There is magic in beginnings. Some beginnings come as a rite of passage, such as a graduation from college, the birth of a child, or a wedding day. Others start off more subtly, as nothing more than an ordinary moment that evolves into a crucial event that, in the end, helps define who you are and who you will become. And then there are the beginnings that arrive on the heels of change. At times, we welcome these changes with joyful anticipation; at others, we fight to maintain that which we feel we’ve lost. Change can come in gentle waves that shepherd us into a new reality, or it can come in a tornado of destruction that tears apart everything we hold dear to our hearts.

My name is Tj Jensen and my own new beginning occurred when I packed up two sisters, a grandpa, two very dear friends, four cats, and three dogs and traveled across the country to help an old friend of my father’s renovate the island resort he’d been forced to sell. Although I had jumped at the chance to take a step away from a life that had undergone so many changes in the past few months that I no longer recognized it, I realized I may have traded one set of problems for another when I found the body of treasure hunter Buck Barnes in the attic before I even had a chance to unpack.

When the local deputy declared the death had been due to natural causes, even though it was clear to me that he had been bludgeoned and left to die, I enlisted the help of my friends to dig into the man’s past, attempting to discover why a perfectly nice guy like Deputy Savage would lie about his passing. The more we dug, the more certain we became that Buck had stumbled on to a map that led to the location of the treasure pirate John Barkley had buried on the island more than three centuries before.

My plan today is to interview the island residents in an effort to find out more about the local legend. My hope is that by discovering the secret behind the treasure, I’ll be able to identify the person who caused Buck’s untimely death and bring the killer to justice. The story of Barkley’s treasure had been steeped in legend, mingled with truth, and left to age. I know solving this mystery will take the combined efforts of the friends I brought with me from Paradise Lake and the new friends I’ve met since my arrival on Gull Island.

You can read more about Tj in Treasure in Paradise, the seventh book in the Tj Jensen mystery series.

Tj Jensen and her family head to Turtle Cove Resort for summer vacation, but their plans for rest and relaxation are thwarted when they find a dead treasure hunter in the attic of the resort’s main house. Initially vowing not to get involved, Tj quickly changes her tune when the Gull Island deputy on the case closes it after a bare bones investigation. All evidence points to foul play, and Tj’s determined to uncover what the deputy wants to keep hidden. With the help of her best friend and a chatty parrot, Tj digs up a centuries old legend, a hidden map, and secrets buried deeper than pirate’s treasure.

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About the author
Kathi Daley lives with her husband, kids, grandkids, and Bernese mountain dogs in beautiful Lake Tahoe. When she isn’t writing, she likes to read (preferably at the beach or by the fire), cook (preferably something with chocolate or cheese), and garden (planting and planning, not weeding). She also enjoys spending time on the water when she’s not hiking, biking, or snowshoeing the miles of desolate trails surrounding her home.

She currently writes six series: Zoe Donovan Cozy Mysteries, Whales and Tails Island Mysteries, Sand and Sea Hawaiian Mysteries, Tj Jensen Paradise Lake Series, Writer’s Retreat Southern Mysteries, and Seacliff High Teen Mysteries. Connect with Kathi at kathidaley.com.

All comments are welcomed.

Treasure in Paradise is available at retail and online booksellers.