Coyote Alibi

"An enjoyably twisty mystery with appealing characters and a vivid setting" Kirkus Reviews
"The writing here is clever, crisp, and consistent." Critic's Report, Book Life
A Public Library Association 2019 regional award winner
No-nonsense rookie paralegal Naomi Manymules pauses on a lakeside clifftop to enjoy a moonlit moment and hears someone swimming far below. When something loudly shatters the quiet – firecrackers, maybe? – she heads for home. The next day she learns that a lifelong friend is now a prime murder suspect, because her sleazy, abusive husband has turned up naked and dead in a boat on the lake. When her friend can offer only a coyote as her alibi, the police aren’t inclined to look much further. Undaunted, Naomi and her new boss, Grant Carson, launch an investigation of their own. With wicked humor and a big helping of snark, they navigate through a colorful assortment of petty criminals, surly teenagers, prominent locals, likable polygamists, and a big-city mobster or two. It’s only a matter of time before they become targets themselves.
Meet the sleuths:
Naomi Manymules is bluffing her way into a new paralegal career. A divorced, thirty-something mom of two, she needs a steady job. She’s smart and feisty and knows just about everything that goes on in Sage Landing, so she is the perfect person to nudge a reluctant attorney into getting serious about practicing law.
Grant Carson is a cynical, handsomely scruffy ex-prosecutor who has escaped to a remote lakeside town. Until Naomi decided he would do otherwise, he was practicing just enough law to support the real passion of his life: his old yacht, the Deep Inn.