swatara Creek, Pennsylvania, where I was born and raised.

I’m a small town cop. I’ll admit right off the bat, my department doesn’t have the resources available in the big city. But that doesn’t mean we don’t know our business. I came up through the ranks and my friend Sticks Hetrick, the former chief, has been a big help with advice and other assistance since I succeeded him on the job.

That big shot writer Stoneroad who recently moved into my patch might consider me a hick. Don’t matter. I’m proud of my troops and I’ll put them up against any other cops he might have known. All my people are police academy graduates–as required by state law–and we take advantage of every opportunity provided for additional training. Still, nothing beats the skills acquired on-the-job. You don’t learn to drive by reading a manual.

Our town may be small, but we’re close to an Interstate highway and near Harrisburg, the state capitol, so we’re not immune to the same kind of trouble you find in bigger places. Small town officers are prepared to be multi-taskers, some tasks are routine, others more serious, all necessary parts of the job.

Right now we have a mix of things going on. A dead guy turned up in a motel room out on the highway. It may have been a drug overdose, or something else. There was a tour bus and big rig collision with injuries right about the same time the body was discovered. That guy Stoneroad claimed he was being stalked, then decided it was his imagination. The local pharmacy was held up. Then this strange young girl turns up in town claiming Stoneroad’s secretary is her missing sister–a claim the secretary denies.

Lydia, my daughter, felt sorry for the girl and asked me to talk to Nan Calder, the secretary, and see if I could get the two of them together and try to work things out. Unfortunately, that didn’t go so well as hoped.

Helen, my wife, and I only have the one child, and we’re proud of what Lydia has accomplished for herself. She works for the Yoxheimer realty firm and handled the property sale to Stoneroad. That’s how she met his stepson Jason Russell and they started going together. I was kind of impressed with the young guy when she brought him home for dinner to meet us.

And now, this morning I get the news Lydia’s accused of murdering the boy. Talk about getting news to knock your socks off! I was stunned. I know my baby. No way would she kill anybody, especially not a fellow she was falling in love with. That damned State Trooper Runyan says I can’t be involved in the investigation. Well, see if he can stop me.

What’s that? The gun I insisted Lydia carry is missing and may be the murder weapon?

You can read more about Aaron in In Silence Sealed, the eighth book in the “Sticks Hetrick” suspense series. The first book in the series is Something In Common.

Lydia, daughter of Swatara Creek Police Chief Aaron Brubaker, is accused of murdering her boyfriend, Jason Russell, handsome but feckless stepson of Clay Stoneroad, a famous writer who recently moved to a farm outside town.

Daniel ‘Sticks’ Hetrick, now a county detective, is determined to prove Lydia’s innocence. His job is made more difficult when the weapon her father insisted she carry is found missing.

Mysteries surround the Stoneroad family. Vickie Walker, a strange young woman—also recently arrived in town—insists Nan Calder, the writer’s secretary, is her sister, a claim Calder denies. Then Diana Wozniak, reporter for a sleazy tabloid, is the victim of a hit-and-run accident, and police learn she attempted to blackmail the writer.

The sudden disappearance of Lydia and Vickie puts Hetrick and his friends in a desperate race against time to find them, unravel secrets, and apprehend the real killer.

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About the author
A retired newspaper editor, J. R. Lindermuth is the author of 16 novels, including eight in the Sticks Hetrick crime series, and a non-fiction regional history. Since retiring, he has served as librarian for his county historical society where he assists patrons with genealogy and research. He is a member of International Thriller Writers and the Short Mystery Fiction Society, where he is a past vice president. You are invited to visit his website at jrlindermuth.net.

All comments are welcomed.