The Surveyor's Shadow: A Gold Country Bed & Breakfast Cozy Murder Mystery

A historic survey. A murdered preservationist. A ghost who knows the land was never meant to be forgotten. Mary Sutter has learned that running The Assay House Inn in Miner's Hollow, California, requires strong coffee, steady nerves and a willingness to find cat hair in places no cat should fit. When historic-preservation advocate Eleanor Rusk is murdered after fighting to protect public access to Beacon Peak, the town's fragile peace begins to crack. The land dispute reaches into old secrets, private fortunes and a long-buried survey that someone would kill to keep hidden. Mary's 14-year-old daughter, Zoe, sees details other people miss. Including Thomas Vale, the courteous 19th-century surveyor whose ghost has lingered at the inn for more than a century. Thomas cannot speak to Mary, but he is determined to lead Zoe toward the truth behind his final survey and the shadow hanging over Beacon Peak. As Mary follows the trail from a historic map to the present-day murder, she discovers that saving the land may depend on exposing a killer who believes the past belongs to whoever can silence it. With Felix the inn cat underfoot, Zoe listening to a ghost and the whole town watching, Mary must uncover the truth before another life is lost. The Surveyor's Shadow is a clean, small-town cozy murder mystery filled with Gold Country history, an amateur sleuth, a welcoming bed-and-breakfast, a touch of paranormal intrigue and a satisfying conclusion. Perfect for readers who enjoy small-town cozy mysteries, historic settings, innkeeper sleuths, mother-daughter teams and mysteries with a light supernatural twist.