This is still a new sensation for me—Rose Webster, intrepid photojournalist. I’ve been in all kinds of tense and dangerous situations, but nothing compares to waking up in the bedroom where I grew up, my right arm numb because a little Maltese has curled up in the in the crook of my arm all night. She’s covered in white hair, has a black button nose, and the cutest little tongue that shoots out at unexpected times to deliver kisses. Her name is Gladys. Mom named her after Gladys Knight and the Pips. She was my mother’s dog and now she’s mine, at least for as long as I stay in Lake Amelia, the small town I couldn’t wait to bolt for college.
I came back to my hometown to care for my ailing mother. After she passed, in addition to inheriting Gladys, I became co-owner of my childhood home with my brother Kirk. My half-sister Maxi refused her portion of owning the house, but she couldn’t refuse the proceeds of the estate that Dad insisted she share because Maxi is also his daughter. Yep, that was a shock. Maxi and I are getting to know each other while I’m in Lake Amelia. I’ve also enjoyed getting to know Lake Amelia, in many ways for the first time. Now, on the brink of turning forty, my eyes have opened to the quaintness of small-town living, although I’m not blind to having neighbors know almost as much about me as my mother did.
But no one in town knows about the new mystery I stumbled upon.
Just when I thought I was done solving mysteries in this little upstate New York town in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, another one smacked me in the face. Yesterday, I uncovered a desperate note and ten grand in a hidden compartment in my father’s den. Dad died fifteen years ago. The cash and note have been sitting there ever since. The person apparently gave Dad the cash and note in an envelope with nothing written on it—no address, no name, no signature. Did they hand it to Dad in his office? Or slide it under his door there? And why is it at home and not in the safe at his law firm just outside of Saratoga Springs? I’m not going anywhere until I find out who this cash belongs to, how I can return it to them, and why they feared for their life so much that they disappeared.
Gladys stretches and yawns, then looks at me with those deep black eyes. I’ll admit she has me wrapped around her little paws. She could still be mine when I go home to Philadelphia, but I can’t imagine returning to the hectic pace of my work and caring for a dog. But I’m not dealing with that issue today. I move this warm and cuddly pooch off of my arm, kiss her little forehead, and head down to the kitchen to make coffee. Because nothing much happens in my day until that first hot cup of joe.
Lies Lost and Found – A Lake Amelia Mystery, Book 2
Genre: Traditional Mystery
Release: July 2025
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link
Someone is willing to kill to keep the truth from coming out.
When Rose Webster discovers a hidden stash of money and a desperate note in her late father’s den, she’s pulled into a dangerous investigation that escalates the closer she gets to the truth. A photojournalist who’s sidelined by injury, Rose follows the trail of the whistleblower and uncovers the abuse of immigrant workers at a lakeside inn in the Adirondack Mountains. Rose is driven by a sense of justice and moral duty to stop the exploitation of the workers, but she can’t do it alone.
Kelsey Jacobs moved to upstate New York to flee her ex-boyfriend and get a fresh start. She first learned of the abuse of immigrants fifteen years earlier, but when Kelsey’s investigation led to threats against her life, she panicked and disappeared. Is Kelsey still alive? Can Rose track her down and enlist her help to expose a powerful business owner’s darkest crimes?
The deeper Rose digs, the clearer it becomes that her father’s sudden death may not have been natural. Now her determination to bring down the unscrupulous businessman is deeply personal as she tries to find out if he killed her father.
A gripping blend of mystery, sisterhood, and social justice, Lies Lost and Found is a compelling investigative howdunit set in the quiet but dangerous shadows of a small town.
About the author
Jacqueline Boulden is a multiple award-winning author whose novels are a mashup of mystery/suspense/women’s fiction. Her stories focus on strong independent women overcoming life’s challenges. Kirkus Reviews named Family Ties Family Lies, the first book in the Lake Amelia Mysteries, one of the Best 100 Indie books of 2024. Lies Lost and Found (pub July 2025) is the second in the series. Jacqueline is a former Emmy-winning TV reporter and Telly-winning video producer.