Mapleton Mysteries

Someone is playing a game with Mapleton’s Chief of Police…and it’s deadly. Gordon wonders if he’s been so busy dealing with “Chief Stuff” that he’s lost his edge as a street cop. When a tragic car accident kills a friend, Gordon soon learns it was no accident. Now it’s a race against the clock to find the killer before another victim is chosen. Or is Gordon the next casualty on the killer’s list?

Three Mapleton Mystery Novellas, available in one volume. Deadly Places: Life is a balancing act. When you’re a cop, the choices can be deadly. Deadly Engagement: If you’re with a cop, there’s no escaping mystery and crime, even on a Caribbean cruise. Deadly Assumptions: Will a string of mysterious trespassing incidents give Rookie Officer Ed Solomon his chance at being a big-time detective?

Rookie police officer Ed Solomon dreams of being a big-city detective, but he’s stuck in small-town Mapleton. Will a string of mysterious trespassing incidents give him his chance at the big time? Deadly Assumptions, a cross between a cozy mystery and a police procedural, is the seventh offering in Terry Odell’s Mapleton Mystery series.

If you’re with a cop, there’s no escaping mystery and crime, even on a Caribbean cruise. Angie Mead thinks time away from Gordon’s “Cop Stuff” is what he needs to distract him from being suspended as Mapleton’s Chief of Police and get over killing a man. A Caribbean cruise, where Gordon has no jurisdiction, seems the perfect solution—and Angie is looking forward to some fun in the sun.

Life is a balancing act. When you’re a cop, the choices can be deadly. Ed Solomon, Maple­ton, Col­orado police­ officer, has been ridiculed for sus­pect­ing some­one is mur­der­ing dead­beat dads, all of whom have been linked to a travel blog. Setting up a sting operation by posing as a deadbeat dad makes Ed a target. Will he catch the assassins before he becomes their next victim?

Mapleton Police chief Gordon Hepler thinks his troubles with the small-town politics are behind him. But when a movie-making company sets up shop in Mapleton, it doesn't take long before things go sideways, and Gordon has a dead body to deal with. The mayor says it's not a Mapleton problem, let the movie people deal with it. Will Gordon listen to the mayor, or risk his job to find the truth?

Solving a crime is like piecing together a puzzle. But what happens if the pieces don’t fit? Following doctor's orders to relax or risk losing his vision, Gordon books a winter retreat at a remote Bed and Breakfast. However, traveling incognito doesn’t mean he’s left his cop instincts behind, and it's not long before he's in the middle of a puzzle that turns personal.

A dog finding a bone is no big deal—until it turns out to be human. Police Chief Gordon Hepler never thought that helping two kids with their runaway dogs would lead to the discovery of long-buried human remains. Trying to convince Mapleton's penny-pinching mayor the victims’ bones are worth investigating puts Gordon's job at risk. Before long, it's not just his job, but his life that's in danger.

Mapleton Police Chief Gordon Hepler would rather be on the streets than behind a desk dealing with budgets and the town council. When a fatal accident seems connected to two of Mapleton's most beloved citizens, he gets his wish. When he ties the accident to a grisly murder, he's afraid he's getting more than he bargained for. Can he solve the crime without revealing the secrets of his citizens?