Description: What you pick up after a dog shouldn’t include dead bodies. Still grappling with the death of her husband, former cryptanalyst Katie Wilk takes a job teaching high school math in a town where Titanic trivia is more than just a game. So when her dog Maverick finds the body of the much-admired hometown moviemaker, and she stumbles on encoded messages luring her students to deadly drug parties, Katie realizes she is the only one who can stop the next murder from happening. Mixed in correct proportions, dogs, numbers, puzzles, and murder can be essential ingredients for intrigue.
Praise for the Katie and Maverick Cozy Mysteries:
“Immediately captivating! Katie and Maverick are destined to become a notable amateur sleuth team in the mystery world.” Connie Shelton, USA Today bestselling author
Description: Katie Wilk’s husband’s dying wish is that she leads a full life. She takes a job teaching math in a small midwest town. But he also left her a dog and it’s Maverick’s ability to find bodies that makes her new close-knit community wary. But when Maverick rescues the toddler next door, he’s applauded and Katie is encouraged to certify him as a search-and-rescue canine. When high-school sisters disappear, Katie uses her problem-solving skills to decode a message left by one of the girls. She and Maverick search for answers she might not wish to hear: sex-trafficking can happen in her own backyard, and if she isn’t quick enough, she might never see the girls again.
“Cozy readers everywhere will love the endearing pairing of a high school math teacher and her unruly British Labrador as they learn how to become a Search and Rescue team. From navigating small town life to solving puzzling murders, Katie and Maverick are a delight.” Mindy Mejia, international bestseller author of Everything You Want Me To Be and Strike Me Down.
ndoning a promising career in cryptanalysis, Katie finds a job teaching in a small Midwest town. Her husband bequeathed her a dog she can’t control and a dying wish that she leads a full life, but her dog Joey has a gift for delivering lacy lingerie into the hands of her male visitors, barking from the kitchen table, and dragging Katie around by the leash. However, it’s his ability to find bodies that makes her new close-knit community wary, but when Joey rescues the toddler next door, he’s applauded and Katie is encouraged to certify him as a search-and-rescue canine.
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Katie and Maverick are out for their walk when Maverick dashes through the moving gate at a self-storage facility and they get locked in. By the time the police respond to the silent alarms the pair have set off, the smell of exhaust fumes has begun to seep from one of the garage-sized units, and the car inside is quickly engulfed in a ball of flame. Was it a suicide that turned extra messy, or did someone rig the expensive sports car to explode and kill the woman inside?
When Katie starts to ask the tough questions, it seems there were a long list of people who didn’t much care for Sophie Grainger and several of them had motives for murder. But Katie also has her days full with the upcoming holiday season and her students who are participating in a mock-trial competition. Will the kids make it to the state finals under the expert coaching of a local attorney who has joined their team? And will Katie and Maverick have a wonderful Christmas this year, the first in which Katie’s dad has been home since the horrific shooting incident that nearly killed him? Join Katie, Maverick, and their newfound extended family for the holidays, mixed, of course with the usual action from their Search and Rescue operations and the breathless drama that Mary Seifert brings to all her mystery novels.
“As cozy as a hurricane, Tinsel, Trials & Traitors delivers an intricate mystery with plenty of action and suspense. Plus, I like the dog.” David Housewright, Edgar Award winning author of Something Wicked
Christmas is fast approaching, but the joy and activity of the holiday season is marred by death. There’s a history between Katie’s landlady, Ida Clemashevski, and her neighbor, the elegant Grace Loehr. The two hadn’t spoken in 40 years and had just recently made amends. But when they both bid on the same unusual art piece at the Holiday Gala, the claws come out again. Katie Wilk’s idea is to have the artist simply make another of his intricate creations, something along the same lines, but when she goes to his studio to propose the idea, she discovers he’s been murdered.
It’s Christmas in Minnesota, a wonderful time for decorations, hot chocolate, snuggly blankets, caroling, and … fishing! Katie Wilk is celebrating her first Christmas with her dad since the horrific shooting that nearly claimed his life, and when they are invited to participate in their small town’s ice-fishing tournament, they readily agree. Ice is treacherous, and on the first day of the tournament one of Katie’s students accidentally falls through, creating a harrowing situation and a rescue by Katie and her trained black Lab, Maverick. Later, Katie discovers the spot where Brock went into the icy water was deliberately cut, and the real intended victim turns out to be one of the town’s least lovable, curmudgeonly characters. But what really pulls Katie into the thick of the investigation is that Dr. Pete Erickson, the man who makes her heart beat faster, is accused of murder. There’s no way Katie can let that go! Ignoring warnings to stay out of the case, Katie and Maverick track leads in what proves to be their trickiest investigation so far.
Katie Wilk wonders why she offered to housesit at the spookiest old place in town. Well, the answer is simple—she needs the money. Then she learns she’s expected to host the annual Halloween costume party because the heirs to the place don’t actually come around very often. It’s all right, she learns. She can invite her own friends, so at least she feels she’ll have some moral support. But the old house is full of tricks and a series of puzzling clues that need to be solved in order to find a killer. Katie and Maverick have their work cut out for them!
Katie Wilk is still reeling from astounding news about her late husband’s history that she’d discovered before his shockingly sudden death. She’s looking forward to getting back to her students now that winter break is over, taking her mind off the difficulties of the past eighteen months. But then ZaZa Lavigne shows up, the woman who can push all of Katie’s buttons, and guess what—she’ll be teaching in Katie’s department!
However, Katie’s personal issues are quickly overshadowed when an heirloom diamond ring seems to have been switched at the jewelry store for a less valuable one and Susie Kelton, Katie’s former rival for Dr. Pete’s attention, comes to her for help in recovering the real ring. The problems keep compounding and Katie begins to wonder if she and Maverick will ever untangle all the puzzles.
When Katie’s spring break plans for a romantic getaway with Pete fall apart, she skips a chance to go skiing with her dad and the sister she’s very recently met, and finds herself and Maverick in the company of friends and her students at The White Star Inn in New Prague, Minnesota. Although they are traveling to attend the memorial service for a student’s mother, there will also be salon treatments, shopping, and sightseeing. But, from the moment they arrive, tension fills the air, as Edith Farthington, the oddball innkeeper, and her nephew appear to be harboring secrets and a few unwanted visitors.
The group is in town less than 24 hours when, during a geocaching outing, Katie and her students discover a dead body concealed in a remote area of a state park. Unfortunately, the victim just happens to be one of the few people in town they’ve already met, and Katie’s group is getting the side-eye from the local cops.
The suspects are numerous, the motives tricky, but there’s a shock for Katie and those close to her when the sheriff leaps ahead to arrest one of their own. How can Katie find enough evidence to convince him otherwise, especially when she’s been warned to butt out—many times?