Built on the bay back in the late 1700’s, the town of Bluewater Bay was filled with loads of historic charm from the meticulous architecture to the hand-carved signs. Besides Pupcakes and Cozy Confections, it boasted a coffee shop, art gallery, ice cream parlor, and bookstore, as well as several clothing stores and gift shops. Bluewater Bay even had an old-fashioned general store called The General Store. Owned by a sweet older couple, it was part restaurant, part grocery, part gift shop, and served the most delicious lobster rolls anywhere—at least that’s what everyone in town said. She’d have to take their word for it since she didn’t eat seafood.

  She waved to Gwen and the other shop owners as she and Baxter walked, stopping to chat with some of them, much to Baxter’s delight. He loved people as much as he loved his fellow dogs.

  Soon enough, they reached the edge of town where the shops gave way to equally charming homes. The stroll to the dog park was along a beautifully scenic path with the blue waters of the bay on the left complete with charter fishing boats, sailboats, and the occasional yacht. Sometimes, in the late spring to early fall, you could even see a cruise ship in the distance. But it was the majestic Indigo Point Lighthouse that always caught her eye. Mostly, because it was home to a herd of adorable harbor seals that loved to hang out on the rocks basking in the sun during certain times of the year.

  A sharp bark from Baxter and tug on the leash interrupted Tassie’s thoughts and she looked down to see that he’d stopped directly in front of Conrad Meyers’ house, his full attention fixed on it. Drats! All she needed was for the man to come out and see them standing there. Never mind that they were on the sidewalk and not even close to his lawn.

  Tassie was about to urge Baxter along when she noticed that the front door of the house was slightly open. Like Conrad had either left in a hurry or just gone inside and not realized it hadn’t closed behind him. Either way, it was none of her concern.

  “Come on, Baxter,” she said, leading him forward.

  But Baxter didn’t budge. Instead, he looked from the house to her and back to the house again.

  She followed his gaze with a frown. “What?”

  He glanced at her, then gave the house another pointed look.

  “The door is open. I know,” she said. “So what?”

  Baxter let out a little whine.

  She shook her head. “No. I’m not telling him that his door is open.”

  Another whine, this time a little louder.

  “Bluewater Bay is a very safe place to live, Baxter. Half the people in town probably don’t even lock their doors.”

  Tassie wasn’t sure that part about people not locking their doors was true and from the sideways glance Baxter gave her, he knew it.

  She sighed. “Fine! We’ll let him know that his door is open. But if Conrad blows a gasket, it’s your fault.”

  Scooping Baxter up in her arms, she made her way up the sidewalk to the house. Baxter’s gaze was fixed on the door, ears perked, front paws draped adorably over her forearm as usual whenever she carried him.

  She slowed her steps as she got closer to the house in case Conrad came out and started shouting at them. But the house was weirdly quiet.

  “Mr. Meyers?” she called.

  No answer.

  Tassie knocked lightly on the partially open door. “Hello? Mr. Meyers?”

  Again, there was no answer.

  In her arms, Baxter let out a little yip.

  She braced herself, expecting Conrad to storm out from behind whatever rock trolls like him hid behind and rail at them for being on his property, but there wasn’t a sound from inside the house.

  Okay, this was getting bizarre.

  “Clearly, he isn’t home, so I’m going to close the door and act like we were never here,” she told Baxter softly.

  Reaching out, she grasped the knob to do exactly that when she caught sight of a worn boot lying at an angle just inside the doorway—a boot that had a foot in it!

  She cautiously pushed the door open a little more.

  Conrad Meyers lay on the floor of the entryway, lifeless eyes open and staring at her, a heavy model wooden ship on the floor beside him.

  Tassie froze, staring at the blood on the floor and barely visible shoe print, not sure what she was seeing even as her mind began to piece everything together. It wasn’t until Baxter let out another little yip that she managed to shake off the shock.

  Still holding onto Baxter, she dug her phone out of her purse with a shaking hand and dialed 9-1-1. Lucy immediately answered.

