Shady Hollow is a cozy small town filled with woodland creatures who live and work together. The local fall election is coming up and the campaigning is unusually fierce, since Deputy Orville Braun is running against been-in-office-forever Chief Meade. In the midst of this unexpected tension, a murder is announced, but there’s a twist: the victim is still alive!
The accuser, Dorothy Springfield, is an admittedly eccentric resident who claims her loving husband Edward is dead…even though he’s standing right next to her when she says it. What can it mean? Edward has no answers, and most of the neighbors would rather ignore the awkward situation. They think Dotty just started to believe her own nonsense. But foxy reporter Vera Vixen has some questions.
In a quiet neighborhood along the shore of Mirror Lake, Vera discovers a few things that don’t fit, starting with a misplaced lamp and an unknown face in an old photograph. As she follows the clues, she must step carefully, because the election for police chief means everyone has an opinion about the crime rates in this town, and the law might prefer to sweep some messy matters under the rug...
Copyright © 2020
Cover design by James T. Egan, www.bookflydesign.com.
Edited by Amanda Valentine, ayvalentine.com.
Proofread by Beth Attwood, bethproof.wordpress.com.
Also By Juneau Black
Shady Hollow: A Murder Mystery
Cold Clay: A Shady Hollow Mystery
Author’s Note
Welcome, dear reader! You have happened upon the charming village of Shady Hollow, a place where rabbits and raptors, squirrels and snakes live together in civilized accord…with only the occasional murder to mar the peace of daily life.
Some of you have visited here before, and you therefore know that it is pointless to question too deeply the mechanics of this town. If a moose pours a mug of coffee for a sparrow sitting at the cozy counter of the local diner, why not focus on the friendliness of the gesture, rather than the logistics of dish size or seat height? In fact, it is best to think of the characters within as ordinary folk just like you and me. For no matter what appearance they have, they are indeed very like us on the inside.
So, with that note, enter in, new and old friends. It’s time to return to Shady Hollow.
Cast of Characters
Vera Vixen: A cunning, foxy reporter who has a nose for trouble and a desire to find out the truth, no matter where the path leads.
Lenore Lee: This dark-as-night raven runs the town’s bookshop, Nevermore Books, and has a penchant for mysteries.
Chief Theodore Meade: Bears make excellent law enforcers: big, brawny, and belligerent. But Chief Meade seems singularly uninterested in solving crime when he could be fishing.
Deputy Orville Braun: This large brown bear is the more hard-working half of the Shady Hollow constabulary. He works by the book. But his book has half the pages ripped out.
Dorothy Springfield: A sweet but somewhat eccentric rat. She’s been known to believe in all manner of unbelievable things.
Edward Springfield: Dorothy’s kind-hearted and supposedly deceased spouse, who is quite alive to all appearances.
Walter Fallow: Mirror Lake’s esteemed lawyer, who has connections to the Springfields…and just about everyone else.
BW Stone: The cigar-chomping skunk of an editor of the Shady Hollow Herald. BW (“Everything in black and white!”) loves a good headline.
Joe Elkin: This genial giant of a moose runs the town coffee shop, the local gathering spot. If gossip is spoken, Joe has heard it.
Bradley Marvel: A famous author of thrillers, who sticks around town long after his business is over.
Arabella Boatwright: This rat runs Mirror Lake’s library, and she knows every secret on the shelf.
Gladys Honeysuckle: The town gossip and busybody, there’s nothing Gladys doesn’t know. She hates to be scooped on a juicy tidbit.
Sun Li: This panda is a former surgeon and current chef. He runs the Bamboo Patch, serving unusual vegetarian dishes to die for.
Howard Chitters: Once a humble accountant and now the de facto head of the local sawmill, Chitters is an object lesson in how murder can shake up a routine.
Barry Greenfield: A senior reporter at the Herald. This old hare has seen it all, and he remembers it all too.
Lefty: This masked raccoon lives in the shadiest part of Shady Hollow. Whatever the game is, Lefty always knows the score.
Ambrosius Heidegger: Professor of philosophy and general know-it-all. The owl is the smartest creature in the forest, and never lets anyone forget it.
Philomena Ambler: The law in the nearby town of Highbank. This bobcat is on a first-name basis with the notorious local criminal, and she knows where the bodies always turn up.
Chapter 1
It was mid-October in Shady Hollow, a glorious time of year that showed the small village to its best advantage. The many trees were gold, red, and yellow, blazing color wherever a creature looked. It was also the time of the Harvest Festival, an annual event that most residents of Shady Hollow looked forward to all year. It took place at the town park by the river, and there were activities for everyone. There was apple bobbing for the little ones (the apples, of course, provided by Cold Clay Orchards) and a wide variety of booths with tasty foods of all kinds. Sun Li, the panda who owned the best restaurant in town, the Bamboo Patch, was proudly serving his renowned pumpkin soup. There were also tables laden with local cheeses, cider, and pies.
Vera Vixen, local reporter by choice and local sleuth by accident, was one of the many Shady Hollow residents who looked forward to the festival. She and Orville Braun, the hard-working deputy of the two-bear-strong police force, had planned to spend the day together at the annual event.
As Vera and Orville wandered around the display tables, they greeted their friends and neighbors. They nearly ran into Gladys Honeysuckle, Vera’s colleague at the Shady Hollow Herald. Gladys was darting in and out of the crowd, her wings beating so
