Samantha Cody Mystery

Deputy Samantha Cody finally bagged her man. The jury's verdict: three counts of murder in the first with special circumstances and a recommendation of death by lethal injection. Only Judge Westbrooke's final decree stands between Richard Earl Garrett and death row. After three weeks of an exhausting trial and being haunted by images of the three sacrificially mutilated children, Sam's only wish is to wash her hands of Garrett, whose only defense is "the devil made me do it." Just as the chaos in Mercer's Corner settles down enough for Sam to focus on her dream of entering the world of women's professional boxing, the jury foreman and two members of the jury die under suspicious circumstances. When more murders occur, each with Garrett's signature, a cadre of characters flocks to the tiny California high desert town, from pseudo-Satanic followers to a crazed reverend with his First Church of God disciples. Soon the town is whipped into a lynch-mob frenzy, and Sam's world of hard facts and pragmatism has quickly spun out of control.

Deputy Samantha Cody just won her third professional boxing match and is ready for a stress-free vacation at her friend Alyss Cameron's new B&B in the tiny mountain community of Gold Creek, Colorado. But any hope of relaxation is shattered when Sam stumbles upon a brutal killing and is nearly trampled by a massive, shadowy figure. When two more murders follow, Sam finds herself in the uncomfortable position of being both witness and investigator. Some vacation. Reports of a creature roaming the mountain slopes, terrorizing hikers, and mutilating cattle make Sam wonder if a bear, a man, or even Big Foot is hiding in the hills. But Police Chief Forrest Wade's primary suspect is Billy Wingo, a bear-like mountain man who matches the killer's description. Sam must survive the harsh mountains, deep hard-rock mines, and a conspiracy of greed and corruption long enough to uncover the truth.

Samantha Cody thought she was done with trouble when she quit her job as Deputy and watched a dirt ball Sheriff take over Mercer's Corner, but she can't seem to stay away. When Sam's longtime friend and former boxing buddy, Dr. Lucy Wagner, finds her career, and maybe even her life, in jeopardy, Samantha runs to her side. Dr. Lucy Wagner was on top of her game, her practice thriving, and her reputation impeccable. She was the only cardiac surgeon on staff at the Medical Center in small-town Remington, Tennessee, and she just had a new pediatric cardiac unit dedicated to her. When John Scully, the spiritual founder and leader of a local snake-handling church, dies on her operating table, Lucy's success comes to a screeching halt as she begins to have a series of strange fainting spells and nightmares, and her patients begin experiencing violent psychotic breaks. Samantha is forced to lead Lucy on a journey into the past to confront old and powerful forces she never knew existed.