A DEADLY STAY

A Lowcountry Pet & Home Mystery

Starting over is hard. Finding dead bodies is harder.

Carrie Ashford had it all figured out—until her husband left her for his CrossFit instructor. Now forty-two, recently divorced, and desperate for a fresh start, she's traded her Atlanta event-planning career for a new life in Charleston, South Carolina. Armed with her judgmental British Shorthair cat, Margot, and a fledgling pet-sitting business, Carrie is ready to reinvent herself.

Her biggest client yet? The prestigious Worthington family, one of Charleston's oldest names. All Carrie has to do is care for two elderly Cavalier King Charles Spaniels in a stunning Legare Street mansion while the matriarch cruises the Mediterranean.

Simple. Easy. Absolutely nothing could go wrong.

Except Constance Worthington isn't on a cruise. She's lying dead in her prize-winning rose garden.

Suddenly Carrie—the outsider, the stranger, the woman alone in the house—is the prime suspect. Detective Marcus Hale makes his suspicions crystal clear, and Charleston society isn't far behind with their whispers and accusations.

With her freedom and her new life on the line, Carrie must navigate a web of family secrets, old money grudges, and buried scandals to find the real killer. Her only allies? A sharp-tongued society matron who knows where all the bodies are buried, a best friend with excellent wine, and two devoted dogs who might just hold the key to everything.

A DEADLY STAY is the first book in The Pet Sitter's Predicament series, featuring a smart amateur sleuth, a slow-burn romance, charming animal companions, and the atmospheric beauty of Charleston, South Carolina. Perfect for fans of Lilian Jackson Braun, Krista Davis, and Elizabeth Craig.