Frozen in Pinecrest
(2026)(The sixth book in the Paws on the Open Road Mystery series)
A Story by Hailey Hartley
Winter van nomad Wren Calloway and her sharp-eyed Siberian Husky, Frost, expect nothing more than a quiet few days waiting out a Montana blizzard when they pull into the overflow lot behind the Pinecrest Lodge. But on the second morning of the whiteout, Frost won't stop pawing at another van parked six spaces away, and when Wren finally investigates, she finds freelance auditor Gabe Steiner dead inside—engine off, windows sealed tight, and the unmistakable smell of carbon monoxide still hanging in the frozen air. With the county detective trapped on the other side of impassable roads and a small-town deputy out of his depth, Wren and the handful of other stranded travelers are stuck together in the lodge, sharing thin coffee and thick suspicion.
Gabe wasn't just passing through. He'd been quietly auditing the parking permits sold by the lot's unofficial attendant and had uncovered a skimming operation siphoning thousands of dollars from the lodge. Someone had motive to bury that discovery, and the blizzard gave them perfect cover. As the storm rages and the roads stay closed, Wren pieces together a puzzle built from half-truths, financial records, and a town where everyone knows everyone's wounds. The locked van, the tampered exhaust, the missing permit ledger—the clues are small, the suspect pool is tight, and the killer is sitting across the breakfast table every morning.
With Frost's instincts and her own gift for noticing what others miss, Wren uncovers a trail of greed, betrayal, and carefully constructed lies. But in a place where loyalty runs deep and secrets run deeper, getting to the truth means risking everything—including becoming the next person buried under the snow. Can Wren and Frost crack the case before the weather breaks and the killer disappears into the Montana wilderness?
Genre: Mystery
Gabe wasn't just passing through. He'd been quietly auditing the parking permits sold by the lot's unofficial attendant and had uncovered a skimming operation siphoning thousands of dollars from the lodge. Someone had motive to bury that discovery, and the blizzard gave them perfect cover. As the storm rages and the roads stay closed, Wren pieces together a puzzle built from half-truths, financial records, and a town where everyone knows everyone's wounds. The locked van, the tampered exhaust, the missing permit ledger—the clues are small, the suspect pool is tight, and the killer is sitting across the breakfast table every morning.
With Frost's instincts and her own gift for noticing what others miss, Wren uncovers a trail of greed, betrayal, and carefully constructed lies. But in a place where loyalty runs deep and secrets run deeper, getting to the truth means risking everything—including becoming the next person buried under the snow. Can Wren and Frost crack the case before the weather breaks and the killer disappears into the Montana wilderness?
Genre: Mystery
Used availability for Hailey Hartley's Frozen in Pinecrest