Homicide on the Range. Hometown Mysteries, #6

From author Rosalie Spielman comes a wild western homicide! US Army retiree Tessa Treslow is ready for a much-needed and romantic getaway with her boyfriend, Nick, to volunteer on a dude ranch for recovering combat veterans in Montana. What she gets instead is a whole crew from her little town of New Oslo, Idaho, tagging along. Her BFF Freddie, aka Deputy Frederickson, her aunt Edna, and the Prunn sisters are happy for a little vacation as well, but little do they realize, it's not going to be the rustic, idyllic visit to the range that they think it will be. The other volunteers at the ranch are a variety of characters, from a jealous wife, to a multi-limb amputee, to a blast from Tessa's past, and a combative and unpleasant ranch cook.
When the cook ends up dead along with sides of beef in the walk-in freezer, Tessa realizes the one of them is also a murderer! With Freddie stranded in town, Tessa teams up with the New Osloans-the only ones she can be sure didn't commit the crime-to take a closer look at the other volunteers. They soon learn that each and every cowboy wannabe knew the cook for more than just her buttery cooking, and each of them had a motive to want her dead. To make matters much worse, not one but two wildfires are closing in on the ranch and cutting them off from the outside.
What results is a locked-room style mystery where the crew from New Oslo are unsure which will prove more dangerous-a murderer or the wildfires! " Clever & Compelling Gem! An excellent read and high on my list for 2023 honors."~Kings River Life Magazine "You will also fall in love with New Oslo and its residents and businesses. You will want to pack a bag and jump in your car and head there as fast as you can!"~ Cozy Mystery Book Reviews