Chicken Scratch (The Sisters, Texas Mystery Series Book 1)

Madison Reynolds returns to her hometown of The Sisters, Texas after being widowed and left without financial resources before age forty. She moves in with her eighty-year-old grandmother and her teenage twins, reconnecting with her best friend Genesis. To support herself, Madison opens In a Pinch Temporary Services. Her first client, Ronny Gleason, leads to a disturbing discovery when Madison arrives at the Gleason Poultry Farm for her first day of work—she finds Mr. Gleason dead. When a local man is arrested for the murder, Madison attempts to prove his innocence, driven by both the suspect's mother Lucy Ngyen's desperation and her own need to pay bills. As Madison investigates around town, she faces resistance from those who want her to stop asking questions. Juggling her daughter's desire to return to Dallas, her son's adjustment to small-town life, her grandmother's gossip, debt collectors, and threats to her safety, Madison has little time for rekindling a high school romance with police chief Brash deCordova. She must decide whether to return to Dallas or build a new life in The Sisters. This is the first book in a 15-book series. The series was named Best Mystery Series by Texas Association of Authors for six consecutive years.