  “9-1-1. What’s your emergency?”

  “Lucy, it’s me,” Tassie said. “Conrad Meyers is dead. I think someone murdered him.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Lucy had asked Tassie to wait until the police arrived, so she walked around the front lawn with Baxter, wanting to be as far away from Conrad’s body as possible. Even now, she couldn’t stand to be near the man. He might be dead, but the way he’d acted toward everyone when he was alive still annoyed her. As for Baxter, he sniffed the grass like he was looking for clues as to who’d killed the creep the whole time.

  Yet, while she might not like Conrad, there was something upsetting about his murder anyway. Bluewater Bay was—and always had been—a safe town. People didn’t commit murder here. They walked their dogs and took their kids to the playground. They went apple picking and pumpkin picking and enjoyed hayrides at the fall festival. They watched the lobster boat races and took part in the fishing rodeo. They strolled along the boardwalk in the summer and supported the local community theater. But someone most definitely had killed Conrad. Would any of them be safe until the murderer was caught?

  Even though it was broad daylight, she spent most of the time nervously glancing at the house, worried that whoever had done it might still be inside. But that was silly, of course. Baxter would let her know if someone was in there. Regardless, she was relieved when Detective Sterling finally showed up fifteen minutes later. Tall and imposing, he stepped out of his SUV with that air of authority all law enforcement seemed to possess, his calm demeanor contrasting sharply with her own frantic state.

  She stared.

  Wow.

  Lucy was right. Bluewater Bay’s new detective, Jack Sterling, was cute. Of course, now probably wasn’t the time to appreciate his dark hair, dreamy brown eyes, square jaw with that perfect amount of stubble, and broad shoulders. Or that he looked amazing in the navy blue peacoat he was wearing.

  No, it most certainly wasn’t the time. Not while standing a few feet from Conrad Meyers’ dead body anyway.

  Dead bodies were a definite mood killer.

  In addition to the detective, there was a uniformed officer named Henry Thompson, whom she knew because he’d gone to school with Abby, as well as Dr. Anthony and his dour-faced assistant, Jameson Hall. Emmit Anthony was the town’s one and only coroner while his twin brother, Silas, was the town’s one and only mortician. Which was kind of disconcerting when she thought about it. A dark, devious place in her mind always wondered if the two of them had a twisted business relationship going on. If Silas needed more work, Dr. Anthony could always kill people and say it was an accidental death.

  Okay, so maybe she had an overactive imagination. But weirder things had happened.

  All three of them went into the house, leaving her and Baxter outside with Detective Sterling.

  “Tassie Drake?” he asked, eyeing her even as he bent to greet Baxter, who happily wagged his tail and tilted his ears back in greeting.

  She nodded. “That’s me.”

  “I’m Detective Sterling.” He straightened and held out his hand. “You discovered the body?”

  Tassie shook his hand, absently noting how warm it was despite the chill in the air. Or maybe it felt warm because it was so chilly out. That had to be it. Because it could have nothing to do with the fact that he was hotter than any summer in Maine.

  What? Just because she turned down Lucy’s offer to introduce her to the newest member of Bluewater Bay’s finest didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate how handsome he was.

  “Yes. In there,” she said, gesturing toward Conrad’s house.

  “Mind walking me through what happened?”

  Tassie took a deep breath. “Baxter and I were strolling by when I noticed the door was open, so I thought I should let Conrad know. I called out his name and when I didn’t hear anything, I started to close the door, figuring he wasn’t home and left it open by mistake.”

  “Is that when you found Conrad?”

  “Yes,” she said. “Right inside the entryway.”

  He jotted down something in the notebook he’d taken out of his pocket, then regarded her curiously. “Did you go into the house?”

  “No,” she said. “I didn’t want to mess up the crime scene.”

  When he lifted a brow at that, she abruptly realized how weird it had probably sounded. Like she was a cop or something. She reached up with her free hand to tuck her hair behind her ear only to remember she was wearing a hat.

