When fence contractor Harper Stone arrives at a Montana ranch to assess a routine boundary repair, she expects measurements and materials lists. What she doesn't expect is for her German Shepherd Gunner to lead her straight to land surveyor Simon Hollister's body beneath a stand of cottonwood trees. The sheriff rules it a tragic heart attack, but Harper knows ranching, and something about the scene doesn't sit right. With Gunner alerting to danger at every turn and a thermos cap sitting suspiciously loose in the grass, Harper starts asking questions that no one in the tight-knit community of Cottonwood Basin wants to answer.
As Harper digs deeper with her best friend Meredith providing coffee and moral support, she uncovers a web of fraudulent property surveys that has been quietly destroying family ranches across the basin. The victim was running a systematic bribery scheme, selling land boundaries to the highest bidder and blackmailing those who participated. With multiple desperate ranchers losing acreage they can't afford to lose, Harper realizes that half the valley had reason to want Simon gone. When threatening notes start appearing and her fence equipment is vandalized, Harper knows the killer is watching and won't hesitate to arrange another "accident" for a contractor asking too many questions.
Racing against time with Gunner's keen nose leading the investigation and Deputy Hunt quietly supporting her efforts, Harper must figure out which neighbor committed murder before she becomes the next victim. But in a place where property lines define family legacy and water rights mean survival, uncovering the truth about corrupt surveys might cost Harper every client and friendship she's built in eight years. Some boundaries are drawn in blood, and some surveyors should have kept their measurements honest—but Harper Stone has never been one to accept crooked lines, even when following them straight might get her killed.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
As Harper digs deeper with her best friend Meredith providing coffee and moral support, she uncovers a web of fraudulent property surveys that has been quietly destroying family ranches across the basin. The victim was running a systematic bribery scheme, selling land boundaries to the highest bidder and blackmailing those who participated. With multiple desperate ranchers losing acreage they can't afford to lose, Harper realizes that half the valley had reason to want Simon gone. When threatening notes start appearing and her fence equipment is vandalized, Harper knows the killer is watching and won't hesitate to arrange another "accident" for a contractor asking too many questions.
Racing against time with Gunner's keen nose leading the investigation and Deputy Hunt quietly supporting her efforts, Harper must figure out which neighbor committed murder before she becomes the next victim. But in a place where property lines define family legacy and water rights mean survival, uncovering the truth about corrupt surveys might cost Harper every client and friendship she's built in eight years. Some boundaries are drawn in blood, and some surveyors should have kept their measurements honest—but Harper Stone has never been one to accept crooked lines, even when following them straight might get her killed.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Used availability for Hailey Hartley's Stakes and Surveys