Like most mornings, my day started with a high-pitched whine and the vibration of one hundred pounds hitting the hardwood floor of my cottage bedroom. Since adopting Thor, my adorable, giant black lab, I didn’t need an alarm clock to get me out of bed anymore. With his penchant for the dramatic, Thor made sure we were both out the door for his morning constitution before the sun came up. I’ve always been an early riser, so it’s not much of a hardship, and the joys of having the big silly lug in my life make up for any slight inconvenience.

Now that I’m wide awake, hi. I’m April Carpenter. Earlier in the year, I moved back to my hometown of Pine Bluff, Oregon in the Blue Mountains of Northeastern Oregon. Instead of being bombarded by piles of paperwork in the corporate world, now I’m running my own company, Carriage House Designs where I help people reimagine and refresh the tired spaces in their homes. As part of my business, I breathe new life into old furniture, and being back home seems to have breathed new life into me as well. My workspace is in the warehouse of my mom’s hardware store, Carpenter’s Corner. Since I’m there much of the time, it’s made it easy to give her a hand in the store when she needs it.

Today, Mom is keeping the store closed for the morning so we can watch part of the Lumberjack and Lumberjill competition going on over at Steam Engine Park. The competition is part of Pine Bluff’s annual Timber Festival. Besides axe throwing and log climbing, there will be bunches of vendor booths with fun arts and crafts and all kinds of scrumptious fall foods. I’ve already got my heart set on a bowl of chili and a German sausage.

Speaking of axe throwing, yesterday one of our local loggers, who was also an axe throwing competitor, was murdered with his own throwing axe. Of course, it was my mom who stumbled across Nate’s body. I don’t know how she manages to get herself tangled up in these kind of messes, but she sure does. She’s already got me roped in to going over all the details and snooping around to try and figure out who killed poor Nate.

Honestly, Mom and I do make a great team. We had a hand in bringing down another killer this past summer and boy, did it feel good. Even my dad, who died three years ago, helped out with that one. Stop looking at me like I’m crazy. It’s true. When Mom first started talking about Dad’s spirit hanging around the house, I thought she’d gone completely mental, but now I’ve seen him myself a couple of times. I can’t argue with what’s right in front of my eyes.

To make matters a little more complicated, now that I’m dating J. T. Dallas, the Pine Bluff Chief of Police, he’s not going to be happy about the two of us inserting ourselves in his investigation. (Shhh, please don’t say anything about me and J. T. I haven’t told Mom yet and she’ll be relentlessly overzealous when she finds out.)

Anyway, I’ve got to run and pick up Mom so we can watch the morning Lumberjack competition and still get the hardware store opened by noon. And I’m in dire need of coffee. See you soon!

Axe Me No Questions, A Hometown Hardware Mystery, Book 2
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: January 2025
Format: Digital
Purchase Link

In the quaint mountain town of Pine Bluff, Oregon, fall has arrived and it’s time for the annual Timber Festival, complete with Lumberjack and Lumberjill contests, and booths serving spicy chili and creamy pumpkin pies. Widowed hardware store owner Dawna Carpenter is selling cookbooks at a booth in the park for a fundraiser her women’s group is running. She’s looking forward to soaking in all her favorite things about the season, including hoping to have a conversation with her deceased husband, who she thinks is still hanging around the house.

But when Dawna falls over the body of one of the lumberjacks, with his own throwing axe imbedded in his chest, her focus turns to murder. With the town in turmoil, Dawna takes Chief Dallas’s request to keep her ears open as a full license to snoop. She’d better watch her back, or Dawna might be the next one to get the axe.

About the author
When Paula Charles isn’t writing, you can find her reading and contemplating murder under the towering trees of the Pacific Northwest. She is the author of the Hometown Hardware Mysteries, as well as the Zen Goat Mysteries written as Janna Rollins. Paula is a member of Sisters in Crime, the national chapter, the Guppies, and the Columbia River chapter. Her debut novel has been featured in Woman’s World. She lives in Washington state with her extremely patient husband and a gaggle of furry and feathered creatures. Connect with her at paulacharles.com.