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A tech consultant. A small town. A case nobody wants solved.
Long-form book description (under 4,000 characters, IngramSpark-ready):
A tech consultant. A small town. A case nobody wants solved.
Welcome to Vineyard Falls, Washington - a postcard town tucked into the Pacific Northwest, where the coffee is strong, the gossip travels faster than the wind off the Cascades, and everybody knows everybody. Or so they think.
Claude Martinez didn't move to Vineyard Falls to solve mysteries. He moved here for the quiet, the small-town rhythm, and a consulting practice he could run from a laptop and a good pair of AI-enabled Ray-Bans. But quiet has a way of cracking open in places like this - and when a local turns up dead under circumstances the sheriff is a little too quick to file away, Claude can't help but start asking questions.
The trouble is, the questions lead somewhere nobody in Vineyard Falls wants him to go.
What looks like a simple case unravels into something tangled with old grudges, buried secrets, and a community that has spent years protecting its own. Claude has the tech, the instincts, and an outsider's eye for what doesn't add up. What he doesn't have is permission - and in a town like Vineyard Falls, that matters.
The Case of the Rat Boi is the second novel in the Claude Martinez Mystery series, a small-town cozy mystery with a contemporary edge. Readers who love the warmth of Lillian Jackson Braun's The Cat Who books, the ensemble feel of Castle, and the small-town soul of Aurora Teagarden will find a familiar home here - with a fresh twist for the AI age.
What readers will find inside:
A protagonist who solves cases the way modern people actually live - with technology, intuition, and a healthy respect for the people who have lived in town longer than he has. A cast of Vineyard Falls regulars who feel like neighbors by chapter three. A mystery that earns its turns. And a Pacific Northwest setting rendered with the affection of an author who knows the region in his bones.
Perfect for readers of:
• Lillian Jackson Braun's The Cat Who series
• Charlaine Harris's Aurora Teagarden mysteries
• Louise Penny's Three Pines novels
• Cozy and small-town mystery fans looking for something contemporary
About the Claude Martinez Mystery Series:
The Claude Martinez Mysteries follow a tech consultant turned reluctant amateur sleuth as he settles into life in Vineyard Falls, Washington. Each book stands alone, but readers who want the full origin story can begin with Toxic Heritage, the prequel that tells how Claude found his way to Vineyard Falls in the first place - and how a quiet life became something else entirely.
The Case of the Rat Boi is the perfect summer read for mystery lovers who like their puzzles wrapped in warmth, their small towns full of secrets, and their detectives armed with a little more than a notebook and a hunch.
Pour the coffee. Pull up a chair. Welcome to Vineyard Falls.
Long-form book description (under 4,000 characters, IngramSpark-ready):
A tech consultant. A small town. A case nobody wants solved.
Welcome to Vineyard Falls, Washington - a postcard town tucked into the Pacific Northwest, where the coffee is strong, the gossip travels faster than the wind off the Cascades, and everybody knows everybody. Or so they think.
Claude Martinez didn't move to Vineyard Falls to solve mysteries. He moved here for the quiet, the small-town rhythm, and a consulting practice he could run from a laptop and a good pair of AI-enabled Ray-Bans. But quiet has a way of cracking open in places like this - and when a local turns up dead under circumstances the sheriff is a little too quick to file away, Claude can't help but start asking questions.
The trouble is, the questions lead somewhere nobody in Vineyard Falls wants him to go.
What looks like a simple case unravels into something tangled with old grudges, buried secrets, and a community that has spent years protecting its own. Claude has the tech, the instincts, and an outsider's eye for what doesn't add up. What he doesn't have is permission - and in a town like Vineyard Falls, that matters.
The Case of the Rat Boi is the second novel in the Claude Martinez Mystery series, a small-town cozy mystery with a contemporary edge. Readers who love the warmth of Lillian Jackson Braun's The Cat Who books, the ensemble feel of Castle, and the small-town soul of Aurora Teagarden will find a familiar home here - with a fresh twist for the AI age.
What readers will find inside:
A protagonist who solves cases the way modern people actually live - with technology, intuition, and a healthy respect for the people who have lived in town longer than he has. A cast of Vineyard Falls regulars who feel like neighbors by chapter three. A mystery that earns its turns. And a Pacific Northwest setting rendered with the affection of an author who knows the region in his bones.
Perfect for readers of:
• Lillian Jackson Braun's The Cat Who series
• Charlaine Harris's Aurora Teagarden mysteries
• Louise Penny's Three Pines novels
• Cozy and small-town mystery fans looking for something contemporary
About the Claude Martinez Mystery Series:
The Claude Martinez Mysteries follow a tech consultant turned reluctant amateur sleuth as he settles into life in Vineyard Falls, Washington. Each book stands alone, but readers who want the full origin story can begin with Toxic Heritage, the prequel that tells how Claude found his way to Vineyard Falls in the first place - and how a quiet life became something else entirely.
The Case of the Rat Boi is the perfect summer read for mystery lovers who like their puzzles wrapped in warmth, their small towns full of secrets, and their detectives armed with a little more than a notebook and a hunch.
Pour the coffee. Pull up a chair. Welcome to Vineyard Falls.