Dye, Dyeing, Dead

by Bobbi A. Chukran

If you love herbal, gardening or crafting mysteries, you'll love this 35,000 Word Novella. Kendra Louise Harper is a folklorist, avid gardener and accidental sleuth. All she wanted to do that nice day in September was help her Aunt Jewel with a Natural Dyeing with Plants workshop for the Nameless Garden Club. Before the workshop is over, a dead body is found face down in a pool of glass and indigo in Jewel's courtyard garden. The next door neighbor swears that he saw Aunt Jewel whack the victim over the head with a silver hammer. No one else really believes Aunt Jewel killed Mrs. Bunch--that is, except maybe the sheriff. And he's the one who counts. He'd just as soon throw Jewel Moore in jail as look at her. But he has no solid proof; he's not going to waste his time trying to prove her innocent. He'd rather bide his time and wait for the murderer to slip up and come to him. Kendra decides that if anything is going to be done to get her aunt off the hook, she'll have to do it. Along with Kendra's friends---a very colorful waiter at Do-Lolly's Diner named Jeremy, Deputy Jim Wyman (Kendra's love interest), Ginger Marshall (a local art quilter) and her friends---she sets out to prove that her aunt is innocent. The victim, Mrs. Eula Mae Bunch, was not a popular person in Nameless. As Kendra gathers information, she realizes that Mrs. Bunch was probably the most unpopular person in town---for good reason. As one resident said, "That old woman is meaner than a room full of peckish wolverines." Why is Kendra's neighbor so sure that her aunt killed Mrs. Bunch? And if she didn't kill her, who did? And why? And there are other mysteries in town. Who chopped down Jewel's indigo bush in her own yard? Who is the inebriated stranger that shows up to Eula-Mae's funeral? And what does an erotic romance novel have to do with all of it? Tongues are waggin' in Nameless! Things haven't been this exciting since George Leroy Johnson got the back of his britches caught in the revolving door at the old Railroad Hotel and was pitched out the middle of Main Street with his wherewithalls showing. DYE, DYEING, DEAD is the first novella in the Nameless, TX mystery series and features Kendra Louise Harper, Folklorist.

170 pages, Paperback

First published July 25, 2014

About the author

Bobbi A. Chukran is a native Texan, born in Ft. Worth. She grew up in rural Grapevine, then moved to Austin in 1976 and earned a degree from U.T. in ‘81, majoring in studio art/design. She lived in central TX until recently moving to the mountains of southern New Mexico.

Bobbi has always been a writer, and her first book was published in 1984. For years, she wrote non-fiction under the name Bobbi A. McRae.

Never content to get bored or to choose Just One Thing, she writes spooky stories, blogs, and spins short stories about quirky folks, mystery fiction and award-winning plays for young people.

In her spare time, Bobbi converses with friends on Facebook, blogs about her book projects, crunches snails and munches on watermelon (NOT at the same time).

Reviews

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a romp! With quirky characters, secrets large and small, a town with a personality all its own, and a solid plot, I found myself smiling more often than not when reading Dye, Dyeing, Dead. I hope more books about Kendra, Aunt Jewel, and Nameless, Texas are coming soon.

[S Buckner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read! Everything's there for a good cozy mystery .... quirky characters and humor in a fun setting. Delightful to read with correctly spelled words and proper grammar, too. Want to read another by Ms Chukran.