Fatal Falls at Timber Creek
(2026)(The third book in the Paws on the Open Road Mystery series)
A novel by Hailey Hartley
Herbalist Hazel Quinn has spent three peaceful years living on the road in her converted van, crafting natural remedies and selling them at farmers markets up and down the California coast. With her loyal Golden Retriever, Maple, she's found the perfect balance between solitude and community, choosing campsites for their beauty and staying just long enough to enjoy them before moving on. When she parks at the stunning Timber Creek Campground nestled among towering redwoods in Northern California, she's looking forward to a quiet week gathering wild herbs and enjoying the forest trails. But Maple has other ideas, and the normally calm Golden Retriever won't stop barking at the van parked next to theirs, where a smooth-talking man named Derek Turner is running what appears to be a thriving side business selling deeply discounted parking permits to fellow campers.
Hazel's concerns about Derek's questionable permit sales prove tragically justified when he's found dead at the base of Lookout Point, his climbing harness mysteriously failed during what should have been a routine climb. The local authorities initially treat it as a terrible accident, but Hazel's trained eye for detail notices inconsistencies that don't add up. When Maple leads her to discover evidence of harness tampering hidden in the underbrush, Hazel realizes someone turned a beloved hiking destination into a murder scene. Derek wasn't just selling forged permits—he was blackmailing multiple people in the tight-knit outdoor community, and one of them decided that permanent silence was worth the risk of murder.
With Maple's persistent nose for trouble and her own knowledge of the healing and harmful properties of local plants, Hazel must navigate a web of secrets among climbing guides, campground staff, and outdoor enthusiasts who all had reasons to want Derek gone. Between dodging a killer who's growing increasingly desperate to protect their reputation and untangling Derek's complex blackmail schemes, Hazel discovers that even in the most beautiful natural settings, human greed can be the deadliest poison of all. Can Hazel and Maple expose a murderer before the killer decides that a nosy herbalist asking too many questions needs to meet with her own unfortunate accident?
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Hazel's concerns about Derek's questionable permit sales prove tragically justified when he's found dead at the base of Lookout Point, his climbing harness mysteriously failed during what should have been a routine climb. The local authorities initially treat it as a terrible accident, but Hazel's trained eye for detail notices inconsistencies that don't add up. When Maple leads her to discover evidence of harness tampering hidden in the underbrush, Hazel realizes someone turned a beloved hiking destination into a murder scene. Derek wasn't just selling forged permits—he was blackmailing multiple people in the tight-knit outdoor community, and one of them decided that permanent silence was worth the risk of murder.
With Maple's persistent nose for trouble and her own knowledge of the healing and harmful properties of local plants, Hazel must navigate a web of secrets among climbing guides, campground staff, and outdoor enthusiasts who all had reasons to want Derek gone. Between dodging a killer who's growing increasingly desperate to protect their reputation and untangling Derek's complex blackmail schemes, Hazel discovers that even in the most beautiful natural settings, human greed can be the deadliest poison of all. Can Hazel and Maple expose a murderer before the killer decides that a nosy herbalist asking too many questions needs to meet with her own unfortunate accident?
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Used availability for Hailey Hartley's Fatal Falls at Timber Creek