Showing results by author "Loretta Jackson" in All Categories

When Lorene Whitten returns to Garland, Kansas, because of her father's illness, she is shocked to find that her childhood playmate, Cassa, has been missing all of this time. The Lander farm evokes haunting, ghost-like memories of her little playmate, as if Cassa were beckoning to her from the grave. Lorene starts asking questions and encounters resistance from the close-knit group of three long-time friends and town leaders who call themselves the Knights of Garland, of which her father is a member.

When Sheriff Jeff McQuede's friend, Barry Dawson, tricks him into attending a Bigfoot convention at the small town of Trails' End, he finds the adventure is only beginning. He is soon invited by the head of the research team, Dr. Adam Kurtz, to hike with them into the isolated mountains below Lost Man's Peak where few people ever venture.

To create excitement, Ruger, a shady dealer at the annual rendezvous flea market, puts up for auction a locked Civil War trunk with contents to be sold sight unseen! That night, the highest bidder, Zeke Jones, is found stabbed to death beside the trunk. Sheriff Jeff McQuede believes Jones has interrupted a robbery in progress. Several people had offered to buy old coins, photos, and medals from him, which indicates to McQuede that Jones had already sold what the robber had been after.

Sheriff Jeff McQuede battles treacherous rapids in search of Andy Norton. Twenty-one-year-old Andy, known for perpetuating fake publicity stunts, has wandered from the isolated Rapid River Outpost and failed to return. When McQuede arrives at the lodge, to his amazement he encounters the person he least expects — Loris Conner — who has just days ago left him at the altar.

Threatened victim, waiting grave...Sheriff McQuede is called to the cemetery by Ben Ward, a member of Durmont's Good Old Boys' Club. Ward's tombstone, where he plans someday to be buried with his first wife, is vandalized. A menacing date of death, fast approaching, has been drilled into the stone, and splotches of red paint drips over it like blood.

While returning from Professor Dawson's lecture on haunted places, the last thing Sheriff Jeff McQuede and Dawson expect to encounter is a terrified woman clinging to the railing of Mirabella's Bridge, crying for her lost baby. It looks as if Rae Harris has thrown the infant over the bridge in a fit of despair, but she claims he has been stolen by a ghostly figure she calls Mirabella. Similar to the La Llorona legend Dawson just spoke about, Mirabella was a local pioneer woman who was rumored to have drowned her infant after being abandoned by a lover.

In the heart of a raging blizzard Sheriff Jeff McQuede discovers a woman frozen to death in her car. At first he believes her death to be an unfortunate accident - until he finds clues that point to cold-blooded murder. Margaret's husband, Arthur, left her in the stalled vehicle to brave the storm and manages to reach Joe Trevino's isolated ranch. The case becomes more complicated because of the recent warehouse robberies at Trevino's store. McQueede finds that Trevino is Margaret Burnell's business partner and that she has traveled from their Casper store to conduct a company audit.

The famous Carlo painting Stealer of Horses sells for cash in a small Wyoming town and gallery owner Sheldon Spence gives the $200,000 to his wife, who walks over to the bank to make the deposit...and never returns. A witness claims to have seen a frightened-looking Susan Spence in a battered old Chevy, speeding out of town. And each succeeding clue reveals a different angle on her disappearance.

When Ardis Cole’s colleague, Red Michels, meets with a fatal accident, she volunteers to take over his project. Ardis flies to Galveston, Texas, where in 1858 the old clipper ship, The Fortune, wrecked in a hurricane. Known to be aboard the sunken ship is a fabulous gem - the Sea Star Emerald - once stolen by the infamous pirate, Jean Lafitte. Ardis soon discovers that modern-day treasure hunters are determined to beat her to the jewel.

Ardis Cole is summoned to Russia to help Grant Merlin’s friend, Nikolai, locate a priceless marble statue called Neva. The life-sized sculpture vanished seven years ago, along with the artist, Nikolai’s uncle Treve Savik. Most people believe Treve destroyed his masterpiece and then committed suicide after being jilted by the statue’s beautiful model, Varina Morinsky.

In Book 2 of the Ardis Cole mystery series, Ardis travels to Scotland to do a facial reconstruction on a skull her friend Bruce McBrier has discovered in the woods outside his ancestral castle. Because of an ancient ax buried in the skull, Bruce presumes the skull to be a historical relic, possibly the remains of a medieval ancestor murdered in battle. When Ardis makes the shocking discovery that the remains are that of a more recent murder, Constable Mark Ridley asks for her help.

Ardis travels to China to help her elderly friend, Dr. Yong Po, locate a Han dynasty cave tomb. Her American associate, Grant Merlin, fails to join her as planned. Grant had fallen out of favor with the University when a small jade miniature was stolen from a traveling exhibit under his charge. Sheri, Grant’s ex-wife joins Ardis instead of Grant. When Sheri is attacked by someone wearing a crimson mask, she swears Grant has followed her to China to seek revenge.

Ardis must track the last years of Jenna Carrington, a troubled teenage girl who stole rare black opals from her father and whose skeletal remains were found in the river near Sydney, Australia. A vicious murderer waits in the wings, and he plans to make archaeologist and sleuth Ardis Cole his next victim!

Sheriff Jeff McQuede becomes suspicious when a robber breaks into the Coal County Museum and steals only one item - a black-and-white class photograph. Under the name Jerome Slade the photographer had printed two ominous words: never graduated. When a body is unearthed beneath the newly demolished school, McQuede realizes Slade had not left Black Mountain the night of the spring dance. McQuede soon uncovers hidden rivalries between Slade and his classmates.

Loretta hosts California Dreaming - the podcast that is half California-related, an eighth dreams, a quarter random facts, and a splash of whatever else I want to talk about. No subject is off limits. MONDAYS AT 6:30PM Pacific Time (Los Angeles, CA). Email: themoodyredhead@yahoo.com Instagram: @themoodyredhead TikTok: @themoodyredhead Goodreads: Loretta, theMoodyRedhead Sources, contact info, and episode outline are in the show notes Deuces to your cabooses!

This go go go world is enough to drive anyone mad and solace is hard to come by. My thoughts, numerous daily tasks, and demands from work and family never stop zooming and I rarely have a moment to just BE. I read on my Kindle for much needed quiet time when possible, but what also calms my anxious mind is research. I find myself forgetting about all of my daily stress during those times. I will be weeding false from truths and while falling down internet rabbit holes, I'll be taking notes and sharing with you the insane and weird things discovered. Talk therapy and quiet ponder time ahead.

Enterprising Boyd Archer decides to purchase and renovate the old ghost town of Galva, Wyoming, site of the once prosperous Galva Gold Mine. During the mine’s heyday, a strongbox filled with gold and jewelry was stolen in a stagecoach robbery by Max Rigby, the vicious Black Mountain Bandit. This treasure is rumored to be hidden somewhere on his rugged mountain property. As a promotional stunt, in the spirit of fun, Archer advertises a hunt for the missing strongbox. Archer doesn’t count on the ruffians who appear in serious quest.