Tell the readers about your typical day.

Okay. . . Which life?

I’m Keri Isles. The only thing I can tell you for certain is I haven’t killed anyone.

Not exactly the character reference I’d highlight on my resume.

I’d love to tell you about a day in my former life. Ack, no! Not former, not giving up on reclaiming it.

Deep breath.

Before, I had a terrible husband (The Jerk who cheated on me), a job as an event planner which I loved (although my boss was a jerk), and a house I loved (that I lost in the divorce), in Seattle (a city I adore). Sure, there were drawbacks, but overall my life was great.

Great until it all fell apart, that is.

Notice that key phrase – cheated on me? Yeah. That.

I seriously underestimated the depths of The Jerk’s manipulation skills, however. He and his buddy, the judge, turned my life upside down.

Now I live in a small cabin (that should’ve been condemned by the health department), on a Christmas tree farm in the Cascade Mountains, high above Seattle. I’m the first to admit I don’t have a clue how to run a farm, but slicing and dicing the chores (event planning 101!) either keeps it manageable, or more likely, keeps me sorta sane as I pretend to be in charge of my life. Those chores have me in the best shape ever, however, and my neighbors are awesome, lending me tools and showing me how to survive out here.

The best part about this. . .uhm. . .episode?. . . is the farm with all the trees, or maybe the river it borders, or the Secret Garden in the woods behind the beaver pond, or the simple privacy that comes with having lots and lots of acres. I admit, I’d never have that privacy in Seattle.

There’s an archeology dig at one neighbor’s property – the team from the University of Washington calls it an “interesting site.” On good days, the locals call it “interesting.” Other days? Pain in the neck is a polite term.

Of course, that’s the real problem complicating my life. My dog pulled the body of the obnoxious professor in charge of the dig out of my beaver pond.

I was one of the last people to see him.

And we argued.

The Body in the Beaver Pond, A Keri Isles Event Planner Mystery #1
Genre: Cozy
Release: May 2021
Purchase link

Keri Isles desperately needs to sell the Christmas Tree farm her cheating, jerk of an ex-husband convinced his buddy, the judge, to saddle her with in the divorce settlement. Stuck in the Cascade Mountains, she’s lost her Seattle-based event planner job and local job prospects are as scarce as internet service. When she finds the arrogant professor in charge of the nearby archeology dig floating face-down in her beaver pond, unloading the property becomes secondary to staying out of prison.

A savvy—and scheming—attorney may be able to keep her head above water, but the personal price of his retainer may be too high. It’s up to Keri to use her mad networking skills and deploy a team of archaeology students, a bad boy photographer, and assorted eccentric neighbors to find the killer and clear her name.

About the Author
Cathy Perkins’s suspense writing lurks behind a financial day-job, where she learned firsthand the camouflage, hide-in-plain-sight skills employed by her villains. The Body in the Beaver Pond is the first book in the new Keri Isles Event Planner Mystery Series. Cathy also writes the Holly Price Mysteries.

Like Keri, Cathy has a Christmas tree farm in the Cascade that includes a beaver pond. Her friends and family will be happy to know the pond does not contain any human bodies. She lives in Washington with her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deer herd. To learn more about Cathy, please visit her website ( cperkinswrites.com ) or follow her at BookBub.

All comments are welcomed.