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The Backyard Model Mysteries #2
Model Wave
Comments and Awards for The Backyard Model Mysteries
~A witty former fashion model turned accidental sleuth ...~Lisa Lickel, editor, Creative Wisconsin Magazine
~Word play on every page and jokes about Wisconsin customs ... ~Christine DeSmet, award-winning author & scriptwriter
~Rarely are cozy mysteries this much fun to read! ~Laurie Sheer, writing mentor, media goddess
~Model Suspect, Book One in The Backyard Model Mysteries earned an RWA Excellence in Mystery, a Royal Dragonfly, a Southwest Writer's Award, and was named a Top 100 Notable Indie by Shelf Unbound magazine
In Model Wave, Mel Tower travels Up North for a vacation and a date with a handsome sheriff. When a boat owner is found dead on "No Bullship," his new pontoon, Mel's plans for relaxation and romance are sunk faster than a popped beach ball. In this small-town summer mystery, Mel acts as an amateur sleuth because she fears a friend is being set up for the murder.
Meanwhile, the Northwoods is hosting “The Deliveree,” a summer competition for delivery drivers, knights of the road. Mel attends oddball games such as boxing (with actual boxes) and skiing on cardboard skis while pursuing the killer. Mel discovers the victim’s ex-wife had no alibi—even though the name of her pontoon is My Alibi!
This is the book for readers who enjoy summer beach reads, funny cozy mysteries, and quirky characters. They're Midwest fun and intrigue served with a brandy old-fashioned and a side of cheese curds. Mysteries similar to The Backyard Model Mysteries are Jeff Nania's Spider Lake Mysteries and Annelise Ryan's Monster Hunter series.
These stories are comic cozy mysteries with no foul language, sex, or graphic violence.
Coming in October 2024, Model Ghost, Book Three in The Backyard Model A fashion designer chokes to death on a fried cheese curd, and Mel’s cousin is accused of the murder. Mel must work with rivals from her fashion modeling past to solve the crime in this spooky fall mystery.
~A witty former fashion model turned accidental sleuth ...~Lisa Lickel, editor, Creative Wisconsin Magazine
~Word play on every page and jokes about Wisconsin customs ... ~Christine DeSmet, award-winning author & scriptwriter
~Rarely are cozy mysteries this much fun to read! ~Laurie Sheer, writing mentor, media goddess
~Model Suspect, Book One in The Backyard Model Mysteries earned an RWA Excellence in Mystery, a Royal Dragonfly, a Southwest Writer's Award, and was named a Top 100 Notable Indie by Shelf Unbound magazine
In Model Wave, Mel Tower travels Up North for a vacation and a date with a handsome sheriff. When a boat owner is found dead on "No Bullship," his new pontoon, Mel's plans for relaxation and romance are sunk faster than a popped beach ball. In this small-town summer mystery, Mel acts as an amateur sleuth because she fears a friend is being set up for the murder.
Meanwhile, the Northwoods is hosting “The Deliveree,” a summer competition for delivery drivers, knights of the road. Mel attends oddball games such as boxing (with actual boxes) and skiing on cardboard skis while pursuing the killer. Mel discovers the victim’s ex-wife had no alibi—even though the name of her pontoon is My Alibi!
This is the book for readers who enjoy summer beach reads, funny cozy mysteries, and quirky characters. They're Midwest fun and intrigue served with a brandy old-fashioned and a side of cheese curds. Mysteries similar to The Backyard Model Mysteries are Jeff Nania's Spider Lake Mysteries and Annelise Ryan's Monster Hunter series.
These stories are comic cozy mysteries with no foul language, sex, or graphic violence.
Coming in October 2024, Model Ghost, Book Three in The Backyard Model A fashion designer chokes to death on a fried cheese curd, and Mel’s cousin is accused of the murder. Mel must work with rivals from her fashion modeling past to solve the crime in this spooky fall mystery.
- GenresCozy Mystery
324 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 21, 2024
35 people are currently reading
50 people want to read
About the author
T.K. Sheffield
4 books46 followersTK Sheffield writes stories for readers to laugh and escape. Her comic cozy mysteries, The Backyard Model mysteries are whodunnits served with a brandy old-fashioned and a side of cheese curds.
Model Ghost releases in October '24! Also in the series is Model Suspect and Model Wave.
The series has earned awards including Killer Nashville, an Eric Hoffer finalist, RWA Excellence in Mystery, and a Top 100 Notable Indie from Shelf Unbound magazine. TK has degrees from UW-Madison and Mount Mary University, and she's on the board of the Wisconsin Writers Association and a member of Blackbird Writers and the Wisconsin Chapter of Sisters in Crime.
For updates, give a follow! Thank you! (Also on Instagram as TheBackyardModel.)