  Finding a dead body had her all befuddled.

  Or maybe it was simply being this near to Detective Sterling.

  She quickly smoothed her hat with her hand, pretending as if she meant to check and make sure it was properly in place the whole time.

  “I read a lot of mysteries and watch a lot of them on TV,” she explained, feeling her face color. “Murder She Wrote, Aurora Teagarden, Murder She Baked, Mystery 101. Pretty much anything and everything on the Hallmark Mysteries Channel. The cops never want anyone touching anything when there’s been a murder.”

  He pondered that for a moment. “How do you know he was murdered?”

  “Well, there was blood on the floor and a big heavy-looking model ship beside him. I’m assuming Conrad didn’t hit himself on the head.”

  She thought Detective Sterling might make some crack about the dangers of assuming, but instead he continued to regard her curiously, eyes narrowing a little. “You seem pretty calm for someone who just found a dead body.”

  Tassie snorted. “That’s probably because I didn’t exactly like the guy.”

  His brow arched again, higher this time.

  “I mean, nobody in town liked him. Not just me,” she added quickly. “But finding a dead body isn’t an everyday thing, you know, so I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still a little shaken up. And I wouldn’t lie to the police.”

  That was true.

  The detective’s mouth twitched. “Fair enough, I suppose. And what time was this?”

  She thought a moment, trying to remember when she’d called 9-1-1. She considered taking out her phone to check but then realized she didn’t need to because she’d looked at the doggy-themed clock on the wall in Pupcakes before she and Baxter left. It usually took about ten minutes to get to Conrad’s house from there. Fifteen if they stopped to talk to people on the way.

  “Around two-thirty, I think. Baxter and I left our shop a little after two-fifteen to go to the dog park.”

  He scribbled some more notes before looking at her again. “What kind of store do you own?”

  “Pupcakes,” she said with a smile. Talking about her little shop always made her happy. Probably because it paired her two favorite things—dogs and baking. “It’s a doggy bakery right in the middle of town.”

  “Ah. I’ll have to stop by with my dog sometime.” He flashed her a grin, his eyes holding hers for a moment before he reminded her why they were there. “But back to Conrad. You said that no one in town liked him?”

  She made a face. “No one who has a dog at least. Conrad was the quintessential get-off-my-lawn guy. If your dog even stopped to sniff the grass, the creep went ballistic.”

  Detective Sterling seemed to consider that. “Did you ever have a run-in with him about it?”

  “Me? No,” she said, reaching down to gently run her hand along Baxter’s head and ears. “But I know plenty of people who did.”

  “Interesting,” he said. “Do you think any of them could have been angry enough to murder him?”

  Tassie did a double take. “No way. I know almost everyone in town who has a dog and none of them would do something like this, regardless of how much they loathed Conrad.”

  His mouth curved wryly. “You’d be surprised what someone can do when they’re provoked, Ms. Drake.”

  She considered that. As a detective, he obviously had more experience in that area than she did, but she’d be stunned if someone she knew committed this murder.

  “Did you see anyone else as you were walking by the house?” he asked.

  “No one.”

  Detective Sterling took out a business card and offered it to her. “If you think of anything else, give me a call. Or if you—you know—need anything.”

  Was he flirting with her? And at a crime scene, no less.

  Regardless of where they were, she hoped so. He’d already checked the most important box when it came to a guy—he loved dogs. That much was obvious. Not only did he have a pooch, but he’d also greeted Baxter when he’d first arrived.

  The card had the Bluewater Bay logo in the top left along with his name and detective rank, as well as the station phone and his cell number in the center.

  She smiled, flirting right back. “I will.”

  Mouth curving, he reached down to pet Baxter before giving her a nod and starting toward the house.

  “Actually,” Tassie said.

  Detective Sterling stopped, turning to look at her.

  “Sara Larson, one of my doggy bakery customers spoke to Conrad about an hour before he was murdered. She might have seen someone.”

