The Silent Ledger (Ashford Mysteries #1)

Evelyn Carter bought a box of old books from Nathan Cole's shop on a Tuesday evening.

By Friday morning she was dead.

Nathan worked homicide for twenty years before he came to Ashford to sell books and mind his own business. But Evelyn was his friend — and tucked inside one of those books were three folded pages that somebody in this quiet town was willing to kill for.

Seven years ago the Briggs family lost their farm. Michael Briggs swore it had been stolen, and everyone decided he was bitter and let it go. His widow works two jobs. His daughter is twelve, and she checks the price of a book twice before she puts it back on the shelf.

Nathan Cole is done letting things go.

First in the Ashford Mysteries — a small coastal town, a bookseller who used to carry a badge, and a reporter named Julia Reed who won't be told no. No gore, no profanity, and a town you'll want to come back to.