Death Waits at Dead Rock
(2026)(The sixth book in the Haunted Ranch Mysteries series)
A novel by Sara Bourgeois
A wine tasting. A viral treasure hunt. A body at the base of Dead Rock.
Claire Caldwell thought she’d seen every kind of weird the desert could throw at her. Ghosts in her kitchen, omens from a spirit fox, and the occasional town scandal that required a very large cup of coffee. What she did not expect was a swarm of influencers descending on Perdido Springs for a luxury ‘Desert Vines Weekend,’ complete with ring lights, sponsored smiles, and a limited edition bottle of Red Rock Reserve.
The big gimmick is supposed to be harmless fun. Collect the special labels, piece together the artwork, and you get a treasure map to a legendary stash hidden near Dead Rock. Content gold. Tourist bait. Everyone wants in.
Then the weekend’s headliner turns up dead at sunrise, the sheriff calls it a tragic accident, and the one bottle that completes the map disappears.
Claire would love to let law enforcement handle it, but the dead aren’t subtle, and this one is loud. Rosa’s ghost has opinions, Rusty is tracking something no living person can smell, and the closer Claire gets to the truth, the clearer it becomes that the ‘treasure’ isn’t just old wine and a cute story. Someone in town has been protecting what Dead Rock is hiding for a long time, and they’ll do anything to keep it buried.
Now Claire has to sift through secrets, suspects, and a trail of clues disguised as a party favor, before the killer strikes again… and the next toast becomes a death sentence.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Claire Caldwell thought she’d seen every kind of weird the desert could throw at her. Ghosts in her kitchen, omens from a spirit fox, and the occasional town scandal that required a very large cup of coffee. What she did not expect was a swarm of influencers descending on Perdido Springs for a luxury ‘Desert Vines Weekend,’ complete with ring lights, sponsored smiles, and a limited edition bottle of Red Rock Reserve.
The big gimmick is supposed to be harmless fun. Collect the special labels, piece together the artwork, and you get a treasure map to a legendary stash hidden near Dead Rock. Content gold. Tourist bait. Everyone wants in.
Then the weekend’s headliner turns up dead at sunrise, the sheriff calls it a tragic accident, and the one bottle that completes the map disappears.
Claire would love to let law enforcement handle it, but the dead aren’t subtle, and this one is loud. Rosa’s ghost has opinions, Rusty is tracking something no living person can smell, and the closer Claire gets to the truth, the clearer it becomes that the ‘treasure’ isn’t just old wine and a cute story. Someone in town has been protecting what Dead Rock is hiding for a long time, and they’ll do anything to keep it buried.
Now Claire has to sift through secrets, suspects, and a trail of clues disguised as a party favor, before the killer strikes again… and the next toast becomes a death sentence.
Genre: Cozy Mystery