Kate Lindman

Murder by Mushroom Kate Lindman

Alice K. Lambert is the owner of Lambert House, an elegant totally ADA-compliant bed-and-breakfast on Maui. She recently promoted her assistant Kaleo to manage the inn. This allows Alice to travel extensively and to increase her advocacy for victims of domestic violence and people with disabilities. Before beginning an adventure in Colorado with her young nephew, Stefan, Alice rents a cabin for a week in Estes Park where she attends a mushroom identification workshop. Her friend, Trish, on the run from her abusive and stalking ex-husband, also attends the workshop with her two protective brothers. They learn how to ID the many mushrooms from the area. Two mushrooms that look alike to most people are the honey mushrooms and the deadly Galerina Autumnalis. The group learns subtle visual differences and learn how to do spore prints, which provides a more definitive identification. Alice soon suspects that Trish's ex-husband is staying in a cabin near her own. Trish's brothers verify this and so they go on the road once again to escape him and Alice leaves for Denver to join her nephew for their trip. Several days later, Noah Dennison, Trish's ex-husband was found dead in his cabin, where the bedroom was set up with chains and shackles to supposedly restrain Trish. Soon it is deemed to be murder. Trish becomes the prime suspect, and Alice is determined to prove her innocence.