Nor'easter Nightmare (A Cape Cod Cozy Mystery, Book 3), Paperback

Nor'easter Nighmare is Book Three in the Cape Cod Cozy Mysteries.

Ebooks are coming soon!

A winter storm is brewing and so is a deadly secret.

Easter is just around the corner, but Cape Cod is buried under a foot of snow. Heather and her friends are snowed in at the Sand Dune Inn, but when a neighbor is found murdered, the victim's sister seeks Heather's help in catching the killer. 

Still reeling from a car crash that wiped her memory, Heather faces the ultimate challenge—solving a murder while piecing together her own past.

Join Heather in her quest to reclaim her identity and uncover a chilling truth. Packed with seaside charm, endearing characters, and a gripping mystery, this is a must-read!

Get your copy today for a cozy read that will keep you guessing until the very end!

“I was blown away with how things wrapped up. I cannot wait for the next book!” 
   - Kindle Customer

“ Wow! What a great book! The setting of Cape Cod in a winter blizzard is magical. There are lots of red herrings which makes you want to follow the investigations until the end. Couldn’t put it down! Can’t wait for the next one!
   - Debi

“I highly recommend this series and this book is a fantastic addition.”
   - Merry

" This was a fun read and I really liked the ending.”
   - Jodi

Ebooks are coming soon!

Excerpt

Chapter 1

Jake Harding tossed a handful of dry pinecones into the fireplace in the library of the Sand Dune Shores Inn while Heather and Sydney reclined on one of the three brown leather couches that formed a U in front of it.

Joel and Elizabeth Harding, the owners of the inn and Jake’s sexagenarian parents, appeared in the doorway.

“I suppose it makes our job easier that we don’t have many guests this week,” Elizabeth said. “There were several last-minute cancellations once it became clear that the nor’easter was heading our way.”

Heather glanced at the snow through the large double windows behind the table. It had been increasing in intensity since it began falling an hour ago. “I’ll never understand why anyone would cancel a stay at a Cape Cod inn because of a snowstorm. This seems like the ideal place to watch the Cape turn into a winter wonderland.”

“I suppose they didn’t want to risk traveling in it. We’re expecting nearly a foot of snow,” Jake said. “Even Pastor Green cancelled services this morning, since the snow was forecasted to begin earlier than it did.”

“This will be my first snowstorm in Sand Dune Shores,” Heather said. “Since it’s already the last week in March, I didn’t think I’d see one this year. Artie and I will be bouncing back and forth between the library and the sunroom.” Heather smiled at her frisky new puppy. She had recently adopted the Mal-Shi, which was a hybrid Maltese and Shih-Tzu, from Sydney. After losing her memory in a car accident in mid-February, the only significant thing she knew about herself was that she was an artist. So, she named the pup Artie. 

She didn’t even know her real name, but her new friends called her Heather at the suggestion of one of her nurses. While she was in the hospital, she fell in love with a painting of some heather flowers growing alongside a weathered boardwalk leading to the beach. She couldn’t explain it, but there was something about the name that seemed to fit, so she adopted it as her own for the time being. She did her best to suppress the fear that her memory would never return, as sometimes happened, and to make the best of current circumstances. After all, living and working at a gift shop at a Cape Cod inn across the street from the beach wasn’t the worst place to land.

“Thanks for inviting me to your nor’easter party. It’s much more fun braving a blizzard with friends,” Sydney said.

Jake chuckled. “Is that what we’re calling it? A nor’easter party?”

“Why not?” Joel said.

“We’re always happy to have you here, Sydney,” Elizabeth added. “I hope you won’t be a stranger when you no longer live across the street.”

Sydney was temporarily renting a beach house across from the inn until she closed on her new home. She recently found a cute little cape and would be moving in the following month.

“Oh, you’ll see plenty of me. I’m only moving a few streets over. I’ll still be able to walk to the inn for dinner and, of course, to visit Heather. You’ll see just as much of me when I move as you do now.”

