Life for Melanie has returned to normal. She works as a gardener with friend Stooper, eats at Mason's Diner, and sits on her farmhouse porch with friends Syl and Sandi. Her biggest challenge is helping Mr. Tibbs get used to the still-unnamed black cat that sauntered into the household. And then she finds a body in the coat closet at the Farm Bureau dinner. The local grain operator had angered farmers with increased prices, but who kills for an extra few cents per bushel of corn? Tired of fingers pointing toward her and curious about why someone burned some of her late father's files, Mel does some poking on her own. The kidnapping of a local woman raises the stakes. With pets who have a nose for trouble, Melanie seeks a devious suspect.
Author
Also published as Elaine L. Orr Elaine L. Orr has authored 30 works of fiction, including four mystery series. They include the thirteen-book Jolie Gentil cozy mystery series, which is set at the Jersey shore. "Behind the Walls" was short-listed for the 2014 Chanticleer Mystery and Mayhem Awards. "Demise of a Devious Neighbor," second of the River's Edge series, set in Iowa, was a Chanticleer shortlister in 2017. The Western Maryland mountains host the four-book Family History Mystery Series, which began with "Least Trodden Ground." The "Unscheduled Murder Trip" received a B.R.A.G. Medallion in 2021. Small-town Illinois is the setting for the Logland Series, which features Police Chief Elizabeth Friedman—a police procedural with a cozy feel. Elaine also writes plays and novellas, including the one-act, "Common Ground," published in 2015. Her novella, "Biding Time," was one of five finalists in the National Press Club's first fiction contest, in 1993. "Falling into Place" is a novella about family strength as a World War II veteran rises to the toughest occasion. "In the Shadow of Light" is the fictional story of Corozón and her family, who are separated at the U.S./Mexico border. A member of Sisters in Crime, Elaine grew up in Maryland and moved to the Midwest in 1994.