Model Ghost releases in October '24! Also in the series is Model Suspect and Model Wave.
The series has earned awards including Killer Nashville, an Eric Hoffer finalist, RWA Excellence in Mystery, and a Top 100 Notable Indie from Shelf Unbound magazine. TK has degrees from UW-Madison and Mount Mary University, and she's on the board of the Wisconsin Writers Association and a member of Blackbird Writers and the Wisconsin Chapter of Sisters in Crime.
For updates, give a follow! Thank you! (Also on Instagram as TheBackyardModel.)
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 1, 2024
Mel Towers is at it again. In T.K. Sheffield's "Model Wave" (her second book in the cozy-mystery Model Series), Mel heads for the quiet, restorative Wisconsin northern woods and lake life to relax after her last mystery in Book 1, "Model Suspect." After renting a sweet cottage and meeting the handsome local sheriff, Mel's life is turned upside down, to say the least, when the first date with the sheriff is cut short because the dead body of Curtis Grey, a supper club owner she had just talked to earlier in the day, is discovered on his pontoon boat, making her someone to question. The story moves forward with an intriguing plot, great subplots, and familiar characters from Book 1, but the inclusion of new, highly unique characters - Cousin Lou, anyone? - is what really makes the story come alive.
Sheffield adds an extra layer to the story when Mel's friendship with Susan (her right-arm help when Mel started her artist craft mall back at home in Cinnamon, Wisconsin and who is also up north vacationing) becomes strained due to Susan's escalating drinking issues. How does one help a friend who says she doesn't need it but clearly does? In "Model Wave," Mel's character starts to grow, soften from the first book, making her more real and human, a far cry from her days in New York City as a once shut-down model.
What I especially loved about the story was being almost to the end of the book and NOT knowing who committed the murder! Talk about being well-written. Sheffield hands out enough doubt and motive to all of the suspects that you won't know who did it until the very end. Funny at times, engaging, and a page-turner, it's a great summer read whether you're out on the beach or taking in life on the lake. If you liked "Model Suspect," you'll love "Model Wave."
Sheffield adds an extra layer to the story when Mel's friendship with Susan (her right-arm help when Mel started her artist craft mall back at home in Cinnamon, Wisconsin and who is also up north vacationing) becomes strained due to Susan's escalating drinking issues. How does one help a friend who says she doesn't need it but clearly does? In "Model Wave," Mel's character starts to grow, soften from the first book, making her more real and human, a far cry from her days in New York City as a once shut-down model.
What I especially loved about the story was being almost to the end of the book and NOT knowing who committed the murder! Talk about being well-written. Sheffield hands out enough doubt and motive to all of the suspects that you won't know who did it until the very end. Funny at times, engaging, and a page-turner, it's a great summer read whether you're out on the beach or taking in life on the lake. If you liked "Model Suspect," you'll love "Model Wave."
January 30, 2025
WARNING: Do not enjoy a beverage while reading this book. It's laugh-out-loud funny and guaranteed to make you snort your drink. This trifecta of comedy, romance, and suspense set in the Wisconsin northern woods is an absolute must-read. I highly recommend "Model Wave" by T.K. Sheffield.
May 15, 2024
When people in Midwestern cities escape to their summer homes by the lake, two things are certain. First, they’ll be pointing the car north. Second, they will cherish the peace, quiet, and pine-scented air. A high-stress situation might involve burning some muffins or getting some fishing gear tangled up. This is exactly the sort of experience our main character, Mel Tower, was hoping for when she closed up shop and drove to Glass Lake, accompanied by her beloved collie; her first real vacation in twenty years. This is “Model Wave: Romance, Boats, and Bad Business in the Northwoods,” part of The Backyard Model Mysteries series by TK Sheffield.
Alas, as so often happens in these sorts of novels, she soon finds herself up to her plaid bandana in unwanted events. An innocent date with the county’s hunky Sheriff is interrupted by a dead body under suspicious circumstances; her weird Cousin Lou shows up; her friend Susan can’t control her drinking, and we’re off and running in a description of North Woods life as precisely described as you’re likely to find this side of Northwestern University’s Department of Anthropology.
Side plots involving friends’ weddings and a traditional village festival bubble up to add to Mel’s feeling that she really needs a vacation from this vacation. How strongly this is felt by the reader depends on their tolerance for good-natured upcountry wackiness, which permeates the book more strongly even than the smell of grilling walleyes.
Speaking of which: Do *not* read this book hungry! How the characters remain so physically alluring amidst the avalanche of ice cream sundaes, milkshakes, grilled bratwursts, fried cheese curds, chocolates, and booze is as big a mystery as the murder. The author even thoughtfully throws in a muffin recipe at the end. But I guess we all know that, on vacation, normal rules don’t apply. To me, these sounded like the perfect ingredients for a week or two in the woods and I almost felt like I’d been on vacation myself.
