Death Wears a Muddy Boot
(2026)(The sixth book in the Ruby Hartwell Cozy Mystery series)
A novel by Pamela Gunn
Some people bury bulbs. Some people bury secrets. Ruby Hartwell is about to find out Pinewood has been planting both.
As a landscaper, Ruby is used to finding all sorts of things in flowerbeds—weeds, pests, and evidence of questionable gardening decisions.
A blood-soaked boot usually isn’t one of them. Especially one with a missing man’s wallet stuffed inside.
When Elmer DeWitt turns up dead, Ruby can’t help looking at Floyd, the hot-tempered barber who accused Elmer of cheating at cards in front of half the town. Floyd claims it was just an argument. Ruby isn’t so sure.
Then there’s Jerry Pernell, a bank officer who gets awfully twitchy when Ruby mentions Elmer’s interest in fifteen-year-old town records.
With best friend JoLee treating confidential paperwork as a personal challenge, Ruby’s sweet mutt, Moxie, sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong, and Sheriff Boone insisting a murder investigation isn’t a gardening service, Ruby starts digging.
Someone has spent fifteen years making sure the truth never came out. Now Ruby is asking the same questions that got Elmer killed.
And the killer has no intention of answering them twice.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
As a landscaper, Ruby is used to finding all sorts of things in flowerbeds—weeds, pests, and evidence of questionable gardening decisions.
A blood-soaked boot usually isn’t one of them. Especially one with a missing man’s wallet stuffed inside.
When Elmer DeWitt turns up dead, Ruby can’t help looking at Floyd, the hot-tempered barber who accused Elmer of cheating at cards in front of half the town. Floyd claims it was just an argument. Ruby isn’t so sure.
Then there’s Jerry Pernell, a bank officer who gets awfully twitchy when Ruby mentions Elmer’s interest in fifteen-year-old town records.
With best friend JoLee treating confidential paperwork as a personal challenge, Ruby’s sweet mutt, Moxie, sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong, and Sheriff Boone insisting a murder investigation isn’t a gardening service, Ruby starts digging.
Someone has spent fifteen years making sure the truth never came out. Now Ruby is asking the same questions that got Elmer killed.
And the killer has no intention of answering them twice.
Genre: Cozy Mystery