Showing results by author "Chinle Miller" in Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

When a mystery writer from New York shows up in Sheriff Bud Shumway's little Utah town, he doesn’t think much about it, other than to note that she seems to be avoiding him. But when a famous opera singer, also from New York, shows up shortly thereafter, Bud begins to worry that fact might follow fiction after he discovers that the writer’s latest book is about the murder of an opera singer.

When Sheriff Bud Shumway’s aunt and uncle invite him and his wife to join them for a vacation in beautiful Glacier National Park, he has no idea that he'll soon be on a search for their daughter, the same cousin Bud went to high school with and who everyone called the Jewel of the Desert. But Bud's not sure what he can do to help, especially given the strange circumstances surrounding her disappearance and the fact that she vanished some 25 years ago.

When ex-sheriff Bud Shumway and his wife, Wilma Jean, decide to vacation in a scenic Colorado town near Aspen, they never guess they'll soon be immersed in solving the murder of a famous country-western singer. And even though Bud's bumbling replacement, Sheriff Howie, is far away in the small town of Green River, Utah, he still manages to play havoc with everyone's peace of mind when his sheriff's vehicle is stolen and he finds out he's on the wanted list of Utah's FBI.

An old rock hound has been killed in Utah’s wildlands, and ex-sheriff, Bud Shumway, knows it has something to do with the black-market dinosaur bones, even though his bumbling replacement, Sheriff Howie, thinks it might have something to do with aliens. Then, after receiving a mysterious envelope containing a weird claw and a set of coordinates, Howie is determined to prove himself a capable sheriff, especially since he’s been accused of having a million-dollar voice and a ten-cent brain.

An old hermit has been killed in Utah's wildlands, and Sheriff Bud Shumway knows it's murder, even though some say it was a cougar kill. Others think it was done by a Bigfoot who has roamed the area for years, killing cattle and leaving people so traumatized that they never want to go into the wilderness again. But Sheriff Shumway can't afford to believe in Bigfoot, given the huge area he's responsible for, most of it wildlands.

When ex-sheriff and watermelon farmer Bud Shumway agrees to help out his friend, Sheriff Hum Stocks, as a deputy for the winter, he never guesses he'll soon be deep in the rugged and wild Dolores Triangle, trying to solve not only the mystery of a skeleton wearing knee boots, but also the murder of rattlesnake-hunter and wannabe rodeo clown, Chicken Bottoms.

The self-centered director of a small Shakespearean troupe has been killed on the flanks of a remote Utah bluff, and ex-sheriff Bud Shumway knows it has something to do with someone in the Witness Protection Program, even though his bumbling replacement, Sheriff Howie, suspects a mysterious prospector who has just arrived from the Superstition Mountains.

The crusty owner of a local rock shop has been killed in Utah's wildlands, and ex-sheriff Bud Shumway has been asked to return to his hometown to solve the crime. He reluctantly agrees, never suspecting the case involves an old childhood friend and a pair of mysterious Incan skeletons known as the Malachites. Set at the Slickrock Cafe, deep in the sandstone fins and domes of southeast Utah, this mystery will have you laughing, scared to death, and wondering when the mysterious Black Beast will strike again.

When a Mountie shows up in Sheriff Bud Shumway's Utah office and accuses him of aiding and abetting a possible murderer in Canada’s Yukon Territory, Bud is mystified, especially since he doesn't even know the guy. And when he receives a gold-mining claim transferred to his name and a cryptic message telling him to come to the Klondike Cafe, Bud is soon on his way, even though he has no idea where the cafe is or why his help is needed.

When ex-sheriff and watermelon farmer Bud Shumway learns his wife, Wilma Jean, wants to sell her cafe and become a backcountry pilot, he senses his world is about to change, and not necessarily in a good way. But Bud never guesses he’ll soon be deeply involved in trying to solve the mysterious death of a crusty old Scotsman who, as he was dying, told Bud his killer was a witch’s tongue. Bud soon becomes an unwilling witness to the frenzy surrounding the hunt for the old man’s hidden treasure, and it soon appears Sheriff Howie is also getting involved.  

Rancher Mack Murphy has been buying up land in southwest Colorado, threatening those who won't sell, including Junior, the uncle of ex-sheriff Bud Shumway. Bud agrees to visit his uncle to help defuse things, never suspecting he would get caught right smack in the middle of Mack's murder. And it becomes the toughest case Bud's ever had to solve, as almost everyone is a suspect.

When ex-sheriff and watermelon farmer Bud Shumway learns that his job is on the line, he knows that big changes are coming, though he has no idea exactly what kind. And with his wife’s new business running an air-based catering service, he knows she’ll be too busy to help him figure out his now uncertain future. Add in the invasion of his little Utah town by a group of wanna-be Vikings, and his employment woes soon take backstage to solving a murder - one in which the prime suspect is his friend, Sheriff Howie.

When ex-sheriff and watermelon farmer Bud Shumway and his wife, Wilma Jean, head to Montana to pursue Bud's dream of learning to fly-fish, Bud never guesses he'll soon be deeply involved in trying to solve the mystery of a missing lunch lady he's never met, as well as trying to stay off the radar of a strange religious cult that believes in immortality while plotting to kill people. Set in the magnificent Absaroka Mountains near Yellowstone National Park, this mystery will have you mystified and on edge.