Colleen McCabe

Colleen McCabe is enjoying an uneventful summer in North Carolina's Outer Banks supervising her firefighters, making rounds with her Border collie, Sparky, and keeping an eye on the wild horses escaped from the local sanctuary. But when a dead body washes up on shore, she knows trouble has arrived in Corolla. Colleen is ready to start work on the investigation, but much to her irritation, her best friend, Sheriff Bill Dorman, makes it clear he doesn't want her butting her nose in or poking around. The stubborn Colleen, however, is not so easily deterred. When a man with a gun is spotted lurking around the lighthouse and her former school teacher's house explodes, she adds arson and a second suspicious death to her informal investigation. Colleen soon finds herself juggling her job, amorous advances from the town's developer, and intrusions from the local press, all while keeping information from Bill. Her secret sleuthing quickly comes to an end, however, when a bigger threat enters the picture. With a gutsy heroine, a lovable dog sidekick, quirky characters, and a charming locale, Kathryn O'Sullivan's Foal Play is a zany, fun-filled ride sure to please mystery readers.

It's mid-August in the Outer Banks village of Corolla in North Carolina and Fire Chief Colleen McCabe is conducting rookie training and spending increasingly more time with her best friend, Sheriff Bill Dorman. The wild horses have been relocated to the sanctuary, and the town is occupied with the upcoming local theatre production. All is right with the world. But when a member of the acting troupe is found dead in the dunes after an emergency training exercise and Bill's ex-fiancée arrives in town, Colleen knows trouble is back with a vengeance. A second member of the theatre company is discovered dead at the Whalehead Club, and Colleen is forced to put aside her feelings about her relationship with Bill and work with him to uncover who is murdering the thespians and why. She discovers as much drama offstage as on and quickly finds herself swept up in the intrigue of the community theatre group, and struggling to keep her men at the firehouse focused. As the danger mounts and the killer's identity becomes clearer, Bill warns her off the investigation. But despite his warning, Colleen is determined to stop the killer before he or she strikes again, to her own peril. In Murder on the Hoof, her sequel to Foal Play, Kathryn O'Sullivan delivers more laughs and mayhem with charming characters mystery readers will love getting to know.