Clay Wolfe by Matt Cost

I could be the poster boy for the American Dream. I’m an orphan in my thirties, live in an apartment above my Grandpops garage, and am dating a woman who I believe is using me just for the sex. A slightly varied version of the typical American Dream of a home with a...

Cara Mia Delgatto by Joanna Campbell Slan

Crying, I can handle. Emotional customers are not a rarity in The Treasure Chest, my store. They wander the section devoted to pet memorial items and sob over their dearly departed fur babies. That I can cope with. I hand customers a box of tissues and commiserate. I,...

Jessica Fletcher by Terrie Farley Moran

Hi all. My name is Jessica Fletcher and I can hardly describe how topsy-turvy the past twenty four hours have been. Yesterday morning I was in Bethesda, Maryland at my all-time favorite mystery conference, Malice Domestic. I started the day having breakfast with Dru...

Avery Ayers by Tracy Gardner

When I moved home to Lilac Grove a year ago, I never imagined I’d be raising a teenager and running a business. Don’t get me wrong—I love my constantly-singing, overly-dramatic, no-filter little sister Tilly. Despite the seven years between us, we’ve grown close since...

Stacey Knudson by Mark Leichliter

I’ve been with the Flathead County Sheriff’s Department for a dozen years, and I made detective a year and a half ago, but already I’m beginning to wonder if one day I’ll see every piece of this valley like it’s a crime scene. Some of it’s to be expected, right? Like...

Emily Wilson by B.J. Bowen

I’m Emily Wilson, second flute of the Monroe (Colorado) Symphony. Please excuse me if I’m a little nervous. I’m used to a quiet life and I’m more comfortable playing music than talking about myself. Concerts, rehearsals, students, practicing. Excitement is supposed to...