The Mountain Man's Bride

In this sequel to The Mountain Man’s Dog, rustic forester Lehigh Carter must prove that his fiancée is innocent of murdering a popular Acting Sheriff — but evidence of a secret affair makes even Lehigh wonder if he should fight for her freedom against the corrupt local machine that accused her.

Lehigh and Stacy, happily engaged and caring for two adorable dogs, have begun rebuilding their lives after exposing a local cabal who burned down Lehigh’s house, vandalized Stacy’s veterinary clinic, and framed Lehigh for everything. But the murder of popular acting Sheriff Jared Barkley in Clarkesville, a small town in Oregon’s Cascade Mountains, put Lehigh and Stacy’s plans to marry on hold when Stacy is arrested for committing the crime.

On the advice of her lawyer, Stacy cuts off ties to Lehigh, who remains a subject of the investigation himself by the crooked cops and politicians running Mt. Hood County.

Lehigh’s own lawyer, the smart, beautiful Samantha Pullen, works the legal angles to keep Lehigh out of jail, but he ignores her advice to keep a low profile and conducts his own investigation into the murder, putting himself in greater danger than he ever imagined.

A chance meeting with an old high school friend prompts Lehigh to visit the victim’s grieving mother, who will talk only to one who has suffered the same way—Lehigh’s own mother, who, in her advancing senile dementia, blames Lehigh for the death of his older brother when they were tykes. When the two women bond, Lehigh becomes privy to new information revealing a series of clandestine meetings between Jared and Stacy leading up to his death—meetings that look a lot like an ongoing secret love affair, rekindled from their youth.

As Lehigh continues his investigation, his doubts about Stacy’s innocence multiply—particularly when she appears to make romantic overtures to her ex-fianceé, attorney Paul van Paten, a leading member of the conspiracy against Lehigh. Cooperating with the only honest cop he knows in the county, Detective “Gentleman Jim” Wadsworth, Lehigh plays a high-stakes game of legal chicken to infiltrate the conspiracy and discover the truth behind Jared Barkley’s murder.

The Mountain Man’s Bride picks up where The Mountain Man’s Dog leaves off, but each can be enjoyed independently of the other. The Mountain Man Mysteries combine the adventure and grit of a thriller, the suspense of a mystery, and the humor of a romantic dog cozy to delight and enchant all readers who enjoy a well-written story.