The author has lived an interesting life, and some of the topics about which she is knowledgeable – horses, dogs, modeling, Wisconsin, and New York life – find their way into the book. She is also quite adept at describing moods – the dread feeling of a friend in trouble, the joy of falling in love, and the peace brought on by a warm sun on one’s back. She has a deft way of describing people. Says one North Country bride:
She could shoot a squirrel out of a tree at a hundred yards. Walleye would throw themselves into the boat. Becks didn’t even need a pole.
Or the aforementioned sheriff:
I’d describe him as a Midwest Sequoia: a healthy specimen with dark hair and a trunk-like body that soared beyond six feet. Appeared to thrive on dairy products and church spaghetti.
The puns and wordplay sprouted as thickly as Glass Lake pines, and to me, eventually grew wearisome. But that’s a minor complaint. This may not be the perfect beach book for everyone, but it’s as close to a perfect cozy mystery boat book as you’re likely to find anywhere.
Alas, as so often happens in these sorts of novels, she soon finds herself up to her plaid bandana in unwanted events. An innocent date with the county’s hunky Sheriff is interrupted by a dead body under suspicious circumstances; her weird Cousin Lou shows up; her friend Susan can’t control her drinking, and we’re off and running in a description of North Woods life as precisely described as you’re likely to find this side of Northwestern University’s Department of Anthropology.
Side plots involving friends’ weddings and a traditional village festival bubble up to add to Mel’s feeling that she really needs a vacation from this vacation. How strongly this is felt by the reader depends on their tolerance for good-natured upcountry wackiness, which permeates the book more strongly even than the smell of grilling walleyes.
Speaking of which: Do *not* read this book hungry! How the characters remain so physically alluring amidst the avalanche of ice cream sundaes, milkshakes, grilled bratwursts, fried cheese curds, chocolates, and booze is as big a mystery as the murder. The author even thoughtfully throws in a muffin recipe at the end. But I guess we all know that, on vacation, normal rules don’t apply. To me, these sounded like the perfect ingredients for a week or two in the woods and I almost felt like I’d been on vacation myself.
The author has lived an interesting life, and some of the topics about which she is knowledgeable – horses, dogs, modeling, Wisconsin, and New York life – find their way into the book. She is also quite adept at describing moods – the dread feeling of a friend in trouble, the joy of falling in love, and the peace brought on by a warm sun on one’s back. She has a deft way of describing people. Says one North Country bride:
She could shoot a squirrel out of a tree at a hundred yards. Walleye would throw themselves into the boat. Becks didn’t even need a pole.
Or the aforementioned sheriff:
I’d describe him as a Midwest Sequoia: a healthy specimen with dark hair and a trunk-like body that soared beyond six feet. Appeared to thrive on dairy products and church spaghetti.
The puns and wordplay sprouted as thickly as Glass Lake pines, and to me, eventually grew wearisome. But that’s a minor complaint. This may not be the perfect beach book for everyone, but it’s as close to a perfect cozy mystery boat book as you’re likely to find anywhere.
August 13, 2024
When’s a good time for a vacation to Wisconsin’s Northwoods? Fashion model Mel Tower chooses summer, the perfect time to be out floating in a sparkling lake on a pontoon, cocktail in hand. Unfortunately for Mel, her vision of the perfect getaway goes sideways, along with a potential romance. An ice cream date turns deadly when a thunderstorm takes down a local bar owner, pitching him into the lake - or did he have help? Most of Mel’s hometown of Cinnamon relocates to the Northwoods too, accompanied by their quirks and troubles, which turns a murder investigation into a light-hearted caper. But lurking behind the laughs is real danger, and Mel is reminded never to go into the woods alone. A mystery filled with whimsy and charming word play on every page. Enjoy your Northwoods getaway any time you want to dive into this book!
July 20, 2024
Loved this story as much as the first book in the series. I continued to laugh (out loud) through Mel Tower’s hijinks as she sleuths out another killer. But this time she’s ‘up north’ and we’re treated to a great description of Wisconsin in the summertime. Boats, lake time, fish fries, ice cream, cheese curds and more. There are plenty of potential villains because everyone seems to be hiding something. Again a fast-paced and smartly plotted mystery with a blossoming romance that adds a layer of intrigue.
July 16, 2024
The perfect Summer read! Model Wave is a delightful blend of Wisconsin summer boating rituals and Murder mystery. I was swept on board and rode the wave with Melanie Tower as she sleuthed the mystery of the pontooned man. Like a vacation to the North Woods, except plenty more mystery and intrigue!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews