Ellie Avery is an Air Force wife, mother, personal organizer and super sleuth. She and husband Mitch are hosting this year's family reunion at their home when something that sounds like a gunshot is heard in their neighborhood. The next thing they know, a neighbor is driving up to their house to tell them one of Mitch's cousins, Dan, is hurt. Dan had gone running earlier that morning. When they find him, they can't tell anything is seriously wrong other than the fact that he passed out.
Dan is rushed to the hospital to be checked out. While waiting at the hospital, Ellie learns Mitch's colonel has just been strangled and is not in good condition. The next day she finds out the very upsetting news that he has died.
Ellie visits the colonel's wife, Denise, to comfort her and see if she can help in any way. While helping Denise go through some mail, they open an envelope addressed to Colonel Pershall containing a squadron coin. The coin is almost like their regular squadron coin, but has black skull and crossbones on it. A few days later, Mitch receives one of the same coins. Mitch then gets a call from Dan thanking him for sending him his squadron coin. Dan's coin was identical to the other two.
This coincidence sets Ellie to thinking that the colonel's death and Dan's passing out could somehow be related. But how is Mitch involved? That question is answered a few days later when he has a tire blow out on his car. They discover the tire was lashed. Then a dry ice bomb blows up in Mitch's care. Ellie becomes a super sleuth in trying to help the police organize all of the evidence to solve these crimes.
Follow Ellie as she goes on a stake-out and many other antics searching for answers, all the while trying to juggle a child starting her first day of kindergarten, a very active two-year-old and a part-time job. When Denise is arrested for her husband's murder, Ellie becomes even more determined to find the real killer, putting her own life in jeopardy.
You'll love this fast-paced novel full of suspense. Sara Rosett also gives you an added bonus at the end of every other chapter -- "Tips for Busy, Budget-Minded Moms." Some of these tips sound just like Ellie herself.
For military wife and professional organizer Ellie Avery,
the hardest thing about hosting her husband Mitch's
rambunctious Southern family reunion is remembering
everyone's name. But this summer, her backyard hash is
shadowed by menace after a killer shows up without an
invitation.
Before the last slice of peach pie is served, the family
festivities are cut short by news that Mitch's squadron
commander has been strangled-- and the prime suspect is his
wife Denise, Ellie's close friend and fellow knitting
enthusiast. That same day, Ellie and the rest of the sleepy
little town of North Dawkins, Georgia, are shocked to learn
that one of Mitch's cousins--a fitness fanatic who's in town
for the party--narrowly missed being shot when he collapsed
during his daily workout. Everyone agrees that the bullet
was a stray from hunters nearby...but to Ellie the close
call is as suspicious as a possum in a persimmon tree.
As the humidity rises, so does the danger. Ellie uncovers
strange cues that pint to a sinister and deadly plan... and
the possibility that someone wants to ground her pilot
husband, Mitch-- permanently. In between outdoor walks with
the Mom Stroller Brigade, drumming up clients for her
organizing business, and trying out new recipes for
Southern-style barbecue, Ellie must unravel a mystery that
grows more perplexing every day. Because if she doesn't,
Mitch's afternoon jog just may turn otu tot be a run for his
life...
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