  His gaze sharpened at that. “Really?”

  Something in his tone made Tassie think he was already considering Sara a suspect. Tassie could practically see the gears turning in his head.

  “I’m not saying she did it,” Tassie said quickly. “Just—you know—in case she saw something helpful.”

  He scribbled a note in his pad. “Thanks for the heads up. I’ll look into it. If I need more info, I’ll be in touch.”

  Tassie nodded, still a little nervous. Maybe she shouldn’t have mentioned Sara.

  “Sure thing, Detective. I hope you figure out who did this.”

  Would it be wrong to add she’d like to thank that person for making the walk to the dog park a lot easier for everyone now that they wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally stepping foot on that insufferable creep’s lawn and getting called every nasty name in the book?

  Probably.

  He flashed her a smile. “Stay out of trouble, Ms. Drake.”

  Tassie wanted to tell him that he didn’t have to worry about that because she never got into trouble, but Detective Sterling had already disappeared inside the house. She bet he hadn’t expected to have a murder to solve his first day on the job in Bluewater Bay. And considering how fast news traveled in their sleepy little town, word of Conrad’s murder would be everywhere by the time she and Baxter got back to Pupcakes.

  That could either make the detective’s job harder or easier, she supposed.

  CHAPTER THREE

  “You know, when I offered to introduce you to Jack, I didn’t mean meeting him at a crime scene,” Lucy said dryly.

  Tassie made a face as she speared a cherry tomato with her fork. “Very funny.”

  Lucy had gotten chicken Parmesan with whole grain pasta and a side salad delivered from the best Italian restaurant in Bluewater Bay, and the aroma of garlic and marinara sauce filled the kitchen. With it’s white cabinets, light blue subway tile backsplash, and pot rack hanging above the small island in the center, the room seemed bigger than it actually was thanks to the open floor plan of the house. While Lucy was a lot of amazing things, a chef wasn’t one of them. Which was why her husband pretty much did all the cooking in their house. Tassie could say first-hand that it was true what they said about firefighters being excellent cooks. He made some killer meals.

  “I was right, though, wasn’t I?” Lucy asked, not fazed in the slightest by Tassie’s snark.

  “About what?” Tassie asked.

  Her friend picked up her glass of water and gestured with it. “About Jack being cute.”

  To Tassie’s right, Abby shook her head with a snort. “You do know you’re a married woman, right?”

  “Of course, I know, which is why I was vetting Jack for your sister and not me.” Lucy gave Tassie a pointed look. “You still haven’t answered my question.”

  Tassie took her time slathering a piece of mozzarella-covered chicken in more marinara before replying. “Yes, you were right. Detective Sterling is very cute.”

  Although, now that she thought about it, maybe cute wasn’t the right word.

  Attractive.

  Handsome.

  Gorgeous.

  Those were much better words.

  On the other side of the table, Lucy gave her a smug smile. “Nothing says romance like crime scene tape and chalk outlines.”

  Tassie could only roll her eyes.

  Abby twirled some saucy pasta on her fork. “I don’t know how you even noticed what the new guy looked like after finding a dead body. I would have been way too freaked out.”

  “Even if the dead body in question was Conrad Meyers?” Tassie asked.

  Abby thought a moment as she chewed, then finally shrugged. “Good point. But still…a dead body, Tassie.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Tassie agreed, letting out a sigh. “Trust me. It wasn’t exactly the highlight of my day.”

  Even if she did get to meet the newest and decidedly most attractive member of Bluewater Bay’s finest.

  Lucy helped herself to some more salad. “Who do you think did it? I mean, half of Bluewater Bay probably wanted to off Conrad at one time or another, especially anyone who had to walk by his house to get to the dog park.”

  Tassie poured more iced tea into her glass from the pitcher on the table. “That’s what I told Detective Sterling. Although, I regretted mentioning it right away. I honestly hope the murderer isn’t one of the bakery’s customers.”