Song of the Bones: A Chantalene Mystery - Hardcover

Preston, M. K.

3.27

62 ratings by Goodreads

9781890768546: Song of the Bones: A Chantalene Mystery

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1890768545 ISBN 13: 9781890768546

Publisher: Intrigue Press, 2003

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Acclaimed mystery writer Marcia K. Preston returns with her second Chantalene mystery. Filled with mistaken identities, waking dreams of a strange, lost girl, a bogus oil company, robbery, murder, a crazy hermit, and a handsome cowboy, Song of the Bones is sure to thrill Preston's growing fan base.

Tetumka, Oklahoma's friendly postmistress, Thelma Patterson, and Chantalene Morrell's surrogate aunt, -retains Drew Sander's legal services-with Chantalene as his assistant. Billy Ray Patterson, the younger man Thelma married thirty years before, disappeared soon -after. And now Thelma needs to find him. An oil company wants to lease Thelma's land for exploration, but Billy Ray's name is still on the property and she needs to clear the title. They assume he's dead, that is until a handsome cowboy claiming to be Billy Ray shows up in Tetumka and moves in with Thelma. After a few days, Thelma is convinced the man living in her house is not her husband.

Meanwhile, Chantalene has problems of her own. -Personal items are missing from her house, and she's haunted by waking dreams of a strange, lost girl she doesn't know. Is she losing her mind? Chantalene has mounting suspicions that someone is stalking her.

Chantalene learns the story of Thelma's once-in-a--lifetime romance with her handsome younger man and follows his cold trail to New Mexico. Once Chantalene comes to the conclusion that the man in Thelma's house is not Billy Ray, but his long-thought-dead brother Donnie Ray, things turn sinister. And the danger is just beginning . . .

Marcia K. Preston grew up on a wheat farm in Oklahoma, near a town not too different from the setting of her mystery series featuring Chantalene Morrell. The first book in the series, Perhaps She'll Die, was nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award for suspense fiction, and for Macavity and Barry awards in the Best First Mystery -division.

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About the Author:

M. K. Preston grew up on a wheat farm in Oklahoma, near a town not too different from the setting of her mystery series. She still lives in central Oklahoma, where the rivers run red in springtime and the cottonwoods lean toward the North Star. By day she edits and publishes Byline, a nationally distributed trade magazine for writers.

From Booklist:

Preston's follow-up to Perhaps She'll Die (2001) returns readers to tiny Tetumka, Oklahoma, where feisty protagonist Chantalene Morrell, still enjoying a passionate relationship with her lawyer boyfriend, Drew, is drawn into a complex situation with her surrogate aunt, postmistress Thelma Patterson. When an oil company approaches Thelma about leasing her land, she must find her long-missing husband, Billy Ray Patterson, to clear the title. Patterson, who disappeared 30 years ago, has not been heard from since. Yet, almost immediately after Chantalene and Drew agree to look for Patterson, a man claiming to be Billy Ray walks into their office. After initial doubts, Thelma and Chantalene accept the stranger--but Thelma soon becomes convinced that he is an imposter, prompting Chantalene to travel to New Mexico to investigate the supposed death of Billy Ray's brother, Donnie Ray. Is the man staying with Thelma really Donnie Ray? The unlikely pair of Chantalene and Thelma make engaging sleuths in this appealing southwestern mystery. Jenny McLarin
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