Young Stephen Moorhouse is excited about his new job. His uncle, a famous movie director, has asked him to travel to Florida and scout out a location to film a remake of a famous 1950’s movie. Anxious to do a good job, Stephen discovers the perfect location, which unfortunately, is located next to a bizarre roadside attraction. A thick fog blowing off the Gulf of Mexico is making it difficult for the beautiful Savannah Blanchard to find a ride as she hitch hikes along Route 90, just outside of Biloxi, Mississippi. Still reeling from the sudden loss of her job, she’s hoping her good friend can put her up for awhile and maybe help her get a fresh start. Savannah holds a dark secret which will soon become apparent to the next unfortunate lonely driver who pulls over to pick her up. Speeding south from Indiana after a brutal crime wave, tormented Willard Ferguson and his 16 year old girlfriend, Anna Mae, leave a wake of death and destruction behind them. Anxious to find a safe haven from the authorities, they end up taking refuge in an odd attraction called Doctor Merryweather’s Menagerie. Rather than offering the solace they had hoped for, Willard and his girlfriend find themselves thrust into a grotesque world far removed from anything they ever thought existed. Several seemingly separate events slowly merge into one, as the Menagerie of Broken Dreams pulls everyone into a dark web of danger, deceit, and murder.

It’s been four years since young Stephen Moorehouse spent his first summer at his Uncle Phillip Kahle’s mansion, overlooking Lake Superior in Michigan’s untamed Upper Peninsula. Stephen’s kidnapper, the murderous Paulie Deluca, has broken out of prison. Will he come for Stephen again?The beautiful scream-queen, Barbara Jenkins, pays an unexpected visit to Cliffside Manor. Why is Phillip being so secretive about her visit, and why did she bring enough luggage to stay six months?Phillip’s friend and movie financier, Cyrus Bonaventure, disappears after a wedding in Florida. Laid up with a badly sprained ankle, Phillip sends Stephen to investigate. A series of clues takes Stephen from Florida to Los Angeles and then to a small desert town where he makes a startling discovery.Phillip creates a monarch butterfly sanctuary with a huge granite memorial stone to honor Britt Adolphson’s memory. When a mysterious woman, dressed all in black, her face covered in a veil, appears at this memorial, visitors are upset and frightened. Why is she there? Why does she stand like a statue, not speaking, scaring the children? Something needs to be done.Several dramatic plot lines weave together in The Monarch Graveyard to create another thrilling mystery by James R. Nelson.