“I’m excited for you to move into your new house, but I’m not going to lie. I’ll miss the beach house,” Heather said, looking across the street at the grey, weathered, side-by-side duplex.

“You and me both,” Sydney said. “But now that the summer is coming, I couldn’t afford the exorbitant rent that my landlord gets during the high season, anyway.”

It was lunchtime, so Heather, Sydney, and Jake went to the kitchen where they made five turkey and Swiss sandwiches and scooped some chicken soup into five large navy bowls. In a serving dish, Heather placed some chocolate fudge brownies that her favorite cook, Jesse, had made for the staff. The inn was operating with a skeleton crew, but Jesse and another cook, Mike, were staying in some empty rooms so they could wait out the storm at the inn. That way, they could provide meals for the few guests who hadn’t cancelled, along with Elizabeth, Joel, and Heather, who lived in the building.

“Will a spring snowstorm hurt business for you?” Sydney asked Jake while they ate.

Jake owned a small watercraft and bicycle rental shop that catered to tourists, and during the holiday season, he sold Christmas trees in his parking lot. “The good thing about a snowstorm the last week in March is that everything will be melted in no time. By the time the tourists arrive in May, this will be a distant memory.”

“Never mind May. I think it will be ancient history by the time Easter comes in two weeks.” Elizabeth looked wistfully out the window. “It looks like it’s going to be a mellow Easter, anyway. It will probably be just us.” 

Heather looked through the window at the four inches of snow that had already fallen. It seemed like it would linger forever. 

After lunch, they took their dishes to the kitchen and washed them, then Joel and Elizabeth retired to their private residence. 

“I think I’ll try to take Artie out for a quick walk before the snow drifts become taller than him,” Heather said. “If they aren’t already, that is.”

“I’ll come with you,” Sydney said. 

They bundled up in their winter coats, scarfs, hats, and mittens, and went outside to brave the elements, while Jake stayed inside to keep the fire going. They didn’t stray far from the inn, since the wind had picked up and was whipping through the trees and power lines. They gave Artie a few minutes to burn off some excess energy, then they returned to the inn. Jake was watching through the window. His sandy blond hair was disheveled, and his light blue and grey flannel shirt complemented his blue-grey eyes.

They waved when they noticed him standing there. 

“I like Jake. He really watches out for you,” Sydney said.

“Don’t be silly. He’s worried about both of us being outside in this weather. The town is expecting wires to go down before it’s over.”

Sydney smirked. “Whatever you say.”

When they got back inside the inn, Jake handed Heather a towel to dry off Artie before he shook his tiny body and sprayed water all over the foyer. Heather and Sydney took off their winter gear and hung them in the storeroom behind the desk in the gift shop. Heather had gotten in the habit of leaving her coat there since it was easier than running up to her room every time she needed to walk Artie. 

Heather had closed the gift shop for the day, since the only potential customers were the few people staying at the inn. It was only Sunday, so they would have plenty of opportunity to purchase souvenirs during the rest of the week.

“I suppose I could be writing today, but I’d rather enjoy the storm,” Sydney, who was a children’s book author, said. “We were just headed to the sunroom.”

“I think I’ll join you. It’s nice to have an afternoon with nothing that needs to be done,” Jake said. “It makes me feel like a kid when we had a snow day.”

Sydney smiled. “I remember those childhood days, waiting by the TV to see if school would be cancelled.”

Jake smiled. “Those were good times. I would stay outside building forts until I could no longer feel my fingers and toes. Then my mother would make grilled cheese and tomato soup, and I’d eat by the fire.”

Heather felt a flash of longing for her own childhood memories. Whenever she tried to recall anything before the car accident, it felt like running into a brick wall.

Heather, Sydney, and Jake walked to the sunroom at the end of the hall, with Artie trotting along behind them. Heather gasped at the winter scene on the other side of the white casement floor-to-ceiling windows. They strolled across the thin brick veneer flooring and sat on the wicker furniture. 

