As a reporter, I’ve had plenty of lunches interrupted for breaking news. But today is different. The text ordering my favorite photographer and me away from delicious fries and milkshakes seems silly—even by local TV news standards.

Mayor stuck in elevator. Get to city hall.

I remind myself I’m luckier than most reporters because I get to spend half my week covering stories that really matter. But when we arrive at Phoenix City Hall and the mayor’s chief of staff hovers like a drone, I’m feeling less fortunate.

Until a high-profile attorney pulls me aside and tips me off to shady deals at city hall. The attorney says a beloved small business owner named Carlos Rios, has been asking questions about why the same people keep winning multi-million-dollar contracts while he and others get squeezed out. Questions that some people don’t want answered.

It’s exactly the kind of story we should pursue. But when I pitch my manager, he yawns in response and assigns me to investigate whether cupcakes advertised as gluten-free really are.

“Clicks,” he says. “We need clicks.”

I didn’t get into this business to be an influencer. I got into it to hold powerful people accountable. Winning another Emmy would be nice, too. And that’s not going to happen by playing it safe. It will happen by being relentless.

When Carlos dies unexpectedly, my manager thinks the story is dead, too. But he’s wrong and I’ll prove it. Because Carlos deserves better. And so does the city.

The Story That Wouldn’t Die – A Jolene Garcia Mystery, Book 2
Genre: Traditional Mystery
Release: August 2025
Format: Print, Digital, Audio
Purchase Link

Emmy Award-winning reporter Christina Estes uses her twenty-year career for inspiration for her mysteries. In The Story That Wouldn’t Die, Jolene Garcia refuses to stop investigating, but someone is determined to kill the story—and maybe her.

Phoenix, Arizona TV reporter Jolene Garcia is fresh off winning her first Emmy and committed to covering stories that matter to her community. But Jolene’s managers want stories that grab immediate attention and generate clicks, not ones that take time to develop.

When a beloved small business owner dies in a car crash, Jolene isn’t convinced it was an accident. He’d been raising questions about who keeps getting lucrative deals at city hall—questions that powerful people don’t want answered. The deeper Jolene digs, the more suspicious things she uncovers.

Exposing greed, ambition, and deception could become the biggest story of Jolene’s career. Her bosses tell her to drop it. But there’s a story here, and Jolene’s going to find it.

Meet the Author
CHRISTINA ESTES is an award-winning reporter who spent more than twenty years covering crime, public policy, and business for TV and radio stations in Phoenix, Arizona. Her reporting has appeared on CBS and NPR. Christina’s career inspired her mystery series featuring reporter Jolene Garcia, which began with Off the Air, winner of the Tony Hillerman Prize for Best First Mystery Set in the Southwest and was a Good Morning America Buzz Pick. For more information, visit www.christinaestes.com.