Fall, Football & a Fatality
(2026)(The ninth book in the Stella Ray & Rex Cozy Mystery series)
A novel by Hope Quinn
Pumpkin spice coffee was on the menu. Poison definitely wasn’t.
Stella Ray has pumpkin bread cooling at the Blue Spruce Café, gallons of coffee ready for the Friday night football game, and her American Bulldog, Rex, supposedly under control. By halftime, Rex has charged through the marching band, the Wildcats are losing, and referee Ed Verrell has managed to anger half the stadium.
Then Ed doesn’t return to the field. He’s found dead.
The list of people who might have wanted him dead grows quickly. Coach Mercer had questioned Ed’s calls for years. Rick Lewis believed one of those calls stole his son’s future. Gordon Price is hiding trouble inside the booster club books.
Chief Detective Ben Morgan warns Stella to let him handle the case. That becomes difficult when someone falsely claims Stella tampered with Ed’s coffee. With Rex fixated on a mysterious piece of ‘trash’ from halftime, she has reason to ask questions.
Then Stella discovers the murderer is waiting for her inside the one place she has always felt safe…her café.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Stella Ray has pumpkin bread cooling at the Blue Spruce Café, gallons of coffee ready for the Friday night football game, and her American Bulldog, Rex, supposedly under control. By halftime, Rex has charged through the marching band, the Wildcats are losing, and referee Ed Verrell has managed to anger half the stadium.
Then Ed doesn’t return to the field. He’s found dead.
The list of people who might have wanted him dead grows quickly. Coach Mercer had questioned Ed’s calls for years. Rick Lewis believed one of those calls stole his son’s future. Gordon Price is hiding trouble inside the booster club books.
Chief Detective Ben Morgan warns Stella to let him handle the case. That becomes difficult when someone falsely claims Stella tampered with Ed’s coffee. With Rex fixated on a mysterious piece of ‘trash’ from halftime, she has reason to ask questions.
Then Stella discovers the murderer is waiting for her inside the one place she has always felt safe…her café.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Used availability for Hope Quinn's Fall, Football & a Fatality