“Speaking of childhood memories, what’s your next step in your search for your identity?” Sydney asked Heather.

“I’m going to research hiking clubs in the Boulder area and see if anyone remembers John. I’m hoping that if I can locate someone who knew him, that person might know who I am, as well.”

John Seewald was driving when he and Heather got in the car accident that took his life and left Heather with amnesia. He was a convicted criminal who had just finished an eight-year prison sentence for art theft in Des Moines. Heather had no idea who he was or how she knew him. After speaking with his sister Ellie and his former-wife Blair, and because of a flashback she had in which she saw a green and white license plate on what she believed was her car, Heather suspected that she might have lived in Colorado before the accident. John used to spend summers in Boulder about fifteen years ago. He had been an avid hiker and a member of a hiking club, so she suspected that that was where she met him. But she didn’t know the name of the club.

“This afternoon seems like a good time to begin your research,” Sydney said.

“That’s what I was thinking. I’ll get started a little later, but first, I want to enjoy this snow.” She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. “The snowfall brings a safe, familiar feeling.” She glanced out the window. “It makes me believe that I could be right about living in Colorado.”

After a while, they went back to the library. Elizabeth and Joel had returned and were sitting by the roaring fire, so Heather, Jake and Sydney joined them on the sofas. Sydney was getting decorating advice for her new house from Elizabeth when the doorbell rang.

“Who on earth could that be?” Joel asked. “Nobody should be out in this weather.”

“Maybe someone needs help,” Elizabeth said.

Jake stood up. “I’ll go find out.”

Heather and Sydney followed him to the foyer.

Jake opened the door, and standing on the other side was a middle-aged woman with blue eyes, grey hair that fell just above her shoulders, and overgrown bangs. 

“Fiona,” Jake said. “What are you doing out in this weather?”

“I’m so sorry to bother you,” she said.

“It’s no trouble at all. Come on in.”

They stepped back so Fiona could enter. “We’re just hanging out here and waiting for the storm to pass.”

“I was hoping you’d be here, Jake. I didn’t know where else to go. I haven’t heard from my sister since the snow started falling, and I’m worried sick. She said she was going to wait out the storm at home, and we agreed to check in on each other throughout the day. I just went over and knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Have you seen her since the storm started? I was hoping she just got bored and came here to get something to eat.”

“We haven’t had any customers in the Tavern all day, except a few guests who are staying at the inn,” Jake said. “My parents are in the library. Maybe they saw her before I got here.”

Fiona took off her hat and gloves and put them into the pocket of her chocolate brown down coat. She left a blue scarf, which matched her eyes, around her neck and followed them into the library. 

Elizabeth stood when she saw them. “Hi, Fiona. What a pleasant surprise. What brings you out on a day like today?”

“I wish it were a social visit, but unfortunately, it’s not. I haven’t heard from my sister since the storm began, and I hoped that you had.”

“I’m sorry. I haven’t seen Marjorie since I ran into her yesterday at the grocery store,” Elizabeth said. “She’s not at home?”

“I’ve been calling all afternoon, and she hasn’t answered. I’m concerned, because we agreed to stay in touch throughout the day. I just came from her house, but she’s not there. I used the key under the mat to let myself in and I even checked her bedroom thinking she might be napping, but there was no sign of her.”

“Maybe she went down to the beach,” Joel said. “It’s not the smartest idea in this weather, but some people are adventurous.” 

Fiona shook her head firmly. “I don’t think so. She would have taken her phone with her. This isn’t like her. I’m really worried.”

“She only lives one street over. Let’s go and see if she came home,” Jake said. “I’m sure she just went out and lost track of time.”

“I’ll come with you,” Heather said. “It will be safer with more of us. The snow is still falling hard.”

“I’ll come, too,” Sydney said.

Heather left Artie in the library with Joel and Elizabeth, put back on her winter gear, and trudged toward Marjorie’s house with Jake, Sydney, and Fiona.