All I wanted to do was drop off a piece of pineapple upside-down cake along with the updated schedule for Art in the Park. My plan for this evening did not include sitting in the back of an ambulance while my sister’s ex-boyfriend makes sure I don’t faint. My name is Savanna Shepherd. Last summer, I moved back across Lake Michigan to Carson, my hometown. I’m glad I did. I missed my family more than I realized. Now, my sisters and I meet for lunch weekly in town, I’m once again a part of Sunday dinners, and my younger sister Sydney has even let me stay with her while I house hunt. I fell into a job I love, teaching art to Carson Elementary’s students. And I may be falling in love with Dr. Aidan Gallager, the sweet, widowed cardiologist who is the complete opposite of my former fiancé.
Before moving home, I worked as an art expert trained in spotting details others might miss, an important skill in recognizing forged works of art. It’s turning out to also be an important skill in solving mysteries, an accidental hobby I seem to have a knack for. Anyway—my art background helped me land this year’s coveted Art in the Park event for my town. But I’m feeling a whole lot of pressure to make sure it goes well. Especially after what happened to Jessamina. And now this.
We’re lucky the event wasn’t cancelled after our beloved town statue of Jessamina Carson was beheaded. The police still have no leads on who would vandalize poor Jessamina. But an actual murder is sure to make the committee pull the event. I know I should be worried about that, but the only thing I can think about right now is my friend, sprawled unmoving on the floor, alone in his locked house. Across the lawn, the paramedics are wheeling him out on a gurney, and my mind replays the image I wish I hadn’t seen: Detective Jordan holding that bloody knife as he dropped it into the evidence bag.
Brad prods me to drink the water he’s given me, threatening to check my blood pressure again. I tip it back obediently, promising the paramedic I’m feeling better now. It’s the truth. The wooziness that hit me upon finding my friend’s body is nearly gone. While Brad is preoccupied talking with another paramedic, I drift toward the cluster of neighbors on the sidewalk, catching bits of chatter.
“I just talked to him this morning.”
“He was always so nice.”
“As long as you stayed on his good side.”
“Do you think it was random?”
“I bet it was someone he knew.”
I shudder at the callous comments, relieved to see Detective Jordan heading toward me as the ambulance pulls away. My mind is already sorting through the fine details of the last time I’d seen my friend and any inconsistencies I might have spotted tonight that could lead to the killer.
Murder On Display: A Shepherd Sisters Mystery, Book 2
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: April 2025
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link
Art in the park leads to murder in the dark, creating another crime for the Shepherd sisters to solve.
Savanna Shepherd, an art expert turned elementary art teacher, is planning the Art in the Park festival for her hometown of Carson, Michigan. But apparently, someone isn’t happy that Carson got to host the tourism boosting event and destroys the beloved statue in the park. Then Savanna discovers a local politician’s dead body following a planning committee meeting, and the festival is at risk of being canceled.
Savanna and her sisters are convinced that the arrested murder suspect, a longtime family friend, didn’t do it, despite strong evidence to the contrary. With the help of Dr. Aidan Gallager, Savanna’s new romantic interest, they uncover plenty of hidden resentments, intrigue, and suspects who had a motive for the murder. Can they find out which one of them is behind the framing of an innocent person before the murderer paints them into a corner?
An artful cozy mystery perfect for fans of Krista Davis and Joanne Fluke.
About the author
Tracy Gardner is a multi award-winning author and Edgar Award Finalist who also writes women’s fiction as Jess Sinclair. Gardner’s new five-book cozy mystery series features three sleuthing sisters solving murders in their close-knit Lake Michigan town. A Detroit native and mother of three, Gardner works as a nurse educator when not writing. She lives with her husband and a menagerie of spoiled rescue dogs and cats. She is a strong believer in women saving themselves, often with help from ride-or-die besties and plenty of chocolate.