Chapter 1

“There’s been an, um, incident,” Sheriff Fox said.

“Oh, dear. Please don’t tell me it’s a...” Isabel said, her voice trailing off.

“Yes ma’am, I’m afraid so.” Sheriff Fox paused at speaking on his smart phone. “It’s the dreaded M-word.”

“Murder,” Isabel said with a gasp as her pulse quickened. “Here. Again.”

“Yes. Murder. Here. Again.”

“Unspeakable.”

“Tell me about it. Just between you and me and the hat rack, I’m thinking hard about turning in my resignation letter.”

“That’s a drastic step to take. Why?”

“All these murders exact their toll on a small town sheriff.”

“Aw, that’s pure horseradish, Roscoe. You should be able to take the heat in the kitchen if Alma and I can stand it.”

“Speaking of the devil, what is Alma doing right now?”

“Well...” Sitting in her favorite armchair, Isabel craned her neck around to peer down the hallway to where she saw Alma squealing and clapping hands at their pet beagle Petey Sampson. With his tail wagging, he woof-woofed at her, and she woof-woofed right back at him.

“Would you believe it if I told you she’s playing hide-and-go-seek with Petey Sampson? First, she found him scrunched under her bed, and he just discovered her squished up inside the foyer closet. There’s never a dull moment around here.”

End of Chapter 1 reading sample. If you enjoyed reading Murder in a One-Hearse Town, click on the title link to take you to its Goodreads page for more information. Thank you for your interest in reading my new Isabel and Alma Trumbo Cozy Mystery.