I’ve been avoidin’ the press for the past three years. The only reason I’m giving you this interview is ‘cause my neighbors are all curious about the IT girl genius turned millionaire. I figure one small-town newspaper article isn’t gonna trigger another paparazzi avalanche on my peaceful life.

Well, mostly peaceful. Rose Creek has turned out way more exciting than I expected. One day in particular changed everything.

My name’s Callie Garcia. Born and raised in Texas. I’m 28, which might sound young to be retired, but there’s a reason for that. I jumped off the corporate treadmill when my security software sold for a crazy amount, and my hot hubby Clint and I bought the ranch in the Ozark foothills of northeast Oklahoma. My dream of havin’ a bunch of kids hasn’t happened – yet. So things got a little slow, despite keepin’ one foot in the IT world, just to stay sharp.

The Rose Creek Reads bookstore flyer promised the chance to discuss novels and make new friends. It didn’t say anything about solving a real-life murder. Two other gals showed up for that first meeting. Makenzie is a shy chemist working in the lab of the historic pottery factory. Drew is a lawyer who came here from Boston with her eight-year-old boy. She running her great-uncle’s law office while he’s recuperating from a health scare. After being burglarized, Drew doesn’t think much of the supposed safety of small towns.

While we tried to pick our first novel, things kind of went haywire. Mitch, one of the bookstore cats, climbed a tree down by the creek. Turns out, there was a body in the cattails.

Despite that incident, we decided to continue with the club. But our priority shifted from readin’ a mystery to solving a real life one. We needed to figure out what happened, and why. People were blaming the pottery factory, threatening to shut it down forever.

Things were proceeding at a snail’s pace, when I found a number. A code? I needed help. So I went to the branch of the state university to find an expert. Shanice is a mathematician whose hobby is cryptography. Being an avid reader, she was a natural fit for our book club. Plus, I happen to know a single guy who’d be the perfect match for her.

The four of us were excited to be playin’ detective. Investigating pulled Makenzie out of her shell. She’s got her eye on a cute deputy, and the murder case gave her the courage to actually talk to Dustin. Drew was ready to return to Boston, but her son is doing so well in Rose Creek, she dug her heels in and told her husband she’s staying a little longer.

Me? Well, I’ve got a ranch to protect. Seems we’ve got a prowler. Nobody better even think about touching one of my horses. Or one of my new friends. I’ve gotten kind of attached to them. The humans and the equines.

The day book club met for the first time turned my world upside down. In a lot of good ways. And a few that turned deadly serious.

The Body in the Cattails, A Rose Creek Mystery Book #1
Genre: Cozy
Release: May 2023
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

A burglar shatters big-city lawyer Drew Brauner’s confidence in her rash move to a small Oklahoma town. That same night, a frightening visit from a prowler ruins IT expert Callie Garcia’s romantic dinner with her cowboy husband. The women meet at the new Rose Creek Reads Book Club, seeking distraction from the unsettling events.

Shy chemist Makenzie Selkirk joins them. The hometown girl is a diehard fan of Rose Creek, nestled beside the Ozark foothills. The club is off to a great start… until the shop’s cat makes a horrifying discovery. The book club flier promised readers the chance to discuss novels and make new friends. It didn’t say anything about finding a body.

The autopsy implicates the historic factory where Makenzie works. She jumps into the investigation partly to stop protestors from shutting down Brieswell Pottery Works, and partly to spend time with a handsome deputy. Clues are sparse, until Callie discovers a peculiar number. She invites Shanice Hailey to the book club, hoping the university mathematician can break the code. When Callie introduces Shanice to a horse-whisperer, she learns match-making might be as tricky as solving a murder.

The new friends play at being detectives—until the mystery becomes deadly serious.

About the author
Catherine Dilts prefers writing cozy mysteries and short stories surrounded by flowers on her sunny deck, but any day – and anywhere – spent writing is a good day. Author of the Rock Shop Mystery series and the stand-alone Survive Or Die, Catherine also writes for several Annie’s Fiction mystery series. Her short story Claire’s Cabin appears in the Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine March/April 2023 issue. Annie’s Snow appears in the Pikes Peak Writers anthology, Journey into Possibilities. Available now: The debut novel in her new cozy mystery series Rose Creek: The Body in the Cattails. Check out my website at catherinedilts.com.

All comments are welcomed.