Single Elimination: A Cozy Mystery

Book excerpt: Brenna and Blythe Battle, the proud new owners of Bonney Bay Battlers, a judo school for kids in small-town, coastal Washington State, are nearing the end of their judo summer day camp for kids and gearing up for Fall, just as Bonney Bay is preparing for its Annual Salmon Bake, and for a special election to fill its most important vacancy—mayor. The heated debate among the candidates—the smooth but possibly smarmy Gunter Hatton, the spacey mother of three hooligans, Jessie Pakowski, who thinks she can wish Bonney Bay’s problems away, and the the kind, honest, but unfortunately boring Herbert Random comes to a head at Bonney Bay’s Annual Salmon Bake. Proclamations, Accusations, salmon, and corn on the cob fly—until murder brings the party to a screeching halt. Former Olympian Brenna Battle finds Dina Hermiston, a respected, lifetime Bonney Bay resident and philanthropist, stabbed in the neck with a meat thermometer. Suspicion falls on candidate Herbert Random. Is there more to the innocent-looking Random family than meets the eye? In order to find out, Brenna must make nice with the last man she ever wanted to meet again, Blythe’s ex and Brenna’s former coach, who also happened to break both sisters’ hearts—Jake the Snake. Will Brenna find Dina’s killer, expose the criminals in their midst, and save the election? Will she survive more than three minutes in the same room with Jake the Snake without imploding? Most of all, will her relationship with Officer Will Riggins and with her sister, Blythe, endure once they find out the truth? Single Elimination is the fourth book in the clean, humorous cozy mystery series featuring Brenna Battle. Each of the Brenna Battle mysteries is a complete story with no cliff-hanger endings.