Speaking in Tungs

Gold winner in the 2018 FAPA contest for Humor 2023 Winner for Cozy Mystery Firebird Books 2023 Finalist Indies Book Award 2024 Firebird Winner, Humorous Fiction She came for answers, not a killer in the woods. In this laugh-out-loud cozy mystery set in the scruffy hills of rural Pennsylvania, a big-hearted, city-raised speech pathologist from San Francisco takes her first job in the town of Tungston—known to the locals as "Tungs." She's hoping to uncover the truth about her birth parents… not dodge potholes, gossip, and one seriously persistent fugitive. Her new patients are as eccentric as they are endearing: a hoarder with a pet squirrel, a moonshiner with vocal cord issues, and a sweet elderly woman who swears her rooster speaks Italian. But when her offbeat caseload leads her straight into the path of a long-hidden criminal, things stop being funny—and start getting deadly. Between navigating country roads, HIPAA violations, nosy neighbors, and the town’s surprisingly swoon-worthy fireman, she stumbles into a mystery with roots deeper than the local mines. Someone is desperate to keep a secret buried… and now her patients’ lives—and her own—are on the line. Equal parts hilarious and heart-pounding, this is a small-town mystery with big twists, quirky charm, and one very determined heroine.